15 THINGS TO DO IN DETROIT THIS WEEK (JANUARY 29 - FEBRUARY 4)

By Travis R. Wright on Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 5:02 pm

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Slideshow

15 THINGS TO DO IN DETROIT THIS WEEK (JANUARY 29 - FEBRUARY 4)

L.A. rapper Dom Kennedy has been prolific of late. Since 2008, he’s released five mixtapes, with the 2010 release From the Westside With Love earning a ton of good press. He followed that with his first commercial studio album, From the Westside With Love II in 2011, and he hasn’t really looked back since. Influenced by the likes of the Notorious B.I.G. and Ice Cube, Kennedy is a West Coast rapper with all the attitude and cocky swagger you’d expect from a West Coast rapper, as you can hear on his second album, last year’s Get Home Safely. Skeme is also on this bill. Kennedy will be performing at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit on February 1. Tickets are $18, and doors open at 7 p.m.

There’s no shortage of Zeppelin tribute bands on the circuit right now. Hell, Jason Bonham has one that he’s been talking to all of the big stages. But Lez Zeppelin is something else. This all-female tribute is no gimmick either. The girls are all excellent musicians (guitarist Steph Paynes previously played with Ronnie Spector), while singer Shannon Conley can hit the high notes better than present day Plant. Sure, the name is good for a giggle, but if you want to hear those old Zep tracks performed wonderfully well but with a twist, this is the show for you. Catch the show at the Magic Bag in Ferndale on Friday, January 30. Tickets start at $20. Doors open at 8 p.m.

In the great American lineage of hippie-dippy, prog-ish jam bands, Phish followed the Grateful Dead, and Umphrey’s McGee followed Phish. The archetypal summer festival band, it might feel a little weird to see them indoors in the middle of winter, but this is a band that never really stops touring, often playing two sets in one night. The band has been together since ’97; in that time, they’ve seen plenty of members come and go, but they remain one of the tightest bands around. How much you enjoy freeform prog rock played by guys who look like your dad will dictate how much time you have for them. Umphrey’s McGee will play at The Fillmore in Detroit on Saturday February 1. Tickets run $22.50-$30. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

County Line World Premiere...Described as “whimsical and profound,” this coming-of-age story by Ann Arbor playwright David Wells centers on Lois, a 17-year-old who is sentenced to a foster home after her father is arrested. Together with her foster brother, Darius, the two must learn to survive a system that was designed to protect them but has ultimately failed them. Having just premiered Jan. 16, the play is already earning accolades — County Line won an Edgerton Award last year and was part of San Francsico’s 11th Annual National Showcase of New Plays. Even sweeter, the show on Friday, Jan. 31 features a wine-tasting an hour before the curtain goes up, courtesy of Everyday Wines in Kerrytown, for an additional $5 with ticket purchase. The show runs through Feb. 16. Curtains at 8:00 p.m. Tickets start at $22.

An informed source tells us that the original Babe Ruth party was founded by a guy named Tom Derry, who first threw it at Bar Thoms on Detroit’s west side 26 years ago. In 1995, Derry moved the party to Tom’s Tavern, one of the city’s oldest bars and most unusual drinking establishments. We further understand that Derry took his party to Nemo’s Bar a few years ago, but that the good times just kept rolling at Tom’s, where the party has likewise become a tradition. Although one party is the “original,” we can assure our readers that both parties are very real and good times. Naturally, many people familiar with Corktown will attend the bash at Nemo’s, but Tom’s will also draw a crowd, particularly because of a nasty bit of vandalism and theft last week when a truck backed into the rear of the bar, smashing the wall and destroying pipes, allowing the burglars to break in and steal booze, beer and generally trash the place. That bar’s owner, Ron Gurdjian, assured us the bar would be open and that the party would go on. So there you go, two choices, both guaranteed to knock it out of the park.

For those Grateful Dead fans who want Grateful Dead songs played pretty much exactly how the Grateful Dead used to play them, for those who are still mourning Jerry Garcia and no amount of comically named Ben & Jerry’s ice cream will make them feel better, then perhaps this show at the Majestic Theatre is for you. Since ’97, this Chicago band has been satisfying Dead fans around the globe, and such former Dead members as Bob Weir, Donna Jean Godchaux and Bill Kreutzmann have joined them onstage from time to time. Doors open at 8 p.m. on Monday, February 3 at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit. Tickets start at $22.

The Detroit Repertory Theatre, tucked away on a depopulated stretch of Woodrow Wilson Street on the city’s west side, is one of those hidden gems more people should know about. For more than a half-century, “the Rep” has staged several plays a year, including dramatically powerful plays on important issues. Their new show, My Occasion of Sin, is no exception. Playwright Monica Bauer’s tale is set amid the 1969 Omaha race riot, zooming in on the story of George and Helen Hollewinski, who own a music shop in a changing Omaha neighborhood. The Rep’s productions are usually lushly staged, rigorously on time and always a pleasure. If you haven’t been yet, now’s the time to take your seat. Showtimes are 8:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Tickets are $17 in advance or $20 the day of the show. Parking is guarded, fenced-in and free.

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Travis R. Wright

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