August and Everything After

Foreign Royals will be alighting upon local concert halls in the coming weeks. While there's no expectation that one wear a hair shirt or kiss any rings (unless you're into that sort of thing), we all have the opportunity to be in the presence of kings in the near future. 

The Gizzard King

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard returns to the Detroit Metropolitan Area this month, playing at the Aretha Franklin Ampitheater on Friday, 23 August. They appear to be bringing Geese with them. Doors are at 7:30pm. There appear to be very few tickets remaining, based on the quick glance we took at Ticketmaster just now. 

King Diamond

On Monday, 4 November, infamous Dane, King Diamond, is playing at the Cathedral Theatre within the Masonic Temple Theatre complex. Tickets went on sale this morning at 10am. Doors are at 6pm. We recommend leaving your grandmaaaaaaaa at home.

Opeth

We're very excited to learn that Opeth has finally announced the release of their new album, The Last Will and Testament, due out Friday, 11 October 2024. You can learn more about the concept album here on their website. In an email sent to fans, the release was described with the statement, "'The Last Will & Testament' is a concept album set in the post-World War I era, unfolding the story of a wealthy, conservative patriarch whose last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets..." 

The first track so far released is titled §1, which is also the first track of the album. The section sign, §, in the title is cleverly employed, since it's used in legal documents to denote individual sections as would appear in a will, and which serves here to replace what, in classical music, would be the opus number, "Op."

Presumably in support of this release, Opeth returns to the Midwest this fall, with shows in Milwaukee, WI at The Rave/Eagles Club on Friday, 11 October, and another in nearby Cleveland, OH at The Agora Theater and Ballroom on Saturday, 12 October. We envy our Milwaukee neighbors that they have the honor of hosting Opeth on the release date, but we won't hold it against them. The rest of their tour dates are here.

Amyl and the Sniffers, Totally Tubular Festival

Both shows took place on consecutive weeknights, which translated into our missing the opening acts, so we apologize for having no ability to comment on their performances.

Amyl and the Sniffers

The Majestic hosted the Australian quartet comprised of singer Amy Taylor, drummer Bryce Wilson, guitarist Declan Martens, and bassist Gus Romer on Thursday, 25th July. We got to witness the spunky Amy give Detroit her affections, then take a high speed sprint through their songlist. They take their music seriously and respect their audience. Their stage show isn't flashy. It doesn't need to be. It suits their down-to-earth nature, which is what's so refreshing about Amy and her bandmates. What's clear to us is that they have more range than what they've so far offered, so we're very curious to see how they evolve as a band. 

Totally Tubular Festival

On Friday, 80s nostalgia set the tone for the night at Meadow Brook, with many people wearing their tackiest neons. It made for a fun atmosphere, carefree and unpretensious. Bow Wow Wow was better than we expected, and having just seen Adam Ant this spring, we were amused to discover just how much his original band contributed to his early sound. The percussion style perhaps most associated with Adam Ant obviously belongs to Bow Wow Wow's original drummer. 

Wang Chung also surprised us with how much better their music was than what their radio hits suggested. Their performance betrayed no shortcomings in their musicianship. If you like Wang Chung, see them while they're still touring. They remain committed to being a worthwhile expenditure of your time. 

The Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey's stage show had nice visual elements. LED light bars lit up to resemble an early digital EQ. He and his all-female backing band wore matching white outfits, echoing Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love music video, including looking and sounding like no one was playing live. The only evidence that at least one mic was live was that Bailey's singing was painfully flat. 

Modern English played well enough, though we personally could not get into their style, and singer Robbie Grey was likewise not in tune. Any childhood affection we may have ever had for their big hit was long ago worn away by its use in a McDonald's commercial. 

Thomas Dolby headlined, coming on last in his signature brown duster, solo. He opened with a montage of various 80s sounds, mostly recognizably New Order's Blue Monday. He's the consummate professional, and delivered exactly the synth performance one expects of him.

We must admit to our dismay at the absence of Detroit natives, The Romantics, who had to cancel due to an unexpected medical issue. Their inclusion in the bill was a large driver in our decision to attend, so it was an unhappy moment when we learned we wouldn't be watching them perform. We hope to see them in the future, and that whatever difficulty caused their absence passes without any complications. 

The real highlight of the show was Men Without Hats, inexplicably stuffed into the middle of the lineup. They wasted no time. Dessert before dinner, their set started with a bang- a quick jump into the Safety Dance that quickly had much of the audience cheering, dancing, and singing along. Energy was high, and their half hour set was filled with songs we were surprised to find ourselves enjoying. Singer Ivan Doroschuk is a skilled frontman, and the whole band was zipper tight. Fun fact- keyboardist Sahara Sloan is Ivan's niece. For us, we've largely regarded them as one-hit-wonders, but it turns out they have a good back catalogue, and a natural charisma that gets people on their feet without even asking. That is how it's done!  Theirs was the best set of the whole show. Imagine our delight when they snuck the Safety Dance in by way of a stealth intro to close their set. It's a catchy song, and absolutely no one was disappointed that they played it twice.