Hip in Detroit's Guide to the 2018 Hamtramck Music Fest

This Thursday night the Hamtramck Music Fest will kick off for its fifth year! The festival will take over the 2 square miles that is Hamtramck, filling 21 venues with over 160 bands. With that many acts squeezed into such a small city, you get to see some of your favorite local acts while checking out bands you haven't seen yet. You can easily hop from venue to venue, even if you're going from one end of the city to the other. Plus there are free shuttles running throughout the night. HMF is always a great time and is one of our favorite events of the year.

Since there are so many bands and musical acts squeezed into just a couple of nights, sometimes it can be hard to decide who to see. So we want to make the choice a little easier for you and fill you in on who we are looking forward to seeing this weekend. Although the fest kicks off on Thursday night, the kick off party just takes place at Ghost Light and Ant Hall, making your choice easy. You can head there and stay in one place for the night. Thursday's lineup and set times are as follows:

ANT HALL

12:00 AM - Duende!

11:00 PM - Nadir Omowale

10:00 PM - Warhorses

9:00 PM - Fizzbang

8:00 PM - Funkwagon

GHOST LIGHT

11:30 PM - Cye Pie & Ya Homies

10:30 PM - The My Ways

9:30 PM - Lizerrd

8:30 PM - Abul on Fire

Thursday night is also a great opportunity to pick up your wrist band for the weekend, which will only cost you $10. That will get you into all of the venues all 3 nights. If you can't make it out on Thursday night though, you will be able to pick up wristbands throughout the weekend at Detroit Threads and Small's as well as pretty much any record store in Metro Detroit. For a list of all of the locations that wristbands can be purchased, click here. 

Now on to our picks for the weekend! 

FRIDAY

7:15 PM - Ryan Dillaha @ Cafe 1923

9:00 PM - Ben Keeler Band @ New Dodge

9:00 PM - Nina & the Buffalo Riders @ Bumbo's

10:00 PM - BAVE @ New Dodge

10:00 PM - Moonwalks @ Outer Limits

10:00 PM - Carmel Liburdi @ Polish Village Cafe

10:30 PM - Girl Fight @ Trixie's

10:45 PM - Cosmic Light Shapes @ Kelly's

11:00 PM - The Cheetahs @ Outer Limits

11:00 PM - The Dropout @ New Dodge

11:00 PM - Siamese @ PLAV Post #10

11:30 PM - Johnny Salvage & the Dregs @ Painted Lady

11:30 PM - Golden Torso @ Small's

11:45 PM - The Stools @ Kelly's

12:00 AM - Five Pound Snap @ New Dodge

12:15 AM - Black Shampoo @ PLAV Post #6

12:30 AM - Bison Machine @ Small's

12:30 AM - Ex American @ Trixie's

12:45 AM - VSTRS @ Korner Bar

1:00 AM - Bevlove @ Ant Hall

1:00 AM - Prude Boys @ PLAV Post #10

SATURDAY

7:30 PM - Legume @ Bank Suey

9:00 PM - Honeybabe @ New Dodge

9:30 PM - LNSP @ Painted Lady

9:45 PM - Hala @ Kelly's

9:45 PM - Banjolectric @ Polka Dot

10:00 PM - Tin Foil @ Outer Limits

10:00 PM - Dear Darkness @ Bumbo's

10:00 PM - White Bee @ New Dodge

10:15 PM - Border Patrol @ Polish Sea League

11:00 PM - Go Tiger Go @ PLAV Post #10

11:00 PM - Brother Son @ New Dodge

11:30 PM - Bogart @ Small's

11:45 PM - The Idiot Kids @ Kelly's

12:00 AM - Ancient Language @ New Dodge

12:00 AM - Kubat, Finlay & Rose @ Polish Village Cafe

12:15 AM - Dude @ PLAV Post #6

12:15 AM - The Scrappers @ Baker Street Car

12:30 AM - The Gruesome Twosome @ Trixie's

1:00 AM - TART @ PLAV Post #10

1:00 AM - Craig Brown Band @ Ant Hall

Keep in mind, these are just the highlights in our opinion. There are a TON of great acts playing throughout the weekend. For the full lineup, click here. You can also download the Mobile Band Finder, making your weekend that much easier, by clicking here or by heading to HamtramckMusicFest.com. While you are there, you can check out the HMF survival guide, a map of all of the venues and parking, and the full list of the weekend's activities. In addition to all of the great bands playing Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, there are also day time activities on Saturday, and there's a brunch on Sunday. You can find all of that info on the official website.

So whether you head out one night or all three, just make sure you make it to Hamtramck this weekend! It's always a blast, plus proceeds from the event will help out Hamtramck Public Schools with their arts & music programs. So not only will you have a good time, but you're helping out a good cause! For all things Hamtramck Music Fest and to stay in the loop this weekend, make sure you head over and give the fest a like on Facebook here. To hear our latest podcast, featuring some of the great bands playing this year's fest, along with Lee Majors and Jarrett Koral, click here.

~C