Blownout from the Blowout or What I did On My 4 Day Weekend.

There's plenty of great pictures, write ups, reviews and somewhat more esoteric points of view on the 2007 Metrotimes Blowout, so I'll try to be brief. Here's a couple of links followed by a short list of a of bands to see if you get a chance in the future.

Big Matt's got some great pictures up at motorcityrocks.com -- p.s. if anybody from the General W. Sikorski Polish League of American Veterans Post 10 asks if Matt "Gorski" had a good 47^th birthday, you say "yes". Sto Lat! Sto Lat!

I'm not sure anybody maximizes his Blowout experience as much as Jasper at Webvomit, this is of course in terms of $2.50 Molsons and total bands seen in 4 days.

There is only one Johnny Loftus and he prowls the Blowout with the pride of father on graduation day, if your dad got loaded on Molson and was wandering around near the stage during the convocation -- big props to the whole Metrotimes team and the city of Hamtramck for a job well done.

Don't miss Johnny's smoke break dissertation on the Blowout, with appearances by Brian Smith and the diminutive Eddie Baranek, who those outside of the D may also recognize as the man behind the 100 proof lyrics and guitar licks in the Sights.

I've had several discussion with other people about the Loftus assertion that Blowout sets the agenda for the Detroit music scene for the following year. The reactions are decidedly mixed, with about half heartily agreeing and half saying he blew Blowout out of proportion.

Personally, I think Loftus is on to something, if perhaps it's overstated. I attended three out of four days (with a break for Badly Drawn Boy on Friday). I've come away from the long weekend with a list of bands I want to see again, that I want to "get to know better" and just as importantly, a list of bands that I missed but heard great things about on the way to another venue or between sets from other Blowout goers. We know most of these bands will never reach their potential, they'll implode, explode, fade away or just stagnate between this Blowout and the next. But personally, at least for the moment I'm reengaged with local music here in Detroit and damn happy about it.

I'd like to challenge my fellow D-town music bloggers and maybe even the Metrotimes to join forces to sponsor some "mini-blowouts" several other times during the year.

Call them showcases.

Call them "Suckins" for all I care.

Have them in one venue or a handful of venues.

But clearly the "event marketing" quality of the Blowout works and even if it doesn't set the agenda, it does get the attention of the audience for local music and introduce a lot of great music to new people.

Okay, Soap box is put away...

Here's a couple of bands that I saw that I recommend you check out if you get the chance. Many will be completely familiar to folks in Detroit, and the others are being referenced elsewhere -- but I'll just throw my two cents in as well.

The Satin Peaches -- they look, like kids -- so I guess I'm old. The singer weighs about 75 pounds and sounds like the dude from Wolfmother. But they are tight and the word is that Oasis's manager is involved with the band, so expect to hear more of these guys, or least expect the NME to start handing out it's perfunctory hojos.

Adult -- Their songs have so much internal tension that Damore almost had a panic attack in the Majestic-- I actually kind of wanted to dance. New album is out in 2 weeks.

The Silent Years -- I have had several poor personal experiences with this band in the past. The fact that I can now say they have developed into a damn fine band and that you should see them if you get a chance is like a Dr. Phil kind of moment for me.

Eons -- I think this band may be getting the most positive eyebrow raises of the Blowout. There does seem to be some confusion among others trying to describe their sound. I will clear that up, it's indie rock with overt shoegaze references. In specific, the singer guitar player plays the exact same kind of guitar as Kevin Shields and does the My Bloody Valentine bang on the tremolo arm through the entire song thing. All in a good way.

Nomo -- Horn section. Bass player that has the best mohawk since Fishbone. Hipsters and hippies give knowning nods of afirmation. Good work Nomo.

Youth Group of Rome -- When Augie from the Hard Lessons began playing a toy guitar in this side project, Big Matt asked if Blowout had jumped the shark. Three days later, I'm still singing a song they did about the Pope to myself. "But the Pope does not live in It-al-ly, he lives in the VAT-i-Can Cit-aay."

Sea of Japan -- In retrospect, they may have been a fairly standard indie rock band, but I have every intention of trying to see them a couple of times as soon as I can.

The Prime Ministers -- Always best, especially when an old Polish woman is pouring shots of an indistinguishable liquor directly into people's mouths while dancing on the bar. Hey, did Coho die?

Porchsleeper -- 'Sleeper buzz. There is not a better way to finish 4 days of rock and roll than with the alcohol drenched rock solid tunes of these Ann Arbor vets in the shadow of an FDR portrait that looked old enough to have an authentic autograph.

--Gorilla