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| Show Review: Flophouse @ Tale Gators |
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deadenddetroit writes  Here is a tale of my evening: My goal is to be in Dearborn Heights at the Tail Gators bar on Van Borne west of Telegraph by 10:00 pm. I was under-rested. I was tired all day long and hung over from Friday's drinking binge. It was all for a good cause. If you haven't seen nor heard of Doyle Bramhall II you are missing out. I copied the PPV concert that's going on right now from iNdemand and that's when I had a few too many that resulted in my thick head all day yesterday.Three cups of coffee with 7 scoops of Columbian roast snapped me out of it.
First stop was to TNT's. I left my place in Sterile Whites at 8:32 pm. I got to TNT's at 8:48 pm. I talked the door guy into letting me in for free so I could toss out a few flyers. He said they can't do that but he turned a blind eye anyway. I littered for a few minutes in a packed house.
This was a great flyering opportunity. The parking lot was packed and I had to double park to get anywhere close to the front door of the place. I wasn't staying. Sponge was playing along with some buds from Frankridge Bomber. I ran into Kevin the guitar player. I was in a hurry and wired from the triple shot of joe. Kevin had to laugh. He poked fun at me for my wide eyed appearance and speedy exit. Sorry dude. Frankridge is a good band to see. I was not aware that they were playing that night with Sponge. That's a good gig ta get. I would'a stuck around but I'm on a mission.
I left there at 9:00 pm straight up. Drive to Mount Clamens and the Hayloft in a steady rain. I pulled into the parking lot at 9:08 pm. I got the last parking spot in the main lot. I just so happened to pull up next to a car of lovely fancy dressed ladies in a car rolling up in the back seat. With the lights on! Darwin at work. They were blonde. Don't they know that you roll before you show up to the gig!
I called up Flip, Dead Ends drummer, to meet me at the door with my ticket. Dead End did a trade ya see. Three Dead End tickets at Harpos for three Lifedash tickets at the Hayloft. Sometimes it sucks having friends in bands. I like Mark and Joe and the new drummer from Lifedash. They are a solid band and for a three piece like us in Dead End, they do put on a good show.
I'd gotten an e-mail from Mark that instead of their initial expected set time of 10:30 pm they would be going on at 9:00 pm. No such luck for me. That's one of the reasons why I decided to show up. I just had a chance to see some of their set and make it to Dearborn Heights by 10:00 pm. Instead they sold more tickets than the other warmup band so now they were back on for 10:30 pm. Good for them.
Well I hung out for a bier, through out a handful of bidness cards, shook babies and kissed a few hands then split by 9:32 pm.
I hit the gas station at North River Rowd and I-94 for a few gallons of liquid gold and went wheels up on 94 at 9:38 pm. The freeway was wet but the way was clear. No construction from one side of town to the other. This was a blessing from God and was a good omen for the night.
I pulled into the lot at Tail Gators at 10:14 pm. This was my first time here and I almost missed the place. I used to live in Taylor at in Fairlane apartments at Telegraph and Wick. I was somewhat familiar with the area though it had been a while. It was dark and rainy and my windshield wipers are in need of replacement. I kept an eye out real close on the left side of the road as I was driving west and almost missed the place on my right. Crap! Another cramped parking lot for a Dodge Ram pick up truck to dent little tiny cars. I love it!
Finally. Tail Gators and the real reason for my nights adventure.
The band I came to see, Flophouse, was not up yet. There was another band getting ready to go on in a few. I grabbed a bier and tapped the drummer from Flophouse on the shoulder. Brian "Super-B" is a real good guy. I actually think he was glad to see me. In a room full of people that are there to see his band, I'm the one that he stands up with and talks to for a good portion of time. I feel privileged! We bought each other a few biers and life is good.
Brian is also the drummer in another area band called Viet Nam Prom. He works in the music industry on the retail side. I've been to his store and he is very proficient and knowledgeable. He is also the same with his drumming. Both of his bands that I'm aware of are very lucky to have somebody like him amongst them.
The first band, Misbehavin' (?) are good and tight. I like their set and they don't drop the ball anywhere in their music. They just seem to be a little to chorusy for me. I'm not sure I'd drive 40 miles to see them unless they were real good friends. If they are in the area, check them out. I believe that most real rockers will appreciate their brand of music which to me was in the vain of a poppy Iron Maiden. The singer has a good set of pipes and the duel guitars work well with each other but there was no real flash. They could have done it with a single strummer.
Flophouse!
From what Brian was telling me they have a new special guest member that is there this night. Peter Keys. He's a keyboard player. I bet you never would have guessed.
I'd heard Flophouse on their MySpace and I liked their tone. As with any good funk band they bleed rhythm and if you don't know the blues, just go home. As they took the stage, Tail Gators was standing room only. I'd seen Brian and his bandmates shaking hands all over the place and I could tell this was their crowd.
I've never seen a funk band before that I recall. I know I've never gone out of my was to see one. I'm glad I did this night. Brian's snappy drumming and the two guitar funkification was good but what really did it for me was the keyboards. I had never seen anything like that before in any fashion. I just didn't know that there were people out there that could play that many cool notes on the keyboard. I know they just had to exists. I guess I just didn't know where to look let alone know that I was supposed to be looking for them. Well I had found it! This was great music. Not boastful. Not menacing. Not overbearing. Just real good raw jamming. I hadn't had so much fun watching a band since the last time I saw the Allman Brothers last summer.
I'm not a music critic or writer of any great talent so anything I say about Flophouse probably won't do them as much justice as they deserve. The great tone that I heard on the recorded songs carried over to the stage. They have an extremely solid meter. Their songs are catchy as a funk tune should be. I was not the only one to be diggen on these groovy tunes. They were in the house and it was theirs.
They did a good mix of original and cover tunes. I actually like the originals better. Their encore was a Steve Wonder tune that I'd heard before but I couldn't recall the title. The only thing that I could say negative about the set was that they could have taken a short break then came back and did another set. It was over way to quick and I couldn't relax and drink as comfortably as I would have liked to have. I was a long way from home in unfamiliar territory. I'm glad that I went out to check these guys out. They had almost the perfect set. I will go see them again and for all those versatile music lovers I will recommend them to be accelerated up to the top of everybody's "Must See" list.
Peace!
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| Michigan Business Directory |
Average Score: 4.78
Votes: 23
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