PRE-PARTY
:: wednesday @
majestic theatre complex
by Mr. Gary with contributions from Big Matt
Ahhh, there’s nothing like the joys of getting an early
wristband for the Hamtramck Blowout, as quite a gathering of MCR folks
(and friends) made way to the Majestic Complex
to catch a special “bonus” night of 13 performances that served as an
entertaining precursor to the actual Blowout itself. Every
hipster, scenester, rocker and Detroit music fan was in the house to
witness all the great bands, but also because they needed to pick up
copies of the new hipster handbook to see what will be “in” for the
upcoming year.
My portion of the night began at the Majestic with this big ol’ group
of peeps watching Pas/Cal – a band that seemed
to have some sort of fractured Bright Eyes thing going on. I
totally dug the singer’s cool velvety-looking black blazer, though I
wasn’t super keen on the band’s sound (I think I’d have dug this band
more if the sound guy at the Majestic hadn’t been so busy absolutely
destroying the mix).
After a few songs, Mr. MCR himself, Ryan Sult, split outside with me
for a quick trek to the Garden Bowl to catch a few songs from The Alphabet. This was some
solid stuff here – very 60’s pop-oriented, but with a smooth, deep bass
flow to it (almost a lounge-ish groove). John Nash's guitar leads
on the few songs we heard were killer, too.
 Ryan and I couldn’t
seem to stand still with so much music around us, so we bounded
upstairs to the Magic Stick to meet up with
the rest of the posse and check out Midwest Product, who put on
one of the most impressive sets of the night. This
electronic–based three-piece had funk, soul and flow, and the beats
they laid down had folks in the crowd tapping toes and bobbing
heads. The band’s samplers and electronics were augmented by
organic drumming and live guitar and bass parts, which gave Midwest
Product a surprisingly fleshed-out sound. During this set is also
when we spotted “Prince Guy’ … Whoever you are, you look like Prince,
and that is far too cool.
It was also sometime during Midwest Product’s set that the MCR posse
started noticing the throng of random folks running around with video
cameras, getting all up-close with the bands and filming every little
detail of about five minutes of certain bands’ sets. Jokes were
abound for the rest of the night about the forthcoming Hamtramck
Blowout 2004 DVD scrapbook, and actually, these cameramen were seen
busting into venues and up on-stage with various bands all weekend long.
The posse needed to cool off a bit by that point (it was strangely warm
inside all three venues for the night), so everyone slowly moseyed on
over to the Majestic to check out Saturday Looks Good to Me. Admittedly, from a
performance aspect, these guys were far better than the last time I’d
seen them, but I still had problems getting into them again courtesy of
the aforementioned sound guy at the Majestic (who did an even worse
butchering job than was done on Pas/Cal’s sound earlier in the
night). It was ridiculous – Fred would go to bust a guitar solo,
and the guitar would inexplicably get lower in the mix. The bass
just kept disappearing in the mix, and the sound of the keyboards just
appeared and disappeared at random intervals.
 As that point, there
was no way that the group was about to brave the throng of people
already sardined into the Garden Bowl to see The
Singles, so the MCR posse hiked back upstairs to the Magic Stick to
see King Gordy, who
brought THE PAIN all dark-rap style. Gordy’s entourage included a
long-haired guitar player that busted out drop-d sounding power chords
on a Flying V and a DJ that actually spent the majority of an entire
song working on packing and opening a box of smokes. Gordy’s
first two numbers were pretty tight, actually – though after (said with
a grimy horror voice) “THE PAIN” and his forthcoming single
“Nightmares,” his set started to drag a bit. In an
unintentionally hilarious bit, Gordy laid down a serious karate chop
right on the lens of a video camera that someone had randomly thrust in
his face. Gordy’s finest moment, however, was when he disappeared
and re-hit the stage sporting his trademark cornrow devil horns while
wearing a red and black vampire cape while waving around a red,
light-up, straight-out-of-Masters-of-the-Universe skull staff. Of
course, to the MCR posse, this made seeing this set worthwhile in
itself. However, the DJ was wearing a Hank Gathers throwback
jersey, which almost made up for all the time he spent opening
cigarettes.
The posse crept back downstairs just in time to grab the closest
possible place to stand to see The Avatars
(literally inches in front of the band, which would’ve been great if
four or five guys with video cameras hadn’t swarmed all around us,
seemingly trying to get the best shot straight up Mariah Cherem’s
nose). The posse caught four very tight songs, and I simply have
to say that even up close and personal with no real ‘sound system’ to
speak of at the Garden Bowl, this show was far better than the 7”
release party show at the Belmont the previous weekend. The sound
quality was actually much better, and the band’s intensity level was
through the roof for this set.
… And yes, while The Avatars were rockin’, our little group simply HAD
to head upstairs to see the one and only Esquire
(complete with brand-new, totally adorable go-go dancer). His
set, as always, was absolutely hysterical, as the self-proclaimed “boy
who invented rap” entertained the crowd as only he can.
 The posse split at
this point, as half the crew stuck around to go-go dance with Esquire,
while the other half headed back down the stairs and back over to the
Majestic one last time to catch Bulldog.
Considering how little I knew about this band coming into the night, I
thought Bulldog put on the best musical set of the night – and that was
despite the continuing issues with the crappy sound quality at the
Majestic. At various points in the set, the assembled MCR crew
caught hints of the Stones, Wilco, Ryan Adams/Whiskeytown, Neil Young
and Springsteen. Bulldog’s set was very country/acoustic based
until the last two songs, which got a bit flashy and
rocking. Towards the end of the set, both frontman Kenny
Tudrick and keyboardist extraordinaire Eddie Harsch took some time to
show off with a bit of soloing, which seemed to send the pre-party
crowd home on a very positive note.
Overall, the Blowout Pre-Party was like a musical Disneyland up in the
Majestic Complex. No matter where anyone looked, there was
something to see or do. It may not have been the happiest place
on earth, but for one night, it was most definitely the hippest. -Mr. Gary, with contributions by Big Matt
<click photos to
enlarge>
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performances,
Helen Keller was running the sound. While she is a sweetheart, her
forté is more in the visual realm. Critics cannot be too harsh
on this topic however, because it is a sheer miracle that this massive
event can be organized and run as smoothly as it is. It should also be
noted that many of these venues do not typically have live music and
all of that gear sharing an outlet with a 1972 flashing Stroh's sign
may just cause the joint to go black - as was the case at the Locker
Room during the Ten Words For Snow set. This doesn't explain the hearse
that was parked outside the bar with a for sale sign though. The offer
is still pending, but with any luck the MCR crew will be cruisin'
Ghostbusters style in the near future. -Ryan Sult
