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| Show Review: Frogapalooza Friday, March 12th |
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 Sure, we went on and on about Frogapalooza before and even during the event. Yeah, yeah, three days, twenty-something bands, yada, yada, yada. I bet you thought we were all done with that, didn't you? Well you're wrong! We can't help but continue to glorify the good nature, good music and good faith support of our participating bands. So I'm doing what I can to tap it all out for you before work, during lunch, after work and whenever my wife and daughter allow me five minutes to continue where I left off (bless their hearts). There's just not enough free hours in the week. Click "Read More" below for a review of Friday's performances.
 Friday the 12th was finally here after months of planning. Of course, I worried that I didn't put enough posters up, didn't send out enough e-mails, and generally second-guessed everything we'd done up to that point. But there was nothing more we could do. Zero hour had arrived. Webmaster Rick said, "It's in God's hands now, Mitch. Just let it go!" Great. I just hope HE likes local music.
When I arrived at The Bullfrog around six, Teddy Richards and his band were already setting up their equipment. Brad welcomed me in at the door with his usual good-natured hospitality. But the place was relatively empty except for a few locals and a couple barmaids (both of whom grace the wall of my office now, in calendar form). It was quiet too; only the hum of the overhead TV's and clinking glasses broke the silence. The pangs of guilt returned and the second-guessing started all over again. Maybe we should have offered free food. I could have gotten some pizzas. I know, we could have had a dancing pizza on Telegraph Rd. with an MB t-shirt on handing out slices! My neurosis was amplified by the silence.
But what did I expect at six on a Friday afternoon? People were still coming home from work. You can lead a horse to the watering hole but, apparently, you can't make 'em get drunk and listen to music until sometime after the dinner-hour. The merch table had to be set up. My neurosis would have to wait.
I drug a piece of underlayment covered in black felt out of my truck, into the bar and across the floor, and hung it over a Budweiser mirror in the back of the room near the stage. Teddy Richards began his set while I figured out a way to get the t-shirts to stay up. The velcro-tape wassn't holding, the thumb-tacks were bending at the tip and the MB shirts kept falling off the display. I"m ready to get the damn staple gun and call these shirts a loss. Pow, pow, pow!
Teddy's 3-piece band is grooving on stage while I wrestle with the display. I recognize some of the songs from his website. He's a solid songwriter and a good vocalist. Despite his famous mother (Aretha Franklin), Teddy has to work a gig like everybody else in this business. But he does get some unique opportunities. Teddy opened for INXS and wrote eleven songs with Andrew Farris at his home in London. If you're too young to remember, Andrew Farris wrote the songs that composed INXS' chart-topping album "Kick", that sold upwards of five million copies. Teddy didn't sell five-million CD's at Frogapalooza (thank God), but he did outsell every other act that put merch up.
F-Stop loaded in as Teddy's band packed it up. They cam all the way from the Pickney/Howell area to play the show for us. While sifting through the dozens of bands that volunteered to play, we were particularly impressed by F-Stop's debut release called "All In Love is Fair." Produced by Michale Lutz 'over a grueling six month period', the end result is a tight, well produced product with good songwriting and pleasing arrangements. Unfortunately, I managed to embarrass one of the band members with an inappropriate joke about Pickney in the presence of Teddy's bassist (oops), mispronounce "Michael Lutz" (it's pronounced "Lootz" apparently) and I kept introducing the band as "F-Stop 22" (ie. their URL is http://www.fstop22.com/) instead of simply "F-Stop" Nice going, Mitch. Ok, so my MC muscle has atrophied a bit - but It's only the second round. The room's starting to fill up nicely by now. I feel better already.
By the time my long-time faves Robb Roy show up, the crowd in The Frog was packed, primed and ready to rock. RR opened their set with "Shine" off 1998's "Heroes and Cocktails" record and I was blissing. It was one of the first records I reviewed and definitely the first local CD I ever convinced a DJ to spin in a topless bar (read the review). It's always a pleasure to see them perform but tonight was particularly special because they were gracious enough to return props to MB just by showing up and because you may never, ever see them play a gig like this again (very special thanks to Susan from Select Management).
