In terms of performer-enthusiasm, packed-line-ups and this almost-baffling all-in-participatory fervor, the only other time of year that could rival Halloween would be the bustle of the Blowout.
Rock n roll's much like a zombie... Call it dead, rotting-even, but it keeps stumbling forward and it keeps latching onto your skull, keeps getting in your head. The thrill of "cover-sets" amplifies when its spun by your local indie-rock heroes--the bands you know and love for their own unique styles -be it Bars of Gold's aerodynamic, tumble-scorched-blues (taking the form of Bruce Springsteen) or agit-grooved dance-rockers Pink Lighting (aiming for rock you with rhapsodies of a Bohemian nature, as Queen).
You can see an all-male quartet (pop-leaning rockers Citizen Smile) doll-up as Katy Pery or see eletronica-auteur Deastro pay homage to cult hero composer Giorgio Moroder... But Quiet Riot, too...and Huey Lewis and the News. Even Prince or Sade...or...Skrillex?
It's heartening when you consider the lengths some go to for what might otherwise be just fleeting hero-worship... But, damn if it isn't entertaining.
I still go back to Year-1 of the Crofoot's (now infamous) "Creepy Cheapy" series of Halloween hullabaloos... When Nirvana (a.k.a. Detroit-based drone-dazzled-pop-metal marauder's Child Bite) went on, blond-wigged and flanneled out as multiple Kurt Cobain's, blitzing through mosh-inspiring b-sides from Incesticide... Everybody lost their shit. It was an inspirational "seeing-a-ghost" type invigoration... It's like loosing yourself, giving over to the fan side of you who knows all the words to these songs... The same way Oblisk's singer/guitarist couldn't help the jittery-windmilling-arm-flail dance of Ian Curtis when his band-mates his that wicked groove of "Transmission" by Joy Division.
It gets in you...
For horror movies or "slasher flicks," the fifth installment is usually a tired, gimmicky display of the same old cuts... But the Crofoot's keeping it fresh this year
Halloween in Detroit is always epic. It helps that we have so many freaking bands, but it's doubly aided by their enthusiasm, all to easily sparked at this time of year, to put on some make-up and dedicate 4 weeks of their regular practice sessions to learning the parts to "California Girls" or "Born in the U.S.A." ...or "Stairway to Heaven."
We'll see what happens.
Info from the Crofoot -(-including the enticing option of the "Enhanced Ticket" and the "Candy Eating Contest of Doom."
Anyhow... here's the run-down:Bars of Gold as BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Members of The Armed, Old Gods, and ex-Dillinger Escape Plan as ANDREW WK
Members of Estuaries, Jamaican Queens, Destroy This Place, Illy Mack as LED ZEPPELIN
Cold Men Young as BAD BOY ENTERTAINMENT
Pink Lightning as QUEEN
Bat on Fire as HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS
Citizen Smile as KATY PERRY
Summer Pledge as REFUSED
JSB as THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Lauren Deming as FLEETWOOD MAC
Deastro as GIORGIO MORODER
Stranger Danger as MODEST MOUSE
The Beggars as QUIET RIOT
Group Therapy as DEFTONES
Oscillating Fan Club as THE KINKS
CCU as SADE
The Ashleys as PRINCE
The Kodaks as THE CLASH
Crash Davis & The Strangers as THE FLAMING LIPS
The Bobby Electric as QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
DJ Sets by:
Erno the Inferno
Nothing Elegant
Brandon Audette
Andrew Remdenok as APHEX TWIN
Ryan Spencer as SKRILLEX
LexBots as 90’s CLUB MTV
