Cover Story
An oral history of the Laughing Hyenas, one of the great unsung Detroit rock bands
Vocalist John Brannon is at Detroit’s Third Man Records reminiscing about his former band the Laughing Hyenas, and the irony of it all is hard to miss. In 1984 he lived around the corner from where we are, only to later flee for Ann Arbor with his fledgling band. They were tired of their gear…
Food Literacy For All course will bring national leaders to Michigan for lecture series
A free lecture course featuring notable food leaders seeks to bring knowledge to improve and build a more equitable, fair, and ecologically sustainable food system in Michigan. The University Of Michigan’s Food Literacy For All course is designed to get students discussing and addressing the “diverse challenges and opportunities of both domestic and global food…
Clear Soul Forces headlines Grinch X-Mas Jam at the Blind Pig
It took a while for Detroit’s underground rap collective Clear Soul Forces to flesh out their debut record, Detroit Revolution(s). Breaking their silence, MCs E-Fave, Ilajide, Noveliss, and LAZ. are on the verge of releasing their 2012 follow up. The group, which formed after an impromptu studio visit with Royce da 5’9’’, just released its…
Get down with Downtown Brown at 3rd Annual Brown Christmas
A polite rip-off of the Suicide Machine’s annual Black Christmas blowout, Detroit native Downtown Brown (think Andrew W.K. meets Tenacious D) created its annual Christmas Eve-Eve version, appropriately titled Brown Christmas. Formed in 2001, Downtown Brown has coined songs such as “Mullett Millennium” and “ZZ Cock,” and has toured with the Dead Kennedys, Insane Clown…
Mike Servito leads ‘Detroit, House of Techno’ blowout at Marble Bar
Mike Servito may call Brooklyn home these days, but that doesn’t mean that the international DJ’s roots don’t run deep in Detroit. As a homegrown DJ in the ’90s Midwest rave scene, Servito has authentically fashioned himself as a selector’s selector. Strongly associated with the Bunker NY and Detroit’s Interdimensional Transmissions, Servito is known for…
The Dan Band will put your ass on the naughty list at Saint Andrew’s
Did you ever consider that maybe, just maybe, Santa Clause is a Santa fraud? Dan Finnerty, king of comedic balladry and lead singer of the Dan Band, seems to think so, as evidenced by the group’s unexpected holiday feminist anthem in which Finnerty suggests that Mrs. Clause is the real reason for the season and…
Count your blessings — Redford Theatre will host back-to-back screenings of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
Some things get better with age, others get more heartwarming. In the case of the 1946 classic film It’s a Wonderful Life, both are true. What was a box office flop when it was released has since become a longstanding holiday staple. The story of George Bailey, played by the incomparable James Stewart, is a…
Michigan GOP approves $190M tax cut for the wealthy
The GOP-led Michigan legislature on Tuesday approved a tax break for its wealthiest residents that the state’s treasury department estimates will be worth about $190 million. The new law, however, doesn’t impact state revenue. Instead, it’s a workaround to new federal limits on deductions that were built into Donald Trump’s 2017 changes to the tax…
Into The Light event celebrates the winter solstice with yoga, meditation, and marketplace
Feeling Blue? Gray? Well, they don’t call Seasonal Affective Disorder “SAD” for nothing. Fortunately, there’s good news on the way in the form of the winter solstice on Dec. 21, which means sunlight is on the way. To usher in the occasion, the second annual Into the Light yoga and meditation event returns, with yoga…
The Raconteurs release first new music more than 10 years, ‘Sunday Driver’ and ‘Now That You’re Gone’
The Raconteurs, Jack White’s other other band, is back. White’s label Third Man Records released a single featuring new songs “Sunday Driver” and “Now That You’re Gone” on Wednesday. It’s the first time the band has put out new music in more than a decade, since it released its sophomore record Consolers of the Lonely…
‘Home Alone’ is in good company with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday
Nothing screams the holiday spirit quite like child neglect. (Note: This is a joke. Please do not neglect your children during the holidays.) While there are dozens of unanswered questions 28 years after the release of the holiday hijinx film Home Alone (like, how did a family of 13 catch a flight out of Chicago…
Detroit’s ‘The Drop’ New Year’s Eve 2019 event canceled
Detroit’s popular Times Square-style New Year’s Eve event known as “The Drop” has been canceled for its 2019 edition, an event spokeswoman confirms to Metro Times. The spokeswoman says organizers decided to pull the plug due to logistics. In a statement, Mooney writes: We launched The DROP in 2010 to draw attention to the city’s indestructible…
Lame duck GOP revives Duggan’s auto insurance plan — it still screws Detroit
An auto insurance reform plan similar to that developed by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and his Republican allies in the state House is back on the table. Duggan and House Speaker Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt, in 2017 wrote and pushed a reform bill that last November was voted down in the state House by a 45-63…
After being vacant for 40 years, Detroit’s Metropolitan Building is getting new life
Detroit’s Metropolitan Building will officially open its doors after being dormant for nearly 40 years. Built in 1925, the Neo-Gothic landmark has been vacant since 1979. On Monday, however, the Metropolitan open its great hall for a preview of Element Hotel, a Marriott-affiliated extended stay hotel. Neighboring the Siren Hotel, and just a mere block…
