The unfortunate closing of Lili’s last September has opened a void in the local music scene and it didn’t take long for a worthy contender to step forward. Small’s has been around for several years now, but it didn’t start featuring live music till recently. That was enough to get my truck pointed toward Hamtramck again and take that historic Caniff / Holbrook exit again. The stretch of Caniff between the Chrysler freeway and Conant is just full of musical landmarks. First up on the right is the former location of the Hamtramck Pub. This place was tiny and had very little parking, but was a great place to see a band for quite a while. As you cruse through Hamtramck you’ll pass right by the newest (and I think) biggest vinyl only place in the area – “the Record Graveyard”. After crossing Jos Campau the legendary Paycheck’s sits right on your right side. This place is now the longest-running club in Detroit showing live music even though their lofty standards have slipped from those days when the Butthole Surfers and the Gunn Club played here. If you can drag yourself past Paycheck’s (I frequently can’t) you will next pass the recently closed Motor Lounge. Of course, I couldn’t care less about another shutdown dance club, but this building really stood out when it was known as the Falcon Club and Fear, the Meatmen, Butt Trumpett and host of other great punk bands graced this stage.
Finally the grand tour is over and it’s time to check the action out at Small’s. It’s Monday night and the Fondas are opening up for the Reigning Sound from Memphis. The setup at Small’s is virtually perfect. You walk in the front door and you’re just in a regular bar – actually it’s much better decorated and furnished than your usual Hamtramck bar, but it’s the perfect place to sit down, grab a beer and watch a game on TV. If you don’t want to see the band – you can just sit in here and never even know that there’s a band in the back room. Of course that would defeat the whole purpose of the entire visit.
The back room is bare, just a stage, four walls and an excellent sound system. No tables or chairs are to be found – this is for the real rock & rollers. I never understood how anybody can sit while there’s real & roll in the air. The sound system is excellent and this place is serious about the music – you even have to back to the bar in order to get a drink as there is no bar area in the band room. The Fondas and the Reigning Sound put on a great show and they made me stay up much later than I had intended to a Monday night. Since then – I’ve been back to see the Fags and am looking forward to the Paybacks and a whole bunch of other cool shows. Small’s is one place that I’ll have add to my “frequent clubber” list.