A Very Merry Black Christmas to All and To All a Good Night

This past weekend Black Christmas reminded me how much I love this City and Detroit's music scene. Black Iris Booking brought together some of the best bands from Metro Detroit and some great touring acts for a night of music, family and partying. This annual event has become the do not miss party of the year and a chance to see all of your friends and pretty much everyone from Detroit's punk and metal scenes under one roof.

Things were a little different at this year's event, with the Garden Bowl stage moved to the lanes, leaving more hang out space in the bar area. Plus this was the first glimpse many of us got at Populux, the revamped version of the Magic Stick. There were giant light up pillars throughout the room, a couple new bars, and the bathrooms confused people throughout the entire night, but when you fill that room with a couple hundred metal kids, it still feels like home.

Bands like Temple of Void and Empathy lead up to the headlining act in the Stick, The Black Dahlia Murder. These guys played an awesome show at The Loving Touch a couple months ago, but this set was even more amazing. Multi-Grain played their last show ever over in the Garden Bowl, Against the Grain and Koffin Kats packed the Cafe, Jeff Sanguis took to the stage in the Theatre with some of his musically talented friends, with the entire night of shuffling from room to room while high-fiving and hugging passerbys, ending with The Suicide Machines in the Theatre.
Somehow over all of the years Jay, Ryan and the guys still manage to put on an even better show than the time before. This is one of those few bands that I've seen more times than I can count and yet there are still a ton of noteworthy performances that stick out in my head. And after a set that left the fans covered in beer and sweat, somehow Jay still had the energy to hit the stage back in the cafe with Break Anchor. This time around Break Anchor's crowd was a little more mild than Black Christmases of the past, but this is still one of the best bands to grab a beer and sing along to with your friends. Plus drummer Dan Stover got engaged during the set, which was just about the most adorable thing ever.

All in all this year's Black Christmas was definitely a notable one. In case you missed out or want to relive the night, here are a few videos from the Koffin Kats, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Suicide Machines, and Break Anchor's sets. Props to the ladies over at Black Iris Booking and everyone involved in this show! Once again, a great time was had by all.

~C