Wild At Heart

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

I hope everyone had a good Fourth of July weekend and forgives me posting one day late. I spent the week at the pool or either working (Modest Mouse, Stars & Stripes Festival) or seeing concerts (Clapton/Daltrey) though I was disappointed that Jason Derulo's plane had mechanical issues and he missed his free show at the Stars And Stripes Festival yesterday. I was also disappointed to find out that the Korean girl group Wonder Girls canceled their Detroit date this week and that Lilith Fair has imploded canceling 10 dates down south and Queen Latifah, Kelly Clarkson and La Roux all dropping off the tour leaving the tour as a partial shell of itself. The Courtyard Hounds (2/3 of the Dixie Chicks) have been added but it doesn't seem as fun. What happened to all that girl power? This has been a weird year for concerts with a bunch of tours getting canceled, pushed back or reworked. I think the tours that are hurting most are those that are charging too much or playing venues bigger than their audiences at this time. I have been at a lot of sold out shows recently which shows people are going to concerts but I think a lot of bands have to rework their business model for these economic times. Speaking of shows, here are my picks for the week.

Tuesday (7/06) – one of the best live bands ever, Devo @ Power Center (Ann Arbor)

Wednesday (7/07) - 311 & Offspring @ Pine Knob, Verve Pipe @ Detroit Zoo

Thursday (7/08) – country rockers the Outlaws open for Travis Tritt @ Pine Knob

Friday (7/09) - George Clinton & P-Funk @ Chene Park, guitarist Dave Mason @ Ren Center for Rocking On The Riverfront, Silverstein @ St Andrews Hall, local rockers Catfish Mafia @ Riley Park (Farmington), Hentchmen w/Graveside Manner @ the Ritz (Warren)

Saturday (7/10) - punk rockers GBH w/ Outernational @ Small’s, the great Richie Havens @ the Ark, Santana w/ Steve Winwood @ Pine Knob, Scott Morgan & Irrationals CD release party w/Howling Diablos and Doop & The Inside Outlaws @ Magic bag

Sunday (7/11) - Hole w/Foxy Shazam @ Fillmore, Matt Kearney @ the Ark, the lovely Sara Bareilles opens for One Republic @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

Moving on to movies, the new M Night Shyamalan summer blockbuster opened and kids everywhere were excited. I have always enjoyed sci-fi/horror films, so I should love the fact that there is a big time director making these types of films but while promising, his last four movies (The Happening, Lady In The Water, The Village, Signs) have been big disappointments for me. His recent films really tend to lack heart so I wondered what his newest release would be like. Unfortunately, while playing on a grander scale than his last four films combined, the same issues seem to plague this film. Starting off for those not familiar with the source material, the “Last Airbender” takes place in a world which is divided into four kingdoms based on the the four elements (Water, Air, Earth, and Fire). Each kingdom has people which can harness the powers of the elements though the Fire Nation decides it's clan should dominate the world and when they learn of the coming of a new Avatar (a person of one of the tribes who ensures peace throughout the land) to the Air Nomads, they wipe them out to ensure no interference in their plans to rule the world. However, the Avatar has escaped and is trapped until he is found 100 years later by siblings Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) from a Southern Water Tribe. They decide to help the Avatar learn the skills needed to bring peace upon the land and defeat the plans of the current Fire Lord Ozai while forming strong bonds with his exiled son, Prince Zuko. The films ends with a big fight when the Fire Nation launches a big attack against the Northern Water Kingdom in hopes of crushing a major enemy and also capturing the Avatar. That is when we find this is part 1 of a series which I find really annoying since it leaves a lot open and for those that actually like the film, they need to hope it makes enough money to make a sequel possible. I'll start off with the positive aspects of the movie and that is solely laid on the shoulders of the wonderful FX team at ILM and the fight choreographers. The film is absolutely wonderful to watch, probably best with the sound off. The fight scenes with their wire work and FX magic of clashing elements are wonderful to watch and the ice castles of the Northern Tribe are stellar. Beyond that, there is not much help as the cast seems almost forced in giving their lines. Only the scenes between Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) and Uncle Iroh (Shaun Toub) seem to have any real emotion behind them. I think I might have to call Shyamalan's writing skills to task here. If he directs the sequel, he might have to go the George Lucas route on having better writers take charge of the film's dialogue and have him focus on directing only. I hope fans of the series get the opportunity to see the film trilogy get finished but I don't see how that can happen with Shyamalan at the reigns, esp with the backlash against having a all white cast which might hurt marketing in Asian countries which is where the source material comes from. I'll give the movie a C- if only because I feel younger kids will enjoy it no matter what (based on the popularity of the anime) and on the power of the FX which might make this a great $1 film when it hits those theatres.



