Cover Story
Pick your own perfect winter day in Detroit
It’s wintertime in Detroit, which means one thing: Seasonal Affective Disorder. That’s right. S.A.D. It’s dark when you wake up and even darker by the time you leave work. Dry skin, salt stains, and a very high probability that you will get the flu and will want to die. Winter blows. But lucky for you,…
Ready, set, draw! The 8th Annual Monster Drawing Rally returns to MOCAD
For many artists, the creative process is a private one. For those who may not be particularly gifted in the visual arts, we might think of an artist as pacing their studio, where they’ve holed themselves up for weeks, and we might think of ink-stained hands gripping the never-empty coffee cup, Plantasia on repeat, drawing…
Found Footage Festival Vol. 9 celebrates the good, the bad, and the really weird in Ann Arbor and Detroit
Facercise, acne rap, how to cybersex on the internet, and here come the hunks are just a few samplings of Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher’s national thrift store and garage sale foraging. The childhood friends began collecting found videotapes in 1991 after stumbling across a training video titled “Inside and Outside Custodial Duties” at a…
New York-based sonic architect Lea Bertucci to perform at Detroit’s Trinopsophes
There are musicians, and then there are sound designers. New York City composer and performer Lea Bertucci falls into the latter category, thanks to her commitment to exploring the relationship between what she describes as “biological resonance and acoustic phenomena.” OK, if that sounds a wee bit abstract, that’s because it is. The classically trained…
Snoop Dogg brings the heat to the Fillmore Detroit
According to stoner lore, when weed becomes legal statewide, that state gets majorly hotboxed by rapper, wizard, and the original GOAT, Snoop Dogg, or, depending on who you ask, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Uncle Snoop, the Doggfather, Snoopy, Snoopzilla, DJ Snoopadelic, Snoop Lion, or even Coach Snoop. In recent weeks, the 48-year-old unlikely bestie to Martha…
‘1619 Project’ creator Nikole Hannah-Jones to give free talk at U-M
Last year marked the 400th anniversary of when African chattel slaves first arrived in Virginia. The 1619 Project posits that this moment — and not July 4, 1776 — marks the true beginning of United States history. Originally published in August as a special issue of The New York Times, the comprehensive package of stories…
Audra Kubat opens her Detroit House of Music for intimate dinner show
In November, we reported that longtime Detroit-based folk artist Audra Kubat was at work on a new project: the Detroit House of Music, an abandoned 19th century Cass Corridor Victorian house that Kubat has been refurbishing into a community hub. You can check out the project during an intimate dinner and show: Kubat will perform,…
Chaka Khan, the Queen of Funk, heads to Detroit’s Sound Board
Another year, another Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snub for the Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan. This year, the Cleveland-based pyramid of nightmares (no, seriously, have you ever been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?) nominated Whitney Houston, the Notorious B.I.G., T. Rex, the Doobie Brothers, Depeche Mode, and Nine Inch Nails.…
Melvin Davis, ‘Detroit’s Ambassador of Soul,’ plays an early show at PJ’s Lager House
More Melvin! For those of you who didn’t get enough of a soul fix this week, Davis has another performance, this time an early show at PJ’s Lager House — where the 77-year-old living legend will play a mix of hits spanning his careers at Fortune and Motown Records. A songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Davis has…
The Go Rounds, Chris Bathgate, and Breathe Owl Breathe provide your Michigan indie rock fix at Detroit’s Magic Stick
Here’s a big night for Michigan-based folk-inflected indie rock. Headlining is the Go Rounds, a hard-working, Kalamazoo-based quartet that mixes elements of pop, folk, Americana, and psychedelia; the group released its ambitious, orchestral Whatever You May Be last year. Also performing is Chris Bathgate, a longtime fixture of Ann Arbor’s folk scene who last dropped…
Joe Hertler (of the Rainbow Seekers) goes solo at 20 Front Street
It’s been a decade since Joe Hertler & the Rainbow Seekers first formed, but the band has shown no signs of slowing down. Hell, it’s been a busy past few weeks for the group. In December, the group opened for Denver by way of Detroit party machine GRiZ for his annual GRiZmas blowout, and then…
Translator of ‘No Friend but the Mountains’ to visit Detroit’s Pages Bookshop
