LOCAL ROCKER REMEMBERS DIO
Many of us were saddened to hear the news that Ronnie James Dio passed away yesterday morning (Sunday, May 16th) at age 67. The former Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio singer was widely hailed as possessing one of metal’s most exceptional voices, as well as being one of the sweetest men in popular music.…
HANK JONES DIES AT 91
Hank Jones, one of the most elegant pianists in all of jazz, died after a brief illness Sunday at age 91 in New York City. The eldest and last survivor of the famed Jones Brothers of Pontiac, Hank wasn’t a composer like Thad, or a revolutionary instrumentalist like Elvin. His name isn’t intrinsically linked to…
ONE-HALF OF THE WONDER TWINS CHATS WITH ONE-HALF OF TURIN BRAKES
Need a dose of British folk-rock goodness to give you a Hump Day boost? You may want head to the Pike Room next Wednesday, May 19th to catch Turin Brakes (http://www.myspace.com/turinbrakes) do an acoustic set that is sure to be as harmonically tight as it is dreamy. Their fifth album, Outbursts, is out now on…
MUSIC PSA’S: PEOPLE’S ART SUBMISSIONS, NEW HARRIS BOOK, HEIDELBERG ROCK PROJECT, DETROIT SCHOOL JAZZ AND DENTAL CARE!
On the Rocks Detroit is booking all the bands for this year’s People’s Arts Festival, which will be held in Detroit at the Russell Industrial Complex on August 28th and 29th. This year, the organizers are accepting band submissions via Sonicbids.com only. To submit for consideration, click here. Submission deadline is June 20th and the…
Sweet dreams
In contrast to the bakeries with long display cases of cakes, tarts and pastries that are sometimes just shallow concoctions of sugar more pleasing to the eye than the palate, Pinwheel focuses on mostly simple, made-from-scratch delights. There are a variety of bite-sized cookies sold by the pound and boxed with a ribbon. These are…
Night and Day
THURSDAY-SUNDAY MAY 13-16 The Secret Garden MAGICAL MYSTERY EDEN A stage adaptation of the classic children’s novel, The Secret Garden tells the story of mischievous Mary Lennox, a wealthy orphan sent to live with her reclusive uncle at his country estate. While exploring the grounds of her new home, Mary stumbles upon both a walled…
Treats and Trick
Curtis Mayfield Curtis Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Curtis Mayfield shouts: "Sisters! Niggers! Whiteys! Jews! Crackers!" and then he adds the song’s title line, "Don’t worry, if there’s a hell below we’re all going to go," which then kick-starts the badass fuzzed-out bass, wah-wah guitar, honeyed horns, percussive strings and a pre-disco beat based around congas.…
Metro Retro
22 years ago in Metro Times: Mel Small’s headline reads "The Roar of the Hot Dogs, the Smell of the Crowd," as he ponders why it is that a hot dog tastes so much better at Tiger Stadium. "It is a uniquely sublime experience — the warm summer sun, the community of fans, those magical…
Babies
Presented like an old-school nature flick, the film bounces between the grasslands of Namibia, the high-rises of Tokyo, the steppes of Mongolia, and the gentrified neighborhoods of San Francisco without narration, analysis or interview, letting his HD images tease out the similarities and differences of first- and third-world tots. There’s African Ponijao, who seems to…
Trumped up
The outcomes of TV "reality" series are almost never a matter of life or death, but here’s one that comes close: What kind of backlash do you reckon NBC will receive if Donald Trump "fires" Bret Michaels from Celebrity Apprentice before the series season finale May 23? If NBC had a lucky star, it would…
Shellhead’s back!