This weeks band of the week will be 100 Monkeys. I feel sorry for Jackson Rathbone being stuck in the “The Last Airbender” but I am a fan of his band which he formed with with two friends whom he met in high school at Interlochen Arts Academy, Ben Graupner and Ben Johnson. I still don't understand the significance of the banana unless it's some artsy thing (maybe a tribute to Warhol). I will be playing an interview with Jackson and Nicola about “The Last Airbender”on my show this upcoming Saturday morning (between 8-10AM on WXOU 88.3FM or www.wxou.org) but here are a few songs to hold you over until then.




Have a good week and here are some picture of Jackson and Nicola when they were in town last weekend.

and stuff by photographer supreme Riaz:




Also, Wild Bill, Buddy Guy and Saad @ Legends in Chicago.

Lastly, I have interviews with Detroit legends singer Kim Weston and guitarist Dennis Coffey on my show this Saturday also.

The Northern Skies w/ Holy Ghost Tent Revival - Majestic Cafe Detroit - Wed 7/7

Following a highly successful Wayfarer Roots & Bluegrass Festival that saw 400 sweaty roots music fans cram into the Magic Stick, Grand Circus Media is proud to announce the first of a series of "Wayfarer Presents" concerts at the Majestic Theater Complex. Throughout the year we will continue to bring up and coming and national roots, bluegrass, folk, and americana acts to Detroit.

Roots music is alive in the D!!!

We're very excited to have The Northern Skies return to Detroit following their rousing Wayfarer set earlier this month. They will be joined by one of our new favorite bands, Greensboro, NC's own Holy Ghost Tent Revival.

Wednesday July 7, 2010
The Northern Skies w/ Holy Ghost Tent Revival
Majestic Cafe, Detroit MI
9 PM / $7.00 / 18+

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THE NORTHERN SKIES
Whether they're playing at a brewery pub, a music festival, or on a street corner, the Michigan-based band The Northern Skies play "acoustic, bluegrass-tinged folk that perks up your ears with an infectious, indie-rock sheen" (The Grand Rapids Free Press, Grand Rapids MI). Ask the band and they will tell you that their music is acoustic folk-rock with teeth!

"The Northern Skies takes bluegrass, Americana, and Celtic music and pours it through an indie rock funnel to distill something that sounds like a party out in the back yard. And yes, there is moonshine at that party" -- Revue Magazine Grand Rapids, MI

http://www.thenorthernskies.com/
http://www.facebook.com/thenorthernskies

HOLY GHOST TENT REVIVAL
Characterized as "explosively intoxicating," Greensboro, NC's Holy Ghost Tent Revival cannot be pigeonholed into any popular genre. Melding brass with banjo, guitar, bass, drums, and keys this six-piece ensemble boasts an eclectic mash of instruments and styles -- a musical alchemy all their own.

Fantastically entertaining mixture of dirty jazz, roots country/bluegrass, big band and rock that can only be described as explosively intoxicating. The kind of "explosive" that one of those people shot from a cannon perhaps feels." -- Matthew Godbey, The Post & Courier

http://www.holyghosttentrevival.com/
http://www.facebook.com/holyghosttentrevival

RANI ARBO & DAISY MAYHEM - DIA Friday Night Live - July 9th

ACCLAIMED STRING BAND RANI ARBO & DAISY MAYHEM

IN CONCERT AT THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ART- JULY 9

THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ART

5200 Woodward Avenue in Detroit

Show times: TWO SHOWS- 7:00 PM and 8:30 PM

Ticket price: Free with museum admission.

