Win Tickets to See the Swirlies at The UFO Factory

This week has been jam packed with ticket giveaways. That means that summer is finally here and lots of great bands are out on tour. Monday, Party Store Productions will bring the Swirlies, Hydropark, and Darkred to the stage at the UFO Factory in Detroit. They will also be hosting an art show featuring the work of Gary Panter, the man behind the set design for Pee Wee's Playhouse. He created a special collaborative limited edition poster and a 7" just for the show, only available at the event.

Tickets to attend are only $12 in advance and they can be purchased here. We also have one set of tickets to give away to the show courtesy of PSP. If you would like to enter to win a pair of tickets, please email your full name to hipindetroit@gmail.com with the subject line #Swirlies. We will draw a winner early on Monday and give them details on how to claim their prize. This should be a really fun show, so do not miss out!

~S

Check out the Bobby Electric at The Old Miami Saturday

We get a lot of bands that want us to come to their shows and review their albums, and for the most part we are happy to do so. Sometimes we get a band that we fall in love with and feel the need to share them with our readers without them asking us to do so. The Bobby Electric is one of those bands for me. 

I met one of the members when he was doing sound at a recent show at Small's and he agreed to send over the music that he plays. He sent me a link to their bandcamp and I threw the album on while I was cleaning my house. Soon enough I found myself enjoying the music and dancing. When my significant other got home, he asked me what I was listening because he also was digging the jams. I immediately restarted the album and we listened to all 15 songs together. You can now consider me a fan of The Bobby Electric! 

Their record is available here and is sells for the name your price rate, my favorite way to buy an album! The LP is called “It Was Hard to Meet You”. There are 15 original songs and you can download them in MP3, FLAC, or any other format that works for you. The vocals were great and I loved the sound they achieved with their guitars. This band sort or has a 90's grunge feel but more updated and more relevant. If anything my biggest complaints is that the vocals need to be turned up! I also liked that each song was a unique song. It is not an album of 15 of the same songs with a little variation, instead it is an album that reflects a band that has eclectic taste in music and is able to produce all sorts of of tracks.

The best part is if you like them as much as I did, you can check them out this coming Saturday at The Old Miami in Detroit. They are playing alongside Ghost Heart (Grand Rapids), Darkred, The Factory Girls and All the Wild Children. The show is $5 at the door and starts at 9 p.m. The Old Miami needs to start advertising their shows better because they book a lot of great ones, but they do not get enough attention. Contact us Old Miami if you need someone to get the word out for you! 

~S

Rock Out For Kids!

The spirit of giving and charity has been in the air lately and I couldn’t be happier about it! Last week, we told you about Bat On Fire rocking out for wounded veterans and this week we have another event to tell you about that is raising money for those in need. 

Bill Bondsmen, Standard Issue, Darkred, Best Idea Ever and The Kalashnikovs have teamed up to raise money for an organization called Little Kids Rock. This group provides music education and instruments to children in underfunded schools. 

When kids are involved in any activity at their school, the success rate increases and the failure and dropout rates quickly go down. Music education is noted to help kids in all aspects of education including improving cognitive skills, memorization and advanced thinking and problem solving skills. 

Bill Bondsmen are also going to be releasing a new 7 inch at this event that will be available for purchase. To find out more about the charity please go to littlekidsrock.org. This show is scheduled for Saturday, November 10 at 8:30 p.m. at Corktown Tavern. It's only $8 a person and 21 and over welcome. Come out, have a beer and rock out for kids who rock! 

~S