TNT's & 89X I'm With The Band V3.0 Weeks 3 & 4

on 24 February 2009.

89X I'm With The Band V3.0 Week 3 & 4

Broken Day Machine

Another 2 weeks of preliminary rounds of the 89X

Realm

Tnt's $10,000 I'm With The Band contest are complete and 2 more semi-finalists have been named. Dr2 must say that if YOUR band hasn't signed up yet for this FREE battle (no tix sales, no upfront cost, no nada!), then you're making a huge mistake as this is shaping up to be a wide open event with no apparent clear cut front runner! I mean $10,000 from TNT's & Studio Time from Metro Recording Studios are up for grabs, what are you waiting for???? Find out how to sign up right HERE! The past 2 weeks have been pretty slim with another band dropping out in week 3, leaving On Line vote winner Seven Year Reign, Mystery Key, Realm & The Vankles left to battle it out on stage to determine the week's winner.

Mystery Key

The most surprising aspect of the

Seven Year Reign Moves Into The Semi's

night was the fact that three of these bands had vote totals of over 200 + with Seven Year Reign receiving well over 300+, yet not many of these fans showed up, in fact Dr2 was wondering if in fact the night was cancelled? Not quite sure what happened there, but with those vote totals one would expect a better turnout....... But after a energetic performance by the young group, The Vankles, a "Dio Inspired" performance by The Realm, and a "hot" performance from the female fronted Mystery Key, it was Seven Year Reign that walked away the night's winner, winning not only the door and performance vote, but are the hands down favorites to win the "too much fog machine" vote!

Broken Day Machine

Week 4 brought the 1^st quarter of the competition to an end while yet another semi-finalist

S.O.A.

was named to move on. Attendance was a bit better this week but from our point of view is seriously lacking compared to V2.0's preliminary rounds, the door vote is 40% of the total needed to win, so get your fans out to your shows! Ahh but sometimes that's a hard nut to crack as this week's on line vote winner, The Injured List, had a hard time bringing all the fans that had voted for them to the show, traveling all the way from Adrian near the Ohio border. Opening up the night was Broken Day Machine with their powerful rock, followed by heavy sounds of S.O.A,

Odayin Won The Week

Vinnie Dombrowski's son's band Odayin, Bury Your Burden had some good sounds, and finishing up the night was The Injured List who just might of pulled off the night with their fresh young sound if they hadn't lost the door vote. But in the end it was Odayin, who pulled the most door votes and took home the prize with a split decision in the performance/sound category who was announced the winner, thus moves on into the semi-finals in May. Stay tuned for all the action as DetroitRockReview has got ya covered each and every Thursday Night as 89X presents I'm With The Band V3.0 at TNT's with week 5 coming at you this Thursday Feb. 26th with The Matt Austin Band, Nine8Stall, Overtow, Mikal, and Smokstack Horizon! Remember to vote, vote, vote by heading on over to the 89X I'm With The Band V3.0 where YOU can help decide the winner of $10,000! DetroitRockReview.com - The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!

Bury Your Burden

The Injured List

TNT’s & 89X I’m With The Band V3.0 Weeks 1 & 2

on 07 February 2009.

TNT's & 89X I'm With The Band V3.0 Weeks 1 & 2

The first two rounds of 89X's $10,000 I'm With The Band V3.0 contest held over at TNT's are in the can, with the first two semi-finalist having been crowned by winning their respective week. The contest put on by TNT's and sponsored by 89X, Metro Recording Studio, & Spec's Howard School of broadcasting has become all the rage as it enters it's 3^rd year of existence. With 16 weekly preliminary rounds of up to 5 bands each, this contest is truly a winner take all with $10,000 in cold hard cash, 20 hrs of recording time at Metro Recording Studio, & enough plugs on the 89X airwaves to get your band noticed! There's still time to enter your own band in the contest, just head on over here to find out how!

Strange Habit's Drummer Playing Bass & Guitar!

With Week 1 came a lot of hype and an extremely close "On-Line" vote that counts as 10% of the overall tally with Half Light Music beating out one of last years finalists Lies Unknown by 12 votes! With less emphasis placed on the oft criticized on line vote, the bands would have to show up at TNT's with a house full of fans to win the 40% tally for the "at the door vote". This time there would be no question as to who won this phase as Lies Unknown packed the place with their devoted fans to take the lead in the night's competition over Half Life Music.

