Cover Stories
Your guide to the 2019 Movement Electronic Music Festival
A holiday for electronic music fans the world over, Movement Electronic Music Festival returns to Detroit’s Hart Plaza, with all sorts of pre-parties and after-parties sprinkled throughout the week. It’s the long-running fest’s 19th year as a Memorial Day Weekend tradition, and 13th year under the management of party promoters Paxahau — an institution at…
Keep the party going at these Movement Electronic Music Festival 2019 afterparties
Thursday, May 23 Marble Bar Invisible City Soundsystem, Charles Trees, Beige, Frankie Banks, and Mike Medow. Doors at 10 p.m.; 1501 Holden St., Detroit; 313-338-3674; residentadvisor.net. Tickets $5+. TV Lounge Bruce Bailey, DJ Holographic, Mister Joshooa, Remote Viewing Party, Lobos Detroit, Matt Friedman, Lucas Lee, Very J, Twin Cousin, Jacob Park, Soren, Ted Krisko, Rockers,…
How to support Detroit farms, not resalers, at Eastern Market
On a recent Friday morning on the one-acre Brother Nature Produce farm in North Corktown, Greg Willerer and an employee cut field greens in a field filled with everything from French sorrel to mustard greens to edible flowers to edible weeds like lamb’s quarter and purslane sprouts. “Things that don’t usually make it into a…
Hardcore Boston outfit Pile heads to Trumbullplex with biting new record
Leave it to Boston-based hardcore mainstay Pile to tackle the Cheeto-in-Chief’s puppet master and the true evil behind the immigration policies that have been separating children from their parents at the border — white nationalist Stephen Miller. “From a long line of translucent lizards comes our boy Stephen/ That inferiority complex passed down generations,” Pile’s…
Detroit’s Women of Comedy Festival returns to Hamtramck’s Planet Ant
It’s no secret that the late comedian and Saturday Night Live star John Belushi openly despised women comedians and, as recently as 2007, writer Christopher Hitchens penned an essay titled “Why Women Aren’t Funny” for Vanity Fair in which he claimed that there are “more terrible female comedians than there are terrible male comedians.” Well,…
Wu-Tang Clan celebrates 25 years of ’36 Chambers’ at Michigan Lottery Amphitheater at Freedom Hill
In 1993, a scrappy East Coast hip-hop crew took to a modest recording studio and, with a limited budget, recorded what quickly became one of the most important sociopolitical and unlikely spiritual moments in music history. Celebrating 25 years is Wu-Tang Clan’s seminal debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). As part of a limited run…
Celebrate the superior species at Tangent Gallery’s Cat Mania event
It has been said that our furry feline friends have nine lives to spare. But what if you had the opportunity to extend each of those nine lives so that kitties can continue their path to world domination such as catnip legalization, strict declawing regulation, and mandatory petting breaks. Cats 2020! The fast and furr-ious…
Matthew Eaton’s solo exhibition explores transformation at Ferndale’s M Contemporary Art
While the word “metamorphosis” may call to mind images of a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis or major high school reunion glow-ups, artist Matthew Eaton is focused on the lesser witnessed process. Eaton’s pop-up solo exhibition Meta / Morphic acts as an interpretation of the patterns found in “the layers of earth, rock, and minerals…
Art, film, and extreme sports will be featured during the OURS Film Fest at the Senate Theater
The historic Senate Theater in Detroit is having a bit of a moment. The revitalized home to the world’s eighth-largest Wurlitzer pipe organ, appropriately named the “Mighty Wurlitzer,” has been expanding its programming to engage the community, film buffs, history freaks, and beyond, as well as fun AF fundraisers to assist in the renovation of…
The Magic Bag’s Myspace Emo Prom is a return to simpler times
For some of us, it’s a goddamn blessing that Myspace accidentally deleted years’ worth of old photos and content. For others, it marked the official end of an era — one in which the word “rawr” was a term of endearment, the application of thick black eyeliner indicated you were sad on the inside and…
New MSU president says Nassar scandal will ‘not be forgotten’ and will ‘drive everything we do’
After a rocky year and a half without a permanent leader at Michigan State University, the board of trustees for the college unanimously voted to hire Harvard Medical School graduate Samuel Stanley Jr. during a special meeting Tuesday morning. Stanley currently serves as the president of Stony Brook University, a position he’s held for almost…
Yet another person was killed over Cartier sunglasses in Detroit
Detroit police are asking for the public to help identify the person who shot and killed a teenager for his Cartier C Décor glasses at a Valero gas station on Detroit’s east side on Saturday. Police released a blurry photo on Monday of the unidentified 18-year-old victim, as well as clearer ones of two people…
Study: Michigan’s recreational marijuana market may outpace Colorado’s
Michigan’s legal marijuana market is poised to become one of the strongest the country and could outpace Colorado in sales, according to a new study. By early next year, the state’s first recreational marijuana dispensaries are expected to open. With strong sales in the medical cannabis market, Michigan’s recreational market is expected to grow three-fold…
