As the summer season winds down, the buzz is just beginning in the Cass Corridor. This Saturday thousands will pack the blocks stretching from 2nd to 3rd and Forest to Hancock, to celebrate another year of Midtown Detroit’s culture and talent. Right in the heart of the student center, the neighborhood’s bohemian essence creates an ideal environment to enjoy the best in local indie, punk, hip-hop, electronic and experimental music while quenching your thirst for the best local beers and eyeballing the latest creations by artists who call the area home.
First organized in 1977, Dally has kept it a consistently communal event, surviving with no major corporate sponsorship. It’s a final summer send-off, a chance to celebrate hard with the freshest live talent in the area. This year the four stages of Dally will be vibrant with the sounds of over 45 musicians and bands, starting at noon and continuing on past 11 pm. There is no shortage of variety booked for this year’s installment – each stage features artists exploring multiple variations on relevant genres, giving attendees the best of what Detroit has to offer.
The four main music stages will be spread throughout the perimeters of the festival and will feature a variety of genres on each stage throughout the day, starting approximately one hour after the festival kicks off. The Electronic Stage boasts several Detroit-area DJs, including Tony Ollivierra, Monty Luke, Chuck Daniels, and Stacey “Hotwaxx” Hale. The Alley Stage will be showcasing a mix of indie-pop, kicking off with Rogue Satellites at noon and continuing with Kickstand Band, Casual Sweetheart, and Violets, among others. There will also be some hip-hop from Dame Mariatchi, and later Doc Waffles & Eddie Logix. Even later on the Alley Stage, Liquid Monk will be there for “Electronic Jazz Funk Dance” fans. The Garden Stage will feature upbeat indie by Pewter Cub and Secret Twins, dead surf from Mexican Knives, and experimental synthesizers from Voyag3r. Finally, the Forest Stage is headlined by innovative female rapper Invincible, and earlier in the day will feature retro rock from Blaire Alise & The Bombshells, chamber pop from Eleanora, and funk from Atoms and Ease. Each musician and group of musicians playing Dally are helping to keep alive and communicate to new audiences small pieces of each genre of music that Detroit first made relevant, from garage rock to electronic to hip-hop.
Dally in the Alley prides itself on having activities that entice all ages, interests and backgrounds, so if you’re planning to bring the young children in your brood, there will be crafts, face-painting, and puppet-making by PuppetART during the daytime. Food vendors will feature the classic pizza-and-beer options that keep most Dally attendees satisfied, but will also provide a range of delights from vegan and vegetarian, to ethnic and local eateries as well. If hearing from the two men who are vying to become Detroit’s next mayor fits your schedule, you can even head over to the Ann Kennedy Community Stage to hear the platforms of Mike Duggan and Benny Napoleon from noon until 3 pm.
Though much of Dally is about the music, there is a strong emphasis placed on the visual arts and the advancement of the surrounding neighborhoods in Midtown. The North Cass Community Union, sponsor of the event, works to improve the Midtown area by donating proceeds to worthy causes, including better security for the area, music scholarships for local children, and more energy efficient street lights. Keeping Detroit’s DIY mantra in its heart dozens of local artists will be displaying and selling their handmade work throughout the day — jewelry, clothing, original paintings and photography are just a few of the offerings attendees can expect to view and purchase. Dally in the Alley’s mission has always proved beneficial to the residents of Midtown and Detroit as a whole, and now more than ever is that sense of empowering the community needed, welcomed, and appreciated.
For full schedule of events, map, stage lineups, and more, visit Dally In The Alley’s official website.