Venue website: http://www.dia.org

Information phone: 313-833-7900

This evening will also include gallery tours,

drop in art events and workshops for the entire family:

http://www.dia.org/calendar/friday-night

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>About
Meet Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem:

Wicked grooves, sublime lead singing, great harmonies, sparkling original songs, and a deep repertoire that spans 200 years of American music. Four people who share an irresistible chemistry on stage- an unusually gleeful string band that celebrates both tradition and improvisation that stumps the categorizers and thrills audiences.Musically, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem serves up a jubilant and unabashed mix of traditional, original, and contemporary sounds. Arbo’s beautiful, expressive alto is at the helm, with rich four-part harmonies, a 100% recycled drum set, fiddle, guitar, and bass. These artists draw their vintage American sounds and their incisive songwriting from the same deep well. In one show you might hear a pre civil war song from the Georgia Sea Islands sung over a New Orleans style groove or an old Irish fiddle tune with new lyrics, capped with a solo on a South American box drum.

A Leonard Cohen song with claw hammer banjo?

An original Unitarian funk gospel song?

You begin to get the idea.

With influences from Doc Watson to Django Reinhardt, from Ghanaian drumming to the funky Meters, and from Fiddlin’ John Carson to Bob Dylan, daisy mayhem celebrates America’s rich musical past and brings it into the present. Their show fearlessly explores the nooks and crannies of the human condition; The Boston Globe called it “playful and profound.” Here are four musicians who pick up what’s lying around — from tin cans, to old songs, to stories — and create something wonderful and new. Ranky Tanky, the band's stellar family album was released in January, 2010 and was the winner of the Parent's Choice 2010 award for best family CD.

BAAR BAZAAR 2010 - Majestic Theatre Detroit - Sat 7/10

This year marks the five year anniversary of the Baar Bazaar!

Originally just a handful of vendors selling in the Garden Bowl for a summer, the Baar Bazaar has grown and evolved over the years, has been a stepping stone for hundreds of businesses, designers and vendors in Michigan, and has inspired many others to organize lots of similar shows.

CHECK ALL THE VENDORS HERE

http://rewarevintage.com/blog/category/baar-bazaar/

To celebrate the past five years, we are doubling the size of the Summer Baar Bazaar! The Majestic Theater will be host to 30+ vendors on Saturday, July 10th, from 8pm-2am. We are very excited to have Eleanora and Mod Orange playing while you shop! Please, no presents necessary - just have a drink with us and get yourself something there instead! As always, admission is free, doors open at 8pm, and this is an all ages event. Shoppers can drink, watch a free show and shop til 2:00 am!

Come the 2010 Summer Baar Bazaar

for locally made items

and unique vintage items

from Michigan based businesses!
Don’t miss it!!!

UPCOMING: GHO FEST - LAger House Detroit - July 17th

Wyandotte Street Art Festival - July 7th - 10th

Wyandotte Street Art and Music Festival
W. Jefferson at the River

Wednesday - Saturday

July 7th - 10th 2010

http://www.wyandottestreetartfair.org/

UPCOMING: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion w/ DUENDE! & LMCA - Crofoot Ballroom Pontiac - Friday July 16th

Another do not miss show out at The Crofoot Pontiac

Jon Spencer brings his blues explosion back to town

with support from 2 of Detroit's best

DUENDE! & Lee MArvin Computer Arm

http://www.thecrofoot.com/events/1047.html

MCB Pick of the Week: Physch Out Music Fest - Blind Pig Ann Arbor - Sat 7/10

PHOTOS: Hypernova @ The Majestic Café 7/1/10

Hypernova may be from Iran, but they're all rock.

They have a controlled intensity that few can match. As I was taking pictures, I had to stop to watch the show and listen to the music. It'll grab a hold of you. I had to get a cd.

Self-described as "a futuristic version of Joy Division meets the Chameleons with a little bit Che Guevara," I couldn't sum up their sound any better then this, "Hypernova's exciting, primal music is the sound of minimal, dark epic techno converted into rock n' roll.

They honed their chops in the underground scene of Tehran. Playing secret shows for fear of arrest, large fines, or even public flogging. It gives new meaning to suffering for your art. We, americans, take for granted, our right to listen to and play music from all over the world. We should give Hypernova a chance for that reason. We should continue to listen to them because they rock.

"At a time when the chasm between the East and West is growing daily and misplaced hostility and lack of communication are thwarting any efforts at building bridges, it is reassuring to know that there is still one medium that remains uncorrupted by patty bigotry and short-sightedness, and transcends all issues of race, religion and ideology." NOX Magazine.

