Saturday night the Ferndale duo of Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott , better known as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. returned home to usher in the release of their debut album It's A Corporate World. If you're unfamiliar with the Jr. Jr. then check out MT Arts & Culture Editor Travis R. Wright's profile of the band heading out west last November. The Saturday show also featured two other of Detroit's best, indie rockers Prussia and rapper Danny Brown, who also have seen some ink here at MT, and seem to get better each show.
For their return to Detroit, just as they have this whole tour, Jr. Jr. came out and shed their Nascar jumpsuits for the slick corporate look to accompany the new album, which they played almost all of. Early highlights were the opening drones of "Morning Thought" to kick the show off and the smooth transition of their original "If It Wasn't You" into Dolly Parton's (or more famously Whitney Houston's) "I Will Always Love You" complete with a sax solo from Epstein.
Other covers included the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and a slamming run through of Gil-Scott Heron's "We Almost Lost Detroit" that featured a few bars from SelfSays. Joining for "Skeletons" were MT cover couple Phantasmagoria, who added some percussion to the bouncy drum-heavy tune.
After about an hour, the duo came back for a loving encore, starting with a crowd pleasing rendition of Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" and closing with their own "Nothing But Our Love."
Jr. Jr. will hit Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza later this summer.
Check the video below of "Vocal Chords" from guyzeyez and listen to a run through of the Winwood jam from earlier this year in New York.
To view pictures from Saturday's show click the diagonals for a full screen view.
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