In 2013, Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani fled Iran to seek asylum on Australia’s Christmas Island, where he was illegally detained at a detention center on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. During his four-year detainment (he would be forced to remain on the island until 2019, ever after the center closed in 2016), Boochani documented…
Identical twin brothers take a blue-collar approach to making blue-collar sculptures
Twin brothers Kelly and Kyle Phelps, the youngest of eight children in a family of factory workers, have been portraying issues like working-class struggles and race relations through ceramic sculptures for more than two decades. Not only do the two brothers work together in a shared studio, they reportedly dress alike and even have the…
You can catch Detroit R&B legends Melvin Davis and Dennis Coffey in the same room this week
This is a lot of Detroit history packed into one evening. A partnership with the Detroit Sound Conservancy, Music in the Archives: A Celebration of Detroit’s Aural History features performances by “Detroit’s Soul Ambassador” Melvin Davis and Motown Funk Brother Dennis Coffey, which would be, like, enough Detroit history on its own. Even better, the…
Abdul El-Sayed and thousands of physicians sign open-letter NYT ad endorsing Medicare for All
Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and former health director for the city of Detroit, tweeted Tuesday that he is proud to have signed a letter that was endorsed by more than 2,000 physicians who support Medicare for All. “Too many in Detroit where I served as health director go without the care they need,” El-Sayed said…
Alice Cooper extends tour and, shocker, he’s coming back to metro Detroit
Hometown shock rocker Alice Cooper is bringing his Ol’ Black Eyes tour to metro Detroit for another batch of monster jams. It was announced Tuesday that the 71-year-old “Mr. Nice Guy” has extended his 2019 tour. The new dates include a performance at DTE Energy Music Theatre on Saturday, June 27, with fellow ’80s rockers…
Massive Marvel superhero exhibit to land at the Henry Ford Museum with more than 300 artifacts
Big, bad, purple Malthusian Avengers-hating Thanos is no match for the latest Henry Ford exhibit, which celebrates Marvel superheroes and the people that made them. (Suck it, Thanos!) Beginning March 28, Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes will make its Midwest debut at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn. The exhibit is the first…
UMS’ ‘No Safety Net 2.0’ performance series takes on white feminism and other dangerous ideas
Organizers described last year’s inaugural No Safety Net by sharing the philosophy that “universities should be dangerous places for ideas, and safe spaces for people.” That year, the University of Michigan’s University Music Society curated a performance-art series that delved into ideas like terrorism, transgender identity, addiction, BDSM, and racism, among others. This year, the three-week…
Sorry, stoners: Detroit extends moratorium on recreational marijuana dispensaries
The city of Detroit’s moratorium on recreational marijuana dispensaries was extended Tuesday as the city council continues to drag its feet on creating new rules governing legal pot. Legal recreational marijuana sales have now been postponed until at least the end of March. The council, which had more than a year to enact new rules,…
Calling all rich girls and maneaters — Daryl Hall & John Oates will grace metro Detroit with their presence this summer
What has five No. 1 singles, a 24/7 hotline that provides emergency services to those in need of a song fix, and one — sometimes two — very powerful and persuasive mustaches? If you answered the No. 1 best selling duo in music history, Daryl Hall & John Oates, you would be correct. Though the two…
Second recreational marijuana dispensary in Wayne County to open soon
The second recreational marijuana dispensary in Wayne County is set to open on Feb. 1. Herbology in River Rouge, a sleek dispensary that has served medical cannabis patients since April, will begin selling a wide variety of recreational marijuana products, including numerous strains of flower, vape pens, edibles, concentrates, shatter, pre-rolled joints, and topicals. The…
’63 Up’ filmmaker has been working on documentary series for 56 years
One doesn’t have to see the previous eight installments to have an understanding of Michael Apted’s new documentary 63 Up, not any more than they need to meet someone at age 7 to befriend them at a later time. This newest installment of the Up series, for those unfamiliar, revisits a cast of 14 Brits,…
Sen. McMorrow says Sen. Lucido sexually harassed her, too
