From the Shadows
We had ourselves once heckuva dance party last Wednesday at the Crofoot. Twin Shadow came swooping through a packed Pike Room with his new wave-infused rock, getting everyone (and there were LOTS of folks in that place) on their feet and shufflin'. Opener Poolside sounded fantastic, and truly only could have been showed up by Twin Shadow's George Lewis Jr., who expressed his love for Pontiac several times (including telling us that he "hopes we start making cars again soon") and really just treated the crowd to a pretty enjoyable night.

The Eats, Arts and – Of Course, Beats
Labor Day might seem like eons from now, but the sad truth is, the unofficial end of summer is less than a month away. Happily, however, there is one thing that makes the sayonara to summer a little less bitter: Ford's Arts, Beats and Eats. This past Wednesday D-Days stopped by the Royal Oak Farmer's Market for the event's press conference, emceed by co-founder Jon Witz. The conference was also hosted by local music makers 50 Amp Fuse who covered several acts like Mayer Hawthorne, Beatlemania Live, Morris Day and the Time and R.E.O. Speedwagon, all of whom were announced as headliners at the festival. Eateries like Guacho Steakhouse, BD's Mongolian Grill and Bean & Cornbread we're also on hand to provide us with a tasty lunch as they were announced as some of this year's newest food vendors. And with a few of the event's artists on hand to display their wares, we have to say it was a well-rounded taste of what we can expect come 8/31.

Flo's In Town
Florence + the Machine's rescheduled concert was worth the wait. Playing the Fox like its splendid acoustics were made for her soaring voice, the British songstress brought some of the sold-out crowd to tears. The lovely redhead said the theatre was one of the prettiest venues they've ever played. And, she went on to rave about how visiting the famed Heidelberg Project was an inspiration. Welcome to the D, Flo.

A Rainbow Sea Inside
Coldplay treated fans to one of the most visually arresting performances ever to go down at the Palace on Wednesday. A jam-packed house (don't be jealous, Pistons) took part in the show as wrist straps handed out at the door rhythmically lit up during the band's rockier performances. Culling from 15 years worth of material, Coldplay left fans happy. And the fans left drummer Will Champion happy as they sang Happy Birthday in unison on his special day.

Notoriously Rowdy, As Always
Saturday night there was metal music takeover of the Meadow Brook Music Festival. The Trespass America Tour fueled the stage with a smashing lineup featuring Battlecross, God Forbid, Emmure, Trivium, Killswitch Engage and Five Finger Death Punch. It was a hot and sweaty day of summer music mayhem. Some of our favorite moments at the show were rocking out to Trivium and watching bassist Paolo Gregoletto go out into the crowd while playing his bass. Killswitch Engage crushed it with the return of their original singer Jesse Leach and had the crowd in an energetic uproar. It was Five Finger Death Punch that was the real treat (they've now added huge video screens to their production which are blindingly bright and project some sweet graphics to complement their music). It's no secret that 5FDP fans are some of the rowdiest out there, so lead singer Ivan Moody blatantly told crowd control over the mic to buzz off (you know what he REALLY said). With a seriously killer stage setup, we can see why this set was saved for last. Our favorite moment, though, was when Moody said, "I love Michigan, and you know why? The women. There must be something in the water, because y'all are fucking gorgeous!"

Still a Juke Box Hero
WCSX's Rockin' on the Riverfront continued it's annual summer series with a special performance by Lou Gramm of Foreigner. The weather was absolutely beautiful, the Detroit River was packed with boats, and Gramm started his set with "Double Vision" just as the sun set over the water (talk about perfect timing). He soon followed with "Feels Like the First Time" and "Cold as Ice"- basically, heaven to the ears for any classic rock aficionado. Many hits and guitar solos later, Gramm finished off the night with "Juke Box Hero"... only to get back onstage for a special encore of "Hot Blooded" (we had started to worry that we wouldn't have fevers of 103, but it was all good after this song). That one guitar just blew us away, along with the roar of the crowd.

Palooza'd
Another weekend, another music festival. This time we headed down to Chicago for Lollapalooza where we proudly watched Detroit's own Jack White close the festival on Sunday night. Jack switched things up a bit from the last time we saw him. Lolla felt a lot more "comfy" this year as Grant Park was pretty full, especially for the headliners. Sunday night was especially amazing because at least four stages were going at once, all with different music and all with seemingly different moods. As Jack White, Justice, Childish Gambino and Kaskade closed Lollapalooza 2012, we found ourselves already looking forward to Lolla 2013. Who's in? | RDW