Somewhere in Detroit….. It's about 1:00 am on a Saturday night and I find myself jammed into a small smoke-filled club in Detroit. There's a "SOLD OUT" sign on the door, but people still keep pushing in and there's barely room to breathe. The one bartender heroically keeps the drinks and beer flowing as I try to hold my spot in front of the stage. Actually, the place is so small that you really can't get too far from the stage even if you even wanted to. If you've ever had the pleasure of spending weekends down in Detroit's thriving club scene – you'll know right away that I can only be at the Gold Dollar in the heart of the Cass Corridor to see the much-anticipated Easy Action CD release party.
First up are yet another of Detroit's long list of great bands who will hopefully soon be releasing a CDS of their own – the Paybacks. After seeing them over the holidays at the spacious (compared to this) Magic Stick it was a special treat to see them in the intimate confines of the Gold Dollar. In this case, "intimate" means that every time you reach up to take a swing of beer your elbow hits somebody else, who's trying to do the same. The Paybacks rip through about a 35-minute set and you can't believe that it will get any louder or better than this. However, the main event is ready to begin. With some uncharacteristic planning on my part, I fight my way over to the guy selling the new Easy Action CD (on Reptilian Records) and quickly purchase 4 copies for some unfortunate friends of mine of who could not get down to the show. I stash the CD's in my car, which occupies one of those desirable parking spots on Cass (free parking in NEVER a problem at the Gold Dollar) and fight my way back in.
Easy Action is setting up and is ready to play. As a long stream of beers is passed to the stage and the band gets ready for another assault on my already-depleted nervous system. And now for another one of those unsponsored commercial interruptions…. The lead singer of Easy Action, John Brannon, use to sing in a band called Negative Approach, which was by far, the best band to come out of Detroit in the last twenty years. The expectations for Easy Action are high, but they have absolutely no problem in surpassing them. The energy output is incredible and could probably solve most of those power outages in California. My favorite moment of the night is the awesome song "Do or Die" – the noise level is incredible, my lungs are filled with about 2 hours of second-hand smoke and there are people banging into you every second. And you didn't think that paradise could be found on Earth. !!!