Author and legendary concert promoter Fran Belkin will pay a visit to Third Man Records
Fact: There are many unsung heroes in the music business. From the folks making shit sound pitch perfect from behind the soundboards to tour managers that make sure that (name of crazy unreliable rock star here) gets to the gig on time and in one piece, as well as the people tasked with perhaps the…
‘Massive loopholes’: No guaranteed savings, redlining continues in new auto insurance law
Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republicans struck a bipartisan deal that passed the Senate and House by wide margins. It sailed through the Legislature partly because the GOP, auto insurance lobby, and Whitmer administration assured lawmakers and the public that while the legislation dismantled mandatory lifelong protections for accident victims, it would lower rates…
Shake up some Faygo — the Gathering of the Juggalos announces details for 20th anniversary
There are only two words to describe the upcoming “Soopa” Gathering of the Juggalos hallmark anniversary: Whoop whoop! For 20 years, Detroit’s horrorcore collective Insane Clown Posse has hosted “the greatest family reunion on earth” — a mayhem-filled dark carnival better known as the Gathering of the Juggalos where inhibitions are chopped to bits by…
Emily Rose, Carmel Liburdi, Dave Toennies, and Uncle Valentine are headed to Trumbullplex
Let’s get intimate. No — not like that. Well, maybe. The Trumbullplex is putting the spotlight on some of Detroit’s leading singer-songwriters (and one from Philadelphia) for a springtime serenade sesh. Six-time Detroit Music Award winner Emily Rose (whose 2018 record, Wake Up Brave, channels Amanda Palmer’s directness) will share the stage with the whimsical genre-bending…
Hemp-derived CBD drug now allowed on flights
The federal government is finally beginning to recognize the medical benefits of marijuana after decades of zero-tolerance enforcement. In the latest victory for advocates of medical marijuana, the Transportation Safety Administration is now permitting travelers to bring Epidiolex, a marijuana-derived pediatric epilepsy drug, onto flights. Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the…
Shimmy Shack to host its first ‘vegan prom’
Plymouth-based vegan restaurant Shimmy Shack — which also operates what it bills as metro Detroit’s only 100-percent vegan and gluten-free food truck — will host metro Detroit’s first “vegan prom.” “This is the first of its kind in Michigan!” says Debra Levantrosser, Shimmy Shack’s owner. “While there have been vegan dances in Michigan, this is the…
How Spin Inc. is helping the next generation of Detroit DJs
For the past four years, Spin Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Detroit, has been helping high school students and children of all ages access equipment and educational classes to learn more about electronic music and production. Founder Ron Johnson, a military veteran, teacher, and musician, has partnered with some of Detroit’s most influential producers and…
Delta is union busting — try flying with these unionized carriers instead
Delta Airlines took a much-deserved PR pummeling earlier this month when it put up condescending posters suggesting that employees should spend their money on video games, beer, and sports instead of union dues. lol fuck off @Delta pic.twitter.com/fMNOeW9uFG — Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) May 9, 2019 Shortly after that mess, two unions filed a complaint with…
Royal Oak Brewery to temporarily shut down for renovations
The Royal Oak Brewery shuts down for nine days starting next week so it can complete some major renovations and spruce up its building. The restaurant, at 215 E. Fourth St. in Downtown Royal Oak, says it was Oakland County’s first brewery when it opened about 25 years ago. In a press release, the brewery said…
Warren Mayor Fouts’ deposition about racial slurs could harm city in discrimination case
Audio recordings that purportedly captured Warren Mayor Jim Fouts making racist comments can be used against the city in a federal lawsuit alleging racial bias, a federal judge decided this week. The case involves former Warren Police Officer DeSheila Howlett, who alleges in the lawsuit that she was “constantly peppered with inappropriate, insulting, demeaning, racially…
AG Dana Nessel charges 5 alleged pedophile Catholic priests
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office announced today 21 criminal sexual conduct charges against five men who were Catholic priests. Four of the men have been arrested, while another awaits extradition in India. “In the last 30 hours, more than a dozen members of our investigative team have been in courtrooms in Washtenaw, Wayne, Genesee,…
Gov. Whitmer, Republicans reach ‘historic’ deal to reduce auto insurance rates
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican lawmakers have reached a landmark agreement to lower Michigan’s sky-high auto insurance premiums, potentially ending years of inaction and infighting. The reform bill could be approved as early as Friday. “After constructive conversations over the past week, I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement in concept on bipartisan auto no-fault reform…
