Cover Story
Photo-essay: Rashida Tlaib goes to Washington
On Thursday, Jan. 3, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit made history — and it wasn’t just because of those colorful and now-famous words she had for President Donald Trump on her first day. The swearing-in ceremony for the 116th U.S. Congress was a moment of many firsts, ushering in the most diverse Congress in…
U.S. Figure Skating Championships makes first visit to Detroit since the whole Tonya Harding thing
Usually, when “Detroit” and “figure skating” share a sentence, the next names that usually follow are “Nancy Kerrigan” and “Tonya Harding.” Nearly 25 years since the infamous Cobo Arena knee-bashing (which also perhaps cemented the word “Whyyyyyy!” in pop culture history), the U.S. Figure Skating Championships returns to the city with a triple-axle-landing vengeance. The…
Dirtybird’s J. Phlip returns to TV Lounge in Detroit
If you’re going to use the term “acid booty bass” it better damn well be in reference to Jessica Phillippe, aka J.Phlip. The engineer-turned-DirtyBird crew member-turned-solo world traveler has bounced between her Chicago roots and San Francisco and has closed out Detroit’s own Movement Music Festival with her infectious and improvisational acid house blends. (Obviously,…
Winter Blast Weekends take over downtown Detroit through mid-February
Cold weather blows, but winter can be a blast — and it is, thanks to Quicken Loans Winter Blast Weekends. Entering its 14th year, the fest will switch to a four-weekend, totally free admission format this year, continuing the tradition of wintery, family-friendly programming full of marshmallow-roasting, ice sculptures, free ice skating (on the first…
Irwin House Gallery to throw ’60s style party to close out Aretha Franklin exhibition
When Irwin House Gallery opened its doors last year, it did so nearly five months ahead of schedule: The gallery quickly changed its plans due to the death of Aretha Franklin. SuperNatural Woman: Tribute to the Queen was curated by gallery director Omo Misha and artist and writer John Sims to honor the spirit of…
Jack White launches Third Man Mastering service in Detroit
Now, any band can get their record mastered like a rock star. Jack White’s Third Man Records announced the opening of a new mastering studio on Tuesday. Third Man Mastering offers analog and digital mastering for any format, including vinyl, CD, digital streaming, and cassette tapes. It’s located right next door to Third Man’s pressing…
Scream Out the Silence concert brings suicide awareness to Old Miami
The Scream Out the Silence: Suicide Awareness concert at the Old Miami has one mission — to get loud and help out. Hosted by newly formed Morris Choice Entertainment, the Scream Out concert will benefit Detroit nonprofit Six Feet Over, which provides survivors of suicide loss financial assistance as well as outreach programs, awareness, and…
Poncho Sanchez and James Carter to honor John Coltrane at Orchestra Hall
Pioneer and saxophonist John William Coltrane was just 40 years old when he died — and yet, he managed to leave behind an incomparable legacy. He was even adopted as a saint and is actively worshipped at the Yardbird Temple turned Coltrane Church in California. Few are better suited to pay tribute to Coltrane’s iconic…
Tommy Wiseau will host midnight screenings of ‘The Room’ and it’s bound to get weird
While there are people who still confuse the Academy Award-winning Brie Larson-led movie Room with Tommy Wiseau’s cinematic disaster-piece The Room, there are hordes of people who live and die by three words: “Oh hai, Mark!” Celebrating 16 years as the best worst movie ever made, The Room, if nothing else, is a midnight movie…
Hamtramck’s ‘Nicolas Uncaged’ fest will attempt to set a man on fire, break world record
Hamtramck’s annual celebration of all things Nicolas Cage — the Nicolas Uncaged film festival, now in its sixth year — has announced the date for this year’s event, as well as some other goodies. The fest will return to Hamtramck’s Planet Ant Hall on Saturday, Feb. 23 with a double feature of two of the…
