A Midtown institution

Besides taking out an ad in a local social advocacy magazine and putting posters on area shop windows and telephone poles, no real attempt has been made to use traditional advertising for the annual street festival Dally in the Alley.
“I wouldn’t be involved if there were corporate sponsorship,” event co-chair Shayne O’Keefe said. “It is offensive to me ... to be marketed towards. We’re not trying to sell Bud light.”
Held in a partitioned “U-shape” area formed by Hancock Street, Second Avenue, and Forest Avenue near Wayne State’s campus
The 32nd Dally will take place all-day Sept. 12.
The notion that this yearly festival can abstain from print and radio advertising, relying instead on word-of-mouth and strong community attendance is what makes Dally in the Alley so special, according to O’Keefe, 26, who began his two-year stint earlier in the spring.
In years past, there have been certain themes to Dally in the Alley, like recycling.
But in O’Keefe’s first year as co-chair, a non-paid position, the main change he wants is to “take the cliqueness out of it.”
He said past Dally’s may have seemed like “a cool kids club” of local musicians and friends, but he doesn’t want it to be that way. O’Keefe, a drummer in the local band Noman, said in order to make the four Dally stages open to everyone, prospective performers had to send demo tapes to a five-person music committee.
He confirmed that Noman is playing a set this year.
“The music committee asked us to play and we graciously accepted,” O’Keefe said.
He said other key acts performing this year are Will Sessions, a big-band, funk collective of musicians from Detroit, and experimental rock group Oscillating Fan Club. Other groups to look out for include New Grenada and Blasé Splee.
Wayne State senior Ben Sturley, bassist of the funk-rock, four-piece James and the Rainbros, looks forward to playing.
“This is our first year playing Dally,” Sturley said, “and we’re all pretty jazzed about it. It’s a pretty crucial venue for the local music scene.”
Community is paramount to the success or failure of the festival. The hierarchy of the Dally organization is completely volunteer-based and none of the bands performing are compensated. All profits go toward funding community initiatives at the discretion of the North Cass Community Union block club. Recently, money has gone towards the Cass Community Garden, legal fees to fight the Detroit trash incinerator, and relief in the aftermath of the Forest Arms apartment building fire.
The all-day festival will feature numerous local vendors selling anything from art, jewelry, incense, and shea butter, to politically charged T-shirts and self-published novels. Food and drink vendors will be in attendance as well.
To O’Keefe, the social aspect of Dally is his favorite. Noting the peaceful police presence, he explains that it’s a place that you can relax and be yourself, running into old friends or seeing some band “you saw at a house party five years ago.”
“It’s a haven,” he said. “You don’t have to wear a shirt, you can wear a snake, and no one will think something’s wrong with you.”
Anyone who lives on the affected streets can park in Lot 53, which is part of the Wayne State Physics Building. Organizers advise that owners move their cars by 6 p.m. the night before the event and can keep them there until 6 a.m. the morning after.