It was Saturday night and once again I reluctantly headed out to Oakland County in search of great rock & roll. I have no qualms about going anywhere to see a good show - I would go to the Opera House if there were some good bands playing there, but I just don't like heading to the Magic Bag in Ferndale. Don't get me wrong - I love the place; any venue that used to be a porno theater is perfect for seeing bands, but I just dislike that 9 Mile & Woodward location. When I look out the front door of the Magic Bag, instead of seeing the comforting view of Cass Avenue - I see some club called "Boogie Nights" that plays disco from the 1970's. That makes about as much sense as building a theme park to celebrate the Great Depression.
Luckily, once I got into the Magic Bag I can blissfully forget the surrounding area and concentrate on the music. First up was a four piece band called Nova Driver. I had never seen them before but they played a very energetic set of some high-quality melodic rock that was very much appreciated by the huge crowd. Next up came one of my favorites - Shepwrench. Their set just built on the energy flowing through the room as they ripped through a series of hard-driving punk & roll songs. My favorite part of the Shepwrench set is always their cover of the Sham 69 classic "Borstal Breakout". This punk anthem from the late 70's stands the test of time as one of the greatest songs ever written.
After getting a brief break after the Shepwrench show it was time for Grayling to come on in celebration of the release of their CD: "The Time Was Now". I had seen Grayling before, but could not believe how much better they sounded in front of the adoring audience. The place was going nuts and I witnessed what was probably the first stage dive north of Eight Mile Road. The crowd would not let the guys leave the stage until they came back and did a few more songs for an encore. Grayling provided a fabulous conclusion to a another great night of rock & roll in the Motor City. As I left the show I pulled out my brand-new Grayling CD that I had bought before they went on stage - I found out that the jewel case already had a few cracks in it from my quick visit to the dance pit in front of the stage. Oh well, at least the CD was undamaged as I'm sure that I'll get many hours of listening pleasure from it.