Well I Open Carried at Arts Beats And Eats today, and it was completely uneventful.  I parked about a mile north on North Washington Avenue in front of the American House, and walked in to avoid paying witz's parking fee.  The place was completely clogged with people, I mean Shoulder to shoulder, the streets were completely impassable, and the side walks were barely passable, I felt like I was walking through the streets of Bangkok, or something it was so ridiculously over crowded, actually I think Bangkok would likely be an improvement.  God help you if you were in there, and had to get out in a hurry, or the crowd panicked.  I went to prove a point, educate, and show solidarity with the people screwed by the liqueur license, I don't know why anyone else would come to a disorganized over crowded mess like that, even if you wanted to buy something, or do something it was to crowded to do it, there were places that it literally took 1 minute to move 1 foot, it was insane.

Of all the thousands of people there I don't think hardly anyone even noticed that I was carrying, I got no comments, no questions, nothing, I might have gotten a couple of glances, but I'm not sure, it really speaks volumes for the lack of situational awareness for most people.

I did run in to the media though, kind of, channel 4 to be specific, the van was there, and the reporter was getting ready to go live with the weather report I think, at least that's what I heard him saying to the camera man, I couldn't squeeze through the crowd so I had to stand there a minute, and as I was one of the "event staff" must have noticed that I was carrying, because he rushed over to the reporter, and pointed me out, but I heard the reporter tell him that he didn't want to cover "the gun thing", and they waited to start filming until I moved out of the shot, I was tempted to turn around, and deliberately get back in the shot, but I didn't.

Open Carry Alcohol was of course everywhere, as were beer stands, and lots, and lots of minors.  The air smelt of nothing but sweat, burnt barbecue "stuff", and booze, with just a hint of cigarettes thrown in for good measure.

I video taped my time there, and was able to get about 45 minutes worth before I ran out of battery power.  I'll try to get it posted up tomorrow night if I can, I've had about as much Arts Beats And Eats I can take for tonight.

One humorous anecdote though, apparently my camcorder must look like a Flashbang, because after I left, and was walking back to my car I was waiting for a crossing signal, and a group of teenagers standing behind me apparently noticed me carrying, and were talking amongst themselves, and apparently I had a Taser (actually a Glock 22) Spare Magazines (true, I had 4, and I was pleased that they said mags, and not clips), and a Flashbang, which I assume must have been my Camcorder.

ETA: Video is now up:

Please excuse the terrible camera work in parts 1, and 2.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Sounds great.  I'm glad you weren't messed with about it.  I can't do crowd's like that though.  As soon as I got there, I would have turned around and gone home.

I drove up woodward this afternoon on the way to Target Sports, it didn't look like anything I needed to get involved with. Parking was already packed out to Woodward...

I stay away from stuff like that.  It is a riot to poke fun at the people that stick out of the crowd, but over all its more of a hassle than anything else.

I live a few blocks from it and it was gay, Way too many asshats around. As soon as i finish school i am leaving this hipster infested tardhole.

I went there too, but on the 4th, and I am so sad to have to report this... but this event was much better when in was in Pontiac.

The first thing that pissed me off was parking. I attempted to go on the 3rd, but after I found out that all metered parking was closed, and all street parking within about 1 or 1.5 miles was closed, and they basically were forcing you to pay 15 dollars to park (I paid $5 last year in pontiac, by the way).  I went back home that night.

The next day I returned on my bike, and used one of the two bike corrals (attended by staff from KLM cycle fitness), which I liked.  So I had finally arrived, but what a damn zoo it was.  I feel like they didn't have enough space for the event.  In Pontiac it felt much more spread out, and a little more comfortable.  

The "Eats" this year were not spectacular... Had some "pulled pork" from Bo's Smokehouse... I say that because it wasn't pulled. It was a big hunk of meat dropped on a piece of white bread.  Their sauce wasn't good either.  
The GF and I sampled some of the Veg lo mein and Veg spring rolls from Peking house and those both were pretty tasty.
I was really excited to see a new crepe shop downtown, and I was chatting with a guy working the tent, and mentioned how I've been wanting to go try "Good Girls Go to Paris" crepes in Detroit and have heard nothing but good things about it, but was glad there was a crepe shop in RO now... He immediately started bad mouthing the other place, which is really unprofessional in my opinion, especially in a niche market like crepes.  He said theirs are much better.  I was disappointed... the crepe was rubbery, I almost busted out my pocketknife to cut it, as flimsy plastic ware could hardly break the surface.  I probably won't be back, especially after seeing their regular prices.
The one thing we both really enjoyed was a big brownie we got from The Cutting Board.  It was so big we brought it home and nibbled on it for a few days, and the GF just finished it for breakfast this morning. Lol.

There were no notable musicians playing this year, so I didn't see any music.  I really didn't even see any stages.  Poor layout.

I did see most of the art... some of it was pretty good.  I bought a print from photographer Bruce Reinfeld, and talked with him for a bit.

I was also carrying there...  but a little more concealed (Glock 26 in a CBST).  I considered open carrying my M&P9, but I don't have a retention holster for it, so it was out of the question.  I tried to keep an eye out for any open carriers, but it was so crowded, I couldn't see anybody's waist area. I agree, it certainly had a third world feel to the place.  Afriend of mine went on sunday, and said it was even more crazy.  He said the lines to get in were hundreds of people long.  The south washington entrance was 1.5 blocks long, and the entrance by the post office wrapped all the way around the office.

Long story short, if it's in RO next year with the same layout, I'll probably skip it.

My observations were pretty much the same, way to small for the crowds, and it was an incredibly bad lay out, and there was no sense of organization at all.  I was able to find some stages, but they were all at the extreme ends, and were small. I also was looking for other carriers, but it was so crowded (again about 1 foot a minute in places) I could barely breath let alone see the waist line of someone just 2 people over. I parked North of 12 mile so I could skip parking.  My overall impression of it was what the hells the point?, why would anyone WANT to go to this?

I attended on Friday night.    Parked at my daughters  house to avoid the $15 charge.   Saw lots of "No Parking" signs meant to direct the sheeple into the $15 areas.      

I went CCW with my G19 in a Don Hume IWB      The only other weapons I saw were on the police.        No issues with CCW.

From an ABE standpoint, I was rather disappointed.       Mediocre art, same ol' food, and with me being at 60, the beats were nothing I even recognized.     The most memorable thing were all the Royal Oak zombies and zoo creatures.

Next time, I'll pass.