Hopefully,

we music lovers can show the way and be accepting of all, no matter our view of the world.

PHOTOS: Steel Panther @ The Royal Oak Music Theater 6/24/10

If you weren't here, you missed a great show. The showmanship was awesome, the musicianship impeccable, the lyrics cleaver and fun, and the fans were having an awesome time. You'll see many in the audience knew the songs, throwing "The Shocker" in place of the horns. This sets of pics will give you an idea of what the show was like, well party is more like it.

ENJOY

Wild At Heart - Cyndi reviews

Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University

Wild At Heart

All my fans know that with Cyndi Lauper in town yesterday at the Motor City Casino, I would have to do a review of the show. First, I had dinner at the Asembly Line Buffet which is still as good as always esp their sushi and dessert bars. The turkey and prime rib is also a favorite. This is the first show I have seen at the Sound Board so I didn’t know what to expect. My seats were in the 4th row on the floor which was pretty decent. Being on that level, I did wish the stage was about 6-8 inches lower to give a better view because the first row would seem to suffer neck strain after a full show. One of my friends was sitting on the next level, second row on the side and was even with the stage. That is supposed to be the best seat in the house for viewing. Luckily, Cyndi played close to the edge of the stage so I had a great view the whole show. The seats are small and hooked together so they aren’t the most comfortable but not bad unless you get a real heavyset person sitting next to you and then things could get ugly. I didn’t price drinks but they did have 2 bars on the floor with the main bar right outside the front doors where you came in. The bathrooms are a bit of a walk if you are on the floor but they do have a nice handicap accessibility if in a wheelchair. Also, they have a little cubbyhole on the main floor where artists can sell their merch (I bought a tour t-shirt for a respectable $25 considering $35 seems to be the going price and she was selling signed CD’s for only $10). The sound for the show started off with a small gaffe during her first song but after that, it was crisp and clear, although her blues-harp player could’ve been turned up a bit higher.

The show started with English songwriter/guitarist David Rhodes who is probably best-known for his extensive work of 30 years with singer Peter Gabriel. He came out and did a 40 minute set of about 6 songs of his own material. I talked to him briefly after the show and he is just starting to work on solo material after years of sessions work. His first solo record, ‘Bittersweet’, came out in 2009. He has also added his spare, elegant guitar style to albums by artists as diverse as Paul McCartney, Joan Armatrading and Roy Orbison. In addition, David fronted a band called Random Hold, which was successful in the late 1970s and was also a significant contributor to the music of Vitamin Z and Talk Talk.

Cyndi started the show playing her entire blues album and was accompanied during her set by blues legend Charlie Musselwhite who played a wicked blues-harp. During her second and third songs, “Shattered Dreams” and “Early In The Morning”, she came out into the audience. She ended up standing on the chair directly behind me for ‘Morning’ which of course had me excited as I was mere inches from her. She doesn’t climb speakers anymore, but at 57 she can still run around the stage with the best of them. Of the songs, only “Crossroads” and “How Blue Can You Get” sounded like they could have been grittier and more bluesy. It seems odd to have Cyndi singing all these blues songs but this has been something she has been wanting to do for the last 8 years. At one point she addressed a fan who was shouting out songs they wanted to hear with “I have been doing greatest hits shows for the past 10 years so now I am doing what I want to do” and letting the crowd know she will sing what she wants and they either follow along or get out of the way. I applaud her strength to do something like this and enjoy listening to her talk about the music. She told stories of meeting BB King when she was 19 and how important Robert Jordan and Ma Rainey are to our musical heritage, telling the audience to go home and go online to youtube these artists and reconnect with this legacy. The best of the blues songs for me was a rocked out version of “Rollin’ and Tumbin’” which was popularized by the great Muddy Waters and just as interesting as the version Jeff Beck played at Crossroads.

After a short break, she ended the show with some of her best and most popular songs including the underrated “Who Let In The Rain”, “Change Of Heart”, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”, “Time After Time”, “Mother Earth” (from new album) and “True Colors” which had the audience dancing in the aisles. During ‘Girls’, she did a brief line from “Dancing In The Streets’ to honor Martha Reeves who was at the show (about 3 rows behind me) and looking good. This was one of the best, if not the best, show I have ever seen her put on. Charlie definitely made the show better by his presence.