ILK Performs During The Contest

With version 3.0, this year's event now features 3 Judges who are indentified each night who will be scoring the performance phase of the night's competition. With 50% of the vote needed to win coming from this phase, tonight's bands would not only need to sound great (20%) but would also need to pull off a performance (30%) of a lifetime in order to secure a spot in the semi-finals. First band up was a newly formed young group called Strange Habits,

Half Light Music Sounded Great

certainly caught our ear with their catchy sound and a brilliant display that had the drummer playing the guitar and bass with his sticks as they were held up to his sides by his bandmates, pretty cool. The second band up was ILK, a rather hard band that just didn't seem to click up on stage; nonetheless they pulled through for their fans, rockin it out for 30 minutes.

On line vote winners Half Light Music hit the stage next in what was nothing short of an awesome sounding set. Comprised of 2 members of the Paper Street Saints, Cheyenne Goff (vox) & Donnie Patty (bass), Half Light Music proved that they were a band to contend with during this competition, just needed to get all those fans who voted on line out to the show! Making it to the finals of last year's I'm With The Band V2.0 Lies Unknown are well versed in

Core Effect @ I'm With The Band V3.0

what it takes to win this competition and on the top of their list is "Draw". These guys not only swamped TNT's doorman with paying customers, the put on a brilliant display of showmanship on stage that was second to none. The last band tonight, Discover The Season, may not of came out on top, but all in all for as young as a group that they are, I wouldn't be surprised to hear more from them as the grow into their sound. As the night wound down, the scores were tallied up and the winner for Round 1 was announced as Lies Unknown who is now the first semi-finalist in the 89X I'm With The Band V3.0 contest.

Mic Lordz & The Sauce Funk one of Windsor's best

Round 2 held last Thursday had a couple hiccups as 2 bands dropped out of the Live Performance segment leaving only 3 to contend for the night's spot in the semi-finals. I hope you bands out there realize that the On-Line segment accounts for only 10% of the total needed to win, which leaves the live segment as the one that really counts! Imindzi kicked off the late starting night with an action filled set with a dual singer format that would become the flavor of{mosimage} the night. Core Effect finished second in the on-line voting, but as with last weeks round brought the house down, winning the at the door vote while performing flawlessly in what was the tightest sounding set of the night. Mic Lordz and The Sauce Funky who hails from across the river in Windsor won the on-line vote by a good margin, but their foreign flair was lost as not many fans made the trek across the bridge with them. Continuing with the dual singer format, The Mic Lordz trade vicious rhymes while delivering a blazing hot show that was definitely the hottest of the night, but apparently wasn't enough to overcome the door vote as Core Effect as named the winner and moves into the semi-final rounds. Keep an eye out for the Mic Lordz as there will be a number of "Wild Cards" for the semi finals and these guys certainly will be in contention for one of them!

Make sure to head on over to the Dr2 Photo Gallery to check out all the photos from this event, then why not join us tonight for Round 3 of 89X's I'm With The Band V3.0 as Realm, Until Sunday, Mystery Key, The Vankles and the on-line vote winner Seven Year Reign battle it out on stage at TNT's! Hit up our earlier posting to find out how you can get in on the action with your band for a chance at $10,000 and a slew of free promotion! DetroitRockReview.com - The Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews!

The Magic Bag Ripped!

on 03 February 2009.

Magic Bag Ripped!!

Holy Toledo Batman! Whoever has any doubts about the health of our local scene need look no further than the Brandon Calhoon - Robin Horlock Dual CD Release Party put on by Detroit's On The Rocks for proof positive that it remains healthy, that is if you were lucky enough to get in to see it for yourself! If not, we got ya covered as Dr2 was in the house for a first hand look at just how many people you can fit into Ferndale's Magic Bag before it rips wide open! Arriving at 8:30 or so, Dr2 was lucky enough to find a snow bank to park on top of before reaching the line to get in, standing amongst the hundred or so people waiting to get in for at least half an hour. Ok so we don't have an exact count on precisely how many people it took to rip the Bag open (rumor has it, it was the largest local show ever for the bag), BUT we can attest to the fact that by midway through the OPENING act, Dirt Road Logic, the double doors to the Magic Bag slammed shut for the night.......at 9:30!! Hell, most shows aren't even started by the time these two guys managed to sell out the Bag in spectacular style! Squeezing through the log jam at the bar, we finally secured a couple of six packs to go, then secured a spot against the pit's wall to

