End It “Wrong Side Of Heaven” Tour comes to Detroit.
This time by design, we got there early enough to grab our tickets at Edgemen Printing and then head over to La Michi Michi for tacos before the show. Coincidentally, this would be my third time eating at La Michi Michi, as well as my third time seeing WMD and third time seeing End It. We were concerned it might sell out, as they had sold 200+ advanced tickets and the venue doesn't hold many more than that. It was packed, but as far as we could tell, everyone got in.
First up was WMD, a beat-down hardcore local band with members in common with Strange Magic and Bad Beat. As I mentioned, this was the third time that I had seen them and the third time that I had asked what WMD stood for. I received the same response (WebMD), which initially seemed like a joke, but I am beginning to believe them. Last time they were sold out of XXL shirts, but this time they had a new one for me fresh off the presses (it is a screenprinting shop after all) that featured Marvin the Martian. I would later see the drummer for End It wearing one during their set that he had already cut the sleeves off of. It was a chilly evening, but it got hotter and hotter inside as each band played and the crowd filled in to full capacity. WMD had a new drum kit, which was killer, and featured their logo and licks of fire. Their set included a couple of covers and new songs (actually, all of their songs are new since the band is new), but the highlight (maybe of the entire evening) was the final song, which was a cover of Glenn Danzig's "Where Eagles Dare." I stayed back expecting a frenzy and was glad that I did. The crowd went wild, and there was noticeable blood on the floor as I headed outside afterwards to get some air.
Hold My Own - All Photos by Paul Holstein
Clique and Hold My Own were up next. My friend Dylan was impressed with the guitar player's "Big L" shirt, but that went over my head (I'm sure there is a story there that I'll have to look into later). Hold My Own was the more hardcore of the two bands, but they were both great and kept the evening moving towards the headliner that most of us were here to see.
The first two times that I had seen End It were at the Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival, where they played a club show with Ignite, Pulley, and The Hate as well as a main stage appearance. At that time, their marquee song "New Wage Slavery" had recently been released, and I was just realizing that I love beatdown hardcore. Check out my review of their new album, and you will know why I was looking forward to this show.
The vocal ability of singer/screamer Akil Godsey goes well beyond hardcore, which was evident in their cover of "Could You Love Me?" (Maximum Penalty) and their a cappella encore of Alice Cooper's "Eighteen." Other than those songs, however, this was beatdown hardcore that opened with "New Wage Slavery" and included favorites "Pale Horse" and "Optical Delusion" from their 2025 album "Wrong Side Of Heaven." Akil took a few minutes during the set to talk about his disdain for AI, mainly related to its use of freshwater (I believe to cool the data centers) and impact on global warming. I'll admit that I'd only briefly heard this argument in the past, but after the show I've been looking into it. After the set he came out and took selfies with fans and left us wanting more.
