Bad Copy

The Aquabats came through Detroit mid-June and brought with them a crazy night of super hero kicks, triumphant horns, high-energy dancing, and setting the bar extremely high for a handful of kids first show!

While following and keeping track of all the fun things The Aquabats have been up to over the years, it has probably been almost 20 since I last saw them live. I still remember all the craziness from those times, and how it felt like you were participating through a favorite action-packed Saturday morning cartoon. I wondered how much that would all hold up again, and was excited to find out.

When I got in line to get my credentials, I saw so many families and people there with young ones. I overheard multiple times from the line how it was their child/niece/nephew’s first concert ever, and it really put a smile on. I vividly remember a handful of my first shows, and everything they entailed from the people I went with, to the opening bands and songs that were sang along to. I cannot imagine what kind of bar this show will set, and how many minds will be blown by the end of the night!

Opening the night was Sullvn. They really got everyone dancing and jumping, and helped kick off the energy of the crowd. One of the crazier, unexpected surprises was them bringing out Dickie Barrett to cover a song and sing one they had worked on together.

Up next were some local favorites of mine I was also excited to finally see again after so long. The Koffin Kats came on and absolutely tore up the place. Dancing back and forth on stage, swinging their instruments around while balancing and spinning all over, it was so much fun and hard to keep up with my camera trying to capture it all. It was a great time with songs about horror and sci-fi, and the crowd even started to get some circle pits going with all their energy.

Finally to close it all out, The Aquabats took the stage and kicked off their set with “Pool Party”! It was just how I remembered it all from so long ago. The entire band, with another little surprise of El Hefe joining them on trumpet, were all dancing and singing and you could hear the crowd go absolutely nuts. I looked over to see so many cadet outfits, painted mustaches, and huge smiles as they all jumped and sang along. Shortly after the first three songs, we stepped out of the photo pit and made our way up to watch from the balcony. Coincidentally this was also when one of the lucky young cadets, Vincent, was about to crowd surf across the audience to a pizza themed Ramones cover. I’ve rewatched his go-pro coverage of the pizza voyage so many times.

Overall it was another great show with some very fun bands, and  I keep going back to thinking about how insane this would be for someone’s first concert experience. Take your kids, nieces, nephews, loved ones to shows, y’all!