By ANN ESCAMILLA, Staff Reporter.
Music filled the small space of Bemo’s Bar, 701 S Madison Ave, March 28 for another Hell’s Half Mile Indie Showcase. Music lovers and people just looking for something to do all gathered to hear the sounds of Pines, Hawk & Son, MPV and Nigel & The Dropout.
Pines band members (Davisburg, Mich.) were all just old enough to drink but were clearly more concerned about playing and rocking out. They started off the event with crushing alternative jazz. Pines played at Bemo’s in December of last year and the Hell’s Half Mile staff loved them so much they wanted them to come back.
Pines set came to a close and soon after band members from the next performance Hawk & Son (Flint, Mich.) rushed around moving equipment and setting up to perform. Indie alternative rock soon filled the bar as a crowd began to form in front of the stage. An image of Rob Sterling from “Twilight Zone” was on the front of the kick drum and his eyes burned a hole in whatever soul was looking upon it.
First-timer Kylie Kaiser from Saginaw, had some thoughts on the showcase, “It’s really cool. It’s awesome to promote up and coming bands.”
Halfway through the Hawk & Son setlist they shared their love for MPV, “Life lesson of 2015 stay and watch MPV.” With that MPV was soon hitting the stage and a set of totally different vibes settled through the bar. The vibes of 90’s grunge meets blues. A bigger crowd formed around the stage preparing to be blown away with girl power.
Valerie Klaft (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) drummer/singer of MPV has played drums for 23 years.
Klaft was excited to be at the Hell’s Half Mile Indie Showcase. “It’s fucking awesome. I’m excited to see everyone.” She then went on to share her experience of playing in the city where the band YUM, a garage punk duo consisting of Elise Poirier and Cody Marecek lived. “[I’m] excited to play in Bay City. We used to play with YUM. It’s cool to see where they came from.”
According to Alan LaFave, founder and director of the HHM Festival. “The February show you couldn’t walk through here. It’s guaranteed a good crowd. It can be 100 or 10 people. It’s always a good audience.”
Always save the best for last right? Well it may seem like that. Nigel & The Dropout (Detroit, Mich.) were last to take the stage at 12 a.m. proved to be worth the wait. Electronic dance and alternative rock filled the bar. It wasn’t just ear pleasing; it was also eye pleasing because of the projecting visual effects. Andrew Ficker and Nigel Hemmye from Nigel & The Dropout, played at Bemo’s in November and have been together for four and a half years. They are releasing a new album next month.“The festival, showcases and films – it shows people that we are not limited for being a small community,” said LaFave.
