Jun
19
2009

Riverfest - Detroit, MI

Wisconsin to Illinois to Indiana to Michigan, Gin Blossoms Show and Gangster IHOP

(Add / View Comments) (0)Friday, June 19, 2009 - 11:33:59 pm
(Posted Under: Travel, Gin Blossoms Shows)
Photos

Today we woke up at 9 for the longest leg of our trip - Oshkosh, Wisconsin to Detroit, Michigan.

Once again, Deb was too nice, making us all breakfast before we left, and chatting about the Blossoms over breakfast.

Once on the road again we traveled south around Lake Michigan towards Chicago. Unfortunately I didn't have the foresight to put on South Milwaukee (Loretta) as we passed Milwaukee.

Once we got closer to Chicago the traffic hit. To me, it was very reminiscent of being is Los Angeles. [smile] Though Katie claimed that she much prefers Los Angeles traffic to Chicago traffic. All in all the traffic cost us about an hour. At one point I really wanted a smoke, and considered jumping out of the car and walking along side it down the freeway while having a smoke. [smile]

Neither the less, seeing Chicago from a distance was pretty cool. Almost being taken out by the Los Kapsi (La Nu Sensacion De Tierra Calintente) tour bus, as it decided at the last minute, from the left lane it wanted to take exit 51C, not as cool. [smile] By the time the traffic had cleared it was very nice to be back at cruising speed.

From the Chicago area, we crossed over the Illinois border and traveled along the bottom of Lake Michigan. From there it was north into Michigan, and then 4 hours across Michigan to motor city Detroit. Somewhere along the way we passed the second comical sign - the exits for Climax. As we went past the second sign I called out "ready girls?" [smile] Certainly by this stage we were sure that we were going to miss Starship, and we couldn't afford any delays because Buller had us scheduled to arrive at River Days at 9:15 - 15 minutes before the Blossoms took the stage. I won't lie to you, although we seemed to be okay, Balloon and Crap Festival anxiety began to rise in me. And then the rain hit. We were arguably only about halfway across Michigan, traffic was a bit slower, and the rain didn't help anything.

By the time it was dark, the rain was pelting down, only about 15 miles out of Detroit, Katie declared that she'd had enough. For the past 45 minutes we had some major doubts that the show hadn't already been rained out, and pulled off the highway to recoup. My wishful thinking was that the rain had delayed everything, and the bad would go on later and we'd be fine. The girls thought it was more likely that the show had been rained out and we hadn't missed anything. Either way, after a 10 or so minute break, Katie was back with us. The girls questioned whether we should just find a hotel, but I made the executive decision that we should continue on to Detroit. I mean we were only 15 minutes out, what do we have to lose? So we continued on. At which point Katie started writing her new hit song "I'm not sure about you Michigan". Look for it coming to a record store near you.

Michigan....
I'm just not sure how I feel about you Michigan
When Robin gets hit by lightning he goes 'pheff'
I'm just not sure how I feel about you Michigan
Are you fucking serious Michigan?

Will the rain ever stop?
I'm willing to give you a chance
But I'm just not sure about you Michigan

You've got Motor City
But I'm just not that sure about you Michigan
Anyways, we made it to motor city. Finding the venue was interesting, Buller seemed somewhat confused, but we got down there. Not before almost ending up in Canada though. At one point we turned down a street which prompted turned into a border entrance to Canada - without much warning. It was actually incredibly uncannily like the Port Of Entry for Mexico / USA in Nogales. Pretty much curve around this short street, and there you are, about to enter Canada. Which I thought was really cool, and I really dig the fact that I've now been to both borders - even if we really hadn't planned on this one.

Getting back on track and driving past the venue, despite people were leaving, we could hear some music. So we parked the car in the parking garage across the street, and high tailed it across the midway when I thought I heard Hold Me Down (having serious Balloon and Crap Festival flashbacks, with Krissy in toe.

