(photo from the Metro Times)

It seems that I’ve been very sloppy in my rock & roll band selection over the last year.  Somehow I have managed to miss another one of my old favorites from the 80s that has conveniently reformed for my benefit.  I am, of course, talking about Snakeout (or Snake Out or Snake-Out).  In those days before we had spellcheckers it was much easier to see multiple spellings on different flyers of the same band name.  Finally, a couple of weeks ago I marked my calendar and headed over to the Lager House to catch this legendary Detroit band.  The best part of the evening was when I discovered that this was the real Snakeout and they still can blow me away --- the worst part was when I realized how dumb I was no to have caught them earlier.  Either way – this blast from the past was enough to send me scurrying back to my PC to write about another of my old favorite bands.

The original Snakeout band formed back in 1982 when most of us where trying to recover from "punk rock hangover" that came upon much too fast.  We had hardcore, we had new wave, we had post-punk and somewhere goth was peering in through the basement window, but most of all - we had Snakeout.  These guys were pretty crazy; I didn't mind slam dancing or somebody taking a stage dive on top of my head, but the Snakeout shows were just plain weird.  A typical (as if there was something like a typical Snakeout show) combined rock & roll, performance art, fake blood (at least I always assumed it was fake), animal acts that somehow kept me coming back for more.  In those days nobody thought much about being part of a scene or that anybody from outside of Detroit would listen to this kind of music, but Snakeout was just there.  In those days Snakeout consisted of Len Puch, Greg Mitchell and Tim Reagan.  They just became part of my normal existence and songs like "Tango With the Dead" were part of my regular playlist.  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and Snakeout silently departed the Detroit rock & roll world.

Fast forward to the 21st century; we've all been garaged to death and somehow I saw that somebody called Snakeout is playing again at the Lager House.  I really wasn't sure what to make of this - is this really Snakeout??? The answer is a resounding yes !!!!!  Snakeout has returned (this time with Anthony Yacobelli and Damian Lang joining Len Puch) and a whole new generation of rockers has a chance to hear old classics such as "Hockey Night in Canada (the only version that I'm going to hear this year) and a cover of the immortal "Green Acres" theme.  This is my tribute to one of those bands that you just can't describe --- you really must see them for yourselves.  You don't often get second chances in life, but this time we get a second chance to see Snakeout and our lives will be better for it.

The Metro Times has a great writeup on Snakeout by Eve Doster.  Info about the original Snakeout can be found in the History section, the Snakeout discography will be in the Music Section, Snakeout flyers can be found in the Flyers section and a list Snakeout shows can be found in the thoughtfully-named Shows section.