Finally, the big day has arrived. All of the excitement has led up to this. Blowout, day 1. A few local notables are wandering around (Ty Stone, Bootsey X) looking every bit as joyful and full of life as this writer. The Blowout experience is akin to that of taking in a swimming pool full of Red Bull intravenously, without actually having to go to the effort. After all of this anticipation, the opening night can only be a let down right? Wrong.
There wasn’t a bad band on tonight’s bill (although, admittedly, I didn’t watch Computer Perfection after seeing them before and not particularly caring for them).
As for the bands that I did see, Loretta Lucas of the Sisters Lucas seems to be having fun bashing away at electric instruments with Mirror Twin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. was doing OKwith his country funk, until the stage was inexplicably invaded by a wailing, bespectacled hobbit, Joey Mazzola’s Sugarcoats had the best pop tunage of the night; Doop & the Inside Outlaws played some absolutely quality country that made downtown Detroit seem like a far more peaceful place for a moment or two; Bad Party shouted a lot, like gatecrashers at a karaoke party, but they made up for it with a blasphemous but oddly great version of AC/DC’s “TNT”; Kenny Tudrick’s Cannon, like Bulldog before them, saw the multi-instrumentalist strap on a guitar and play some of the finest blues-rock licks in town, recalling Exile On Main Street era Stones and F’ke Blood had some decent, Talking Head-esque tunes even though they come across as a bit of a hipster social club, though guitarist Dion Fischer, formerly of the Go, did seem happy to be in a superior band.
Of the final two bands, the Displays get better with each passing show. The former boy wonders are becoming men, and they’re maturing into one of the best balls-out rock ’n’ roll bands in the city. Chapstik are a very different proposition, though are equally as impressive. Anybody starting to get tired is given a harsh 2 a.m. wake up call. Let’s face it, the festival is but young.
And so it is that day 1, the Pre-Party, is over and the actual Hamtramck festival lies before us like a pathway to unimaginably heavenly treats.
First though, sleep