Stolen 18th century artifact returns to Detroit Historical Society more than 60 years later
An 18th-century artifact is returning home to the Detroit Historical Society more than 60 years after it was stolen. The powder horn — which was made in Charlestown, New Hampshire, in 1757 for a soldier named Lt. Abel Prindel — was stolen from the Dearborn Historical Museum in 1952 shortly before the public opening of…
Versace debuts Ford collaboration at Milan Fashion Week
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Versace (@versace) on Jan 14, 2019 at 11:11am PST In the world of fashion, few brands spark as much envy as Italian luxury brand Versace. Developed by the late Gianni Versace in 1978, Versace has long been revered as one of the premier fashion brands worldwide…
Mootz Pizzeria + Bar opens this month in downtown Detroit
Mootz Pizzeria + Bar will bring New York-style pizza to downtown Detroit when the new restaurant opens its doors to the public on Jan. 28. Located near the Belt district, Mootz will feature a menu curated by six-time World Pizza Games champion Bruno DiFabio. DiFabio’s creations include signature pies like Uptown + the Bronx (cup…
News flash: Detroiters watched a lot of porn in 2018
It’s official, Detroit — we love porn. At least according to the latest batch of Pornhub stats. Each year, porn streaming giant Pornhub does the deed by digging deep and going hard at compiling some insanely detailed statistics and analytics regarding the world’s fapping habits. This year may have been their biggest yet (that’s what they…
Interim MSU President John Engler says Larry Nassar victims are ‘enjoying’ the ‘spotlight’
Michigan State University Interim President and former GOP Michigan governor John Engler is facing backlash for saying that some Larry Nassar sexual assault victims are enjoying the attention. Engler made the statement to The Detroit News editorial board on Friday, though The News piece didn’t focus on the comments. “You’ve got people, they are hanging…
Boil water advisory lifted in downtown Detroit and lower east side
On Tuesday morning, officials from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and the Great Lakes Water Authority lifted the boil water advisory warning for downtown Detroit and parts of the city’s lower east side. The advisory was put into place on Saturday after a break in a city water main caused temporary loss of water pressure…
NFL meme omits Upper Peninsula
Ope! Someone fudged a map of the Upper Peninsula. Whoever runs the parody Twitter account @NFL_Memes forgot their thinking cap (or chook, if you’se guys are Yoopers) when they made a map highlighting who each state is rooting for in the upcoming AFC Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots. The…
The Who are ‘Moving On’ to Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena this spring
Seminal rockers The Who will be stopping by Detroit with brand new material this spring as the “My Generation” rockers perform new songs from the group’s forthcoming album. The “Moving On!” tour will begin on May 7 in Grand Rapids and will see the classic rock band head to Detroit on Tuesday, May 28 to…
HopCat reveals name change for popular ‘Crack Fries’
HopCat announced today that its award-winning “Crack Fries” will now be called “Cosmik Fries.” “Cosmik Fries” pays homage to Frank Zappa’s 1974 song “Cosmik Debris.” Mark Sellers, owner and founder of HopCat, told MLive that Zappa had been a part of HopCat “since day one.” A collage of Zappa can be found in the men’s…
B2K reunion tour brings early-2000s R&B stars to Detroit
If you miss the glory days of early-2000s R&B, you are in for a treat. Multi-platinum R&B group B2K have announced a 2019 reunion tour — titled “The Millenium Tour” — which will make its way to Detroit on April 24 at Little Caesars Arena. All four original members — Omarion, Lil’ Fizz, Raz-B and…
Creepy Warren mayor Fouts on tape: ‘you could get a 16-year-old girl’ in Amsterdam
