Night 2 of Blowout 2014 took place on Thursday, May 1st
Before I even arrived in Hamtramck for Night 2, I realize that the organizers didn't stagger any of the performance times. Everything started at 9:00, 10:15, or 11:30. If I can't sample 10 different bands in one night, I sure as hell won't feel "blownout".
This night started slow. The first band at Whiskey in the Jar wanted to wait around for more people to show up, but caved in and started twenty minutes later. After an uninspired cover of an Artic Monkey song I went next door to Mars Bar. That place was even emptier. A member of King Eddie thanks me for showing up, which I took to mean that I was the only one there he didn't already know. I asked him why they still hadn't started 30 minutes after they were scheduled to. He told me that they were waiting for more people to show up. I tried to convince him that people are passing the place over in favor of bars where bands have started playing. He seemed interested in starting at that point, but he couldn't locate the singer. After 10 more minutes I gave up.
The Northern End of Hamtramck had three bars in close proximity, making it ideal to bounce between venues quickly. 7 Brothers was mostly empty too, but Nathan Roberts & The New Birds made a sincere go of it with their bluesy style rock.
Capo and Celina's weren't much better in terms of crowd size, but at least the sound guy at Celina's wasn't putting up with any of that "waiting around for people to show up" bullshit, and kept the bands on schedule.
Back to 7 Brothers for Cetan Clawson. Back in the mid to late aughts, this guy was on every festival lineup, but hasn't been as active since. He did a lot of covers, and since he gets compared to Jimi Hendrix a lot (rightly or wrongly), one of them was Hendrix cover.
My final destination was Small's Bar for The Detroit Cobras. Small's had the largest turnout I saw that night, but wasn't packed. (To be fair, I never made it over to New Dodge Lounge, where Amy Gore & Her Valentines may have drawn large numbers) It wouldn't be a Cobras show without a lineup change, because they now have that guy from The Sights on lead guitar.
Lead singer Rachel usually complains between songs. It could be lights, sound levels, musicians off cue, or lack of a beverage, but she's always bitching about something. That night she was in an unexpectedly good mood, and it put the rest of the band into a good vibe.
Nice to know that someone got "blownout".
Bands that I saw that I'm putting in the "whatever" column: Double Weirdo, Touch the Clouds, and After the Tide.
Friday night's lineup gives me a more difficult decision. Detroit's lineup will include 7 venues, but what they've got is easy for me to pass over. It's a choice between Hamtramck and Ferndale that I have to make.
Ferndale will also be up to 7 venues, but you could probably spend the whole night at Rustbelt Market and have a great time. It's going to have Yum, Tunde Olaniran, and Flint Eastwood. Carjack at New Way Bar at 11:30 will also be solid.
It's a close call, but I'm going to go with Hamtramck again. The Hentchmen rarely play now, and they'll be at Paycheck's at 12:45. Another good Hamtramck option will be Mexican Knives at New Dodge Lounge at 10:15.
This post by:
With a face for radio, a voice for print, and the prose of a new immigrant, I'll stick to amateur blogging
