Local Music Love by Jeff Milo: Fest Guide – Hamtramck Labor Day Fest / Arts Beats & Eats / Dally In The Alley
(Jeff Milo, Sept. 1, 2015)
You should ever take this music scene for granted… Rarely will you be found wanting for an exceptional EVENT when it comes to live music around southeast Michigan. I’m going to be checking in with this column twice a month to give you an intimate look t the eclectic array of bands populating our corner of the state. This inaugural column has to talk about FESTIVALS.
Back in July, the Metro Times and the Woodward Avenue Brewers took over Troy St for the Pig & Whiskey Festival and in three more weeks we’ll have the D.I.Y. Street Fair return to that very same spot.
Coming up, we have three other music festivals: this weekend, there’s the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival, and the Arts, Beats & Eats while next weekend, it’s the Dally In The Alley.
Now, I’ve written enough of these music columns to have realized that, if I am to play the role of Grand Implorer, or Educated Guesser, or the Savvy Suggestion Slinger…whatever… then it’d be much more pragmatic of me to encourage you to ignore me and wander your own way into either, if not all of these festivals, at any time, sight unseen (…or sound unheard) and make our own discoveries.
Now, then, if you’re still reading this, then my self-deprecation has worked and you are earnestly curious which groups I personally have marked off on these lineups
 
Arts Beats & Eats
Friday
2:15pm – Ford Alternative Stage
Nina & The Buffalo Riders… Soulful psychedelia with a blues-scorched stomp.
Saturday
12pm – Bud Light Americana Stage
Audra Kubat…Mesmeric, minimalist, moving, a dynamic re-envisioning of baroque and folk styles.
5pm – Vibe Credit Union Stage
1592… Rooted in reggae but known to jettison off into a bit of jazz and even some rock, a multifaceted ensemble.
6:45pm – Ford Alternative Stage
Lightning Bugs…Glorious guitar pop with an art-rock edge.
7:45pm – Soaring Eagle Casino Stage
Muggs… Masterful re-rendering of 70’s-styled blues rock with some signature Detroit indentations.
9:30pm – Soaring Eagle Casino Stage
The Howling Diablos …Versatile rock wranglers, encompassing a bit of garage, a bit of funk, a bit of psychedelia and everything in between.
Sunday
12:30pm – Soaring Eagle Casino Stage
Dear Darkness …Minimalist drum & guitar duo blending 70’s punk and 90’s indie
5:30pm – Soaring Eagle Casino Stage
Jennifer Westood …Westwood’s got a wonderful voice and a keen sensibility for blending indie rock with blues and folk strums with a bit of country twang.
Monday
12:30 pm – Soaring Eagle Casnio Stage
Citizen Smile …Power pop…perfected!
1:45 pm – Bud Light Americana Stage
Escaping Pavement …Ferndale based folk duo reviving all the idyllic evocations of rootsy, twanged out, harmony-heavy Americana
5 pm – Bud Light Americana Stage
Ryan Dillaha & The Miracle Men…exceptional roots rock and bluegrass shuffles cinched stylishly by an ensemble of savvy country-loving strummers.
Full lineup: http://www.artsbeatseats.com/the-beats
Hamtramck Labor Day Festival
Saturday
South Stage – 3pm
Six& The Sevens …Hearty hard-rock spurred by the spirit of Detroit’s gutsiest garage rock icons.
South Stage – 4pm
Duende …Anytime I try to nail them down to a genre, they slither over to a new, sharper, taller rock and wrap themselves around it
North Stage – 7:30pm
Turn To Crime …Derek Stanton is a true auteur blending shoegaze, new-wave and the darkest sides of 70’s punk.
North Stage – 8:30pm
Mexican Knives …A trippy, séance-y kind of indie rock axed into the splintered fiberglass of surf punk. South Stage – 9pm
Tunde Olaniran …There’s a reason he’s headlining. There’s a reason he pretty much always headlines…
Sunday
North Stage – 2:30pm
Scrappers …A quartet of scene veterans taking on a classic rock sound knowing just where to swing their bats, by now, to hit it out of the park each time.
North Stage – 3:30pm
Pewter Cub …Finding that vortex where no-wave and noise can sound poppy and shoegaze & soul sit down to watch scary movies together.
South Stage – 5pm
Cheerleader …Young, up-and-coming trio specializing in collar-throttling, in your face punk rock swagger.
North Stage – 5:30pm
Caveman Woodman & Bam Bam Moss …Prehistoric punk that broke the primordial mold.
North Stage – 6:30pm
Prude Boys …If Vincent Price and Jello Biafra both worked together as short-order cooks at a rusty spoon but spent their breaks in the back alley smoking and practicing skateboard tricks with their greasy aprons flapping in the air…
Monday
North Stage – 4:30pm
Lac La Belle …Exceptional revivalists of Appalachian folk and melody-centric roots/Americana.
South Stage – 5pm
VSTRS… Propulsive, sweeping psych-rock with subtle shades of goth, new wave and industrial.
South Stage – 6pm
Wasabi Dream …Fans of experimental rock, krautrock, jazz and obscuro-trips should get a front row seat.
South Stage – 7pm
Pretty Ghouls …Furious. Fun. Loud. Stylish. Fast. Valiant.
South Stage – 8pm
Beggars …Ferndale’s own undisputed champions of good time rock ‘n’ roll!
More information: http://hamtownfest.com/index.php/schedule/
Dally In The Alley
You’re still here? Great, then I’d like to remind you about (or introduce you to) The Dally In The Alley!
The Dally In The Alley is like a never-neverland that appears out of the sweltering summer mists and manifests a multi-street block party of smiling faces, cozily compacted, bazaar-type layout of vendors and multiple stages featuring dozens of local bands, DJs, singers and dancers.
Alley Stage – 11pm
Cold Men Young…Local hip-hop collective; something like the Avengers of Detroit rap, assembled to astound with their masterful vocabularies and tough, tricky rhyme schemes, not to mention the forceful, invigorating nature of their throttle-tempo beats. Last year, a transformer exploded atop a nearby telephone pole and this group was unable to perform their full set. Actually, that same occurrence kept my next pick from performing as well…
Garden Stage – 10:15 pm
Pink Lightning … If you’d ask me to be as brief as possible, I’d tell you that they’re rock n’ roll. But I often underestimate how invigoratingly weird this band can be… Punk vaudevillians, baroque brawlers, fun-house funksters… Everything in between.
Forest Stage – 4:30 pm
Jenny Junior & Jackie Rainsticks… Jen David is a vibrant singer and performer and even if I’m not familiar with this Jackie Rainsticks (yet…), it’s still gotta be worth seeing if it’s a collaboration with Jen.
There will also be a Kids Fair, a poetry slam, a fashion show, food trucks, smoothies, desserts, and a lot more!
Full lineup and info on Dally: http://www.dallyinthealley.com/map/
But, you know…the only way to truly get a sense for it is to be there… And, with that sentence, I’ve pretty much summarized every other event or group that I’ve attempted (or will ever attempt) to describe for you… That’s the best advice I’ve got: be there!