Dirt Road Logic Performs

catch, the set ending, Burn It Down, Dr2's favorite Dirt Road Logic smash up off their Great Lakes Heartache disc. We hear that these guys have been in and out of the studio working on a new one, can't wait to hear it! It may have been a sub-freezing night outside, but the temperature was quickly rising inside the Bag as the hordes of fans that did make it inside were scrambling to find a spot to stand without being push aside by one of those large black t-shirted guys with the word STAFF written across the front screaming "I need an aisle way here!" I mean, OK, so exactly where do you want everyone to go, outside? The signs on the door clearly read, "No Re-Entry, Once Your In Your In" Kind of one of those oxymoron things I'd say! But hey, this was a rock & roll show sponsored by 93.9 The River and it was just the way Dr2 likes it, packed, loud, & sweaty! When the lights turned down, Brandon Calhoon's newly formed band, complete with female back up singers, which included one Amy Folks, made their way onto the stage and launched into a fanfare that eventually saw a guitar wielding Calhoon make his grand entrance to celebrate the release of his new EP, Detroit City.

Brandon Calhoon Released his Detroit City EP

Now Calhoon is no stranger to large crowds, having competed on the CBS hit reality show RockStar:INXS a few years back, and his experience was evident when he came out swinging, unleashing his hugely popular single Detroit City for his FIRST song! Playing the entire EP, Calhoon even treated us to the single he wrote during the RockStar:INXS show but never got to perform it, before bringing out some guest stars (Atlantic Recording Artist Ty Stone & Don "Doop" Duprie) to back him during his final encore! With the crowd whipped to a frenzy, clutching 6-packs under one arm and waving the other madly in the air, Robin Horlock took over in celebration for his new disc called Music! We hadn't had a chance to see Robin perform with his full band before and, man, we were not disappointed. Robin came out ready to match Brandon's intensity and cranked out, what we believe, is his hottest single off the new disc, Skeleton Key!

Robin Horlock Released his CD Music.

(Robin made sure DR2 got a copy early, look for the review soon!) Robin has that easygoing, laid back personality that translates to the stage as a genuine feel to his music. Before you know it you're bobbing along with the beat and really feeling the songs. Robin was in for the long haul too, treating the masses that were literally, well..., massed inside The Bag to every track from the new disc, sprinkling in a few outstanding covers of the Stones' Paint It Black & the Beatle's While My Guitar Gently Weeps along the way. The night just kept on going, the great songs kept on coming, before an amazing encore that featured Brandon, Ty and Doop getting back up and joining Robin for a night ending rendition of You Can't Always Get What You Want! What a show! Both Robin and Brandon did Detroit proud with a night of music that combined all the musical energy and talent that the city has to offer, all in a single night! Be sure to check out the pictures from this event in the Dr2 Photo Gallery then check out both of these hot artists in our "Top Friends" over at the Dr2 MySpace page. DetroitRockReview.com, The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!

Country IS Rock!

on 23 January 2009.

Country IS Rock!

Trent Tomlinson at Coyote Joe's

Wow! Nashville artist & Detroit adopted Trent Tomlinson swept into town last Thursday and proceeded to rip apart Coyote Joe’s with some help from some very special friends. Born in Arkansas and raised in Missouri, Tomlinson’s rising star has been on the fast track since we first caught up with him back in the summer of 2008, having landed 3 songs off his Lyric Street Records album Country Is My Rock in the Billboard Top 40 Country Charts. It appears that a whole lot of people have caught on to his genuine country rock style as Coyote Joe’s was packed to the gills with a standing (or maybe sardine) room only crowd…….on a Thursday Night!

Huge crowd on hand at Coyote Joe's

What an amazing sight to see 500 people crammed in the front of the stage as Tomlinson and the boys ripped through all his hot tunes including Drunker Than Me, before bringing out one of our own hometown heroes and Tomlinson’s good friend, Uncle Kracker, who threw down his Doby Gray classic Drift Away.

