Throw Up Your Rawkfist, If You're Feelin' It!
With two nights of sold-out shows in a row, Thousand Foot Krutch rocked Flint's Machine Shop to a whole new level. The Letter Black and The Wedding kicked off the night, followed by Love and Death featuring Brian "Head" Welch (former Korn guitarist). We were quite mesmerized with Welch's flowing dreads, especially when he donned a Devo Energy Dome Hat and the band played a very metal version of the 1980 new wave classic, "Whip It." The Korn compilation wasn't too shabby, either. TFK took the stage in front of a wall-to-wall crowd of die-hard fans, opening with our favorite track, "Let the Sparks Fly." We heard a ton of material from the new album, but what we really enjoyed were some of the older hits, such as "Rawkfist" and "Move." Vocalist Trevor McNevan can spit words so fast that we're convinced he could totally rap in his spare time. That wasn't the only Machine Shop show we made it out for, either. Even that major snow and ice storm couldn't stop us from catching up with Swedish rockers In Flames. Singer Anders Fridén was quite talkative and joked saying, "Welcome to the Facial Hair Tour." Yes, all the bands were super hairy and performed some thunderous music to some dedicated fans. Opening the show was one of our favorite local metal bands, Battlecross, along with All Shall Perish, and Christian rockers Demon Hunter.

Beard Spotting
Fans of Adam O'Connor made it out in droves to the Magic Bag on Thursday night. While the line-up of local acts was top notch (Amy Gore and her Valentines, Jennifer Westwood and the Wayward Cross Georgia Farmboys, Citizen Zero, Awesome Jarvis and the Whales, The Howling Diablos and The Infatuations as well as Linda Lexy who MC'd the event) we're pretty sure the folks that packed in on the freezing cold night only had eyes for O'Connor. The guest of honor arrived with his lovely wife Stephanie O'Connor in tow and the receiving line never died down once. We spotted many friends and co-workers of O'Connor's as well as tons of faces we'd never seen before. A special thanks goes out to Kathy Vargo and On The Rocks for setting up a fantastic evening for a fabulous man and Jeremy Haberman and Co. for donating the Magic Bag's time and space.

The Experience
Though D-Days had a jam-packed weekend we knew we couldn't miss spending an afternoon with The Long Island Medium, a.k.a. Theresa Caputo. The petite blonde who talks to dead people had us in tears more times than we'd like to count. Tempering the emotional with tons of humor, she had us laughing away the tears just as often as we were sniffling into our tissues. Though we didn't get to connect with Caputo directly, we were happy to listen to the heart-wrenching stories of those who'd lost small children, husbands, wives and friends. One audience member wasn't so understanding and felt that Caputo was trying to connect her departed spirit with another audience member. The woman stood up and shouted at the medium who handled the situation very well, moving on to another spirit that she felt a connection with.

Rock and Roll Never Forgets
When Bob Seger plays a show within a two-hour radius, you can bet we'll make a road trip anywhere to catch the Detroit legend. And since we just couldn't wait until April for the two shows at The Palace, we quickly booked it to Toledo for a sneak-peek of the Rock and Roll Never Forgets Tour. Seger just doesn't seem to age- he was hopping all over the stage with his signature double fist-pump dance moves. If you can play a two-and-a-half hour set with a five-minute break at the ripe age of 67, consider yourself one of the greatest artists of all time. We had a blast hearing all of the classics, such as "Night Moves," "Old Time Rock and Roll," "Hollywood Nights" and "Turn the Page." After two encores, Seger finally closed the night with "Rock and Roll Never Forgets." No... no, it truly doesn't.

A-Muse-ing
British mega-rockers Muse put on a show for the ages at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday. The veteran band has a knack for putting on a stage show that rivals the biggest names in the industry. Think U2 but on a smaller scale. Their lights and lasers would've been enough to satiate any fan looking for a spectacle, but the ceiling of their stage transformed into a multi-tiered video screen that was an incredible sight. After a meeting with some influential fans, lead singer Matt Bellamy treated the crowd to one of Muse's classics "Sunburn" - making Detroit the only stop in the US to hear that gem.

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