To fire up the crowd for the evening was Detroit's very own The Infatuations, a hard working band that prides itself on it's Motown roots, funky hooks, danceable beats, and featuring one of the best undiscovered singers in the Detroit area, Caleb Gutierrez. The Infatuations have steadily been working and wowing crowds all around the Midwest with their fresh take on a rejuvenated Motown sound. Christian Draheim and Marco Lowe started the band as an acoustic cover duo but soon realized that they had something special going on with the original material they had been working on and began recruiting other local musicians to help flesh out the sound. The current line up consists of Christian Draheim, Caleb Gutierrez, Chris Polite, The Wolf, Robert Myers and Nick Behnan. You may have seen them captivate the crowds at Detroit River Days or Arts, Beats and Eats in 2012 where they stopped people in their tracks lost in the moment of sound that poured forth from the stage they occupied. You can catch them at a few gigs this month including a free gig at the Motor City Casino Soundboard. Check 'em out, dig 'em, they are a band to watch grow in our fine city.
2/27/13
Show Review: Willy Moon @ The Shelter wsg/The Infatuations
Walking in to The Shelter this past Monday night, I really had no idea what to expect from the show I was about to cover. I honestly hadn't heard of Willy Moon until a few days before the show and had scant time to scope out the history behind this cool cat. Descending in to the catacombic basement of Saint Andrews Hall and checking out the ample crowd that had congregated for the evening's performance, I quickly came to realize that this was going to be something unique to capture if all these people had brought themselves down here on a Monday night to see this show. Willy Moon and his entourage arrived shortly before stage time, fresh off a few strings of bowling at the Garden Bowl, yet still looking cool as a cat in the shade on a hot summer day without a care in the world, espousing a cool demeanor that would have put him right at home in the Rat Pack of yesterday. Taking the stage shortly after 9pm, this dapper, distinguishably dressed gentleman proceeded to ignite the crowd while channeling the likes of Elvis and Sinatra, Iggy Pop and The Ramones, and every other sort of cool kitchen sink you could toss in there. Watching this fellow explode on stage, transformed from the quiet and well spoken young man I had just interviewed a half hour before was an experience that truly captivated me. With the crowd fully engaged, Willy and his band held court through their hour long set with a relentless, throttle set to 11, balls to the wall in your face rock and roll that left everyone in the venue chanting for more.