Uncle Kracker performing Drift Away

Dr2 wasn’t quite aware that a country crowd could become so rabid, but when those Coyote Joe’s Dancers climbed atop of the expansive bar to shake and shimmy to Feel Like A Woman, we were half expecting Sheriff Mark Hackel and his boys to come busting through the doors! Yee-Haw what a wild time! Tomlinson returned to the stage to offer up yet another round of his magical music, this time getting the entire crowd swinging away during his fun time tune Hey Batter Batter, then once again gave up his stage to another local boy, Atlantic Recording Artist

Atlantic Recording Artist Ty Stone

Ty Stone who blew away all the ladies in the front row with his massively sensational St Anthony! What a real tribute to our music scene, to have a national recording artist come in here and “share” his stage with our local national artists says a lot about our scene.

The Coyote Girl's can turn heads!

This gave Dr2 some time to chat up Trent and find out what made him do what he was at that very moment, without hesitation came this immediate response, “man I LOVE Detroit, wish I was from here! No seriously, what a great vibe you got here……” Wow. No shit either, those were his exact spur of the moment words that literally made Dr2 do a double take, but hey we already knew that! It was about this time that things went from rabid to downright insane with those Coyote Girls getting back up on the bar, having Kracker, Ty, Doop, JoCaine hanging around, all while hundreds were a hootin’ & a hollerin’ till those damn lights came on. What a great night of great music that made missing work the following day a blessing! Don’t forget to check out the photos from the night over in the Dr2 Photo Gallery, DetroitReview.com the only place for Local Music News & Reviews!

Dismantle Put On Santa’s “Naughty” List!

on 18 December 2008.

Dismantle Put On Santa’s “Naughty” List!

Well, once again we find ourselves recovering from another hellacious Dismantle show!

The Dr2 Crew Was Excluded In Any Reindeer Games

Dismantle, wsg Nine8Stall, Ingray, & Soul Circus, rang in the Christmas season with a four-band blizzard that had the crowd rockin’ and raucous!! Even Santa had a say in the ordeal, promptly placing Dismantle on his infamous “Naughty List” for abusing the Christmas Spirit (and the Dr2 Editor!) with an all out holiday assault on TNT’s during their 2^nd Annual X-Mas Party last Friday night. The DR2 crew had been lookin’ forward to this show for a while and it didn’t disappoint. We got the feelin it might be one of those unusual nights where the party starts hard and gets rolling from there as soon as we walked in the door and ran into, the master of ceremonies himself, Justin Herbert, frontman extraordinaire in all his mustachioed, “have you got a little Cap’n in Ya” splendor as he explained the sign at the door reminding everyone who entered that they recieve a raffle ticket with their admission,

Nine8Stall Rockin Xmas

except, as he pointed out, a certain member of the DR2 crew who has a reputation for winning every raffle! The night started fast with Nine8Stall taking the stage first and crankin’ through their set fronted by, Big Evil himself, Jeremy Bileti. These guys have gone through some lineup changes in the past year and this was the first time in a while that we were able to catch a show. They have a great, straight-ahead, rock style that got the crowd ready to roll for the evening. While the Nine-8 crew broke-down their equipment and Ingray loaded in, Dismantle’s own Justin, gave out the first “gift” of the night to DR2’s own ringleader, Mark! As a present for his birthday, Dec. 13^th, he received a XXX stocking stuffer video complements of the Dismantle crew!! The night was just heating up as Ingray, led by their captivating leader, Adisa, grabbed the crowd’s attention and didn’t let go as they pounded through a set weaving between their original material and some incredible Zeppelin covers.

Adisa of InGray Had an Awesome Performance

Ingray can hang with the best of them as they showed Friday, stoking the Christmas fire with some incredible music. Dave on drums has an attacking style that accents the aggressive fretwork of Nermin on Lead Guitar and Haris’ steady bass thumpin and all the while you have the “Hot” theatrical stylings of Adisa that bring it all together into a package that sounds a lot like early Evanescence. This is one of those bands that we have seen grow stronger and stronger over the last year. If you haven’t gotten a chance yet, you need to get out and see them. Next, came the Headliners and the reason most in the crowd were there, Dismantle. The excitement they bring to the stage is immediate and powerful. From the first note to the last they bring it! This was their Christmas party and they were out to have a good time, and