GOP lame duck law making citizen ballot drives difficult is being challenged in court
One of the Michigan GOP’s most controversial lame duck laws is facing a legal challenge. A lawsuit filed Thursday in the Michigan Court of Claims argues that Republicans’ 2018 changes to rules for citizen-initiated ballot drives are unconstitutional. The new law makes drives far more difficult and costly to execute. The complaint argues that the…
Surprised? Gentrification pioneer Will Leather Goods closes in Cass Corridor
A high-end leather shop that replaced an affordable grocery store in the Cass Corridor in 2015 has gone out of business and will be replaced with a new restaurant. Oregon-based Will Leather Goods closed its shop Tuesday at Second Avenue and Alexandrine Street, a few blocks from Shinola, RUNdetroit, Third Man Records, and Jolly Pumpkin…
State GOP is attempting to hobble new anti-gerrymandering commission
Lame duck may be over, but the Michigan GOP is still attempting to circumvent the will of the voters. Separate proposed budgets approved by Republican-controlled Senate and House committees slash funding for Democrat Jocelyn Benson’s Secretary of State office by 25 percent. The office is charged with paying for an independent redistricting commission that voters…
Detroit cop among family members accused of Mother’s Day dine and dash
A Detroit cop is facing charges after prosecutors said she was among a family of 10 adults and a handful of children who dined and dashed during a Mother’s Day dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse in Warren. The family racked up a $530 bill and then walked out of Sagano Japanese Steakhouse without paying, Fox…
Charlie LeDuff’s critically acclaimed book ‘Shitshow!’ is now available in paperback
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Charlie LeDuff’s latest book, Shit Show! The Country’s Collapsing …and the Ratings Are Great, is now available in paperback. The critically acclaimed book, first published in hardcover in May 2018, is a brutally honest glimpse of the fading American Dream. It chronicles LeDuff’s journey across the country to explore the lives of…
Michigan native brings international film festival to Idlewild
Award-winning filmmaker Tinisha Brugnone is organizing an international film festival that will take place in the historic African-American community of Idlewild. The festival will take place outdoors on Aug. 23 to Aug. 25, at the Paradise Lake Festival Grounds. “I love diverse stories and I love learning about other cultures, and this is just one…
You can fuel up with tacos at this free event to keep you going through Movement weekend in Detroit
It could be suggested that the secret to feeling good comes down to two things: tacos and good tunes. While Movement Electronic Music Fest pulses on along the riverfront on Saturday, homegrown indie label Ghostly International will team up with the cool kids over at SMPFLD clothing and party pros Haute to Death for “Feelin’…
You can take in the Drinkard Sisters at Detroit’s Cadieux Cafe on Thursday
First Aid Kit, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and Ann and Nancy Wilson — singing sisters have been charming their way into our hearts with strong as fuck vocal genetics and powerful harmonies for decades. Detroit’s own Drinkard Sisters will make their Cadieux debut as part of Honky Tonk Thursdays. Caitlin and Bonnie Drinkard have been…
Neo-soul singer India.Arie heads to Detroit’s Sound Board on Sunday
What does the Flint water crisis, big pharma, genetically modified broccoli, and Colin Kaepernick’s knee have in common? All get a mention on “Rollercoaster,” an upbeat ballad of bad news from India Arie’s latest record, Worthy. Since hitting the scene 20 years ago, Arie has distanced herself from pop stardom by making it her business…
Tim Meadows to perform an intimate stand-up gig at Ann Arbor’s Blind Pig
If you were getting it on in the ’90s, you likely took advice from Leon Phelps — the Ladies Man. The iconic character brought to life by comedian Tim Meadows during his 10-year run on Saturday Night Live is, to this day, one of the worst authorities on getting lucky. However, for the Highland Park…
Florence and the Machine bring on the catharsis to DTE Energy Music Theatre
Every once in a great while, a singer comes along whose vocals peel apart the atmospheric layer between heaven and earth, and for the last 10 years or so Florence Welch has been that singer. Since, 2007, Welch and her band have been carrying the baroque-pop torch with a graceful blend of mainstream appeal and…
Stacey Steers’ ‘Night Hunter’ is part of a spooky multimedia show at Detroit’s K.OSS Contemporary Art Gallery
It took Colorado-based artist Stacey Steers four years to complete the 4,000 handmade collages that make up the unsettling 16-minute-long stop-motion animation of Night Hunter. The silent film pairs silent film star Lillian Gish and explores the feminine role within domesticity but with creepy eggs, bugs, bats, and snakes against a score that calls to…
‘Orpheus in the Underworld’ is a ‘hilarious romp through Heaven and Hell’ at Detroit’s Jam Handy
