If you were there, you know that the elements of mother nature conspired to slow the Detroit rock, roll, techno, country, blues and jump music explosion that was the Friday kickoff to the first annual Hamtramck Blowout last March. (It was even Friday the 13th, fer cryin' out loud!) But if you have faith in Detroit's music lovers, as we did, you'll certainly know that it takes more than a little springtime blizzard of horizontal snow to keep the fans away. The throngs of people that filled Motor Lounge, Attic Bar, Paycheck's Lounge, Lili's 21, Roadrunner's Raft and Holbrook Cafe March 13 & 14th (close to 3,000 folks slapped their tickets on the barrelhead by weekend's end to see the cream of Detroit's current musical crop and strapped on their good time party hats testified to just that.

The rough outline was thus: two nights, six venues and 74 bands! It, indeed, seemed like a somewhat crazy idea whose time had come, as all of the participating artists generously volunteered their time onstage and, as importantly, stuck around to see sets by some of Detroit's better known scene entities as well as those by exciting newcomers. Some, like electro-popsters Godzuki, teamed up with others (in this case, avant-noise crew Princess Dragonmom) for some once-in-a-lifetime results. The spirit of the Blowout made for one helluva sonic smorgasbord. Extra super gratitude to each of the bands that made the event happen. See you next year! -- Chris Handyside