DETROIT COBRAS
(12:15 AM / MAGIC STICK)
Cover bands are a dime a dozen. That said, the staying power necessary to be a household name in music-rich Metro Detroit for 15 years transcends the mere title of “cover band”. Sex appeal and garage rock plus lo-fi soul does tend to make for an interesting cover. If you haven’t seen them, and I don’t see how that’s possible, come witness yet another festival headline that they’ll surely blow away.
MACRAME TIGER
(11:45 PM / MAJESTIC CAFE)
Lo-fi spaceship sounds to the tune of Gerry Beckley (of 1970s America). With as many members as the Polyphonic Spree, there is bound to be some eclectic sounds coming from the stage. Crazy costumes and rooftop shows are the norm from this gangly collective, and there will more than likely be yet another thrown-together theatrical accompaniment from these misfits.
GARDENS
(11:30 PM / MAGIC STICK)
“Artsy” is the new black apparently, and that doesn’t include conventional musical structure (think lower-fi Strokes). If you show up stoned out of your gourd, they’ll be thrilled, and if you don’t, odds are they won’t even notice.
AUTOLUX
(10:45 PM / MAGIC STICK)
Coming to you all the way from Los Angeles (OMFG that’s near Hollywood), they boast a distorted minimal-rock sound, much like a watered-down Sonic Youth. With so much indie cred it’ll blow your mind, they have played with the White Stripes, Beck, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and are signed to the label co-owned by the Coen Brothers (who make those silly movies). Another neat-o fact about the band: drummer Carla Azar plays with a surgically reconstructed elbow held together by eight adamantium screws.
800 BELOVED
(10:30 PM / MAJESTIC CAFE)
Mellow and dark, at times reminiscent of The Cure and Hamtramck’s Mephisto’s, there is a slight sexiness to their sound that not even an aged, bloated Robert Smith could make flaccid. Not a band that plays often, and hails from outside Detroit proper, you’re doing yourself a favor by seeing them now, before they’re swooped up by the producers of your favorite vampire drama series.
DARK CITY
(10:15 PM / MAGIC STICK)
Good luck finding them on the interwebz. A local two-piece with a fuzzy, synth-heavy, industrial sound. Yells that pass as singing can actually sound palatable at times. Come see, there’s every opportunity to be pleasantly surprised.
THIS WILL DESTROY YOU
(9:30 PM / MAGIC STICK)
Instrumental bands often come across as multi-dimensional, despite having one less “instrument”. Crescendos and build-up tend to be more dramatic, often times at the expense of brevity. TWDY challenges the norm, with songs ranging from 4 minutes…all the way up to epic 11 minute tales. Vocal-less Sigur Ros or Mogwai further down the spectrum towards instrumental Malajube.
ABNER TRIO
(9:00 PM / MAJESTIC CAFE)
Indianapolis is still considered the Midwest, and as is so, this threesome doesn’t break too far from the Detroit musical equation. A punk amalgamation that seems pretty straight-forward, their attempts at masking pop songs fail miserably. Catchy songs and lyrics are tossed in with noise that somehow seems far more calculated than it would appear to its punked-out rock n’ roll exterior.
FUR
(8:45 PM / MAJESTIC CAFE)
Detroit quartet FUR is an engulfing wall of sound. Moody and energetic, they convey a lush, minor-keyed pop sensibility that belies their post-punk veneer. Simply put, a clattering, beat-driven, reverb-drenched machine with 80’s-inspired synth… and you can dance to it.
SNAKEWING
(8:30 PM / MAGIC STICK)
Camo shorts and heavy metal black t-shirts. What else is there to know? Fast and heavy songs, building anger the whole while, even if you’re into a more butterfly and cool breeze scene, you’ll end up bobbing your head to the destruction.
