No Lights, One Camera & Lots of Action at The Blowout

Friday night we kicked off the Blowout by booking a bunch of interviews and making a schedule of where we needed to be down to the minute. The three of us, Christie, Becca, and myself, gathered at Whiskey in the Jar around 9:30 and that's where the trouble began.

About two minutes into our first interview with All The Wild Chidren our camera stopped working. We were able to grab the back up camera and have a quick talk with the band, but I wasn't even able to ask vocalist Paul about his uncanny resemblance to Rob Zombie.

Then after we "fixed" the camera it went totally black on us while trying to shoot a song. We went back to our car and tried to work out the issues, but quickly realized it just wasn't happening for that camera on this night. We switched to the back up, missed quite a few sets that we were dying to see, and headed to the New Dodge to check out the rappers showcase and talk to Cold Men Young before they performed.

The New Dodge had a great vibe and Cold Men Young were wonderful to speak with. We found out that they were actually the geniuses behind this hip-hop showcase and learned a little about the guys and how they work together as a group. Things were finally starting to look up.

We left the New Dodge and headed to the Polish National Alliance to catch our friends in Against The Grain. We caught most of their set and it was definitely a highlight of the evening. We are really looking forward to their album release on May 31st! We got a sneak peak of the new album last week and we think you guys are going to love it!

 

Just as things were starting to look up we realized we had some how lost some, we'll just say "important stuff" during the last two hours since we had started our night. We left the PNA to get another interview and hunt for what we lost. We ventured back to the New Dodge and actually found one of our two missing items while catching the end of Cold Men Young's set.

We then headed over to The Painted Lady with hopes of catching Disinformants for our last interview of the night. When we walked in they were taking the stage a half hour earlier than we planned. So, we had missed our window for the interview and officially decided trying to plan the Blowout is the worst idea ever.

Somehow we forgot the beauty of the Blowout is getting lost in a sea of people, bands, beers and music. You can't plan your night. You can try to catch all the bands you want to see and you will miss at least one. You also will stumble across a band that you have never heard of and truly enjoy. You will drink too much, probably get pizza or a burger during the evening and, if you're lucky, you will cross paths with many people you know and love.

We put down the cameras, picked up the drinks, and danced like idiots to The Meatmen until 2 a.m. Turnout was definitely down from last year and the weather was a little chilly, but dancing with my two girls at the end of a crazy night to some good music in a room filled with friends cannot be considered anything but a success.

 

~S