You may have heard him before and not realized who you were listening to with such numbers as "Stroke Me" and then probably even more familiar, "What Do You Say?' as heard on The Hangover film soundtrack. This night in Hollywood, Mickey's hometown, was the release of his new album, Loaded. It was clearly a release show as my friend's photo of Mickey for his album cover hung prominently on the side of the building of the Key Club where the show took place. I didn't show up in time to catch every opening act, but Andre Legacy performed right before Mickey. Bitches were in abundance and the promise of debauchery lurked in the air like the smell of stale beer from last night's house party in the hills that got broken up by the cops, only you're not concerned about cleaning up all evidence of said debauchery taking place before your parents come home. Mickey holds a "flamboyant" hitch in his giddy-up that familiar acts display like the infamous Jesse Hughes that somehow performs magical submissive powers on females everywhere. All meatheads and alpha males take note: It's not testosterone that we're interested in choking on, but the overabundant flow of pure confidence and charisma spilling out of tight male skinny jeans. You know what else makes him bad ass? He's a street artist in the LA-based "graffiti crew", CBS. Thunders meets Shepard Fairey? Mickey Avalon may write and perform hip-hop songs but "homeboy" is completely punk rock. Whenever he makes his way into the D, his show is definitely worth seeing.
Get tickets to the 6/29 Pontiac show at The Crofoot