Audio of 76-year-old Warren Mayor Jim Fouts talking about the possibility of having sex with 16-year-old girls in Amsterdam has surfaced. On Monday, Motor City Muckraker published the recording in which Fouts tells an employee in 2013 that “any kind of sex you want is legal” in Amsterdam. “They have women sitting in, like, these storefront…
More than this — Bryan Ferry brings nearly 50 years of Roxy Music to Detroit
Bryan Ferry is the drug we’re thinking of. Art-rock crooner and, perhaps, music’s most deceptively underrated frontman (despite his upcoming induction into the arbitrary pyramid that is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,) Ferry is hitting the road with solo work and a whole lot of Roxy Music. The 73-year-old who formed Roxy Music…
CDC: It’s safe to eat romaine lettuce in Michigan
The Center For Disease Control and Prevention says it’s safe to eat romaine lettuce again after an E. coli outbreak sickened dozens across the country. The CDC warned consumers in mid-November to stop eating romaine and warned stores and restaurants to stop selling or serving it. The warning stayed in place through January because the…
Texas-native brings Flamingo Vintage to Southwest Detroit
It took vintage fanatic Nikki Neuzil and her husband, a Detroit native, three years to relocate from Austin and nearly a year and a half to scope out the perfect storefront. Eventually, she landed on a hundred-year-old space with a rich retail past in Southwest Detroit. “When I lived in Austin, I dressed in primarily…
The Detroit Club to unveil new craft cocktail lounge the Library
On Monday, Detroit is getting a brand new cocktail lounge within the exclusive doors of the Detroit Club. Unlike much of the Detroit Club, the Library will be open to the public and will offer small plates in addition to its menu of premium wines, spirits, and cocktails. According to a press release, the Library’s libations…
Archeological dig along Detroit River unearths 30,000 indigenous artifacts
It’s no secret that along the banks of the Detroit River is a trove of sunken trash and treasure: a DeLorean discovered in the ’80s, a stolen bronze statue, and guns — lots of guns. But thanks to an ongoing archeological dig, nearly 30,000 artifacts have turned up that could provide context to the rich…
State issues recall on marijuana products sold in Detroit and Kalamazoo
As Michigan gets used to the idea of its new marijuana industry, it means we should expect to be getting a safer, state-regulated product in stores. But it also means that Michigan’s medical marijuana provisioning centers have come under increased scrutiny. On Thursday, the Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs released a public health…
Kacey Musgraves brought a gay country-disco heaven to Royal Oak Music Theatre
Stepping out on the stage Thursday night at the Royal Oak Music Theater in a gorgeous burnt orange dress and a giant, fabulous furry white coat, Kacey Musgraves proved in just that very first moment why every show on her tour is practically sold out. The past year has been a hell of a ride…
Here’s a list of Detroit’s legal, licensed marijuana provisioning centers that survived the crackdown
Medical marijuana provisioning centers are finally getting licensed, and a handful of them are operating in Detroit. However, those that are unlicensed were supposed to have been shut down before Jan. 1. That crackdown should put a big squeeze on patients who depend on them for their medication. It would seem that those locations that…
Modern Mexican restaurant Peso will take over former Fist of Curry, Huron Room space
A new Mexican restaurant that’s a collaboration between the Toma team and Green Dot owners InLaws Hospitality will open in March in the former Fist of Curry and Huron Room space. Co-owner Jose Maldonado tells Metro Times that Peso will be a more modern restaurant and quicker experience than most of his neighbors in Southwest…
Dan Gilbert launches Trump-like Twitter attack on ‘Free Press’ after investigation
