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| MB Y23 Christmas Party / Toys for Tots @ The Bullfrog |
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 It started out as a fundraiser, morphed into a charity event and just turned out to be a hell of a party put on by Brad Raymond at The Bullfrog in Redford. Five bands, no cover (with toy donation), free food, free CD's and a ga-ga calendar-girl wait-staff made for a great night of local indie rock. Click "Read More" for some of the details.
Arrived eight-ish at The Bullfrog with video producer/designated driver Distortion Dave (DD) in tow. We dropped two brand-new Cat-In-The-Hat figurines into one of the two Toys For Tots collection boxes near the entrance and took a table in back. IBmonkey Jon welcomed us in and Webmaster Rick showed up soon after that. I introduced DD to IB singer/songwriter Sean Mansell and the rest of Immigrant Blue who came all the way from Grand Rapids to be here tonight. Two hours each way - now that's dedication.
Once we settled in, we met Brad Raymond our gracious host and the Bullfrog's booking agent. Brad was good enough to invite the MB clan to this very nice charity event. The Bullfrog took care of everybody and included freebies and drink specials from Red-Bull & Labatts and a food-service table that got more and more popular as the night went on. Good eats, thanks guys.
A local band called Avondale opened the show, again thanks to the charitable Brad. It seems the band lost their gig for the night so he gave them the opening slot at The Bullfrog. Very cool of him and a bonus for everybody who got a chance to see their set. They rocked the night into gear and pulled-off an unexpected cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin". The crowd loved it. Ironically, it's probably the perfect theme song for starving indie bands everywhere. "Steet Light / People....oh-ooh-ohhhhh"
Brought a whole box of CD's to give away for R.A.M's and started the night off by rewarding our lovely wait-staff with some of those great Immigrant Blue CDs, buttons and stickers (thanks guys). Not only do the waitresses give great service here, but for ten bucks you can get an eyeful of Shawna, Nicole and many more, every day for an entire year - on your very own 2004 Bullfrog Wall Calendar. Yowza! I pick mine up Tuesday...
Met some devoted fans of the band Seven Letters, at the table behind ours. They played second and, according to their website bio, also go by the names of Coconut Butt Oil and The Naughty Man Band. Funny stuff. But Ron & Amy looked like they could still use some cheering up so I gave them a pair of discs by The Grins: "Girlyland" and "Coffee Grounds" (you can read a review here). Well, at least they smiled for my awful photo. Amy's not a really purple ghost - she's actually very nice.
DetroitCountryMusic.com founder, promoter and all-around true-believer Larry Garcia showed up with an event-appropriate "Rock Star" toy kit that'll go to some lucky kid this Christmas. Larry told me you can now find DCM on Live365 as a web-radio channel. He also plans on doing live webcasts from Memphis Smoke and other venues in the future (wish I didn't have to work a day job!). He also proved to me in two minutes that his $700 Olympus could beat the shit out of my $1000 Minolta when it came to ease of use and quality of photos in a fast-action, low-light setting. Guess I should be shooting still-porn instead. Waitress!
Executed a R.A.M. on Alberta from Detroit and gave her a cassette of Motorcade's "Unzipped" for her son. I have no idea what the Motorcade sounds like since I don't have a cassette player anymore and I couldn't find a website (I did find a cool site for a NYC band called White Light Motorcade instead), but I figured any recording with that much cleavage on the cover and a warning about explicit lyrics must have something to offer an indie-curious young man. If not the music, I hope he enjoys the cover art - in private if necessary. "Mom! Get out!"
Mixxle Plix took over the stage . I was glad to finally see this band live after seeing their name all over the place for the last couple years. Good old fashioned, no-bullshit, three-piece punk band. Distortion Dave (DD) says he remembers them with at least one more member - but we both like this line-up better. Mixxle Plix dusted-off a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and the crowd went nuts for it. Once you go black, you never go back mama.
83rd Dream took the stage for the second time that day thanks to their tireless manager/promoter/drummer-wife, Rachel Irimescu (DetroitCat). She had the boys freezing their rocks off outside at a car dealership gig. I'm sure that'll make for a great bandhead story they can tell their grandchildren one day. "Yep, you youngsters and your virutal digi-rock shows got it easy! I remember playing rock & roll outside, in December, in a car lot! They paid us with bottles of Armor-All and air-fresheners - but not until we sold a fifty-thousand dollar SUV with an extended 5yr service warranty plan thank-you-very-much! That's when rock meant something, dammit."