Another woman has come forward alleging inappropriate behavior from Republican state Sen. Peter Lucido. Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) told Crain’s Detroit Business that Lucido (R-Shelby Township) harassed her during a daylong orientation session for new senators that included sexual harassment prevention training: During a break, McMorrow said she approached Lucido to introduce herself to…
Olivia Jean shares sing-along video of a groovy Bollywood hit song before her Loving Touch show
On Night Owl, Nashville-via-Detroit rocker Olivia Jean and her band covers “Jaan Pehechaan Ho,” a groovy track originally sung by Mohammed Rafi in the 1965 Bollywood thriller Gumnaam and introduced to a new audience via the opening credits for 2001’s cult hit Ghost World. Here Jean sings it in its original Hindi, which would be…
Duggan may revive ambitious plan to eliminate remaining blight in Detroit
Mayor Mike Duggan is not giving up on his ambitious plan to demolish or renovate the thousands of vacant houses that are left in the city. In November, the city council rejected the mayor’s $250 million bond proposal, which sought to eliminate the remaining blight in Detroit’s neighborhoods by demolishing roughly 19,000 vacant houses and…
Corktown’s Folk to hold Australian bush fire relief dinner
Corktown cafe Folk will hold a dinner later this month to raise money for relief from the deadly Australian bush fires. The fires have killed at least 27 people so far, as well as destroyed thousands of homes. Almost 18 million acres of land has been burned, and millions of animals are potentially dead as…
Wayne County’s first recreational marijuana dispensary opens to high demand
A recreational marijuana dispensary has finally opened in Wayne County, the most populated county in Michigan. More than six weeks after recreational marijuana sales became legal in Michigan, 1st Quality Medz in River Rouge opened its doors to customers 21 years and older last week. The dispensary is selling cannabis flowers, edibles, tinctures, and vape…
Michigan’s recreational marijuana sales are off to a sluggish start
Seven weeks after legal recreational marijuana finally became available for sale in Michigan, Mark Dwyer still relies on the black market for pot. He’d rather buy marijuana at a legal dispensary, but there are none that sell recreational pot within 15 minutes of his home in Detroit, the state’s largest city. “It’s bullshit,” Dwyer tells…
Ferndale’s GreenSpace Cafe to close in February
Ferndale’s Greenspace Cafe will close permanently next month. The restaurant announced the closure in a Facebook post on Sunday evening. “Issues with our landlord, leases, and finances have left no options,” the announcement reads. The restaurant went through a shakeup a couple years ago, bringing in former Clean Plate owner Amber Poupore to retool its…
20 ways to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the Detroit area
MLK Freedom Walk @ Comerica Park A one-mile walk around Comerica Park will start in front of the Tiger Statue. Walk will take place 1:30-3 p.m.; 2100 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-962-4000; eventbrite.com; Free. Let Freedom Ring @ the Fox Theatre Hosted by Rev. Jesse Jackson, four individuals will be awarded for furthering the legacy of…
WOOD-TV reporter coincidentally gets ‘DCK 247’ license plate
We are sobbing. What are the odds? WOOD-TV reporter Lynsey Mukomel took to Twitter on Friday to marvel at the new license plate she got from the Secretary of State. It was no vanity plate: by sheer coincidence, the Grand Rapids-based anchor wound up with a license plate that read “DCK 247.” Well, friends. This…
Gov. Whitmer writes letter to Facebook CEO in response to Metro Times story about violent group
On Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shared a letter she sent to Mark Zuckerberg following a Metro Times report about a Facebook group where members regularly called for violence against her, other female Democrats, and Muslims, among others. Whitmer sent the letter to the CEO on Wednesday. In the letter, Whitmer evokes industrial titans like former…
Joe Biden is out of step with most of the country on marijuana
Former Vice President Joe Biden won’t be able to sweep the marijuana leaves under the table this campaign season. Nearly the entire pack of Democratic presidential candidates have endorsed legalization. Polls show that two out of three Americans, a supermajority, supports legalization. Marijuana is legal in some form in the majority of states. But Biden…
Articles of impeachment autographed by Trump in Michigan expected to fetch $50K-$100K at auction
One lucky oligarch will soon be able to be the proud owner of a one-of-a-kind copy of President Donald Trump’s autograph — one that happens to be scrawled on his own articles of impeachment. The signature originated at Trump’s Dec. 18 rally in Battle Creek, where a man named Jonathan Moore reportedly printed out a…
