Motown Winter Blast

Even 5 years later, my first Motown Winter Blast experience still rings unpleasant in my mind. In addition to one million other people, we went down in 2006, the year Super Bowl XL was in town. And in spite of being blown away at the energy and excitement of the event, Detroit being magically transformed into a thriving city, and having an amazing time while we were actually enjoying the events, most of that enjoyment was squashed as the shuttle back to Royal Oak turned into a debacle of City Council proportions. After seeing swelling masses of crowds bum rush each approaching bus (to the point of fearing for our safety), falling asleep on the floor of the Penobscot building waiting for a cab, and finally getting back home around 4am, I can only call my previous experience a draw.

This year however, I can report far less drama. The 7^th Motown Winter Blast returned to the Campus Martius area downtown this past weekend with a wide variety of winter-themed entertainment including an ice sculpture park, marshmallow toasting, snow shoeing, and not 1, but 2 ice slides (the big’un and the junior). After donating our cans of food to Matrix Human Services and the Rotary Club’s “Break the Ice” on the Cycle of Poverty Initiative as entry fee, Amy, Marisa and I made a lap and checked out all of the winter festivities- sorry to report we all chickened out on the ice slide.

What we did manage to enjoy though were a few of the bands and performers that were playing  on Sunday. We caught Torch with a Twist, the “Old Timey Vaudevillian Variety Show” that has been performing  around the D for the past few years, helmed by Miss Grace Detroit, with a shifting cast of characters. Today we were fortunate to catch the magic of Joshua Wilde, the hooping of Olive Oyl, the belly dancing of Leilani, and the generally kooky antics of Satori Circus. While usually geared towards a more adult crowd, the performances were fun and family-friendly and the crowd certainly seemed to enjoy (I’m fairly certain the little girl in front of me who was entranced by Leiliani will be dressing up in all of her long skirts, putting flowers in her hair, and asking her mom for a knife to try to balance on her head while dancing). I dug it all…hey, they had me at digeridoo.

We were also able to catch Black Beauty, a blues/rock ensemble including a venerable who’s-who of local Detroit bands including Rachel May (Broadzilla) and George Friend (Twistin’ Tarantulas, Sun Messengers) on vocals and guitar (disclaimer: ok, so clearly I’m a newbie at this, and I suck, and I didn’t pay close enough attention, so I missed the names of the other folks in the band so please feel free to comment away correcting me or berating me and I will edit as appropriate. Lesson learned: notebook and pen at all times Lisa).

I think I’ve only seen Broadzilla once or twice over the last bunch of years, and I can say with certainty that I had no idea what a kickass voice Rachel has. I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of “Big Balls” and associated it with an effortless, bluesy rock voice, but the girl’s got the amazing chops to make me change my way of thinking. And I’ll probably appreciate “Big Balls” in a whole new way (that's right, I said that). The band had everyone passing by (young and old) getting their little groove on. My favorite, oddest part (with the exception of the 2 big pimpin’ full length coats that somehow found their way to each other) was the fact that they were selling sheets and bedding at a stand not far from the stage, so there were more than a few people dancing to the band with a 500 thread count sheet set on their arm. Gotta love it.

So my second attempt at the Winter Blast was a fun time and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. And the best part this time around? A short walk home right around the corner.