Some things never seem to change and, happily Lili’s is one such constant in a changing world. Lately I’ve rediscovered this hidden gem on Hamtramck’s south side and possibly just in time. There’s a huge “For Sale” sign on the front of 2930 Jacob and who knows what the future holds for this venerable institution. Last weekend I caught a great set by the Dragstrippers and this week I returned to see one of my oldest favorites – Cinecyde.
Cinecyde must be the longest-playing band in Detroit. These guys released their first record back in 1977 on Tremor Records. The aptly title “Gutless Radio” single is just as relevant today as it was some 25 years ago and just shows how little commercial radio has changed over these years. Over the years, I’ve seen Cinecyde playing and working just as hard as always in all sorts of places such as Bookie’s, Paychecks and even the awesome Gold Dollar. They have continued to put out great music and their latest CD, “Magnetic Attraction / Hypnotic Repulsion” carries on that great tradition.
The opening band at Lili’s were the vastly-underrated Gramercy Riffs. This three-piece has been playing around town, opening shows at places like the Magic Stick, and they showed that they are more than capable of holding their own on any stage in town. I look forward to hearing a lot of great things from the Gramercy Riffs. The only thing that I could find wrong in their great blend of trashy punk rock were the awful jokes that they delighted in telling the crowd. On second thought, at least they weren’t making jokes about the Detroit Lions, so I take my words back. If the Riffs play as well as they did on Friday night – they could say all of the bad jokes that they want.
Next up were Cinecyde and I was thrilled to see that they sounded as good as they ever have. The place was pretty full and the crowd was very appreciative of the show being put on. An added bonus was the gust appearance by Bob Mulrooney, aka “Bootsey X” on drums for a spirited version of that old crowd favorite: “Burn the crackhouse down”. (always a popular past time in Detroit as should be seen in the new Eminem movie being filmed in Highland Park). It’s always great to see how a band like Cinecyde can keep creating great music for such a long time. And that’s not all for Lili’s: upcoming shows include the Bomb Pops, Polish Muslims, Trash Brats and 3D Invisibles, so I’ll be making that trek down to Hamtramck quite often in the next few weeks.
P.S. An added highlight to the show was my sister Ksenia, who organized a group of her friends to come down and cheer the Gramercy Riffs and Cinecyde on! Good job, sis!!!!!