Macomb County to get its own Detroit Axe by the end of January
East siders can start throwing hatchets at Detroit Axe: East by the end of the month. The Mall at Partridge Creek will soon be welcoming its own competitive axe-throwing bar that will feature 12 lanes, including two “showcase lanes” that will help patrons easily see the competition. “We’re excited to bring axe throwing to Macomb County,” Brian…
After broken promises, Ilitches want several more years to develop vacant land
The largely vacant area surrounding the tax-financed Little Caesars Arena in Detroit is the product of broken promises by the Ilitch family’s business empire. By now, the area between downtown Detroit and Midtown should be teeming with retails shops, apartments, and a major hotel. The Ilitches’ Olympia Development of Michigan is asking the city of…
Eminem targets gun laws on controversial surprise album drop ‘Music to Be Murdered By’
Guess who’s back? Eminem returned with another surprise album drop on Friday with Music to Be Murdered By, which finds the rapper once again wading into controversial politics. At the center of the record is the Simon & Garfunkel-sampling “Darkness” — a six-minute track that puts Em into the shoes of Stephen Paddock, the perpetrator…
894 people have been shot and killed in Detroit since 2014
Nearly 900 people have been shot and killed in Detroit in the last six years, according to a report by The Trace. A nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in the U.S., The Trace recently updated its interactive map of gun violence in the country. The map shows all shootings, both fatal and nonfatal, that occurred…
Rep. Tlaib calls for EPA probe of Detroit building linked to ‘green ooze’ property owner
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to help investigate and clean up a suspected contaminated property in Detroit that is owned by the man responsible for the green ooze that spilled onto I-696 in Madison Heights. Earlier this month, city officials discovered a green and red liquid in open pits…
Recreational marijuana sales surpass $10M in Michigan, generating new taxes
Recreational marijuana sales surpassed $10 million after six weeks of being legal in Michigan. The sales generated $1.7 million in new taxes for cash-strapped local governments and the state. The Marijuana Regulatory Agency has now approved 36 dispensaries that are permitted to sell cannabis to anyone over the age of 21. Six of them deliver. More dispensaries…
Mister Dips, a burger and ice cream joint, to open Detroit location in Spring 2020
A new brick-and-mortar location of Mister Dips is coming to downtown Detroit in Spring 2020. The burger and ice cream joint will be located at 19 E. Grand River Ave. in Parker’s Alley, and will be adjoining the Shinola Hotel. Mister Dips already has a popular location in Brooklyn, New York, which chef and restaurateur…
Nessel sues 17 companies including 3M, DuPont, for PFAS exposure
Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court against 17 companies, alleging they “deliberately concealed” damages caused by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a chemical group known as PFAS, which are often called “forever chemicals.” The lawsuit targets companies that produce items containing PFAS, commonly used for its resilient chemical structure…
Sen. Lucido is now under investigation for telling reporter sexist joke
Republican state Sen. Peter Lucido’s sexist joke to a young reporter sparked an investigation into possible sexual harassment that could lead to disciplinary action including losing chairmanships or being asked to undergo sensitivity training. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) and Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich (D-Flint) submitted a letter on Wednesday requesting that the…
Detroit and Michigan lead the nation with the highest auto insurance rates
Michigan continues to lead the nation with the highest auto insurance rates in the nation, and Detroit is by far the most expensive city for car insurance, according to a new study by insurance comparison site, The Zebra. The average annual rate for car insurance in Michigan in 2019 was $3,096, a 7.3% increase over…
Cybotron, the original Detroit techno act, is returning with a new album and tour
Cybotron — the groundbreaking electronic music group formed by Juan Atkins and Richard Davis in 1980 — is reportedly at work on a new studio album and audiovisual world tour set for 2020. According to DJ Mag, Atkins is in the studio collaborating with former Kraftwerk drummer Wolfgang Flür on the record. It’s the first…
Stockpiles of water found abandoned inside a vacant Flint school
