On Vu’s advice I decided to kick-off Rocktober by covering two shows in one evening. And to do so I felt I needed to break one of his golden rules to get to the second on time. But before that, the first show…

The crowd was early for a very early set (5:30pm) at the Dakota. A gentleman a few feet from the stage was wearing an official Minnesota Vikings jersey, as if he went to the wrong downtown venue but ended up staying for the house-made cavatelli. And while the crowd wined and dined, Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble stepped on stage for the first of two shows.

To say Don Was has worked with everyone in the music industry is not hyperbole. Just ask Google or your favorite AI assistant. I even got a chance to talk to him in May, 2024, and what I took from the interview is that he might be the nicest person you may ever meet. Over his legendary career he has produced over 200 albums, working with artists ranging from The Rolling Stones to the B-52’s. He also has been the president of Blue Note Records since 2012. And in 2018 he joined Bob Weir and drummer Jay Lane to form Wolf Bros. And finally in 2024 he paid homage to his hometown by forming The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, a collection of Motown veterans that Was told the crowd was there to help “… promulgate the indigenous music of Detroit.”

The Dakota was the first venue the group played on the maiden tour in 2024, and they were back to support their sophomore album, Groove in the Face of Adversity, as well as celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Grateful Dead’s Blues for Allah.

The group kicked off the set with The Detroit Cobras “Hey Sa-Lo-Ney” and followed up with a couple of songs from their new album: “You Asked, I Came” which is a Don Was original and a Hank Williams cover “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But Time” in which vocalist Steffanie Christi’an wooed and swooned the crowd.

“My favorite singer in the whole world,” Was added after the applause died down.

Even though he was the headliner, Was kept to the background and let his collection of all-stars shine as they moved into the music from Blues for Allah. Was told the crowd that it wouldn’t be a karaoke night for the Grateful Dean album, saying they planned to add their own spin by “Detroitizing it a bit.”

And did they! A fan and personal favorite was “Franklin Tower” infused with joyous spirit with Christi’an’s singing and Dave McMurray’s saxophone solo. Then a brief respite with “Sage and Spirit” which gave Wayne Gerard Milton and his guitar a moment to shine. Then onto the seminal “Blues for Allah” a song that started as a slightly inebriated funeral march before forming as a distant, approaching storm with West African and Middle Eastern musical undercurrents that slowly moved into the outer suburbs of Wayne County to get “Detroitized.” It was the kind of cover you wish you could go back and listen to for the first time again and again.