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Where to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2020 in metro Detroit
This is the big one, folks. Not since Y2k has there been a more anticipated New Year’s Eve. On the eve of Dec. 31, 1999, we had no idea that 20 years later we would be under the rule of a hopefully-soon-to-be-impeached reality-TV president, or have eavesdropping countertop robots, autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, or social…
Trans-Siberian Orchestra will kick out the holiday jams at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena
Christmas ain’t over til the Trans-Siberian Orchestra says it’s over, motherfuckers. Who cares if Christmas was three days ago? Founded in 1996 by composer Paul O’Neill, a live performance by TSO’s massive orchestra ensemble has become a holiday tradition that fuses lasers, ’80s hair-band showmanship, floating stages, and enough pyrotechnics to lay serious waste to…
Wilson says goodbye with final performance at the Crofoot in Pontiac
The party stops here. East Lansing’s Wilson is hanging up nearly a decade of alt-rock revelry with one last blowout. Dubbed the “Thank You, Goodnight” performance, Wilson will take both stages at the Crofoot, delivering two sets presented by 101.1 WRIF. For Wilson’s first set on the main stage, the band will perform songs from…
The Polka Floyd Show is, you guessed it, a polka-infused Pink Floyd cover band — and they’re performing at Otus Supply
Have you ever wondered what Pink Floyd songs might sound like with a hell of a lot more accordion? Likely not, but lucky for you, metro Detroit/Toledo outfit the Polka Floyd Show has been shooting prog-rock classics through a polka-fied cannon and, as you might have guessed, transforms hits like “Comfortably Numb” and “Mother” into…
King of Comedy, Cedric the Entertainer, heads to Detroit’s Sound Board
Before Tyler the Creator or Chance the Rapper, there was Cedric the Entertainer — one of The Original Kings of Comedy. Actor, voice actor, game show host, and comedian Cedric the Entertainer has been telling it like it is since he first appeared as the host of ComicView on BET in 1993. When he’s not…
Alt-country outfit Michigan Rattlers rounds out a hallmark year with a performance at the Magic Bag
Michigan Rattlers have had a busy year. This summer, the alt-country band from Petoskey was handpicked by Bob Seger himself to open his final shows at DTE Energy Music Theatre, performed at Metro Times’ Pig & Whiskey festival, and then hit the road with folk-infused jam band Greensky Bluegrass. Now, the band will celebrate the…
The Roots are bringing a belated holiday jam to Detroit’s Fillmore
The holidays are infectious, and not even Grammy Award-winning, Philadelphia alt-hip-hop pioneers the Roots are immune to the festive spirit. Though your stepmom may recognize the Roots as Jimmy Fallon’s long-standing house band on The Tonight Show, they’re also one of the most versatile, hardworking, serious ensembles around. Just look at the band’s 2014 self-described conceptual…
Oh good god — All Fizzed Up, a hard seltzer tasting event, is coming to Royal Oak to give you a low-calorie hangover
Looking back, a portrait of America in 2019 might look something like this: 30-50 feral hogs, the presidential impeachment, scathing reviews of the CGI nightmare that is Cats, that chicken sandwich, Keanu Reeves’ “Keanaissance,” and White Claw — the once endangered species of sweet, fizzy, highly alcoholic nectar of the summer gods. Well, the spiked seltzer…
Why ‘It’s So Cold in the D’ is a Christmas song
Die Hard is a Christmas movie? Then T-Baby’s 2008 hit “It’s So Cold in the D” is a Christmas song. The track became a viral sensation due in part to T-Baby’s off-beat and off-key singing, as well as its low-budget music video, which was reportedly shot for a mere $300. Then it got exposed to…
Detroit’s Rhythm Corps reunites for performance at Saint Andrew’s Hall
In 1988, Detroit rock band Rhythm Corps posed the eternal question for bickering world leaders, conflicted lovers, and politically troubled family members: “Can we meet on common ground?” Having released only two EPs and two full-length records during the band’s short lifespan, “Common Ground” remains the band’s first, last, and biggest hit to date —…
He’s collaborated with J Dilla and Paul McCartney, and now Detroit’s Karriem Riggins heads to Deluxx Fluxx
We’re not complaining about this belated holiday gift in the form of a performance by one of Detroit’s most accomplished musicians — jazz drummer, producer, and Emmy Award-winner Karriem Riggins. The son of keyboardist Emmanuel Riggins, Karriem has spent the last 20 years — and longer if you consider his childhood and academic career, which…