On Billboard this week, Cyndi’s new album “Memphis Blues” debuted at #26 (#1 Blues album). “Memphis Blues” is Lauper's third highest charting album on the Billboard 200 of her career only trailing her first two releases “She’s So Unusual” and “True Colors”. In addition seven songs from the album ranked in the Top 25 on Billboard's Blue Digital Songs chart including a #1 bow for "Crossroads" with Jonny Lang. The album itself surprised me about good it was since Cyndi’s voice, while having a terrific range, isn’t know for that grittiness which seems to set the standard for the blues. Jonny Lang’s guitar, Allen Toussaint’s piano, Charlie Musselwhite’s blues-harp and BB King’s vocals all give the album the much needed cred along with some wonderful blues session people who have worked with all the blues greats and contribute to this album. I love the fact that Cyndi is doing new things and while a couple of the songs don’t seem to work, most of them do which just goes to show why I think Cyndi is one of the most talented and gutsy performers on the planet. Highlights on the album include "Early in the Mornin'" and "Mother Earth" which both include Toussait's tremendous blues piano licks while ‘Early’ also has BB King’s wonderful blues vocals, the fierce "Rollin' and Tumblin'" with Ann Peebles throaty alto complementing Lauper's vocal style, the slow and sexy "Romance in the Dark" and the boogie-woogie arrangement for "Don't Cry No More". The album is definitely stronger than it has a right to be. I give the album a B+.



PS - I also have a pair of tickets for Hole’s upcoming Sunday, July 11th show at the Fillmore with opener Foxy Shazam. The tour is in support of their new album “Nobody’s Daughter” though it only feature Courtney Love and a whole new line-up of musicians. The opener, Foxy Shazam, is supporting their first self-titled major label release. The single, "Unstoppable", was released in February 2010 and was featured during Super Bowl XLIV. Lead singer Eric Nally is getting a lot of comparisons to the late Freddie Mercury and they rely on a heavy dose of theatrics and over-the-tops lyrics which should excite any fan. To win tickets, send me an email to doramu13@yahoo.com with an answer to what movie did Courtney Love get a Golden Globes nomination for her acting. First correct response wins.

Twilight fans might be interested in the fact that a member of the cast "Twilight: Eclipse" will be surprising Detroit fans and moviegoers at the MJR Marketplace 20 and the Uptown Palladium tomorrow, July 3rd. So you might want to stake out the theatre and see who is going to show. I don't the who or when but it is going down. You can visit www.eclipsethemovie.com for the latest updates.

NXNE 2010 update from STATIC

Check out all the photo sets here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50034279@N00/collections/72157624234960873/




NXNE Music & Film Festival and Conference in Toronto June 14-20, 2010

I just got back from my annual trek to Toronto for the NXNE Music & Film Festival and Conference. This year's festival surpassed the previous years with its multitude of musical offerings and independent films. The 2010 version of NXNE hosted 650 bands from around the world, 40 films and thousands of attendees. The highlight was the stellar FREE concert at the heart of the city in Yonge and Dundas Square that featured one of the first North American appearances by Iggy and The Stooges with James Williamson back on guitar, the seminal L.A. punk band X, Seattle grunge-masters Mudhoney and old and new favorites such as Sloan and The Raveonettes. The square was the place to be! A music market was set up in the square daily and acted as a central meeting place for attendees and bands. Seven free park and public stages held outdoor concerts along with two stages at the airport and even the train station! 50 clubs across the city were slamming every night from dusk till dawn with music fans checking out bands from across the globe. Performing bands included London's The Gin Riots and Comanechi to L.A. punks The Zeros and a special acoustic set by John Doe and Exene of X. The festival features an eclectic mix as all genres of music were well represented; rock, country, electronic to hip hop, singer-songwriters and metalheads could all be found on one of the stages every night. Most clubs hosted 3 a.m. shows with last call at 4 a.m. for a full night of entertainment.

The conference portion of NXNE hosted celebrity interviews with Mudhoney and John Doe & Exene of X, which was a definite highlight of the weekend. The duo told tales of their humble beginnings and how they keep on rockin' after 30 years is because they still enjoy it! Other music industry panels covered topics ranging from marketing, booking and touring, music licensing and the annual "Demo Derby" where music execs critique your music.

