Blowout 2007: Night 1

Is everyone making it through the day so far after night 1 of the Blowout? The Launch Party was great last night. Crowds seemed to be way up from last year and the bands all killed. I can’t say I saw a bad performance from anyone last night. I thought there was a great mix of bands with old favs like The Hard Lessons and Muggs along with new up and comers like Satin Peaches and Silent Years. The Launch Party always seems to go by so fast. It’s the shortest night of all of them, plus there is of course a ton of socializing. The Launch Party always seems to bring out people you haven’t seen since last year’s Blowout so half the night is spent catching up with friends. Here are some highlights from what I saw last night.

The Hard Lessons took the stage over in the Majestic and immediately had the packed house in the palm of their hand. I couldn’t believe how many people in the crowd knew all the words to all the bands songs. Over the past couple years The Hard Lessons have not only become a great band but what sets them apart is their performance skills and ability to connect with the audience on stage. Great set by a great band.

I hadn’t seen the Silent Years in maybe a year or so and was I in for a suprise. Not only had the band grown in size but they have a huge sound now. At times the band’s spacy indie pop gave way to what was almost a Detroit version of Arcade Fire complete with a violin player, tambourine, handclaps and just a wall of noise. Check them out as soon as you can.

As always The Muggs were great. What else can you really say about them? Danny Methric put on yet another guitar clinc on stage and as usual was smiling the whole time. Does he smile so much because he knows he is so good or is he really having that much fun on stage?

And one last thing, Adult scares me, no really they do. I was almost certain I was going to be attacked by some sort of robot that came out of one of their computers. Luckily this did not happen, but it did cross my mind.

Tonight looks to be an “all new band” night. Hopefully I will be suprised by what I see, if not I will just drink more Molson.

Make you sure you check out the latest, and possibly best, Smoke Break. Eddie Baranek joins Johnny Loftus and Brian Smith in the Garden Bowl bathroom at last night’s Launch Party.