Cover Story
Behind the billboard: Joumana Kayrouz’s against-all-odds story
"Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.” — Charles Lamb Driving past no fewer than eight images of her likeness, advertisements on buses and billboards, we arrive at the residence of Joumana Kayrouz. Located in Bloomfield Hills, the house is opulent without being gaudy, tasteful in its hugeness. Pastel Easter decorations pepper the topiaries outside the…
Film Review: Brick Mansions
Brick Mansions | D Today, the average big-screen depiction of Detroit is about as accurate as movies about Mars were before we landed probes on the red planet. Screenwriters (in this case Eurotrash actionista Luc Besson) love to use the Motor City as a great big rusted canvas to paint grand urban apocalyptic fantasies with…
Curt Guyette featured on My TV20 discussing Metro Times cover story
Curt Guyette, investigative reporter for the ACLU of Michigan and former news editor of Metro Times, was featured this weekend on My TV20’s “Detroit Wants 2 Know,” a local talk show hosted by political analyst Steve Hood, for a segment on his recent Metro Times cover story, “Anatomy of a Takeover.” Their sprawling conversation focused on the detailed analysis of…
Sugar Slam, Psychopathic Records
Sugar Slam, real name Michelle Rapp, has been one of the public faces of Psychopathic Records (Insane Clown Posse’s label) since the organization dreamed up the idea of having her present teaser trailers for the “Gathering of the Juggalos” festival. The short clips were later parodied on Saturday Night Live, the Rapp character given the…
Deadline nearing for Midtown Viaducts Public Art project
Hey, Detroit’s creative class — if you haven’t already, there’s still time to submit a proposal for the Midtown Viaducts project. The project will give two railroad bridges, located between Baltimore and Amsterdam streets in TechTown, a much-needed makeover. According to Midtown Detroit, Inc: Originally constructed in 1934, these once magnificent viaducts have been poorly…
A New Taste Of Frankenmuth: Bavarian Inn unveils new bar
By Ayana Bryant-Weekes The Bavarian Inn Restaurant, home of the world-famous Frankenmuth-style chicken dinner, turned the old Roof Garten into a casual, contemporary dining space featuring all things Michigan: Michigan-sourced food, Michigan craft-brewed beer, Michigan wines and Michigan cocktails. Construction began Monday, Feb. 17 with the ribbon-cutting unveiling occurred April 8 (it’s the first major…
City Slang: Battlecross rules the DMAs
I will only say nice things. I will only say nice things. I will only say nice things. At the 2014 Detroit Music Awards, honors were dealt out to Jill Jack, the Infatuations, Carolyn Striho, Funky D Records, Sean from Cybertrybe you know the drill. Nice things. Nice things. Nice things. Most of the performances…
RIP DJ Rashad
Chicago electronic music giant DJ Rashad has died, according to Complex.com. Details are currently scarce, but it is believed that a drug overdose is the cause of death. DJ Rashad had been scheduled to perform at Detroit’s North End Studios, an “Inhale Art Expo” with Detroit’s DJ Godfather on Saturday night, and it was Godfather…
Metro Retro: Blowout ’98 schedule
With the annual Blowout music fest approaching April 30 through May 3, we thought we’d take some time to visit the ol’ MT archives, and came up with this nostalgic ad for Blowout ’98. Proof that MT was ahead of the curve, the second Blowout featured artists who would soon go on to have massive success — with a lineup featuring Eminem,…
City Slang: Watch a new clip from Super Duper Alice Cooper
Rolling Stone has posted an exclusive clip from the forthcoming movie Super Super Alice Cooper. According to a statement, “In this clip, we see the band introduced to their manager, Shep Gordon, for the very first time amongst some other familiar characters. Filmmaker Reginald Harkema comments on the segment, “It’s 1969 in Los Angeles and…
‘Metro Times’ seeking summer photography interns
Metro Times is looking for photography interns to shoot events in and around Detroit this summer. Candidates should be able to provide 20-50 photos per event and attend at least two events per week. (The ideal candidate is plugged into Detroit’s culture and nightlife and already attending concerts, festivals, art gallery openings.) Assignments will be…
Reviewing All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman
