Bars of Gold - Photo by Doug Coombe
Hustle and Bustle... The Metro Times' 16th Blowout Festival kicks-off tonight at the Magic Stick with a fitful, blurring band summit: 20-ish minute sets from 25 bands.
Bars of Gold10:40 PM to 11:00 PM
@ Magic Stick - Stage 2
Spread across three stages (including down in the Garden Bowl, near the shiny lanes and close enough to smell the garlic of Sgt. Pepperoni's), it might border on cluster-fuck status - but likely still land on its feet (but that's fitting for any rock-show!)
Citizen Smile8:00 PM to 8:20 PM
@ Magic Stick - Stage 2
This is an ideal night/opportunity to get your wrist-bands...depending on whether you just want one weekend (Hamtramck: Friday or Saturday or Ferndale--5/2, 5/3, 5/4). It's especially enticing, tonight, should you be on the fence about committing, full-tilt (...or half-tilt) - because it's an accelerated and amplified local rock revue -or somewhat of a live-music (movie) trailer, splicing together all the one-liners and explosions and car-chases of songs, that samples about a quarter of the performing bands (featured over the next two weekends).
George Morris9:00 PM to 9:20 PM
@ Magic Stick - Stage 1
Special treats tonight include The Sights' Foxy Blowout Waltz - With the consummate soul-blues-garage rockers playing "back-up-band" to a range of other outfits spanning a range of different genres. That's later in the night - as are sets from notables like Amy Gore & Her Valentines, Phantasmagoria, The Hounds Below and potential break-outs like Flint Eastwood.
Almost Free10:20 PM to 10:40 PM
@ Garden Bowl Lounge
But I'm streaming a few of the acts that will get things started, playing earlier in the evening.
Hopefully the weather's nice. Blowout has always been held during the first week of March - which, for Michigan, is probably the most miserable, tempestuous, icy/slushy week of the calendar year. Now it's Spring! But it's almost like the ghosts of Blowout-past are still clawing some chilly-fingers onto our shoulders - we even had some snow flurries yesterday afternoon. Blowout in warm weather, I'm not ready for that, it just seems surreal. It's fitting that it'd still be just a tad brisk.
Enjoy the music. There's much to hear.
The Walking Beat9:40 PM to 10:00 PM
@ Garden Bowl Lounge