It's not long before the girls hit the dance floor, as they are apt to do when Robb Roy hits the stage. RR played "Battlelines" and "Goodbye" off their latest CD, "Days of Pride & Hunger" and nailed the performance as usual. I heard several musicians in the crowd voice their respect for these seasoned pros. And very few frontmen can dominate a stage like Graham Strachan, without the aid of back-ups, and make it look so easy. Near the end of the set Webmaster Rick and Teddy Richards joined the band on stage with shakers and maracas and Teddy busted-out a few choice vocal riffs. Mike Kudreiko put his newly "Bondified" guitar down and joined drummer Dwayne Huff in a four-stick drum solo and the crowd went wild.
But they really let loose when RR delivered a original arrangement of The Doors "Break on Through". It was a first class set and I wish I could have let them play on all night. But we were just getting started and there were miles to go before we slept.
Singer "Tone" from LAST was worrying they'd be too hard for this crowd - a crowd that was still giving it up for Robb Roy. LAST would be much, much heavier. But Frogapalooza wis about enjoying the musical diversity of local music. Over three days that diversity would be represented by over twenty bands from every major genre including punk, funk, metal, electronica, singer/songwriters, country, pop and yes, metal. Frogapalooza wouldn't be complete without Heavy Fu**ing Metal. And you can bet there are a few metal-heads on this side of town - or at least some former hair-banders who pine for the eighties. Hell, even I played metal in daze of yore - when I was younger, skinnier and hairier.
Some chick screamed when LAST took the stage. Tone was quick to react. "Yeah! We got a screamer in the audience. All right! I like that." He leaned in
towards her with his mic while patting his ample gut, "You a fan of the Atkins Diet, baby?" Then he whispered lasciviously, "How 'bout we go down to the iHop for some bacon & eggs, eh? Would you like that, honey? I bet you would." Everyone busted out laughing. If there was any tension in the room about the impending Metal Doom of LAST, it quickly dissipated with Tone's capable handling of the mic. They boldted through their set of originals and covers, including some cover by a band called "Saliva". I'm not familiar (since I ONLY listen to local music) but the chorus goes, "Click, Click, Boom" (perhaps it's "Russian Roulette?" - just guessing). By the way, both Wally and Scott can fucking shrrrrred! Great set guys. Oh, and Wally - nice lap dance on Jeff Halicki!
Frequency 54's set was hard as nails, slick as shit and they showed everybody in the house why they can pack The Machine Shop on any given night. They went way out of their way (Flint) to show MB some love out here in Redford, town of my cursed birth some thirty-mumble years ago. Singer "Justin" has a unique and powerful voice that can project fifty feet of charisma from his five-foot frame. "Here's another song you've never heard us play before," Justin quips before launching into another original from "54 Cent Freq Show". Hmmm. Here in my notes it says they covered, "Sweet Home Alabama" at some point. Could that be right or did I drink too much? No, that was Webmaster Rick - who was nowhere to be found by that point. Taxi!
Stay tuned for a review of Saturday's performances.
Mitch Phillips
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Re: Show Review: Frogapalooza Friday, March 12th (Score: 1)
by Frequency54 on Saturday, March 27, 2004 @ 02:32:55 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) http://frequency54.com | Thanks for the compliments guys! It was nice of you to invite us out and we had a blast!
~Justin
Frequency54 |
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Re: Show Review: Frogapalooza Friday, March 12th (Score: 1)
by Terminator on Saturday, March 27, 2004 @ 07:16:36 EST
(User Info | Send a Message) http://lastrocks.com | | We appreciate that! I was wondering how the crowd would react to noise that we produce but most seemed to enjoy it. I had a good time and added a shirt to my collection! Thanks for that too. That was my first time seeing Robb Roy and those guys got some serious chops, It's no wonder why they have been around for so long. Nice photo of my ugly mug btw! Thanks again for having Last on this show and we look forward to doing it again. The cover tune we did is called Click Click Boom by Saliva. It's a fun tune to play. |
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| Michigan Business Directory |
Average Score: 5
Votes: 5
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