Perhaps a little surprisingly, there is a local slant to this live tribute, All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman, recorded this past January at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. The musical director for the evening, the man with the unenviable task of pulling together a multitude of different musicians (doing a Geldof,…
Once-controversial Diego Rivera murals now national landmark
Image courtesy dia.org Oh, the irony — initially criticized as Marxist propaganda when Mexican muralist Diego Rivera painted them for the Detroit Institute of Arts in the early 1930s, Detroit Industry has now been designated as a a national landmark. The announcement was made Wednesday, according to the Detroit News by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally…
Detroit area code 313 may be phased out
Hey, everybody from the 313, start thinking of new numbers to rally around– the longstanding Detroit area code may be phased out. Our friends over at the Detroit News report that pending a revised estimate next week, the North American Numbering Plan Administration will stop handing out 313 telephone prefixes on new phone numbers. Detroiters…
Final members selected for Red Wings arena Neighborhood Advisory Council
Richard Etue, seen here, was one of 12 members elected to the Neighborhood Advisory Council on Wednesday, April 23. (Ryan Felton/Metro Times) Unfortunately, we were unable to attend last night’s Neighborhood Advisory Council, which, in case you were unaware, is a 16-member board established to weigh in on the new Red Wings arena near downtown.…
James McMurtry and The Bottle Rockets coming to the Magic Bag
The Magic Bag in Ferndale will host James McMurtry and The Bottle Rockets on Thursday, May 28, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. A press release reads, “James McMurtry recently signed with the bourgeoning Los Angeles record label Complicated Game. The legendary songwriter will enter the studio later this month to start working on his…
City Slang: Dead Kennedys to have a holiday in Detroit
The Dead Kennedys, still with local boy Klaus Flouride in the ranks, will play St. Andrew’s Hall on Tuesday, June 24. Alongside Flouride and fellow original members East Bay Ray and DH Peligro, the current lineup includes singer Ron “Skip” Greer, taking the place of Jello Biafra. Downtown Brown will open that show, which starts…
Planet Ant presents A Steady Rain
The Planet Ant Theatre in Hamtramck will present a police drama called A Steady Rain May 2 through 24. Planet Ant veterans Ryan Carlson and York Griffith will star in the play, written by House of Cards and Mad Men co-writer Keith Huff. Tickets ($10-$20) are on sale now at PlanetAnt.com. According to the press…
Lily Tomlin coming to Ann Arbor
Detroit home-girl Lily Tomlin will perform at the Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, June 14. A press release reads, “Get together with Lily Tomlin for an unforgettable night of fun and sidesplitting laughter. “Tomlin is amazing” The NY Times and “as always a revelation.” The New Yorker This unique comic artist takes her…
The Bird & The Bread unveils patio
Patio update — In good weather, Michigan diners place a premium on being able to eat alfresco. And one more option just became available: Birmingham’s newest restaurant, The Bird & the Bread, has opened its new patio and it has become very popular. Owned by Kristin Jonna, of the same wine-loving Jonna family that owns…
Bigalora’s in Ann Arbor serves up brunch
Weekend at Bigalora’s — Ann Arbor just got another choice for lunch: The newest location of Bigalora Wood-Fired Cucina (formerly Pizzeria Biga) introduces a new weekend brunch beginning on Saturday, May 3. Known for their Neapolitan pizzas, small plates, pastas, salads and house-made desserts and gelatos, the local mini-chain went through a rebrand to stress…
Sangria season approaches
As the gentle sunshine of spring begins to beckon us back outdoors, it’s time to rediscover the joys of a pitcher of sangria. You’ll find approximately 1 gazillion different recipes for sangria online, and you’ll probably end up more confused than enlightened after perusing the first few dozen. To simplify matters, we put a call…
Fujiya & Miyagi — Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial Sweeteners is this British band’s fifth full-length album, and it sees them return to a synth-driven style after taking a live-band approach on the Ventriloquizzing predecessor. The name of the record clues you in on the way the band isn’t ever going to shy away from the sugary sweet tunes that have carried them…
