Woohoo, back at the Magic Bag again and what a way to kick off my birthday month. Which by the way, birthday’s used to be a day long celebration, then they turned into a weeklong celebration but I hereby declare the celebration be extended to a month. Thank you.

It’s Feb. 12, it’s cold as all get up and we’re back again at the Magic Bag in Ferndale. This time as part of the Venus Ball, celebrating chicks in rock. And hey, we’re chicks so it all works out. This was a two part celebration with the lighter side of the music happening on Friday and the heavier side on Saturday. We fall into the latter and so Saturday arrives and we head over to the bag. We load gear, set up merch and prepare for a long night of music. A singer/songwriter Melissa Ivey is up first, she’s a rad chick with some mean chops. Next up is a new band Lola Valley with some new faces and some familiar faces. They did a funked up, jazzed up rock n’ roll sort of a thing. Very unique and different. Third up on the bill were the Hard Lessons and there isn’t much more I can say about this male/female trio other than they FUCKING ROCK!! I was blown away by the chemistry and musicianship in the band. This band knows who they are, they embrace it fully and it totally shows when they come together on stage. Way cool band. We were up next and I’m not sure the majority of the crowd there was prepared for the onslaught of rock. We wowed a few and probably scared a few too. The audience was a mix bag of folkies and rockers. Overall, the gig was good. Finishing up the evening was S.A.R. who played a easy going set of rock n’ roll chock full of good chops and sweet vocals. The whole shindig was hosted by Detroit’s Danger Kitty our good friend also known as Dana Olsen. We lover her, she rocks!!

We enjoyed the next weekend off, while I ventured into Ohio to tickle my Swedish rock fantasy and caught a couple of shows by the Backyard Babies. And yes, I got my records signed! Woohoo! Turns out and old friend of mine – a Detroit born California transplant – was on the BB’s crew so it all worked out in my favor. Sweet!!!!!

Then it was my birthday and we won’t talk about that.

Back in D-town, we headed over to Clinton Twp’s most famous watering hole. I know you’re thinking where the fuck is Clinton Twp. It’s an eastside, former sports bar gone rock club and a good friend of ours books the place. It was Thursday Feb. 24 and the birthday celebration was still in full effect. We played second on a bill of 4 bands 2 of which I wasn’t sober enough to comment on. LAST was up first. I know why does the band called LAST play first on the bill? I’m not sure but they did and they rock. We played next and threw down BZ style all the while carrying on some back and forth banter between myself and the singer of Last. It was all friendly fire but what he didn’t know was that a Broadzilla beatdown was coming. Some more friendly fire is exchanged throughout the night and more drinks consumed. But the plan was in place. The BZ girls were to at some undisclosed time of the night, give him a BZ beatdown and our main goal was to bring him to the ground. He’s a big feller so we knew it would take all three of us. And you know what? We fucking delivered. Kim tripped him, Angie pushed him while I pulled him to the ground. So all four of us end up in a pile on the floor causing the security to get all “bouncer” on us. It was hilarious. I think he’s still blushing after that one. Then I got drunk and we won’t talk about that.

The next night, Feb. 25, we roll down to Bowling Green Ohio where we’re hoping our luck will be better than in Toledo. We were blessed. The folks at Howard’s are eager rock fans of whom most attend nearby Bowling Green University. It was on, a nice sweaty hot rock show. Dig it.

Back to Jeni Zilla’s house for some late night munchies and some rest. Then it’s up and off to Chicago for our first appearance at Chicago’s famed Double Door. Once in Chicago, we arrive at the venue and unload the gear. Then it’s off for an appearance at the Alley, where much shopping is necessary. This is where we finally meet up with our friend Danyel, a former Toledo resident and current windy city transplant. Then it’s back to the venue where it took us over an hour to find a place to park that fucking huge RV. I love it sometimes but there are times I wish we had a van. This was on of them.

Meanwhile the rock n’ roll is in full effect inside the venue. Bible of the Devil is tearing it up on stage. I love those guys, they so much fucking rule and we shared a dressing room with them so the party was on!! We were sandwiched in the middle and man were we on that night. We needed to be on and we were. It was an awesome show and the venue was packed. I fucking loved it. Then it was time for Chi-town’s metal rock masters American Motherload. You’ll be hearing more from them when we bring them here to Detroit in May. These guys are tough and they rocked it out good.

Then there was the after-party. Yes, there’s more. It’s location only announced the night of the show, a massive crowd of after hours partiers gathered in celebration of an awesome night of rock. We made our way through the crowd, enjoyed some drinks and then laughed about who was more speech impaired, Jeni Zilla or Kim Zilla. They ran neck and neck for drunkard of the night. It was funny.

We hit the white trash cracker barrel on the way back to Detroit for some grub wrapping up a cold wintery February. See ya’ll next month.