The great leaf burning continues!

After the better part of a week, we have the leaves down to a 6’ x 3’ pile now. The Mrs has been tending to the fire most nights, with assistance from me. I can’t spend too much time out among the leaves without spending the rest of the evening doped up on allergy meds, so I really appreciate all of her hard work. My job each night is to go out and water down the embers so the yard doesn’t catch on fire while we sleep. While some in the house think it’s OK to let the leaves smolder overnight (they are in a burn barrel), I spent too much time being indoctrinated by an anthropomorphic bear in a ranger hat to do that.

There were two big events which happened over the last week, but those will be addressed later in the post, so read on!

Listening To: Reverend Horton Heat and various other rockabilly and psychobilly acts that come up on shuffle.

Currently Reading: I’m running late on getting up a review for Thrall so I am trying to make time to get some reading in. I’m not doing well.

Current Obsession: Trying to figure out which of our shows have finished for the season and which one still have new episodes coming. It’s hard enough trying to keep straight which shows drop on which days, now we have to worry about the stupid summer hiatuses.

Finn and Quinn are now graduates of puppy class! There are still plenty of skills that need strengthening, but we will be working on those for a while before we move on to Intermediate Class. We could start next week, but there will be a couple of Sundays where I won’t be available and the class runs for six weeks. We will be getting the pair fixed within that time frame, so it is best if we wait until after their surgeries before starting.

Our next show is only a week and a half away. We will be at Halfway to Halloween both Friday evening (7pm - 11pm) and Saturday (12pm - 7pm). The Friday show is 21+, so if you have kiddies, aim for visiting on Saturday. There will be a ton of vendors, including DRP authors Peggy Christie, David Hayes, and Ken MacGregor, a hearse show, food trucks, strolling entertainment, and a collaborative attraction put together by some of the biggest haunted attractions in the area. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

The proof copy of Hollywood is Dead is on its way to us and author Ron Ford from the printer. Look for final release announcements coming soon!

The next Midnight Creature Feature at the Historic Howell Theater will be Gymkata on 22 May.

Last Saturday I spent the evening at the Magic Stick with 700 of my closest friends to take in an amazing concert. I’m not going to lie, I almost didn’t go. I was in a super crabby mood and really wanted to just relax on the floor with the puppies. Instead I put on my big boy pants (in this case a pair of jeans, a tee shirt, and a work shirt with zombies at a car hop), and drove down to Detroit.

I’m so glad that I did.

It’s been a LONG time since I visited the Garden Bowl (I’m not even going to go into those memories right now). I got lucky enough to land one of the last parking spots in the lot directly behind the venue—they literally put the cones up before I got out of my car. For those who haven’t been to the Magic Stick, it is part of the Majestic Theater, I don’t know, complex? It’s upstairs, above the bar/bowling alley and is what people in the business refer to as an “intimate” setting.

Meaning that it’s general admission and standing room only. There are multiple bars, a patio with a beautiful view of Woodward on one side and the parking lot on the other. I was there to see The Reverend Horton Heat and two opening acts.

In my experience, opening acts can be hit or miss. When there are multiples, I usually get lucky and find one new band that I enjoy, and one that I’m OK missing while I head off to the bathroom or the bar. This was NOT the case this time around.

The first act was Piñata Protest, a self- described Tex-Mex punk band (“Punk rock like abuela used to make!”). Lead singer and accordion player Alvaro Del Norte was a spinning ball of fire. The music was impossible not to jive to, a lively mix played at ridiculous speed. Their set also featured one of my favorite moments of the last week, when Del Norte slowed everything down to talk about the divisive topics that were tearing the country, families, and friends apart. Even the band was divided, but they were going to settle the question right there:

Which salsa was better? Salsa roja or salsa verde?

They were followed by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. If Jimi Hendrix, Howlin’ Wolf, and James Brown had a musical baby, it would be this band. They put out the kind of music you don’t listen to, you experience. At one point I just closed my eyes and let everything wash over me.

The culmination of the evening was Reverend Horton Heat who brought their usual mix of rockabilly and raucous humor. I first saw the Rev on Conan O’Brien (when he still had the Late Night show). There were plenty of other people who had been following the band for at least that long, which meant that I was far from the oldest person in the crowd (always a pleasant thing). The crowd itself covered multiple generations, many in rockabilly ‘50s era get up. The band played many of their big hits, as well as a number of covers from their new album Roots of the Rev, a collection of covers. The last song of the night was another cover, but not one on the album—Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades”.

You could actually feel the floor vibrating.

I had a great time, even if I did wake up with a leg cramp the next day from standing for hours in Vans (stupid, should have worn my boots). If the tour is coming near you this year, I highly recommend stopping in.

And in case you don’t know what “they” say: Old punks never die, we just stand in the back (so we have something to lean on).