Dismantle Was Put On Santa's Naught List

we all got to come along for the sleigh ride. Justin (Master of Vocal Mayhem)), Eric (Drum Beast), Glynn (The Shrrredder!) and Brad (Bass Beater) tore it up!! Cranking through a 14 song set that featured many of the crowd favorites, “More Rock & Roll” “Two-Timin” , and “Liquor Store”, from their first disc and a slew of new originals., like the southern-rock stylin’ “Backwoods” , the spiritual “Take Me Home”, full- speed mayhem with “Accelerator” and “Ride Home” all of which will be on their next release(Which we hear they are going in to the studio to record in early January, so get ready for some more Dismantle destruction). Also included, was the new Christmas song that Justin recently wrote called “Secret Santa” , absolutely an original take on the whole X-mas thing and definitely a song that should be on the radio during the Christmas season. Santa Justin and the boys rang in the season with a great show, but the night was not over, as Soul Circus had yet to play.

Ain't No Party Like a Soul Circus Party

If you’ve ever seen a Soul Circus show, you know that they are the perfect team to keep the party going! Kevin Kanka (Vox) proved that only a real man can sing a Britney song! Yes, we are talking about that Britney, Ms. Spears herself, as Kevin and the boys, Kenny (Drums),

Justin Herbert Joined Kevin Kanka For Some Christmas Caroling

Tommy (Guitar), and Johnny (Bass) did a great take on “Baby One More Time” as well as blasting out some old tunes from their disc and a few new ones that make us believe that their new disc (coming out soon, we hope) is going to be every bit as hot as their last (Dirty Habit, Released2007). Soul Circus definitely was in the Christmas mood and “present-ed” everyone with a great finish to the evening by bringing Justin from Dismantle up on stage for some awesome “Duet” time, fabulous! Overall, the night will go down as one to remember for us here at DR2, with all the people that were at the show to the local bands that came out to support the local scene it was a great start to the holiday season. But, man, I swear I’m never going to drink again…..(Editor’s Note: Or Me!....jeez guys!)….until the next show!! We’ll see all of you soon, out and about, but until then, catch all the Local Music News and Reviews here at DetroitRockReview.com!

JTX Parties Like A RockStar!

on 12 December 2008.

JTX Parties Like A RockStar!

JTX brought his (I'm Gonna) Party Like A Rock Star to The Hayloft

Last Friday, December 5^th, found the DR2 crew still shaking off the effects of the looong holiday weekend. But, anyone who knows us knows that we don’t stay home much! So, it was off to the Hayloft in Mt. Clemens, where we seem to find ourselves a lot lately thanks to Mike Scott, who has really packed the schedule with some fantastic shows since re-opening the eastside hot spot in September. Friday was our chance to get our first look at J.T. X., the media phenom who’s summer hit (I’m Gonna) Party Like A Rockstar was propelled to incredible sales by it’s catchy, tongue-in-cheek lyric and the national media coverage of his personal story of discovering, after being raised by adoptive parents, his biological father out in La La Land. Paired with the chance to see, the always entertaining Jocaine and Curbstone Beauty, we were out the door and in the bus, arriving just in time to catch JTX. What a show! With Kevin Wilson (Guitar), Carey Weaver (drums), and Brian Carney (Formerly of The Bloids & Lime Regal, bass) jamming behind J.T., the music is definitely legit!

JTX Exposed during his set at The Hayloft

Though the lyrics go from rebellious to comedic, the show itself is a visual and musical assault! J.T.’s manic stage presence and natural ability to entertain had the crowd jumping early on in his set. Cranking through many of the tracks from the band’s recent release, From Detroit, With Love, JTX definitely got the party started. As the set drew to a close J.T. had one last surprise for everyone as he launched into his hit Party Like A Rockstar…again! Having performed his signature tune early in the set, it was unexpected, but welcomed with huge applause. But that wasn’t all, we later learned that before the show, J.T. had run home on an errand. Unknown even to his own band, he had made a little costume change back home that became apparent as he began to, seemingly, undress on stage revealing his secret! Underneath his clothes he was wearing a full flesh tone bodysuit costume that was completely and alarmingly, anatomically correct….for a women!!

