Detroit Rock City

We do a strange thing in North America, and Europe and probably in every nation that has reached the pinnacle of its existence: young people (mostly) stand in front of a group of (mostly) young white males and watch and listen to them as they make noise. If lightning strikes, the whole thing can be a religious experience: living art creates youth and beauty and an altered consciousness is possible, if only for a couple hours on a Friday night.
Last night in Burlington, three Detroit bands came to shake up "Phish-country," usually full of jam/reaggae/funk fusion acts. After the three hours of face-melting Rock and Roll, it's now clear what we've been missing.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'd previously only heard the headliner's single from three years ago, C'mon C'mon, from the Von Bondies, and didn't actually think they were that different from a lot of the bands that were coming out at the time. But I decided to see them and their openers because of where they were from; Detroit is the city of my ancestors and the incomparable Lester Bangs. Having spent time in Detroit last month, the city struck me as a ghost town, and it's painfully evident to everyone that the gold rush is over. (I still think it could be the new Brooklyn.) So, the sound of a city that gave us Motown (Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin) and punk (the MC5, the Stooges and Destroy All Monsters) as well as the American way of life as we know it and are now near losing (i.e. gas guzzling convenience) was certainly intriguing. And, the appeal of the underdog is undeniable.

The first opener was Freer. They were noisy and singing about pressure and so clearly not from here: it was awesome. Lester would be proud.
The next band on was SSM, during whose set it occurred to me how strange it was to be standing in front of this group of white men, listening to every word they had to say and not questioning any of it, yet they'd probably be boring self-promoters if you met them at a party. It's 2008, but to think of the audience in front of a female outfit of the same nature seems completely unlikely if not laughable. (This sort of scrutiny is either the final harbinger of the end of youth, or indicative of too many classes in postmodernism.) The motor city theme emerged in SSM's closer "Put Me In Your Jukebox," a rockin number during which the guitarist shouted: "Put your hands up for Detroit/ I love this city!"
The Von Bondies took the stage in front of a larger audience, their frontman Jason Stollsteimer proclaiming "We're not here to get high, we're not here to get fucking drunk, we're hear to play some fuckin rock and roll!" (after letting us all know exactly where they're from: "Detroit fuckin Michigan!")
Think of the Von Bondies as the cure for the common rock band. They're too good to make you feel old, and they're too sincere to signify the end of the world. As with Freer, I'm happy to once again give the Von Bondies some of the greatest praise imaginable: Lester Bangs would love this band. Their songs are loud and fast with range that vastly surpasses the personal. Perhaps their city of origin has seeped into their world view: "I'm a broken man/from a broken land/ called Detroit city" sings Stollsteimer on "Broken Man." Not only that, but after seeing their set, I'm convinced that they should be the most popular band in America, or at least lavished with a little more love from the press. First of all, not only are they extremely telegenic, but they're multi-ethnic (hot Asian drummer) and multi-gendered (hot female bassist and keyboardist). Stollsteimer is a Rock Star, and serious about it. He approaches his role in an almost business-like manner, yet his lack of pretension results in a very rare and successful execution. Their progressive approach to the structure of the band is also admirable: have we finally reached the point where women can be taken seriously as rock musicians, and possibly become the rule rather than the exception?
The Von Bondies are clearly a midwestern rock band: they're loud and "gritty," and have little use for subtlety or nuance, preferring instead to make the most noise they can in three minutes, which they are proud of, and good at. The songs aren't concerned with being pretty or particularly smart in that ironic, detached way that is currently turning the genre into a boring, self-indulgent mess. Stollsteimer very sincerely acknowledges the world might be ending (evident in few places more so than Detroit) and doesn't have time to turn down his tunes or affect a dead boredom. "C'mon C'mon," catchy enough, and probably in some commercial, in its live incarnation is an anthem so tight that the band gave serious question for their relative anonymity and for a few moments became the greatest Rock And Roll Band I've seen live, lacking anything studied or calculated, separating them from a lot of their coastal counterparts. Rock is not dead. I can't help but hope that the Von Bondies could re-cast American rock in their image; we'd all have a lot more fun.
Stollsteimer's voice roars with the strained power of a 1978 V8 engine (American made, of course), and if separating this band from their beloved motherland is nearly impossible, it's not by accident. The Von Bondies wear their decaying home city like a badge of honor, and if Detroit knows what's good for it, the admiration would be mutual. At this point, I'd put a hell of a lot more faith in the motor city's musical renaissance than anything to do with the auto industry.