Detroit’s Urban Ramen is closed until further notice
Looks like Urban Ramen is closed for the holidays. “Closed ’til further notice due to equipment failure,” a sign posted on the door reads. “Sorry for the inconvenience!!” Urban Ramen has been a favorite since it opened last year, typically drawing a reliable line of diners waiting outside to squeeze into the tiny spot. Co-owner…
Everyone’s favorite talking sponge is coming to Detroit — ‘The SpongeBob Musical’ visits the Fox Theatre
Who would have thought a children’s cartoon about an asexual sponge who famously lives in a pineapple under the sea would have enchanted kids and adults alike for more than 20 years? Against all odds, Nickelodeon’s subversive, generation-spanning SpongeBob SquarePants floated on, normalized the absurd, and made it cool to have krabs … Krabby Patties,…
Green liquid that oozed onto I-696 is likely the toxic chemical featured in ‘Erin Brockovich’
A bright green liquid that was oozing onto I-696 in Madison Heights is likely a cancer-causing chemical featured in the movie Erin Brockovich, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). The substance was discovered Friday coming from a retaining wall along the freeway, prompting a multi-jurisdictional investigation and cleanup. State…
Detroit marijuana provisioning centers file lawsuit, say they should be allowed to sell recreational pot
Remember those medical marijuana provisioning centers that expected to open on Dec. 1 with recreational adult-use licenses, but then didn’t? The lawsuits have started. Utopia Gardens, The Reef, 420 Factory, Plan B Wellness, 96 West Detroit, THC Detroit, and two grow operations have filed suit against the state office of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, it’s…
It’s now obvious that President Trump’s steel tariff didn’t work
Last year, President Donald Trump used Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum without Congressional approval, citing national security. But with last week’s announcement that Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp. was laying off more than 1,500 employees at its Detroit area steel mills next year, it’s…
Iggy Pop will receive a lifetime achievement award by the Recording Academy, because duh
He’s been nominated for some Creem Magazine honors, a Golden Globe, a couple of Grammys, and even a Razzie for the worst original song written for a film back in 1992, and he was given an icon award by GQ Magazine in 2014. Next year, the Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop, will add a lifetime…
Detroit high school students might get more sleep with proposed change to start times
Some Detroit teens might get to press the snooze button a few more times each morning, according to one Detroit district’s new plan. Detroit Public School Community District unveiled the policy, which has been deliberated for two years, on Monday, according to Chalkbeat Detroit. It would move high school start times in the district from…
Major polluter US Steel is idling plants near Detroit and laying off employees
A major polluter in southwest Detroit, U.S. Steel Corp., is idling a pair of steel plants along the Detroit River in Ecorse and River Rouge and will issue layoff notices to more than 1,500 employees. The company announced Thursday it plans to indefinitely shutter its iron and steel plant on Zug Island and close its…
Rep. Dingell responds to Trump’s ‘hurtful’ suggestion that her husband is in hell
Rep. Debbie Dingell fired back at President Donald Trump’s suggestion on Wednesday that her husband is in hell, saying his hurtful words just “made my healing much harder.” “Mr. President, let’s set politics aside,” Dingell, of Michigan, tweeted Wednesday evening. “My husband earned all his accolades after a lifetime of service. I’m preparing for the…
Rashida Tlaib was right: We impeached the motherfucker
Less than a year after Rep. Rashida Tlaib famously promised that she’d “impeach the motherfucker,” it has now officially happened. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump, marking only the third time in history a president has been impeached. The only thing Tlaib was wrong about is how exactly Trump…
Wayne County has its first recreational marijuana store license
Wayne County has its first recreational marijuana store license, but there won’t be any sales here just yet. Tarek Jawad, owner of Herbology Cannabis Co. in River Rouge, says that he picked up his adult-use retail license from the state office on Tuesday afternoon. “I got my license but that’s all I’ve got at the…