Rashida Tlaib will wear a traditional Palestinian gown as she’s sworn into Congress
Rashida Tlaib will wear a traditional Palestinian thobe next month when she’s sworn into the U.S. Congress. The Michigan Democrat will be the first Palestinian representative in Congress, as well as one of the first Muslim women, along with Rep.-elect Ihan Omar from Minnesota. “Sneak peek: This is what I am wearing when I am…
Brunch is back — Metro Times’ United We Brunch event expands in 2019
In a nation divided, only one meal dares to bring us together — and that is a little ol’ thing called brunch. Next year, Metro Times’ annual brunch-tasting extravaganza, United We Brunch, has expanded to take over the entire Majestic Complex in Midtown for an afternoon of bites from metro Detroit’s best brunch eateries, with…
No, we will not miss Gov. Rick Snyder
The reporters at Crain’s Detroit Business do good work. Unfortunately, it is undermined pretty much every time Crain’s head honcho Keith Crain gets near a keyboard — whether he is continuing his jihad against bike lanes or, in his latest column, toothlessly defending the legacy of outgoing Gov. Rick Snyder. In that column, the presumptuously…
Snyder signs bills that gut $12 per hour minimum wage, paid sick time laws
Gov. Rick Snyder on Friday afternoon signed into law bills that gut the $12 per hour minimum wage and paid sick time laws. The minimum wage law would have increased the state’s meager $9.25 per hour minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2022, and included a $12 per hour minimum for tipped employees. The…
We can’t have nice things — Christina Aguilera cancels Detroit date
Well, you can put that genie back in the dang bottle— Christina Aguilera has officially canceled her postponed Detroit performance. Xtina was set to bring her “Liberation Tour” to the Fox Theatre on Oct. 13. However, the singer announced via Twitter that she was forced to postpone the concert due to illness, mere hours before…
Michigan Dems behind law that would make pet stalking a federal crime
Domestic abuse survivors and their pets have an advocate in U.S. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan who re-introduced legislation Friday that would make harming or threatening a pet a federal crime. The Free Press reports that Sen. Peters and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) are behind The Pet Women Safety Act (P.A.W.S.) — a new provision…
Court orders DeVos to cancel $150 million in federal student loan debt
A federal judge has sided with students cheated by for-profit colleges, forcing Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to forgive $150 million in federal student loan debt. The move affects about 15,000 students whose schools closed or otherwise misled students. About half of the borrowers attended campuses owned by Corinthian Colleges, a chain of for-profit colleges…
Health department: The Palace Of Auburn Hills’ kitchens were super gross
The Palace Of Auburn Hills ran some exceptionally gross kitchens, according to an ESPN analysis of health department records from 2016 and 2017. The sports media giant’s Outside The Lines page looked at 16,000 local health department records produced by health inspectors after visits to the nation’s 111 major sports venues. It found that The…
Death of Fox 2 anchor Jessica Starr highlights possible connection between Lasik surgery and suicide
News of the suicide of Fox 2 Detroit meteorologist Jessica Starr has added to an ongoing conversation about the risks of Lasik eye surgery. In June, The New York Times reported on documented cases of painful side effects and vision anomalies resulting from laser vision correction surgery. In some rare cases, the chronic pain and…
Southern Italian restaurant San Morello opens on Tuesday in downtown Detroit
James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur Andrew Carmellini will open his new southern Italian restaurant called San Morello on Tuesday in the Shinola Hotel. Carmellini’s New York-based NoHo Hospitality Group — of which Luke Ostrom and Huntington Woods native Josh Pickard are partners — is also planning a beer hall and craft cocktail bar in the…
Iggy’s Eggies cracks open its first egg in Capitol Park
Iggy’s Eggies is officially open for business in Detroit’s Capitol Park. The breakfast walk-up window made its debut on Thursday morning with a selection of build-your-own breakfast sandwiches. The sandwiches are made with a selection of English muffin, brioche, or housemade biscuit, and can be upgraded to include American, cheddar, or Swiss cheese. Customers also…
Ferndale’s The Conserva calls it quits
The Conserva, an upscale Ferndale restaurant praised for its inventive dishes, announced on Facebook Wednesday that it will close its doors on Dec. 22, nearly two years after opening. In the post, partners Matt Baldridge and Jarrod Kassis say that “due to extenuating circumstances in our families, it won’t be reasonable for us to continue running Conserva…
Movement Music Festival reveals artists for 2019 lineup teaser
For fans of Movement Music Festival, few days of the year are as highly anticipated as the day the lineup drops. But today, Christmas came early as Paxahau announced a sweet little teaser of artists who will appear at the 2019 event, set once again for May 25-27 at Detroit’s Hart Plaza. Among the artists…
Dr. Blasey Ford awards Nassar victim with ‘Sports Illustrated’ Inspiration of the Year