I finally got the chance to attend the film festival this year. The ever expanding film festival showcased 40 independent and underground films from around the world. Some of this years' offerings were U.K. director Don Lett's music documentaries "Strummerville" and "Supersonic Sound: The Rebel Dread," the rock n' roll vampire flick "Suck," and two 'making of the record' documentaries; the premiere of "The Stones In Exile" and "Search and Destroy: Iggy Pop and The Stooges Raw Power".

An NXNE debut was "Interactive" a new media workshop that was sold out in advance and will be back next year due to its success. Two more new offerings were a rock art poster show at the Twist Gallery and the NXNE record show. Another festival doing was the NXPO trade show at the hotel with live performances during the day that was a preview for the night's showcases.

The dates for the next NXNE are June 13-19, 2011 and band submissions will be due in October of this year. Plan next year's vacation by making a road trip to NXNE. Priority passes are for sale online or if you don't want to attend the whole shebang, wristbands for the showcases are available for $50 for the five day pass or $25 for one day pass and $25 for just the film festival. A passport and clean record is needed to cross the border and you no longer need to do a currency exchange. Great hotel deals can be found online thru various travel websites. The Northern Ink Xposure Toronto Tattoo Convention is usually hosted the same weekend at The Hilton for those that want to add some extra ink on their trip.

Just make sure that G20 is not booked that weekend as this was the only sore point of the trip; that and my feet from walking club to club and my nightly hangover head!

-Sue Static

John Mayer comes DTE Energy Music Theatre on 7/28/2010

John Mayer comes back to Detroit July 28, 2010

(I am actually excited to see this show!)

I have been listening to his newest LP "Battle Studies" and fell in love with "All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye"

DTE Energy Music Theatre

Clarkston, MI

Plenty of Tickets are still available at $66.50/$33.00

Get Tickets HERE!

http://www.johnmayer.com/

Follow me on Twitter @navdo

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT! = MR SHZ @ PI of SOUTHFIELD

Flyer Design by MCB's: Brett Lawrence

Check out MRSHZ tonight for FREE! at Pi in Southfield, MICHIGAN

PI of Southfield
28875 Franklin Road
Southfield MI 48034
http://www.piofsouthfield.com/

"MR SHZ from Detroit, is a funk, rock, jam oriented band, playing an eclectic mix of original music and covers. They ‘officially’ formed in the Spring of 2009 and have since played for over 20,000 people at the 2009 Detroit Marathon and then the 2010 Komen Race for the Cure, as well as multiple gigs at the Hard Rock Café, Detroit, played the inaugural recording of MotorCity Special at the Jazz Café inside Music Hall, Detroit, and will be opening the Roots Jamboree festival in Ypsilanti, this Summer 2010. The members of MR SHZ come from diverse musical backgrounds, from Jazz to Hendrix, and everything in between. With 2 guitars, bass, drums, and a saxophone, their unique sound is sure to knock your socks off!"

hope to see you there!

MORE FREE TICKETS: HOLE w/Foxy Shazam - Fillmore Detroit - Sun 7/11

We have scored a few more tickets for the upcoming HOLE show

on Sunday 7/11 @ the Fillmore Detroit...

email motorcityblog@earthlink.net to enter to win

MCB is video interviewing the opener Foxy Shazam so stay tuned for that soon.

FREE PINBALL: NEXT WEEK: Michigan Pinball Expo - Oakland University - July 8th - 11th 2010

This is going to be fucking awesome!

no quarters needed?

over 100 old school shooters?

MCB is covering this event and coming back

with bloody nubs for fingers

Michigan Pinball Expo

Oakland University

Oakland Center

July 8th - 11th

http://www.mipinball.com

100 collector owned machines set up for free play each day

from 8am - 12 midnight (5pm Sunday), for one low admission price.

This is the first major pinball show for the Detroit area.

There are some shows in the Midwest, but the Detroit area has long been without one, and pinball is very much alive and well in the area. Collectors and hobbyists are bringing our own personal collection of cherry games for the public to play.

