Blowout: the streets were alive with the sound of music

Photo: Gabe Crowder

By Charles Sercombe
When it comes to the annual Hamtramck Blowout and weather traditions, this year was no different.
And one of those traditions is this: winter cold comes roaring back like a lion during the Blowout weekend.
But, despite the wintry cold, music fans come out by the thousands.
Judging by the vibe in the city and the social media comments, this year was another smash hit.
“The atmosphere was amazing. So much energy, it was electric! I love that Hamtramck comes out and supports their friends and families and local businesses,” said photographer Gabe Crowder, who shot the festival for a project in his advanced photography class, taught by Hamtramck’s Chris Schneider.
Schneider also runs Hamtramck’s Hatch gallery.
Crowder added: “It’s such a tight-knit community and it was cool to see the support and love that they have for (it).”
There were about 200 bands, DJ’s and performers spread throughout the city, from the southend to the northend, in 26 separate venues.
Book Suey was one of the performance spaces that stood out, featuring a number of performers who were on the experimental, atmospheric side of things – something that’s up our alley.
For old school punks, Detroit 442 made a rare appearance, although their set was cut short because of a wiring issue. Yeah, those guitar amps can be vexing.

Photo: John Andree

Festival co-organizer Konrad Maziarz, who is forever a bundle of exhausted nerves, said fellow organizers have already begun work on plans for next year.
“It was a wonderful weekend showcasing Hamtramck. Many smiling faces of people having fun,” he said. “As the FB (Facebook) post on the festival page said, we’ll do it again next year. We even broke festival protocol and had the committee discussing it already yesterday.”
The Blowout committee also blasted this message on social media:
“The Blowout is a volunteer-run festival, and we all hope you enjoyed yourselves; seeing people have a good time makes all the effort worthwhile. We hope to see you in Hamtramck on Labor Day weekend for our next festival. Well, actually we hope to see you all come back to all these places all year.”
We’ll let the photos speak for themselves, and The Review owes the aforementioned photographer Gabe Crowder as well as John Andree, who is also in Schneider’s advanced photography class at Oakland Community College, a huge thanks.
Enjoy.
Posted March 28, 2025