Record Review: Bud Powell — ‘Birdland 1953’
Bud Powell Birdland 1953 ESP In his biography Wail: The Life of Bud Powell, author Peter Pullman wrote that 1953 was the busiest year of the influential jazz pianist’s life. He certainly spent a lot of time at the world famous Birdland Club in New York, and completists will rejoice at the release of this…
Ricky Rat
This 7-inch single highlights all that’s great about the Trash Brats guitarist, but also his limitations. The man can write a bubblegum rock ’n’ roll song to match anyone in the city and most beyond. He’s also a killer guitarist, ripping out one throwaway riff after another with reckless abandon. He’s a machine. On his…
Gerard Smith
“I’m currently involved with Bill Grogan’s Goat, the Bowzies (an acoustic Celtic trio), an acoustic duo with Maggie McCabe, and I do lots of solo shows. I’m also working on an ensemble for my next solo album. It will be a lot more electric compared to the first two. Balance is achieved due to the…
Record Review: The Meatmen — ‘Savage Sagas from the Meatmen’
The Meatmen Savage Saga from the Meatmen Self Destructo The first new Meatmen studio album in 20 years, and nothing has changed in those two decades. But then, what the fuck did you expect? That Tesco Vee would mellow out and go acoustic? Not while there’s breath in his lungs. “I’m the sinner, I’m the…
‘Free Press’ presses Lansing on ‘grand bargain’
In last week’s column, the hotheads at the Hits were a bit cool to the Detroit dailies’ assessment of the so-called “grand bargain,” an $816 million deal to shore up Detroit’s pensions, spin off the Detroit Institute of Arts from city control, and, officials hope, make for a smoother exit from bankruptcy court. We were…
Candidates vie for Detroit Neighborhood Advisory Committee
Last week, filing petitions were due for an election most Hits readers were probably unaware of. Inside the former S.S. Kresge headquarters — a beautiful art deco building on Second Avenue near the Masonic Temple recently rebranded as the Block at Cass Park — residents of the nearby Cass Corridor listened to 15 candidates for…
Detroit ‘grand bargain’ far from done deal
You have to give Kevyn Orr considerable poker-player cred, especially for the art of the bluff. Detroit’s emergency manager had everyone thinking that most city pensioners were going to take massive cuts that would amount to more than a fourth of their income. That’s right. Cops and firefighters would lose only 4 percent if they…
Pot physically changes your brain (but so do music lessons)
“Taking music lessons as a child could physically change your brain.” That headline ran in the HuffingtonPost last year. Unless you read the HuffPost regularly, you might not have heard about it. There was no rash of stories across the country regarding the brain damage wreaked by music lessons. Actually the findings about music lessons,…
Letters about guns, money, and GM
Armed Residents We had a number of strident online responses to Larry Gabriel’s April 16 column on the recent uptick in Detroit homeowners shooting intruders. Anthony posted: I’m definitely no Republican or conservative, but all of you damned super-left, bleeding-heart liberals need to petition [former New York City Mayor] Michael Bloomberg to create his own…
Cams and panties
Q: My son is 19, but due to some physical and social disabilities (mostly unseen), his emotional maturity level is closer to 14, though he is quite intelligent. After a lifetime of therapists, specialized education, and other interventions, he is now a freshman in college far from home. His dad and I are paying for his…
Fenton Fire Hall
Fenton Fire Hall 201 S. Leroy St., Fenton 810-936-0442 Appetizers, soups, salads: $4-$10 Entrées: $10-30 Open 4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-9 p.m. Sunday. The folks from the Union Woodshop restaurant group (dare we call it an empire?) are up to their old tricks again. This time, they drove about an hour out of…
The Lost Boys (soon to be Prude Boys)
Wouldn’t you just know it? We decide to give the members of this band the City Slang treatment before their Blowout appearance — since we were so impressed by them at a recent Loving Touch show — and they tell us that, immediately after the festival, they’re changing the band’s name. It’s all a little…
