THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17
Japandroids
TEENAGE WASTELAND
Vancouver's Japandroids is a two-piece whose self-proclaimed goal is to sound like a five-piece. The result, which can be heard on their debut disc Post-Nothing, is 35 minutes of fuzzed-out guitars, crashing cymbals and shouting duets. Most of the catchy racket expounds on a single theme — youth simultaneously longing for and fearing the future. Just check out the chorus of "We used to dream/Now we worry about dying" on "Young Hearts Spark Fire," the album's centerpiece and an anthemic jam that sums up Japandroids' desperate hunger for life to start, but never to end. And what 18-year-old can't relate to that? With Mount St. Helen's Vietnam Band at 8 p.m. at the Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9700.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17
Richard Barnes
SNAPSHOTS & CLASSIFICATIONS
Photographer Richard Barnes has spent the last decade examining the role museums play in preserving and cataloguing the past. In his current project, Animal Logic, he turns his lens to the natural world or rather, what natural history collections — what items we choose to collect and how they are displayed — say about our relationship with nature. Barnes speaks about this process in a free lecture entitled "Excavations and Iterations: The Museum Unveiled" at 5 p.m. at the Michigan Theater (603 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor; 734-668-TIME) before the opening reception for a new exhibit of his work, Past Perfect/Future Tense: Authenticity and Replication. The exhibit uses work from the University of Michigan Exhibits Museum and the university's paleontology, anthropology and ornithology collections to take into account how museums deal with the issue of extinction. The opening takes place at 6 p.m. at the U-M Institute for Humanities (202 S. Thayer St., Ann Arbor; 734-963-3518) and displays through Oct. 30. Animal Logic includes two other exhibits — (Un)Natural History: The Museum Unveiled, which includes images Barnes shot at museums such as the Smithsonian and the Museum of Comparative Anatomy in Paris, is on display at the U-M Museum of Art through Dec. 6; and a mid-career retrospective, Animal Logic: Photography and Installation by Richard Barnes, opens Oct. 3, at the Cranbrook Institute of Science.
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
DEUX, SEX, MACHINA
In 1995, Japanese animation director Hideaki Anno gathered up his favorite ideas from the sci-fi novels and cartoons of his youth, tossed them in a blender with heavy doses of millennial angst, Christian mythology, pubescent sexual tension and Existentialism 101 and whipped up a mind-bending concoction called Neon Genesis Evangelion. The TV series, featuring post apocalyptic teenagers piloting giant robots into gore-drenched battles with weird creatures called Angels, was both hugely successful and controversial. (The finale was so outrageous that a few fans issued death threats against Anno.) Now the director is back with Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, the first of four movies intended to reboot the series. If you can get past the usual anime quirks — particularly the histrionic English voice dubbing — you can count on having your brain rebooted too. Opens Friday at Emagine Novi 18, 44425 W.12 Mile Rd., Novi. Call 888-319-FILM or go to emagine-entertainment.com.
FRIDAY-SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18-19
Mike Stern Band
MILES TO STARDOM
Detroit got its first taste of Mike Stern circa 1981, when Miles Davis hit the road after a six-year hiatus and brought his Man with the Horn band to Music Hall. Previously unknown to the national audience, Stern has never been far from the jazz spotlight in the years since. The hard-rocking jazz guitarist is back at Music Hall to kick off a new season in the Jazz Café, which includes Mike LeDonne, Mary Stallings, the Cookers and Anthony Wonsey. Mainstage Music Hall attractions for the season include Pat Metheney (May 14). Stern plays nightly at 8:30 and 11; Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave., Detroit; 313-887-8501. Tickets $27.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18-20
DIY Street Fair
ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM
A celebration of getting down and dirty and doing it local, the second DIY Street Fair champions homegrown talent and businesses worth supporting. On tap for the fest are Michigan breweries, fave Ferndale eateries, a marketplace of more than 80 indie vendors, a record shop, and a full lineup of nitty-gritty bands including the Hard Lessons, the Grande Nationals and Memphis-based roots rockers Lucero on Friday; Child Bite, Great Lakes Myth Society and Zoos of Berlin on Saturday; and the Hentchmen, Friendly Foes and Pinkeye on Sunday. (Even more bands will hit the stage at the nightly after parties, which take place at the Loving Touch pool hall.) The music and beer garden open Friday at 6 p.m., the whole shebang is open from 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, in downtown Ferndale on East Troy Street, one block south of East Nine Mile Road. For a complete lineup, visit diystreetfair.com.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19
Strange Beautiful Music III
NEW MUSIC — SOME FROM THIS CENTURY
