After circling around to find something else worth listening to, I came back to the library for Rogue Satellites. I think I've seen them before, but they didn't make much of an impression on me. This time I was digging their catchy lo-fi electro backed pop-rock. (Does that jumble of words make it sound like I know what I'm talking about?)
The Detroit Party Marching Band piled into the library after Rogue Satellites finished their set. They're not just about showing up unexpected any more. If you got to see them years ago, you can tell that they actually rehearse now.
The marching band piled into the Rustbelt after Amy Gore finished. This was the best night of the Ferndale leg. More hits than misses, and everything is better when the Detroit Party Marching Band shows up.
Bands I saw that night that I'm putting in the "whatever" category: Briscoe County Vultures, Dolfish, Luddites, Touch the Clouds, and The A-Gang.
Despite moments here and there of a band playing to a congested room, turnout for both the Hamtramck and Ferndale weekends felt low overall. For the five minutes that I watched Sponge at PNA Hall, it was 1/3 full, and that was the largest crowd I saw in that room this year. At last year's Blowout, The Dirtbombs had that room packed.
While I can't dismiss that some people were boycotting the whole Blowout because of the expansion, I think that part of the problem is that there weren't any big "can't miss" acts on the lineup. I think Sponge is scheduled to play another show before the month is even over. Meatmen reunions won't be that rare, since the band is going to release new material again. Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas are awesome, but they played at St. Andrew's Hall less than a month or two ago. Amy Gore and the Valentine had another performance the very same day.
Despite moments here and there of a band playing to a congested room, turnout for both the Hamtramck and Ferndale weekends felt low overall. For the five minutes that I watched Sponge at PNA Hall, it was 1/3 full, and that was the largest crowd I saw in that room this year. At last year's Blowout, The Dirtbombs had that room packed.
While I can't dismiss that some people were boycotting the whole Blowout because of the expansion, I think that part of the problem is that there weren't any big "can't miss" acts on the lineup. I think Sponge is scheduled to play another show before the month is even over. Meatmen reunions won't be that rare, since the band is going to release new material again. Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas are awesome, but they played at St. Andrew's Hall less than a month or two ago. Amy Gore and the Valentine had another performance the very same day.
Even though the expanded Blowout only ventured about a mile into the suburbs, it still played into the narrative of urban disinvestment. Metro Times Publisher Chris Sexson didn't make it any better when he said, "But I've found, even among some of the younger music and creative
people, that some people don’t want to go down there, the same as some
people might not want to go into downtown Detroit".
Brett Callwood of the Metro Times has been more tactful, saying, "The Blowout had to change to survive". He would make a stronger case if he would give out wristband sales figures from the last several years, but I doubt that's going to happen.
The Metro Times could try to make the case that since bar patronage across all of Hamtramck is declining year after year, that a partial move to the suburbs was inevitable. If they had expanded to Corktown instead, the outrage would have been about gentrifying neighborhoods. Is there some way to restore three full worthwhile nights to Hamtramck, while still recreating what happened Saturday night in Ferndale? Does an event in Ferndale need to tie into the Blowout to get noticed?
Whatever conclusions are drawn about this year's Blowout, I just know that I'm going to catch a bunch of shit from my Hamtramck friends for openly admitting that I enjoyed the last night in Ferndale.
Brett Callwood of the Metro Times has been more tactful, saying, "The Blowout had to change to survive". He would make a stronger case if he would give out wristband sales figures from the last several years, but I doubt that's going to happen.
The Metro Times could try to make the case that since bar patronage across all of Hamtramck is declining year after year, that a partial move to the suburbs was inevitable. If they had expanded to Corktown instead, the outrage would have been about gentrifying neighborhoods. Is there some way to restore three full worthwhile nights to Hamtramck, while still recreating what happened Saturday night in Ferndale? Does an event in Ferndale need to tie into the Blowout to get noticed?
Whatever conclusions are drawn about this year's Blowout, I just know that I'm going to catch a bunch of shit from my Hamtramck friends for openly admitting that I enjoyed the last night in Ferndale.
This post by:
I'm a dork, I live in the Detroit area, and sometimes I take blurry photos on an outdated camera
