Manchester Orchestra, Foxing, and Michigander shake the Fillmore in Detroit

Michigander is a band. It’s also what folks from Michigan are called, and in this case, Jason Singer is both from the state and is the band’s lead singer. Originally from Midland, MI and now splitting time between Nashville, the band hit the road with Manchester Orchestra and Foxing on the Million Masks of God tour which just wrapped up earlier this month.

Michigander has been putting out singles and EP’s since 2016 but this tour is one of the biggest, and if you’ve been following along on social media, one of the groups best experiences on the road and coming home to Michigan – and Detroit Rock City in specific – could only make for a special night.

Not only did Michigander deliver in spades, the hometown crowd also cheered louder than I had heard before. It was incredible to see these guys on such a large stage. The night started off with “Better,” the lead track off of Michiganders 2021 release Everything Will Be Ok Eventually, an upbeat song with some serious guitar work and relentless drum beats. It didn’t take but 2 minutes to get the Fillmore jumping to songs it was obvious everyone knew like “Reds” and “Saturday.”

The only downside to Michiganders set is that it was over too soon, closing out their performance with one that was just made for the crowd to sing along: “Let Down.” The chorus of which Jason starts out with “‘cause I’ve got high hopes, I got high hopes” before turning the mic over to the crowd to finish, all harmoniously singing, “but they let me down, they usually let me down” with the crowd taking ownership of the repeat verse. No to much longer and Jason signaled goodbye to the fans with a peace sign and a few guitar picks for the crowd as he and the rest of the group left the stage.

Foxing was up next and if this is a band you’ve heard on a record, it does not compare to the sound they make when they are on stage. I wouldn’t say it’s a different band entirely, but everything is turned up to 11 for sure. The same can be said for the way they move on stage too, it’s a miracle a single photo was in focus! Get familiar with this band and make sure you check them out live, they really do put on an other-wordly show.

It seemed like there was barely enough time for folks’ heart rates to come back down before Machester Orchestra took the stage. As the lights slowly started to come to life you could see glimpses of lead singer Andy Hull’s now iconic beard showing more and more the further into “Inaudible” as the group played, this also being the lead track from 2021’s The Million Maks of God.

The next 3 songs also came off the previously mentioned album playing “Angel of Death,” “Kneel Timing,” and “Bed Head” before transitioning into some tracks of earlier releases from their catalog. Serious fan favorites too, like “The Maze” and “The Gold,” which everyone in the building knew, and that’s not to say that they didn’t know every other song too.

At the end of the night I don’t know if anyone in attendance could have asked for a better rock and roll concert. All three bands were absolutely incredible, and as it seems like I’ll be saying a lot these days, you need to see them live! All of them!!

Who: Michigander [ Web | Instagram | Twitter ]

Foxing [ Web | Instagram | Twitter ]

Manchester Orchestra [ Web | Instagram | Twitter ]

What: The Million Masks of God Tour

Where: The Fillmore, Detroit, MI

When: March 12, 2022

Photos and article by David Painter [ Web | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook ]

Did you attend this tour? Comment below.