Curbstone Beauty

Always one for shock value, J.T. outdid himself here! You can find out more about J.T. in the story posted at www.detroitrockreview.com or, as always, you can find him in our Top Friends on the Dr2 MySpace Page. Next came Curbstone Beauty, another hometown group that has been weaving the circuit of late. We haven’t caught these guys for a while and were eager to hear their new stuff live. Brother’s, Evan(drums) & Kyle(Vox), with Johnny(Lead Guitar), Scott(Guitar) and TJ(Bass) showed they have been working hard, evidenced by a strong stage presence and tight performance. These guys have been able to blend a metal style with some great vocals and harmonies. Kyle kept working the crowd and drawing them closer to the stage, ending the night with a full floor, check’em out over on the Curbstone Beauty Myspace Page.

JoCaine played through a Detroit Cold

The vibe was definitely building as the crowd kept the party atmosphere bubbling in preparation for tonight’s headliner, Jocaine. JoCaine recently revamped his touring band that now features former Unheard guitarist Wally Fillipiak, Overloaded alums, Lorenzo Gonzalez on drums, John Sullens on rhythm & Michael Massie on bass, JoCaine somehow even snagged current Uncle Kracker keyboardist, Mark Miers. The down-home quality, engaging smile and personality that Jocaine displays on stage always make for a great night with his particular brand of country-rock music and tonight was no different. Though he was obviously struggling through a cold and losing his voice, he kept on and worked within what his voice would allow. Normally in this situation, Jo’s backup singer, Steffanie Christi’an would step up and help him through this situation with her powerful voice, but she is currently sidelined, so it was up to, of all people, Mark Miers! Mark has always been known to most as a solid musician, but tonight, he entertained, and we think even surprised everyone with his impressive vocals! To his credit, Jo never thought of stopping the show but kept on delivering the goods while singing his way through a full set of Motown Country, giving the crowd everything he had!! You gotta love that! Jo told us he is working on a new disc, so stay tuned as we’ll try to grab an early copy to give y’all a Dr2 View on his new work just as soon as we can! DetroitRockReview.com, the Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews!

Rocking The Limberlost With Herd & Lies Unknown

on 04 December 2008.

