Lili`s is one of those great Hamtramck bars that always seems to be like home and it has stayed that way over the last twenty years. Labor Day weekend is the time of the annual Hamtramck festival which basically consists of lots of very drunk people wandering along Hamtramck's main drag looking for the next watering hole. This is usually no problem as Hamtramck was always described as the city with the most bars in the smallest area. It is virtually impossible to walk more than a couple blocks without running into a another bar, but Lili`s has always stood head and shoulders above the crowd.
It was also fun to go see a band without all of the emotional baggage that the Sex Pistols brought along & the big Mutants reunion looked too much like my high school reunion to comment about. The Trash Brats are basically Detroit's second coming of the New York Dolls. Since most of the people don't know who the Dolls were - this approach seems to attract a considerable crowd. The Brats are entertaining in sort of a goofy, 70's rock & roll style, where your old Cheap Trick songs with seem to fit in. After a few Stroh's I found myself enjoying the music more, but it really didn't leave a lasting impression. They have a new record out called "Out of the Closet", which will give you a better idea of their music, but I really can't be too crazy about them.
On the way home I stopped at Hamtramck`s other cultural legacy to live music - Paycheck's. Unfortunately the bands had already finished, but it's never too late to stop in for last call & say hi to Paycheck. This bar has also hosted some of the best (& worst) in both local & national music, but is has managed to retain its charm & flooded bathrooms all these years. It is no exaggeration to say that these two bars have probably kept the local music scene in Detroit alive over the last 20 years. Even more importantly, they have kept the price of beer affordable over all those years too.