Avant-garde classical music has — at long last — found consistent hometown champions in the collective New Music Detroit, now celebrating its third Strange Beautiful Music marathon program with 11 hours of music — 2 p.m. to 1 a.m. — from composers as old-school as Béla Bartók, John Cage and Astor Piazzolla to folks as new as Marc Mellitis and Virgil Moorefield (who are presenting world premieres). Minimalist classics on the program include compositions by Steve Reich and Philip Glass, and Terry Riley's essential "In C" (performed at 11 p.m., Riley being one of the inspirations for the Who's "Baba O'Riley"). Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, 4454 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-832-6622; day pass $12; $8 after 8 p.m.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19
St. Albertus Fest
POLE PARTY
A yearly fundraiser for the historic St. Albertus, the first Polish Roman Catholic church in the city, the fest features Polish grub, a beer tent, tours of the church, a performance by the Oakland University Classical Guitar Ensemble (1 p.m. inside the church) and two outdoor stages running the gamut from bluegrass and folk to jazz and rock. Performers include Catfish Mafia, Planet D Nonet, the Replicas, 9 Volt Hammer, Pigeon and I, Crime. Doors open at noon at St. Albertus Church, 4231 St. Aubin St., Detroit; info at stalbertus.org; $5.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19
Tour de Troit
TAKE SOME TURNS
Cyclists are often an afterthought in the Motor City, but not on the annual Tour de Troit. With police escorts, bike mechanics and other support crew in tow, this annual helmet-required ride will proceed through Detroit neighborhoods to raise awareness of biking as a mode of transportation, publicize the growing greenway network, and raise funds for the Corktown Mexicantown Greenlink, a proposed series of bike lanes to connect those southwest neighborhoods to each other and the Detroit River. Don't let the 30 miles scare you away: the moderate speed and rest stops will get you through. More experienced riders can try the metric century 62-mile trek, offered for the first time this year. Sponsors are a diverse group of supporters and include the Hub, Wheelhouse Detroit, Slows Bar BQ, the Miller Canfield law firm, Foran's and Honest John's. Registration is $35. Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m., at Roosevelt Park, intersection of Michigan Avenue and 14th Street. The ride is followed by food, music and a raffle from 2 to 6 p.m.
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Sing for China
ASIAN RAWK INVASION
The Sing for China tour is a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone sorta thing — 1) raise funds for the China AIDS Orphan Fund, which benefits and advocates for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in China; and 2) introduce America to the best of Beijing's very happening rock scene. Three bands are making the trek to the Far West: Queen Sea Big Shark, electro-pop at its catchiest; Hedgehog, popular post-punkers known for ripping live shows powered by petite drummer-vocalist Atom; and Casino Demon, rockers with a devil-may-care 'tude and the bitchin' guitar chops to back it up. This rare opportunity to see some of China's finest — not to mention help a worthy cause — gets cracking at 9 p.m. at PJ's Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-961-4668; $5 with all proceeds benefiting the China AIDS Orphan Fund.
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22
Blk Jks
MULTICULTI ON THE ROCK
South African rockers Blk Jks (pronounced Black Jacks) deliver a swirling and soaring concoction of proggy rock, psyche, soul, reggae and dub. The quartet adeptly navigates this wide-ranging musical territory, smoothly shifting from ferocious guitar eruptions to horn-laden anthems to slow dub-inspired jams with vocalist Lindani Buthelezi contributing lilting vocals and reflective lyrics that alternate between English and Zulu. Formed in 2000, Blk Jks just started to create a stateside stir this year (with the help of arbiters of cool Diplo and Brandon Calhoun of the Secret Machines), releasing the Mystery EP in March and their full length debut, After Robots, earlier this month. With Sean Bones at 8 p.m. at the Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac; 248-858-9333; $10.
ONGOING
More than a Game: How Sports Shape Culture
THE SPORTING LIFE
More than a Game dissects the wide world of sports, exploring the games, players, teams and stadiums that drive sports fans to distraction. The program includes an exhibit detailing the history and key players of Detroit's pro, college and high school teams; an exhibit on female athletes; interactive activities for adults and kids that promote physical health (Giant fitness dice! Score!); and a number of lectures by notable sports figures, scholars and commentators. This week's presentations include a talk by idolized MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo (Thursday, Sept. 17), a lecture on seeing opportunity in adversity (Friday, Sept. 18), an overview of the All American Girls' Professional Baseball League by former player Mary Moore (Saturday, Sept. 19), and a look at the building of Michigan Stadium (Sunday, Sept. 20). Events and exhibits take place through Nov. 22 at the Lorenzo Cultural Center, 44575 Garfield Rd., Clinton Twp.; 586-445-7348; for a complete schedule visit lorenzoculturalcenter.com.
