As front man for the post punk, indie rock band Thunderbirds Are Now!, Ryan Allen has seen the inside of his fair share of bars throughout the United States and most of Europe. The band, right now, is on "active hiatus," but Allen isn't much for musically sitting around – not too sure about the housework though, you'd have to ask his wife, Angela.
So, for the last year or so, Allen has been fronting his other group, the pop-inspired three-piece Friendly Foes. They have been regularly making the rounds across Southeast Michigan, as well as a few mini tours through the Rust Belt in 2008. Making these rounds, of course, also means regularly having a few rounds of High Life for himself while waiting to hit the stage.
Allen has played in several bands over the last decade plus, hitting up nearly every venue/stage/bar in and around Detroit. But there is one place that always, without fail, sticks out and never ceases to amaze. Whether it is super fun, super crazy, or totally weird, Hamtramck is the place to go for live music, memorable nights, and great bars.
The Belmont"The first time I played there was with Tiny Steps" – a group that no longer exists – "and with the Thunderbirds, the same night. It was the 2005 Blowout," he says. Every year hundreds of bands and hundreds of people pile into the bar for three nights of music from all styles and genres. "Playing on that stage is like playing inside a microwave. It was awesome."
During the summer the Belmont opens up a space outside of the bar, in the back.
"The Patio is great for a drink and to calm down," he says. "And sometimes there is some dude out there, grilling something. That's the thing about the Belmont. It's like a friend's house. It's like seeing a band in a friend's basement or playing a show in a friend's basement. It's so familiar and laid back."
Allen also says to watch out for the men's bathroom door at the Belmont. He calls it the danger zone. It opens up toward the stage. "Be careful around there, you could get your face smashed," he says. "Or you could be the face smasher."
The Painted Lady"It's a dive, for sure," he says. "But it's awesome. This bar cuts the shit in a way that you can't be pretentious."
The Painted Lady was originally called Lili's 21 and was one of the first punk rock bars in the area back in the late 70s. The owner, Lili, passed away, and was missed immensely by not only Hamtramckans but also the entire local music scene. Her bar, however, has lived on.
"The Thunderbirds played there at last year's Blowout and during our last song Leif Erikson" – a local rapper – "and some other rap guys came up on stage and started free styling," he says. "That's what is so cool about the Painted Lady. You see stuff like that, it just happens. We ended up finishing about 2:30 and there wasn't some asshole saying get off the stage or telling you to stop playing. The bar just let us play."
Small'sSmall's is on the corner of Caniff and Conant. It's not so much a dive bar, though, like many of the other Hamtramck watering holes. The place is quite large with two separate rooms – one for music and one for boozing.
"Small's is a good place to hang out and see a show," Allen says. "The bartenders are cool, the sound is the best around, I think, and the stage is nice. You used to be able to see all kinds of shows there, but lately it seems as if it is just metal and hard rock. That's totally fine. There needs to be a place that caters to that genre. I mean Detroit is synonymous with hard rock and metal, so it's great that Small's is there to supply that. It's angry white guy music and Small's has that."
The Blowout"The Blowout is an amazing event," he says of the annual yearly music festival throughout Hamtramck. "People come to Hamtramck, fill the bars that are usually only filled with regulars. It's one of my favorite weekends of the year. It opens these experiences, these Hamtramck experiences, to a lot of people who wouldn't otherwise go out to Hamtramck.
"It's also like an indie rock scavenger hunt," he says.
The Blowout brings in hundreds of bands to play at nearly all the bars in the city over three days. Everything from garage rock, to afro-beat, to punk, electronic, hip-hop, indie rock, and whatever else you can think of. Last year Mitch Ryder, born in Hamtramck, came back and closed the Blowout at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
In 2007, Allen's Thunderbirds closed out the Blowout at the K of C Hall.
"There were these two guys wearing leather jackets with POW and MIA stitched across the back and they were so into our band that they jumped up on stage and started walking around," he says, laughing, still amused by the memory. "They would grab the microphone when we paused between songs and would talk. There were so grizzled. We just let it happen. Only in Hamtramck does this happen."
Allen says that the Blowout couldn’t take place anywhere other than Hamtramck. "It wouldn't work in Detroit or Ferndale," he says. "Only Hamtramck."
Last word"There aren't many places where you can have two Vietnam vets, a bunch of old guys, 12 hipsters and Hamtramck Steve at your show and they are all completely into it," he says. Hamtramck Steve, by the way, is a well known local music buff that can be found, most nights, watching live bands throughout Hamtramck. "It's not like anywhere else. When people go there, I'll tell you they'll remember it for the rest of their lives.
"You can get fresh sauerkraut, an amazing pierogi, a Tupac triple XL, and Lebanese porn all in the same city," he says. "It's insane. And the dill pickle soup at Under the Eagle is good and so are the Frostys at Wendy's."