The first Iron Man was memorable and fun, a movie that surprised critics, audiences and studios with its energy and wit. Iron Man 2, in contrast, evaporates as soon as your expectations for clanking fisticuffs, wry asides and ear-splitting explosions are met. Despite its shortcomings, however, Iron Man 2 remains a cheeky blast of confidence…
Idol, American-style
The fact isn’t just how badly Sista Otis wants — nay, needs — to play music. The fact is she virtually breathes and lives music. Her life, for many years now, has consisted of little else. Perhaps the producer of the Metro Times Blowout realized this when Sista Otis was booked to perform at the…
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Thierry Guetta is a vintage clothing store owner in L.A. who obsessively chronicles his life on handheld video. Or so we’re told. Shooting his graffiti artist cousin Invader (who creates Space Invader-themed mosaics), the portly little Frenchman is introduced to a string of guerrilla artists and stencilers before befriending Shepard Fairey (of Obama poster fame)…
Coming clean
Q: I’m a mostly gay male with a boyfriend who is also mostly gay. We are into BDSM — we are both tops and sometimes play with other sub men. I say we are "mostly" gay because we do like to fuck submissive women once in a while. We haven’t done this a lot, and…
Blood, sweat and jeers
The Lansing-born son of Lebanese immigrants, Edward Farhat crafted the in-the-ring persona of an aristocratic Syrian Sheik, complete with a prayer rug, curved boots and a vicious rule-breaking brand of sadism that drove the fans wild … with anger. A rude brawler, The Sheik preferred hitting opponents with chairs, blinding them with flashes of fire…
From Marvel to Revelation
Iron Man Thanks to Robert Downey Jr.’s charm, Slurpee ads and a surprise colossal 2008 summer mega hit, Marvel comics’ durable Iron Man has broken into the top flight of superhero celebrity. Now even the layman on the street is vaguely familiar with old shellhead’s résumé: Tony Stark, a cool exec with a heart of…
Avalanche Stanley
One might be tempted to refer to Ken Stanley as Detroit’s version of Robert Pollard. Of course, there are probably versions of the Guided by Voices leader in every major city in the country. That isn’t to say that Stanley (and others like him) sound much, if anything, like Pollard. But what we have are…
Ernie’s real legacy
They were white and black, heavy and thin, men and women. They wore flats and heels; cordovans and cowboy boots; business suits, bomber jackets, and stained and dirty sweatshirts. All stood calmly and peacefully in a long line snaking around the stadium. Everyone knew who they were there for, and why. But there is a…
I Learned the Hard Way
Here’s a name you probably don’t recognize: Gabriel Roth. He’s a Brooklyn-based architect who works under the decidedly funkier alias Bosco Mann. Roth’s structures — deep but bright with ample natural light — are auditory, set in analog foundations, inhabited by revelers of authentic late-’60s soul and the deep funk that followed. Roth’s studio-lair and…
Food Stuff
Spring fire — Did you know that May is National Barbecue Month? Did you know there was a National Barbecue Month? It’s just one more reason to get out the grill and cook outdoors. Or, if you’d rather have your cooking done for you, Lazybones Smokehouse is celebrating with a May special: Get one full…
Motor City Cribs
This guy Evan Perri is your basic Grateful Dead-loving, computer-hacking, gaming nerd who’s a Django Reinhardt nut. He’s also the leader and a guitarist in Hot Club of Detroit, a surprisingly great gypsy jazz group. Quick backstory: Perri got into playing guitar through his jam band heroes, including the Dead, Phish and the Allman Brothers.…
A war of words
Ron Scott said the wrong thing last week and took a shellacking for it. It started after Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff was fatally shot when responding to a report of gunshots inside one of the city’s numerous vacant houses in the early hours of Monday, May 3. Four other officers were also shot, receiving…
Letters to the Editor
Teabag tempest I frequently pick up Metro Times and particularly enjoy reading Jack Lessenberry’s opinions, with which I often find myself in agreement. While I understand and can excuse Jack’s apparent need to show off his wit and his eagerness to be provocative, I think that he allows himself too much license to needlessly and…
Learn or get burned
Note to City Council: When it comes to the Detroit waste-to-energy facility, otherwise known as the incinerator, we are here to help. A lot of you are new to the body and, as rookies, have a lot to assimilate. The city’s financial predicament is dire, and the number of complicated issues you have to gain…
The Fash Bash!
Contemporary fashion designers battle brutally cool vintage boutiques in the ring of form, style and scrapping women. When leather, cotton, thread, yarn and spandex are weapons of choice for these wild spring getups, there’s no telling who’ll win the slapdown. Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer var so = new SWFObject(“http://www.db798.com/pictobrowser.swf”, “PictoBrowser”, “455”, “455”, “8”,…
Ballot boxing
News Hits went to court Monday to listen to attorneys argue over a lawsuit filed by Tom Barrow, who ran against Dave Bing in last November’s Detroit mayoral race. In case you haven’t heard, Bing won. The thing is, Barrow remains unconvinced of that. Under reasonable circumstances, there shouldn’t be any question as to the…
Music for smart people
On Saturday, May 1, Michigan joined the ranks of 37 other civilized states in the U.S. of Fuckin’ A. and gave a mittened middle finger to smoking in public places, including Detroit’s numerous bars and music venues. This is all much to the delight of the Wonder Twins and other cancer-averse folks who hate doing…
NEW MICK BASSETT & THE MARTHAS EP…
Mick Bassett & The Marthas, one of our fave local bands, are releasing a new four-song EP, Laugh Like You Want It, this week. The release party is this Thursday, May 13th, at the Loving Touch in Ferndale. But if you don’t want to wait until Thursday, you can download all four of the new…
TED + SARAH….ANDRE + BACON!
Two Detroit musical legends — despite what you may think of either one, they are legends at this point — in the spotlight this week. In case you haven’t noticed or heard, Ted Nugent wrote the entry for Sarah Palin in the new Time Magazine special edition list of the World’s 100 Most Influential People.…