Check out our game list which is still growing each day.

http://www.mipinball.com/gamelist.shtml

Against Me! opens for Silversun Pickups - Fillmore Detroit - Thursday 7/1

Against Me!
White Crosses (Sire Records)
Release Date: June 8, 2010

For Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel, sometimes you have to get the hell, out just to find your way back in. The past 12 years have seen Gabel rise from acoustic folk-punk gunslinger in the dives of Gainesville, Florida to releasing Against Me!’s four searing, blood-smeared slices of scrappy punk. The last of which, 2007’s New Wave, was the major label debut, one that Spin magazine anointed as their Album Of The Year. And while Gainesville was home, Gabel felt the walls closing in when touring for New Wave came to an end. So he split. With his wife, he left behind the “didja-hear-about-so-and-so” insular Gainesville world for the sleepy beach town of St. Augustine, wandering the streets and driving dusty back roads: searching, pining, hoping for inspiration.

He found it in spades. The result is White Crosses, as powerful and as bold a rock record as one can imagine. The band ¬– Gabel, guitarist James Bowman, bassist Andrew Seward and new drummer George Rebelo – roar like fighter jets screaming over a stadium on the anthemic title-track (with its shout along line about smashing the 4,000 crosses on a local church’s lawn, ones that signify the number of babies aborted each day in the U.S.). Joining that is the escapist fury of “Spanish Moss,” and the short stick of dynamite, “Rapid Decompression.” New Wave eschewed some of the roughness of the band’s earlier efforts, but White Crosses goes even further in filling out the band’s wallop. With its twinkling piano and a glorious whoa-oa chorus, “Because Of The Shame” could be an outtake from Bruce Springsteen’s classic Born To Run. “Ache With Me” is a slow-jam that would make Paul Westerberg blush, while “High Pressure Low” is Billy Idol meets fellow Gainesville native Tom Petty. “This is my Florida record,” says Gabel. “"I spent a lot of time writing this record while driving directionless on forgotten Florida state roads, highly caffeinated, with albums like [Petty's] Full Moon Fever blasting on my stereo."

Producer Butch Vig – who also helmed New Wave – pushed the band to make White Crosses more dynamic while retaining the bruising roundhouse rights they’ve thrown since their 2001 debut Reinventing Axl Rose. "Looking at it now I think [Vig] was a little conservative with New Wave. He didn't want to come in and scare us, says Gabel. "I think it was an unspoken agreement this time around that we were going to push ourselves farther than we ever had before. No direction was off limits. I'm not afraid of melody. I have visions of playing these songs in stadiums, looking out and seeing an ocean of people singing along."

The album, the band’s second for Sire Records, will be released on June 8th, 2010. Against Me! will also release an EP titled I Was a Teenage Anarchist, which will be available on iTunes beginning April 20th, 2010.

Silversun Pickups

Against Me!

Fillmore Detroit

Thursday July 1st

PHOTOS: RUBIK by smasri

Mewithoutyou is a rock band with some talented musicians, spiritual tendencies and a lead singer more effective than most preachers, nodding his head while spitting about life and the meta. Their music was good, really, even hard, but they drew in the most sedated crowd I have ever seen in a concert hall, claps were rare enough. This seemed especially underwhelming for their opening bands Rubik and All the Day Holiday which both put together upbeat and creative sets reminiscent of the Arcade Fire or the XX. Rubik, with seven band members and four on guitar (plus trombones and percussion), struck a nice balance between melody and the mess of excess large bands often struggle with. Their EP can be downloaded free at rubikland.net and I’ll definitely be looking out for their next show.

PHOTOS: Conspiracy of Owls at Alvins on Cass by SarahB

MCB's newest addition SarahB was down for covering the Conspiracy of Owls show at Alvins on Cass last Saturday night...writeup soon including a giveaway of the limited edition 100 run signed colored vinyl...bookmark this post and come back tomorrow to win

HYPERNOVA @ The Majestic Café 7/1/10 Doors: 9:00pm

Here's what people are saying about these guys.

"Through the Chaos, Hypernova's debut album set for release this Spring, features sharp guitar licks and apocalyptic, yet catchy lyrics that have garnered comparisons to Joy Division."-Billboard

"With a sound that owes a heavy debt to the downtown New York scene and the spiky rock of bands like the Strokes, it's hard to tell that songs like the gritty, distorted 'Fairy Tales' or the bouncy new-wave anthem of defiance 'Vive La Resistance' are from an Iranian band, let alone one whose members must use onstage pseudonyms to avoid being hassled by police." -MTV

Come down to The Majestic Café and see them.

Tickets

Official Site

Myspace

Facebook