Duke’s Meats moves to Michigan
Lifelong Michiganders may not give it much thought, but jerky is kinda huge in our state. Any trip “up North” will prove that Michigan abounds with small-town general stores and roadside stands that have a heaping helping of jerky for sale, made of not just beef but venison, elk, turkey and much more. In fact,…
Anna Clark, editor of ‘A Detroit Anthology’
Anna Clark wears many hats. A freelance writer living in Detroit, her work has appeared in The New Republic, American Prospect, and Salon, among others. She’s a writer-in-residence for the InsideOut Literary Arts Project, a gig that sees her teaching creative writing at Detroit high schools, and she’s also a board member of Write a…
Hollywood’s visions of the afterlife
Symphony in Slang (1951) This sharp, six-and-a-half-minute cartoon from MGM has your classic heaven, with pearly gates and St. Peter checking off names in a golden book and handing out halos to entrants. And as fans of animation director Tex Avery know, that’s where any trace of normalcy ends in this rip-roaring cartoon. Heaven Can…
Jerry Vile to reveal the ‘secret of life’
We’ve got to hand it to artist Jerry Vile for writing possibly the greatest press release we’ve ever received in our inbox, promoting his upcoming show at the Inner State Gallery. “For Immediate Release (that should get your attention),” it begins, and then goes on to lampoon art receptions and press releases in general with…
Film Review: Heaven Is For Real
Heaven Is for Real | C The blessed union of the multiplex and the megachurch is sanctified in this well-intentioned yet nakedly commercial attempt to pass the studio collection plate. This is but the latest demonstration of Hollywood’s newfound faith in the evangelical dollar, a faith that was tested by releases like Son of…
Film Review: Ernest & Celestine
Ernest & Celestine | B+ It may not have high-gloss pizzazz, catchy pop songs or attention-grabbing CGI — but for my money, Ernest & Celestine is better than anything Disney has put out lately. And, yes, I’m including Frozen. Created by the same people behind a wonderfully insane Belgian confection called A Town Called…
Why worried suburban moms hate Detroit
Last week, I heard that my old buddy Joe Van Bael, owner, proprietor and janitor over at the Hastings Street Ballroom and Tangent Gallery, had gotten some hate mail. For those who know him, the very idea of a guy like Van Bael inspiring hatred is ridiculous. He’s a solid dude. I’ve known Van Bael…
Welcome Valerie Vande Panne, the new Detroit Metro Times editor
The Detroit Metro Times, Detroit’s award-winning alternative weekly media company, is proud to announce the recent hire of Valerie Vande Panne as Editor-in-Chief. An award-winning independent journalist and Michigan native, Vande Panne’s work has appeared in Crain’s Detroit Business, The Daily Beast, and Salon, among other publications. Previously, Vande Panne attended Harvard University and was…
Joumana Kayrouz to cover ‘Metro Times’
She welcomes you when you enter Detroit, from every direction, with the one word that might just be Detroit’s biggest philosophical question: Injured? Joumana Kayrouz is deeper than the inflated image watching over Detroit, peddling justice to the poor and broken of the city. This Wednesday, Drew Philp takes us behind the billboard and into…
Fire at PJ’s Lager House, no people hurt
There was a fire in an upstairs apartment at PJ’s Lager House on Monday evening. No people were hurt, although three cats belonging to the tenants died after CPR. The fire broke out around 10:30 p.m. during a show featuring Zombie Jesus & the Chocolate Sunshine Band, Curtin, and Jeffrey Jablonsky. “We just smelled smoke…
Iggy Azalea
Man, if your name is Iggy and you’re going to come play in Detroit, you’d better be ready to bring it. That name carries some weight in this town. Australian rapper Iggy Azalea is not short on confidence though. Indeed, every other picture that we’ve seen of her online has her grabbing her nether regions…
City Slang: Music review roundup
Send CDs, vinyl, cassettes, demos and 8-tracks to Brett Callwood, Metro Times, 1200 Woodward Heights, Ferndale MI 48220. Email MP3s and streaming links to bcallwood@metrotimes.com. The Sugar Clouds’ Partners Don’t Do That (They Watch and be Amazed) (Wax Splat) is a nostalgic look at the psychedelic days of ’60s grooviness. Even the album cover looks…
