Last weekend’s Detour Launch Party, a three-day music fest celebrating the founding of Detroit’s new nationally-aspiring but locally-based music and culture online mag, Detour, was a “can’t miss” event that you had to miss.

You had no choice. It’s okay. It’s alright. We all missed it, even those of us who were there for every minute of it (alas, I missed the barbecue on Saturday afternoon. DOH!). You had to miss it because there was too much going on, too many bands to see at once, too many beautiful people to gaze upon lasciviously, too much dancing and fist-pumping for any cellular-based life form. Don’t cry your eyes. Your cred is not tarnished. You can’t be two places at once.

The dueling stages at The Garden Bowl and The Magic Stick were impossible to balance. So the end of the Johnny Headband set kept you from catching the beginning of Carjack‘s robot dance party. You were devastated because you missed Child Bite completely since you got to the venue late and was stopped in your tracks by the immense, neo-psychedelic hum of Heroes and Villains. You had to pull yourself away from one-man-musical-mad scientist Deastro to be sure to catch one-man hip hop impresario Juiceboxxx‘s positively psychotic-in-the-best-way rantings and rollickings. The Hadituptoheres so had it up to here with rock n’ roll and so took it out on you that you were too paralyzed to do the “Detroit Shuffle” with The Mahonies. You missed the barbecue completely (and your favorite Detroit band, the sonically and lyrically awe-inspiring rock n’ rollers The High Strung).

Well, actually, that was me. But I’m sure you had a similarly daunting experience trying to catch every second possible of this extremely successful event. So what did you think? I’d like to hear who disappointed you and who rocked your panties and boxers off, not to mention those cumbersome socks. I liked most of the bands I saw, but Freer in particular blew me away, and even though I’ve never been terribly partial to The Hard Lessons, I was extremely impressed by the show (and like how Augie appropriated a bit of Gordon Downie’s rantings from The Tragically Hip’s Live Between Us before embarking on a gallant crowd surf.

Speak your minds, music lovers of Detroit, and huzzah! to Detour. May you live long, prosper, and throw one hell of a 1st Anniversary party next year.