A lot has changed since Jacques Offenbach debuted his operetta, Orphée aux enfers, in 1858. For one, smallpox has been eradicated, so that’s cool. Here to catch us up to speed with camp and comedy is the Opera MODO’s production of Orpheus in the Underworld. Billed as a “hilarious romp through Heaven and Hell,” Orpheus…
The 5.6.7.8’s, the beloved Japanese garage rock band from ‘Kill Bill,’ is playing in Detroit on Thursday
There’s a standout moment in Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 samurai revenge flick, Kill Bill Vol. 1. In a brief moment of reprieve from the carnage, Japanese surf-rock trio the 5.6.7.8’s perform barefoot with 1960s-style beehives at a Tokyo izakaya. While the movie granted the girl group a cult-like status in the West, they’ve been making music…
A musical about Marvin Gaye is now playing at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre
It’s no secret that Motown’s Marvin Gaye was masterful at creating iconic and very sensual love songs. Pride & Joy: The Marvin Gaye Musical gives some context as to how the legend has become a posthumous romantic revolutionary. Set against the sociopolitical backdrop of the 1960s, the musical features 28 songs spanning Gaye’s catalog as…
Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit restaurant to host Battle of the Bands event in search of new house band
Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit restaurant is hosting “Take the Stage,” a Battle of the Bands event to find the new house band for Kid Rock’s restaurant inside Little Caesars Arena. The contest requires a submission of a one- to two-minute demo to kidrockinfo@kidrockrestaurant.com by midnight on Saturday, May 25. Forty bands will then be…
Another Detroit charter school closes because of financial problems
Yet another charter school is closing in Detroit because of financial problems, forcing parents to find a new school for their children. Southwest Detroit Community School announced it was closing during an emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon, Chalkbeat Detroit reports. Since opening six years ago, the school has struggled with finances, poor academic performance, and retaining…
Review: Foes lack character development in ‘John Wick: Chapter 3’
Opening after a warning — that in an hour there will be war — the third and newest John Wick opens with Keanu Reeves’ unretired, high-class assassin eyeing a bounty on his head, this time as punishment from the chairs of the world-spanning coven of assassins of which he’s long been a distinguished member, an…
Review: ‘Long Shot’ and the Zen of the Schlub
Long Shot succeeds far more by dodging sharp suggestion or troubling resonance than by expressing a point of view — even as one proves perceptible within it. Set in the filthy and bilious sphere of national politics, this romantic comedy (which sidesteps satire by and large) finds Seth Rogen as (a Hollywood notion of) an…
Now that weed is legal in Michigan, our leaders need to deal with it
In the end, all the panelists at “Weed’s Legal … Now What?” — a free forum held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History — agreed that expungement of records for marijuana crimes is the big change they would like to see in our marijuana laws. Other than that, Rev. Horace Sheffield…
Savage Love: Empaths or codependency?
I keep running into the same issue with my best friend of five years. (She’s also my maid of honor at my upcoming wedding.) We’re both empaths — most of my friends are — and we’re both in therapy working on how to cope with that. I have severe anxiety that impacts my physical health,…
Horoscopes (May 21-28)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 You are about to get a break. After a pile of stress, putting up with people and things that have been driving you nuts, an opening has occurred that could be your ticket to ride. Everything depends on your ability to go out on a limb, at a time…
The abortion bans aren’t about abortion — they’re about control
Last week, on Tuesday, two-dozen scientifically illiterate white men in Alabama who believe they are on a mission from their invisible sky deity declared that a doctor who terminates the pregnancy of a 12-year-old rape victim — a routine, humane, and decidedly uncontroversial medical procedure everywhere else in the developed world — should spend more time in prison…
Review: Allenby at Fort Street Galley explores inventive Israeli cuisine
It’s safe to say that Allenby, named after a street in Tel Aviv, is the only restaurant downtown that’s Israeli-inspired. Co-owner and chef Michael Goldberg, who’d cooked a lot of Italian food in his life, took a trip last year to Israel, his first, to explore the cuisine. “Growing up, all I knew of Jewish…
Drummer B’s ‘Space Bounce’ is here to stay
Beatmaker Leonard Ware’s living room is filled with about 100 of his favorite records snuggled into bookshelves and crates: Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear, The Crusaders’ Street Life, and Hugh Masekela’s I Am Not Afraid are a few of his favorites in rotation. “I keep the ones I play the most up here, but there’s…
Rapper Chris Orrick is an everyman emcee
On a gloomy rainy April night at Ferndale’s Java Hutt, rapper Chris Orrick is dressed in a gray button-down shirt and jeans, sitting at a two-seater table nursing a mug of peppermint tea. Orrick hasn’t lived in Ferndale since 2015, and just like Java Hutt, he’s more “old Ferndale” than the new “don’t Royal Oak…