We got to the stage, where there was no band playing, and not much of a crowd, but a bunch of people mopping up - including Daryl. Major Lodge Victory! As I'd suggested, the Blossoms hadn't played, and it appeared that the might. It certainly seemed that the mopping up was in preparation for a rock show, rather than a cleanup. Of course, there were some questions about whether it was actually going to happen. Lightning strikes were sill flying around - so refer to the Robin lyric in Katie's Michigan song. [wink] One annoyance was a barrier around the stage - weird since this was a free show. Once we mustered the ability to ask security, the barriered section was for corporate sponsors. Lame! Particular since the rain had really thinned out the crowd.

It soon became apparent that the Gin Blossoms were going to play, and closer to the start of the show, security ushered the corporate sponsor VIP's into the front rows from the tents, and then cleared the barricades. Woo! Major Lodge Victory number...well, I've lost count at this point. The MC came out and thanked all the sponsors, and in what sounded weird thanked 'GM. Who aren't sponsoring River Days this year, but...". The intention of the shout out was clear, but still came out sounding...well, frankly, comical.

The band took the stage, said hi to Detroit and then announced that they'd better get to it, since the set was going to be shortened to 45 minutes because of the rain.

  1. Follow You Down
  2. Found About You
  3. Fool For The Taking
  4. Long Time Gone
  5. Super Girl
  6. Allison Road
  7. Til I Hear It From You
  8. Lost Horizons
  9. Hey Jealousy


Despite not being as close as we would have otherwise have liked, and the abbreviated set, it was a thoroughly enjoyable show. Which is the brillance of seeing a number of shows consecutively. If you one does go 100% according to plan it's not a huge problem. I'd planned on being front row tonight, but the fact that we were back a fair way was cool to me, because it's the first time I've seen to show from that perspective (always being up front at other shows).

Not long into the set, Katie noticed that Emmett DeGuvera (from Tramps & Thieves) was back stage, hanging out with Daryl, which was pretty cool. Pretty far from Tempe, however Katie figured that he was in Detroit visiting family.

Throughout the show there were quite a few lightning strikes, which prompted visions of Gin Blossoms going up in a cloud of smoke here an there. At times, the look on Robin's face implied he was having the same vision. [wink]

Everything considered, it was a really good show, and in my mind completely made the 7 or so hours drive worthwhile. After the set, Robin announced he'd be back at the merch table, which was kind of surprising, given how small the crowd was and the weather seeming fair miserable.

We milled around there for a bit, moreso to see if we had more chance of seeing what was for sale, however, it was a crappy little tent where it was impossible to see anything. One thing we all enjoyed was hearing Robin's commanding voice saying "can we move the table 15 inches THAT way so that I'm not getting dripped on". [smile]

Not long after that, Katie mentioned how great it was that the rain had held off for the show. At that point, it had just started to drizzle. And apparently, that comment upset the gods. Within about 30 seconds of making the comment, the heavens opened. We had been about ready to make a move anyway, and we darted across the midway, with absolutely no shelter to be found, we were absolutely drenched in under a minute. Arguably it's the most intense downpour I've been out in, and we really might have well have just jumped in the adjacent Detroit River - we would have not have gotten any less wet if we'd done that! By the time we got back to the car, there was not an inch of my clothes that weren't sopping wet. After ringing out what clothes we could, the plan was to find a cheap hotel where we could dry out.

Without too much fuss we found a Discomfort Inn close by, checked in and changed out clothes. On the way in, the girls had spotted an International House Of Pancakes, which prompted much excitement from the front seats of the car, and it was decided that we'd go over there. After a hilarious 15 minute aimless drive trying to get in to the parking lot we pulled in, and Krissy announced that it looked pretty gangster-ish. From the back seat I couldn't see that much. Though, once walking in, it was obvious what she meant as we were stopped in the entrance, awaiting a weapons pat down. There's a good an American experience for me right there - a concealed weapons check while just trying to get pancakes. [smile]

Once getting in, the front of the building was boarded up and wrapped in 'caution' tape. Initially, particularly given the pat down and the fact that we were the only three anglo people in there, I wondered who had been murdered there, and how recently. [smile] However, obviously a car had come through the front of the building. All in all, it was certainly a unique Detroit experience! With that being said, it was a actual lovely post show dinning experience, and our waitress Smilie was really nice.

After finishing eating we headed back to the hotel, for our first sleep in a bed since embarking on the trip, which was greatly appreciated.

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