Hamtramck’s Blowout has returned to carry on a tradition

By Charles Sercombe
If you’re looking for live entertainment this weekend, Hamtramck has plenty to offer.
How about 150 band DJs to choose from in over a dozen venues?
As you may have heard, the Hamtramck Blowout has once again returned. It’s been 10 years or so since the music festival played its last noted.
Oh yeah, in between there was a Hamtramck Music Fest but it appears that it fell victim to the covid pandemic.
This version of the Blowout is not being sponsored by the alternative weekly magazine The Metro Times, which had hosted the events for several years before pulling the plug.
Instead, the folks who organize the yearly Hamtramck Labor Day Festival decided to revive the tradition.
And bands and performers have responded, and will be fanned out across Hamtramck this Friday and Saturday night.
We talked to co-organizer Konrad Maziarz, who by day is the city’s mild-mannered property assessor, to toot his horn about the festival and what to expect this weekend.

Review: Why? Why in the world bring back this music festival?

Maziarz: The reason this festival is coming back is interesting, it was first mentioned as a small fundraiser for the Labor Day festival, I want to say before the Dead Milkmen’s set at the festival (Thanks Matt and Carolynn for the idea).
After a few adult beverages, more people and venues wanted to participate, and we saw an opportunity to bring back the Blowout and the committee jumped on that opportunity.

Review: Will there be something unique about this version of the fest?
Maziarz: The unique part to us is how quickly this was put together, we’ve put the Labor Day Festival together in 5 weeks once, and this was really put together in about 2.5 months. It’s been a whirlwind, but we have a great volunteer committee dedicated to help put this on.

Review: Are bands/performers responding?
Maziarz: We had hundreds of bands/performers respond to participate, we initially had one opening night location, but to try and accommodate more bands we added more venues on the opening night. We do plan on adding venues and more time slots next year.

Review: Any special performers? Surprise shows?
Maziarz: It’s back to the roots of highlighting local music, there’s plenty of great musicians and bands in the Detroit area, so they’re all special performances. Many bands remember the Blowout, or wish they played it, so we’re excited to give them the opportunity to shine on this new version.

Review: What are the specifics of the festival, such as admission price, number of venues, dates, times?
Maziarz: Opening night was Feb. 29, with March 1-2 as the main nights, wristbands are available at HenriettaHaus, Polish Village Café, Small’s, The Painted Lady Lounge, Cafe 1923 Coffeehouse, Outer Limits Lounge, Ghost Light, Bakers Street Car Bar, The Polka Dot, Hello Records, and People’s Records. They are also available online at www.HamtramckBlowout.com
They are on sale for $20 right now, $25 weekend of, and if you only want to see one set and not bounce around town there will be a $10 per venue, but let’s be honest you’ll want to check out as many acts and bounce around town. There are 16 participating venues and 150 acts this year.

Review: What will the proceeds be used for?
Maziarz: This is a fundraiser for the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival.

Review: So this confirms that there will be another festival this year, right?
Maziarz: I guess the cat’s out of the bag, yes there will be a festival this year, the same volunteer committee is putting it on. If anyone wants to help volunteer please reach out to me.
Plans are under way, and I can say that I was blown away at who has been contacted to perform, but that’s a conversation for a later day, right now I hope to see everyone at the Hamtramck Blowout.
Posted March 1, 2024