We're getting the band back together!

I ventured out to sample Detroit's local music scene this evening. You can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the "local scene" is also a place that looks very much like where they take people to be shot. Still, the Paycheck Lounge had a certain ashy atmosphere that reminded me of a place where a band like MC5 would have certainly originated. I got there in time to pay the five dollar cover.

BOUNCER: What band are you here to see?

ME: All of them.

(BOUNCER makes strange "You asked for it" face. I would later find out why)

The first band I got to see I believe was called Philo. Two guitars, one drum, zero charisma. The pity was that their songs were actually pretty good, but lost in the performance, which would have been improved if actually breathing humans were on stage. No such luck.

Philo was followed by Sister Elsewhere, a band so called most likely because that's the response the average listener gives to the question, "where would you rather be right now?"


I don't remember how many guitars were on stage. I lost count at seven. But they were fun and happy to play. The lead singer, an elder stateswoman of rock and roll, sang with a certain studied animation, as if she saw these moves in a rock documentary once. They did the 80's. They did the 70's. They did the 60's. They did the 50's. Before they got into ancient ballads written in Middle English, I left. But, I did manage to get a clip of the opening of White Rabbit.