Harmonicology-The Phoenix Cafe-June 5th, 2010

By Krazy K
Motor City Blogger

The Venue:

The Phoenix Cafe, in Hazel Park, is unlike any other "cafe" in Metro-Detroit. Imagine you walk into your best friends finished basement, and there is some scattered furniture, a home-made bar, assorted works of art on the wall, and lots of friends lounging around. With an "open-minded" mentality, you'll smell the occasional whiff of medical marijuana (legally approved by the local government). They have a professional sound system, a good sized stage, good lighting, and a permanent web-cast setup which is something I have yet to see at any other venues.

Most of the gear and materials are donated, as is the funding for keeping this place open...purely donations. They don't have a cover charge, and they don't sell anything. But they serve coffee, tea, cookies, and other random goods. They just have a tip bucket, and a lot of artists and like-minded folks that have taken The Phoenix Cafe under their metaphorical wings.

And as is my tradition in reviews, there is one bathroom, which is clean and perfect for a 2-4 person clam bake.


The Performance:

The show was appropriately called "Harmonicology", which is precisely what this show was all about...the mouth harp.

With his briefcase in hand, containing a dozen or so harmonicas, Keith Dalton is a presence in any room. He is bold talker, but rightfully so. He is in fact, the person who built the stage, donated the PA, provided the professional three camera set-up, and hooked up the web-cast. He is a one man army when it comes to "getting it done". It all makes sense when you find out that he was the executive producer of "The Assembly Line Concert", in which he almost single-handedly organized over 300 acts to break a Guiness World Record for "longest continuous musical concert". If you need help to organize a festival, Keith is who you would want to contact.

Keith's "Harmonicology" concert, was being video taped for an upcoming DVD release under the same name, due for distribution as soon as editing is finalized. Donations for "Harmonicology" were also being used to help find homes for stray cats through the "Hold A Kitten" foundation.

For more on Keith Alan Dalton click HERE