28 SAT • MUSIC Gore Gore Girls— Tough as leather … white leather that is. The Girls of Gore are ready to shove out and shake the Detroit dust off their miniskirted asses. Leaving next week, G3 will cross the pond for its very first European tour. Left in the wake will be the shreds of the traditional "good for a girl" moniker, replaced with the attitude that nothing less than the full package will do. Sanguine and sexy, with dead-nuts musicianship, the Girls rely more on mechanics and style than they do coifs and lipstick to impress an audience. As a result, they command whatever stage they choose to reveal their bad selves on. It’s Martha Reeves meets the MC5 at the Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; call 313-961-4668 for further details.
29 SUN • BENEFIT/MUSIC Schmangy Style! — Local punk-rock dignitary Jimmy Doom recently analogized Steve McKinley (fondly known as "Schmang") to a tube of toothpaste. He reminded us that Good Housekeeping recommends squeezing the tube from the bottom up to get the most out of your purchase. Schmang McKinley was the kind of man who grabbed the toothpaste tube of life, lifted it boorishly, and as its contents came pouring out all over the place … he smirked. It is that attitude exactly that transcended his far too brief time on earth and has lead us to events like Schmangy Style! An offering from Schmang’s "musician-type" friends, this night of punk, rock and jazz will benefit the very brave, very beautiful Alyssa McKinley. Performances will include old-school, new-school and the musically vocational. Come see the Howling Diablos, the Trashbrats, Peter Torque, Dr. Peeper, Gino and Mel (from the Filter Kings) and many more. At Alvin’s, 5756 Cass Ave; call 313-831-4577.
1 TUE • ZINES Found — Mario/I fucking hate you/you said you were at work./Then why is your car HERE at HER place?/You are a fucking LIAR!/I fucking hate you!/P.S. Page me later. Found on a misidentified Toyota, this note is just one of the many fascinating and hysterical entries in Davy Rothbart’s Found. The new avant-garde zine brings together rescued scraps of paper and serves them up as a voyeuristic offering into the most personal and bizarre aspects of private moments with pen and paper. Hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking, Found has turned refuse into craft. An innovative look into the psyches and private moments of the note-writer, the poster-maker and the doodler, this whimsical zine has the insecure appeal of 10th-grade gossip and genuine sympathy for the human essence. The Found tour lands twice in Metro Detroit: first at the Espresso Royale Café in Ann Arbor (324 State St.; call 734-662-2770) and then on Wed., Oct. 2 at Book Beat (26010 Greenfield, Oak Park; call 248-968-1190 for further lowdown).
01 TUE • ART OPENING Czech Art Exhibition —"It only takes two nails to have a gallery," says Czech underground artist Josef Hampl. Both he and his wife, Hana Hamplova began their artistic careers in communist Czechoslovakia, where it was nearly impossible to show avant-garde art and the relegation to showing one’s artwork in one’s apartment was the norm. The works consist of large-scale photographs which examine the interplay of light on common forms and mixed-media artwork that sews small pieces of paper into large, intricate, tapestrylike screens. It’s a visceral commentary on Czech life before and after the velvet revolution of 1989. At Ford Gallery, on the campus of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti; call 734-487-0465 for more information.