Michele Whitlow was in the house hawkin' CD's and being seen. I swapped her a Super Model-T disc for a copy of hers and, as I always do when meeting a female artist, turned her on to Audra Kubat). Michele Whitlow's sophomore release, "Satin Roses", begins with a beautifully understated instrumental guitar piece called "Movement One"- refreshing restraint in an era of grab-you-by-the-balls-and-beg-for-attention promotion. Soothing songwriting style and elegant production make this CD a perfect bedside companion for Valentine's Day (nudge-nudge, wink-wink). Buy your copy here.
Finally, Immigrant Blue took the stage and played some more new stuff (these guys are always writing). But it wasn't until they played "Psycho Babble" off their debut (see review here) that I became unglued from my seat and went stage-side to head-bang and sing along. And who did I run into? The lovely, charming, kind and helpful Melanie a.k.a. Fish. We jammed, grinned, bounced and bounded to Immigrant Blue's fusion. When they broke into a cover of The Who's "Can You See The Real Me" I felt compelled to jam air-base to Monkey's Warwick fury. By the time I returned to our table, worn and winded, Distortion Dave was ready to hit the open road. I agreed, wanting to leave the night on a high note.
A big thanks to all the bands who participated, all the people who brought toys for tots, all the MB'ers who showed up (including SLUG) and to Brad Raymond and The Bullfrog for being such perfect hosts. Let's do it again sometime.
- Mitch
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Re: MB Y23 Christmas Party / Toys for Tots @ The Bullfrog (Score: 1)
by ibmonkey on Sunday, December 14, 2003 @ 22:19:04 MST
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.justmoody.com | Mitch, your reviews - aside from being wildly entertaining - are always dead-on. Thanks for coming out, hanging and singing all those Entwistle lines that I painstakenly reproduced (with a few of the patented "Can you see the real monkey?" fury).
Special thanks to all those that came out (so cool to see Slug show up - possibly the coolest man I've met on this site), stayed the whole show, came for a bit to support some of the bands, such as Lil J, Brit, amazondrummer, Art and his loveslave Jeff, FISH!!!!, the Stare into the Sun guys, Distortion Dave, Larry from DcM, Rick (thanks for the beers!) and all the folks playing some jammin' tunes. Also to Brad and Rachel for putting the thing together, and making it run like a well-oiled machine.
And you're right. Michele's disc (did an IB trade on that one myself) is a really good listen. Check it out if you can. |
- Re: MB Y23 Christmas Party / Toys for Tots @ The Bullfrog by DetroitCat on Sunday, December 14, 2003 @ 22:43:18 MST
- Re: MB Y23 Christmas Party / Toys for Tots @ The Bullfrog by DetroitCat on Sunday, December 14, 2003 @ 23:21:34 MST
- Re: MB Y23 Christmas Party / Toys for Tots @ The Bullfrog by Larry-DCM on Monday, December 15, 2003 @ 01:10:19 MST
- Re: MB Y23 Christmas Party / Toys for Tots @ The Bullfrog by distortiondave on Monday, December 15, 2003 @ 12:11:45 MST
- Re: MB Y23 Christmas Party / Toys for Tots @ The Bullfrog by Britney on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 @ 17:02:21 MST
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Re: MB Y23 Christmas Party / Toys for Tots @ The Bullfrog (Score: 1)
by Hellbilly (longblacksedan@hotmail.com) on Monday, December 15, 2003 @ 08:04:19 MST
(User Info | Send a Message) | Nice Shirt Monkey.
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Re: MB Y23 Christmas Party / Toys for Tots @ The Bullfrog (Score: 1)
by IB_Metis on Monday, December 15, 2003 @ 14:54:44 MST
(User Info | Send a Message) http://www.immigrantblue.com | Hey, thanks to everyone for coming out to support the local bands! Even though we really aren't "local" - you all make us feel that way. Great gigs for all, great drinks, AWESOME Bullfrog burger (definitely the best I've had in a long while), PLENTY of Red Bull and beer... and to top it off... hot chicks! Yeee hawwww!
Jeff... next time, we'll play "Today" or Sean will suffer - which could be even more enjoyable!! |
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Average Score: 5
Votes: 1
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