Thousand of bottles of unused water still wrapped in plastic were found inside an abandoned high school in Flint, and no one is taking responsibility for it. The water — stacked six cases high — has been inside the vacant Flint Northern High School for more than a year, according to urban explorer Todd Farnum,…
22-year-old reporter says Sen. Lucido made a creepy joke when she asked about misogynistic Facebook page
Allison Donahue, a 22-year-old reporter for Michigan Advance, says state Sen. Peter Lucido made a sexist joke about her when she asked him about his involvement in a violent, misogynistic Facebook page first reported by Metro Times. Writing about her experience, Donahue says she was waiting outside the Michigan Senate chamber on Tuesday to ask…
Detroit won’t be getting an Alamo Drafthouse movie theater after all
Bummer — it looks like Detroit won’t be getting a trendy Alamo Drafthouse movie theater. The deal reportedly fell through after developer Detroit Rising Development could not secure 300 parking spots, according to Crain’s Detroit Business — causing one Twitter user to quip: “This is like Detroit Mad Libs.” Announced in 2018, the $13 million…
Trump’s confrontation with Iran was a fight everyone lost
For a couple of hours last Tuesday night, I had the sinking feeling that the United States was about to embark on yet another generational conflict. Iran had responded to President Donald Trump’s killing of its Quds commander, General Qassem Soleimani, by launching missiles and rockets at two American bases in Iraq. Days earlier, Trump…
Opinion: Michigan should make it a New Year’s goal to extend justice or all LGBTQ people
As a previously long-closeted lesbian who has found so much joy in living openly later in life, I know what it feels like to live in fear of harassment and discrimination. As a spiritual person, I’m praying the Supreme Court does the right thing and affirms that all LGBTQ people should be able to work…
Smith & Co. is one of Detroit’s best new restaurants
In almost every dish I tried, the flavors at Smith & Co. (pronounced “and coe,” not “and company”) made my mouth happy. Each dish has a lot going on, but not to the point of distraction. Chef Greg Antioho educated himself by deliberately taking jobs in different types of kitchens, including Indian and Vietnamese, so…
We can’t believe we’re still arguing about climate change
As we count down to our 40th anniversary in October, we’ve been revisiting our archives to highlight Metro Times stories that resonate in 2020. 20 years ago in Metro Times: Sometimes it feels like it’s one step forward, two steps back. In a 2000 cover story, Curt Guyette looked at how the auto industry was…
Ivy Kitchen and Cocktails brings fine dining to a long-abandoned block on Detroit’s east side
For nearly 30 years, the two buildings on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Belvidere Street in East Village stood vacant. But as of late December, the smaller of the two is now a fine-dining restaurant, serving up fusion dishes like wonton tacos, mezcal wings, and charred whole Branzino — something in short supply on…
Don’t ghost singer-songwriter and proud mama’s girl Indigo De Souza
Indigo De Souza is leading an internal revolution. The Asheville, North Carolina singer-songwriter broke through with her 2018 debut record, I Love My Mom, which found the then 20-year-old confronting the weight of first-times as she did on the album opener, “How I Get Myself Killed” and on “Sick in the Head,” where De Souza…
‘The Disappearance of My Mother’ shines a light on an elusive ex-model
In the 1960s, Benedetta Barzini was photographed by Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, a muse to Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol, and the first Italian model on the cover of American Vogue. But in the 1970s, she stepped away from the fashion industry and became a Marxist and spokeswoman for the Italian women’s liberation movement.…
‘Just Mercy’ is a courtroom drama
Is there ever a good time to talk about the death penalty? While capital punishment has long been a favorite subject for prestige pictures, it’s a bit of a tough sell at the box office, especially when the American public remains hesitant to engage in a serious discussion of the topic, even when presented with…
Savage Love: Sub space
I’m a 26-year-old bisexual woman with a history of self-harm. It hasn’t been much of an issue for the last few years, but my sex life has improved a lot in that time. I realized that I am quite submissive and masochistic, and I have found a wonderful Dominant partner who I’ve gotten to explore…
Horoscopes (Jan. 15-21)
ARIES | March 21 – April 20: Clinging to a wing and a prayer, you hope for the best while deep down inside you wish you could do something to erase all these doubts. So much has fallen through the cracks. With nothing to go back to, life at square one is forcing you to…