Like other powerful men — like President Donald Trump, say, or Elon Musk — Detroit’s Dan Gilbert just can’t seem to help himself when it comes to Twitter. The billionaire used the platform on Thursday to retaliate against The Detroit Free Press following a lengthy investigation the paper published earlier that day, which detailed allegations…
Eminem finished off 2018 as one of the best selling artists of the year
From being visited by the Secret Service for his Trump diss on “The Ringer,” to creating one of the top-selling albums of last year, Eminem had a pretty eventful 2018. According to BuzzAngle Music, the Detroit rapper’s tenth studio album Kamikaze — released in August of last year — sold 373,067 copies, coming in fourth…
After neighborhood dispute, Asian Corned Beef is coming to Woodward and Seven Mile
Late last year, residents of Detroit’s Greenacres neighborhood petitioned the city to reject plans for a new Asian Corned Beef egg roll restaurant adjacent to their homes near Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue. The property’s zoning prohibited a carryout restaurant, and the city ultimately rejected the plans. But now a new location is under construction in…
Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y are bringing ‘2009’ tour to Saint Andrew’s Hall
Hip-hop artists Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y will be visiting Detroit at Saint Andrew’s Hall next month as part of their “2009” tour. The tour comes in anticipation of the release of Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y’s collaborative mixtape, “2009,” which was initially announced in 2015. The 22-date tour begins in Seattle on Feb. 8 and will…
Feces spill forces NB I-75 closure in Monroe County and we are so grossed out
One thing is true of traffic and it is that it is always shitty. This morning’s three-lane backup on northbound I-75, however, was actually shitty. Like, as in feces. As in… the roads were covered in human shit. For more than two hours poor Monroe County suffered a fecal situation at Summit Street near the…
More than half Michigan marijuana patients admit to driving while ‘a little high,’ study finds
A new study from the University of Michigan found that more than half of the medical marijuana patients surveyed fessed up to having driven while under the influence of cannabis. According to its findings, 56 percent reported driving within two hours of using marijuana, 51 percent said they drove while a “little high,” and 21…
Michigan’s Republican Supreme Court chooses Dem to be chief justice
Before 2019, the GOP held a 5-2 majority on the Michigan Supreme Court, which in most cases would render it a rubber stamp for whatever deranged, constitutionally questionable legislation the GOP-controlled legislature dreamt up. But it wasn’t. In two notable cases last year, two Republican justices joined Dems in voting against the GOP’s wishes. In…
How the corset inspired Detroit artist Annica Cuppetelli’s new show
On Friday, Detroit’s K.Oss Contemporary Art Gallery will host an opening reception for Annica Cuppetelli: Measures of Constriction. The sample image used on the flyer reminded us of a corset, so we were intrigued to learn more. Turns out we were onto something. Cuppetelli, a fiber major who attended the College for Creative Studies for…
This new app will pay you $15 per hour to get involved with local government
Local government holds an awesome amount of power. The loud-mouthed orange man who appears on national news every day doesn’t regulate our local schools, utility services, and water sources. It’s the local boards that often go overlooked by news coverage and ignored by the public that are charged with many of the decisions that change our…
Will Detroit finally get a Tee Grizzley and Big Sean collab?
Tee Grizzley is giving fans hope that they may someday receive a collaborative track with fellow Detroit rapper and Def Jam Recordings artist, Big Sean. Shortly after one fan tweeted at the rapper asking for a “banger” from the two Detroit stars, Tee was quick to respond: “I’m waiting on him lol” I’m waiting on…
Study finds that Michigan has the worst roads in the U.S.