Gov. Whitmer launches plan to combat poverty with a task force
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiled a plan Wednesday to combat poverty in a state where she said 43 percent of households struggle to pay for basic expenses like rent, food, health care, and transportation. The new Michigan Poverty Task Force is tasked with identifying the scope of the problem and coming up with solutions. The task…
Watch this guy masterfully drive backward down Eight Mile
From the city that brought you “we on the Lodge wit it” comes yet another tale of incredible vehicular stunt work, this time, on Eight Mile. Remember when not-Paul Walker learns to drift without hitting shit in 2006’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and when he completes his training all of his new Japanese friends…
Dilla’s Delights is closed for December while owner recovers from cancer
Fans of Dilla’s Delights, the Detroit doughnut shop inspired by the late hip-hop icon J Dilla, are going to have to wait until 2020 to get their fix. The shop is closed for the month. Owner Herman Hayes took to Instagram on Wednesday to reveal that he made the decision to close while he recovers…
Fox News has a #MeToo reckoning in ‘Bombshell’
Of all the institutions rocked by the reverberations of the #MeToo movement, few seemed as resistant to change, or in more desperate need of a shakeup, than Fox News. It was there, in the bowels of basic cable, that Aussie tabloid tycoon Rupert Murdoch built an alternate universe from which to counter the grim truths…
Horoscopes (Dec. 18-24)
ARIES | March 21 – April 20: You have more going for you than you realize. Between what happened way back when and the beliefs that have filled your head with ideas that keep you stuck on the notion that you have to play by the rules, you’re like a Super Man/Woman who never left…
How to botch an impeachment
This week, for the third time in its 230-year history, the U.S. House of Representatives will impeach a president of the United States for abusing his office and obstructing Congress, narrow charges that avoid myriad corrupt acts. It will vote to do so almost entirely along party lines. One side will come armed with hundreds…
‘Stateside’ radio icon Cynthia Canty signs off after 40 years
It was around this time in 1979 — about this week, in fact — that Cynthia Canty was driving down the Southfield Freeway in the middle of the night, questioning her sanity. Canty was seriously considering giving up her promising, high-profile position at the local American Cancer Society chapter to begin doing overnight newscasts at…
The infamous ‘Freeway’ Rick Ross went from cocaine kingpin to marijuana entrepreneur
“Freeway” Rick Ross was in town recently, and he’ll be back soon. That’s because he’s working with the group National Diversity Inclusion & Cannabis Alliance to help Black and brown people get into the cannabis business in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit. In case you don’t know who Ross is, he’s the guy who some…
Michigan brewers and distillers worry they’ll lose tax cuts
As impeachment dominates the headlines, one piece of legislation that was assumed to be a given could get lost in the noise. And unless Congress acts soon, distillers and craft brewers in Michigan and the rest of the country stand to have a rotten 2020. The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2019…
Midtown’s Savant offers a tour de France
Savant’s September opening might’ve marked the first time anyone has mentioned a croque madame in the Cass Corridor or Detroit in quite a while. The city has long suffered from a dearth of French cuisine, and Savant is billed as a modern French diner, though it might be more like what would happen if you…
The Koffin Kats are dreaming of a Black Christmas
Now in its eighth year, Black Christmas is becoming a mainstay among Detroit’s festivals — though not quite at the level of, say, the Detroit Jazz Festival or Dally in the Alley. The fest was founded by Jay Navarro, with help from booker Ramona Caldwell, in 2012, with a lineup that featured Navarro’s punk band…
Happy holi-daze
It’s that time of year, so let’s have some marijuana musings to entertain ourselves for the holidays. Have Yourself a Marijuana Christmas Have yourself a marijuana Christmas Pack your pipe just right Now all your troubles will be out of sight Have yourself a marijuana Christmas Blue Dream makes you gay From now on your…
