i think i have mentioned before that i am originally from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I have lived downstate for about 14 years. Most of my college friends and family still live up there.
No one tours the UP. They have some casinos up there now so they get some shows there. In August it is the UP state fair and there are always such crowd pleasers as 2nd tier country stars and 80's bands(i think foreigner was there this past year.) When i was in high school the only people that came up there were heavy metal bands. (I have personally seen RATT, WASP, KISS, Poison...don't get jealous.)
The big news up there with all my friends is that the English Beat is playing tonight at a small bar/club in Marquette called the Upfront. This is like winning the lotto for uncool music lovers like ourselves.
The closest anybody really comes is Milwaukee, which is about 5 hours away. Chicago is 8 hours and Detroit is 8 hours.
My friends are pulling out all their english beat stuff and general public stuff to get ready for the show.
I am so jealous.
The decemberists are going to be in Pontiac on Tuesday and I really want to go but i am wussin' out...it is so long to drive, i would have to get a babysitter, etc., etc.
My Trusted MOGs
Wow...you can drive 8 hours from Detroit and STILL be in Michigan?? I never realized how far North the UP really was!
My Trusted MOGs
If you want to get to the Keeweenaw peninsula it would take you another 2 so you could drive 10 hours and still be in Michigan.
this is why i don't go home very much.
My Trusted MOGs
Now that I think about it I have never been north of Auburn Hills.
I can't blame you at all...unless you have a private jet.
My Trusted MOGs
The only concert I ever saw in the UP was Cheap Trick at the LSSU ice rink in 1992, it was my second concert and I was a Cheap Trick fiend at the time so that was super cool. I went to LSSU for a year and a half, I was a budding Rockfiend, and had to deal with the limited access to records, Luckly I am from Ann Arbor and Tower Records had just opened their location there, and I had a pipeline for my music addiction.
I did not when driving route 2 a couple of years back that the Cherry Poppin' Daddies (remember them?) were playing one of the gaming facilities......
It seems that most touring acts of any note hit Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleavland and then head east Michigan as a whole often gets skipped....
Funny, one of the women I work with was tellling me that The English Beat are playing around here soon.....
My Trusted MOGs
Holy cow, that'd be a sweet show. Wonder if they're coming anywhere near here? Of course not. sigh
My Trusted MOGs
I always made me happy when pearl jam would take the end of 'better man' and morph it into a cover of 'save it for later'...i have the mp3 if anyone wants it
My Trusted MOGs
english beat is one of the most under rated bands ever. the album just cant stop it, is one of my all time favorites.