Rocking The Limberlost With Herd & Lies Unknown

Here’s a first, this past Thanksgiving weekend Dr2 loaded up the bus and headed north to make good on an invitation that we received back in late spring from some new friends we made during that huge $10,000 89X Battle of The Bands. It was during the finals of that contest that we had the chance to meet up with this band we had seen during the semi-finals that would load up a converted school bus with the band themselves along with 40 or so friends that were affectionately referred to as Herdlings. That’s right, we’re talking about the 89X BOTB Finalist Herd, a band that would travel nearly 200 miles one way all the way from Houghton Lake Michigan just to compete; on a Thursday! After a couple of failed attempts to meet up with Herd on their home turf, we were finally able to connect on a date a month or so ago. For good measure we decided to ask another band to join us, our friends from Lies Unknown, winners of the 89X Share The Stage Conest; Destination The Limberlost Lounge located on the shores of Houghton Lake to meet up with Herd. Dr2 has taken its share of road trips, but this would be the first time that we’ve brought along a band to compliment the band we were heading to see making Dr2 ecstatic that Lies Unknown agreed to come along! Pulling into the snow covered lot, we were took back by the amount of cars already parked, good thing Herd held a table for all of us since there was not any available when we walked in 2 hours before the show was to start! What an amazing venue too, from the moment you walked it was a visual overload, food cooking out in the open on a large fire pit, a large spacious area of full tables with people eating that food, and an awesome rock room that opened into the rest of the bar! Nice size stage to boot with rather large stacks on both sides, monitors, sound booth, and a light show to die for! After a couple of exclusive interviews with Herd and Lies Unknown (Keep an eye out for DetroitRockReview.com’s newest feature, Dr2 Interviews, coming soon!) it was time to get things rolling as Lies Unknown took to the stage with the Limberlost filling up quickly, kicking off their high energy set with Go Go You Know rolling right into Woodward Avenue. It didn’t take long for the Limberlost crowd to wander up to the stage, bouncing along to those infectious hooks they’ve never heard before as Lies Unknown filled the floor with She’s A Slut, then enticing the house into singing along with a thunderous chorus of “wh-o-o-o-o-a, wh-o-o-o-o-a”, during Whoa It’s Me, prompting that familiar chant of “one more song”, propelling Justin Alexander into a solo rendition of Don’t Stop Believing drawing more chants and another solo of Ring Of Fire! All this for a band the Limberlost crowd never heard or seen before, kudos to the Houghton Lake Rockers! A short break ensued before the hometown heroes, Herd came to the stage in front of hundreds of fans packed into the Limberlost in what was shaping up to be one hell of an up north night! Dr2 had waited close to six months for this moment and the Crew was as excited as everyone else in da house was to see Herd! Now here comes one of those moments that make Dr2 take to certain bands, in a straight up shout out to Alexander, Jeremiah Cooley (vox) of Herd kicked off their set with “this one’s for Justin”, before ripping off a ferocious cover of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison! Unbelievable! It didn’t take long for Herd to command the room’s attention, dropping some originals on us in Irie and Canada Ri from their new EP Obscenery before flying through some bombastic covers that got the Limberlost jumping! Being in northern Michigan, they do things a bit different where the bands play all night, so it was time for a well deserved break….. Break my ass, I think the break was just an excuse to party some more as the guys from Herd came by and hung out with us and the Lies gang while we all watched the Limberlost floor turn into a sea of bodies swaying, dancing, and before we knew it, calling for more Herd! No doubt that these guys are loved up here in HL, as they came back up on the stage to twice as many people in front of the stage than the first time! Not exactly sure of the attendance count, but we’d peg it as somewhere between 200-300?? Certainly looked like it! If you’ve had the chance to see Herd, then it’s quite obvious that they thrive on this type of response from the crowd, as they didn’t hold back an ounce of energy, blazing into their second set of the night which by now was bordering on insanity! Turning the heat up 10-20 degrees, melting the snow off the roof, Herd laid down one of the best covers of Rage Against The Machine that Dr2 has ever heard, literally igniting a fire in the pit that was quickly developing in front of them (oh yea I was right in there with them all). Another new tune from the EP, the reggae tinged, Choose Your Own quickly turned the pit into one giant fist pumping mob swarming the floor! Not ones that like to loose their momentum, Mike Cooley (guitar-keys) took the opportunity to take the insanity unfolding in front of him to a new level, scaling the stages massive rigging till he appeared on top of the thing nearly 20 foot in the air, and I’m not talking hanging on for dear life. No, I’m talking about flailing on the guitar while standing way up there above hundreds of Herdlings below who were begging for more! Crazy just kept getting crazier tonight as they ended the night (so we thought) with their massively huge title song off the EP, Obscenery, reigniting that mosh pit all around us, even got a few in with the Lies Unknown crazies! It was then that Herd rose above any band that we’d ever had the pleasure of seeing perform live before, announcing at the end of the set that Lies Unknown would return to the stage for a quick impromptu set which again showed just how unique of a band this group of brothers is, cementing a place in Dr2’s hearts for ever! Un-Herd of right? When was the last time you ever seen the headlining band give up the stage in front of hundreds of their own fans, to let a band they had never met before take over to finish out the night? Never seen it happen down here in the city, that’s for sure. Taking the opportunity, Lies Unknown quickly, & I mean quickly un-cased their gear, plugged into Herd’s backline and blasted off 2 final songs of which at this point kind of got lost in my head but believe they where Let It Take A Hold & She’s A Slut, before being joined back on stage with Herd finishing out the night much to the pleasure of the entire Limberlost crowd. We must say this about the Limbelost staff and all those Herdlings who were in the house tonight, and that is that we could not of felt more welcomed by a group of people than we did tonight, and obliviously they love their Herd, and tonight Herd showed that love back not only to Dr2 but our buddies in Lies Unknown who also were in a state of shock over the hospitality we were all receiving from this great group of people! We look forward to doing this again, both up there and hopefully down here somehow, somewhere, stay tuned cus Dr2 says it’ll be off the hook! Be sure to head on over to the Dr2 Photo Gallery where you’ll find more photo’s from the night, then be sure to head on over to the Dr2 MySpace page where you can find both these great bands listed in our “Top Friends”. Be sure to check back soon for the debut of the Dr2 Interviews featuring Herd and Lies Unknown! Detroit Rock Review, the Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews!

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