By Jason Hoffman, Rock At Night Detroit
Review: Rock ‘N’ Rides Festival-Royal Oak, Michigan-June 17th & 18th, 2022
Downtown Royal Oak, MI kicked off the end of the school year and beginning of summer with the 3rd annual Rock ‘N’ Rides Festival. They offered 18 rides for all ages, a midway full of everybody’s favorite carnival games, and had plenty of food and beverage choices. Rock at Night was there for the music (of course) and with two stages, featuring local Detroit musicians, it wasn’t hard to find something to listen to. They also had a DJ stage to keep the party going on 5th street.
Corktown Popes got the festival going on Thursday night. Forming in Detroit around 2010 the Corktown Popes have said, “You’ve heard of Celtic bands that rock? We’re a rockin’ band that celts”. They played a nice mix of old and new songs, even dusting off “So Will I” off of their first album And also with you. Singer/songwriter Terry Burns told the crowd they hadn’t played that song live in about 8 years. They are putting the finishing touches on their next album which will be out later this year.
Saturday night’s highlights included The Ruiners, a rock-n-roll band formed in Detroit (1997). Rick and Nina Ruiner are at the helm of this eclectic crew that is straight outta’ the garage with a fun, flamboyant style. They had a nice size crowd by the time they took the stage and drew even more over just out of curiosity. Crowd participation is always encouraged at a Ruiners show and nothing got the crowd (and Rick) going that night quite like their song “Drunk at the Mall” off their album Be-Bop a-Lula Beelzebub. A fun time was definitely had by all!
PHOTO GALLERY
Friday – Corktown Popes
Ferndale, MI
I really enjoy the creative outlet that photography brings me and I have had a love for music ever since I was a little kid. I'm not musically inclined what-so-ever so it seemed like the perfect fit to document the music through photography.
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