A software company has come up with a new methodology to tell us what we already know: Michigan has the worst roads in the country. In a piece published by Medium, the San Francisco-based computer vision software company lvl5 recently released a report ranking of the best and worst roads in the U.S. after conducting…
Detroit’s Winter Blast announces music lineup with Thornetta Davis, Laith Al-Saadi, and more
Detroit’s 14th annual Winter Blast festival announced a musical lineup that features rock, blues, dance music, and more. The event — now dubbed Quicken Loans Winter Blast Weekends, and is now free to attend — will be held across four weekends in downtown’s Campus Martius Park on Jan. 19-21, 25-27, Feb. 8-10, and 15-17. Headliners include…
Hazel Park’s Joebar closes, will relaunch as a Latin restaurant
Hazel Park’s Joebar is in the process of transforming into Latido, a pan-Latin concept that focuses on the cuisine of Panama, Peru, Colombia and Argentina. The Free Press reports that the menu will include dishes like the hangover-curing stew sancocho; a Colombian pork belly sandwich in the pan con chicharron; and tamale made with quinoa instead…
R. Kelly faces new criminal investigation following dream hampton’s Lifetime doc
Less than a week after the premiere of Surviving R. Kelly, alleged pedophile R. Kelly now faces a new criminal investigation in Georgia, where he has been accused of running a sex cult. Produced by Detroit native dream hampton, the six-part series aired on Lifetime over three-nights, exploring the two decades of allegations levied against…
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez started a fire
So often in the Trump era, the dominant news event is so mind-numbingly stupid that it barely warrants comment. Case in point: the government shutdown over the border wall — now entering its third idiotic week and apparently destined to continue until the president’s temper tantrum runs its course and his handlers put him down…
Detroit’s Center for Community Based Enterprise has an innovative approach to improve work culture — make employees the owners
The nonprofit Center for Community Based Enterprise is headquartered inside Detroit’s First Unitarian Universalist Church in the Cass Corridor, with a membership that is mixed in age, gender, race, and professional backgrounds. For all of their differences, the group’s members are united by one clear goal: making the lives of workers — and the working…
Josh Malerman on the runaway success of his novel-turned-movie, ‘Bird Box’
When he’s not playing in his rock band the High Strung, which performs at Detroit’s UFO Factory on Saturday, Josh Malerman says he’s been writing book-length, horror-inclined manuscripts his entire life. That side of his career started taking off five years ago, leading to wide distribution of four more published novels after Bird Box. Malerman…
When he’s not writing horror stories, Josh Malerman performs with the High Strung
There’s a quiet riot softly raging within us all, as the High Strung see it. Or at least that phrase Quiet Riots is effective enough in summing up the local five-piece rock band’s collective frame of mind as it enters 2019. It fits so well that they chose it for the title of their eighth…
Horoscopes (Jan. 9-15)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 There’s a gap between who you are and who you think you are. In that space lies the difference between having it all and being a pale reflection of yourself. If this sounds strange, it comes down to understanding that for any of us, nothing truly great can evolve…
John Sinclair is starting a marijuana-friendly lounge in Detroit
Traditionally, the marijuana experience has been one of hanging out with your friends and sharing a joint. When you wanted to get some weed you contacted your friend, went over, hung out, maybe tested the product, and completed the transaction. Mostly, getting marijuana involved personal contacts and personal assurances of coolness. The legal marijuana scene…
Comedian Louie Anderson on ‘Baskets’ and why you should talk to your mother (dead or alive)
It takes roughly two hours for Louie Anderson to transform into Christine Baskets — the quirky, Costco-obsessed rodeo matriarch on FX’s Baskets. After lipstick and eyebrows are applied, a stringy blonde wig is tightly secured and the 65-year-old comedian is asked to slip into a rotating selection of shapeless frocks. And suddenly, Anderson becomes a…
Detroit-made ‘Buy land’ initiative encourages community ownership
Joe Robinson, founder of Detroit hip-hop collective APX Management, has slowly but surely entered the real estate game. “I always figured owning a home was better [than renting],” he says. This year, Robinson and his team at APX have been promoting the phrase “Buy land ’cause God ain’t making no more” through fashion and music.…
Review: Biopic celebrates Justice Ginsburg’s early accomplishments
If you’ve led a full existence, you might receive a lifetime achievement award before you die. If you’ve gained fame or wielded influence, you might also be immortalized with a movie. But if you’re Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, you get two movies, both in the same year. On the Basis of Sex, directed…
Review: Detroit’s Hard Rock Cafe is (nearly) gone, but not forgotten
When we heard downtown Detroit’s Hard Rock Cafe was calling it quits after 15 years, joining the recent closures of other Hard Rock locations nationwide, we were ready to dance on its grave. We figured Hard Rock was just another victim of the dreaded millennials’ well-documented distaste for chain restaurants, and to us it seemed…