In her first statement since her harrowing testimony against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford helped to recognize the first woman to accuse Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor, Larry Nassar, of sexual abuse. In a video posted by Sports Illustrated Tuesday night, Ford presented the…
Detroit pastor charged with killing transgender woman
A Detroit pastor was charged this week in the murder of Kelly Stough, a 36-year-old transgender woman who was found shot dead in Detroit on Friday. Albert Weathers, 46, was charged on Monday with open murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. Stough was found near McNichols Road and Brush Street…
Michigan GOP moves to protect its dark money campaign donors
Michigan Republicans are pushing a bill that would bar the state from requiring nonprofits to disclose their dark money contributors. While Michigan law currently doesn’t require nonprofits to disclose such donors, Democrats — including incoming secretary of state Jocelyn Benson, who as of now would oversee campaign finance — have vowed to place new limits…
Fox 2 Detroit mourns suicide of meteorologist Jessica Starr
The anchors of Fox 2 Detroit (WJBK-TV) are often tasked with delivering tough and tragic news. Thursday morning, however, was particularly difficult as they announced the death of their friend and colleague, meteorologist Jessica Starr, from suicide. She was 35 years old. “All of us here at FOX 2 are in deep shock and cannot…
Michigan Republicans sponsor bill to create commission for suicide prevention
The Michigan GOP has ruffled plenty of feathers this lame-duck session, with their attempts to gut minimum wage laws, eliminate half of Michigan’s protected wetlands, strip power from Democrats, and build a new oil pipeline to replace the aging Line 5. But they’ve also introduced one bill that should appeal to Democrats across the aisle.…
Greta Van Fleet is a case study on two of 2018’s biggest music trends
It’s been a hell of a year for Greta Van Fleet, the little rock band that could. After gracing the cover of Metro Times earlier this year, the band performed three sold-out shows at Detroit’s Fillmore in May — all before the release of its debut LP Anthem of the Peaceful Army in October. The…
Danny Brown, Protomartyr headline weekend long House of Vans Detroit Pop-Up next month
Detroit will be getting a post-holiday visitor next month with “Off the Wall” skate brand, Vans. Details of the House of Vans Pop-Up Detroit were announced Wednesday and so far it is on pace to be the biggest iteration of the event including those in Montreal, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Paris. The free…
Rick Snyder signs law allowing controversial new oil pipeline under Mackinac Straits
Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill into law on Wednesday that will allow the state in partnership with Canadian oil giant Enbridge to build a controversial new oil pipeline planned for the Mackinac Straits. The bill creates a Mackinac Utility Corridor Authority to work with Enbridge to build the $500 million tunnel 100 feet beneath…
Michelle Obama stopped by the Motown Museum before LCA appearance
Since leaving the White House, former First Lady Michelle Obama has kept busy — most recently on a public speaking tour in support of her memoir, Becoming. Before heading to Little Caesars Arena for “Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama,” the former First Lady made a preliminary stop to surprise college kids at Detroit’s Motown…
Michigan’s lame-duck session is in, and Republicans are acting like cornered animals
Is there a reckoning coming for Republican politicians? Apparently they believe it is, because they are behaving like cornered animals — lame ducks attacking anything they can reach. Republicans have been engaging in an “if we can’t be in charge, then this house will not stand” strategy across the nation, replete with attempts to undermine…
Sean Forbes and Jake Bass take on the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with Deaf and Loud
Sean Forbes is an impatient person. “I’m the type of person who’s like, ‘Let’s make this happen now,'” says the metro Detroit-based recording artist and co-founder of D-PAN, the Deaf Professional Arts Network. When it comes to Forbes’ most ambitious undertaking to date, he and longtime friend, collaborator, and composer Jake Bass have plenty of…
Updates on Michigan’s marijuana provisioning centers, driving while high, and other nuggets of news
Little has changed since adult use marijuana became legal in Michigan. It seems that the folks who wanted some in the first place have what they always had, and the folks who didn’t want any don’t. The folks in Lansing are still wrangling about it. We still don’t have stores where we can buy it,…
The GOP’s tyranny of the minority
For the first 22 decades or so of this republic, the rules were simple: If your side lost an election, you conceded defeat, stepped aside and let the other team take over. This peaceful transition of power has been a hallmark of the American system — indeed, of every democracy — a sign that, like…
Detroit’s Marrow is much more than just tongues and tartare
Marrow is Detroit’s new butcher-centered eatery located in the West Village, and to get a good idea of what it’s about, you’ll want to try the corned tongue — salt-cured pig or lamb tongues that are lightly charred and crisp on the outside, and soft and almost creamy on the inside. They’re arranged with a…
Horoscopes (Dec. 12-18)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 In many ways, recent changes — as intense as they may be — have gotten you off the hook with “stuff” that has been more trouble than it’s worth. You are secretly delighted that the need to handle whatever’s currently on top of the stack gives you a free…
