Cover Story
Sick of Democrats vs. Republicans? So are Michigan’s Libertarians, a party on the rise
At a campaign stop at Michigan State University last month, Bill Gelineau — the Libertarian Party candidate running to be Michigan’s next governor — promises he’s about to drop a “bombshell.” But right now he’s experiencing some technical difficulties. “I actually brought a visual for this one, but it didn’t turn out how like I…
Nine Inch Nails is bringing back-to-back sets to the Fox Theatre
Be still our cold, black, and infinite hearts — Nine Inch Nails is touring and it might just be “The Perfect Drug” for times like these. For 30 years, NIN has been the voice of the anti-band, with a seething industrial sound and contentious worldview. Thankfully, frontguy and composer Trent Reznor has decided to get…
‘Middlesex’ author Jeffrey Eugenides visits Wayne State for free reading, Q&A
Over the course of the past 25 years, Detroit native and best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides has introduced us to the tragic and fractured world of the Lisbon sisters, the complicated mind of Middlesex protagonist Cal, as well as his own intriguing inner workings. To commemorate the paperback release of Eugenides’ 2017 short-story collection…
Grand Rapids artist Kate Silvio gets existential with solo show ‘You Can Never Go Home Again’
In a new solo show, artist Kate Silvio — a woman “on the cusp of what society defines as ‘middle age,’” according to a press release — offers new works that reflect upon aging, self-acceptance, and motherhood. “How did I get here?” Silvio writes in an artist statement. “Was it an action or a reaction?…
‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ gets the shadowcast treatment at Michigan Theater
Halloween calls to mind haunted houses, tricks and treats, and pumpkin spice everything. But for those sweet transvestites from Transexual, Transylvania, it means a month of The Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings. Well, folks, the antici…pation is over. The campy cultural 1975 phenomenon starring Tim Curry as Dr. Frank N. Furter, Susan Sarandon as Janet…
DIA welcomes Venezuelan performer Migguel Anggelo for an evening of ‘Love & Hate’
It’s nearly impossible to try and put Migguel Anggelo into a box or peg him as any one thing. The Venezuelan-born artist is best known for his barrier-breaking multicultural and multilingual theatrical music performances, which Aggelo started as early as age 13 when he scored the role of Pinocchio in a South American tour of…
Fed up with Trump, a GOP women’s PAC is backing Dems in two key Michigan races
A political action committee run by Republican women opposed to Donald Trump is getting involved in Michigan’s most competitive Congressional races — and supporting the Democrat candidates. Republican Women for Progress PAC tells Metro Times it has taken out $50,000 television ad buys in Michigan’s 11th and 8th Congressional District races. Both races feature a…
Kali Uchis explores isolation at the Royal Oak Music Theatre
At just 24 years old, Colombian-American neo-soul songstress Kali Uchis is on to something. Isolation, her gliding 15-track debut released earlier this year, is a stark and original blend of coming-of-age and fully embraced womanhood. “Today is the day I’ll learn that I believe in miracles/ I can feel the world opening up, I think…
After Dark at the Michigan Science Center wants to prep you for the apocalypse
If you don’t have a bug-out bag ready to go — let alone don’t know what one is — you, my friend, are ill-prepared for the end of days. But hope is not lost, thanks to the Michigan Science Center and its After Dark series, which puts a playful spin on happy hour with themed…
16 year-old Detroit singer Brianna Lee shows maturity on ‘Lucid Bri’
16 year-old Brianna Lee is getting fall started with one of the best R&B bangers of the season. “You throw dirt on my whole name/ Only gets worse when you know thangs/but you don’t see the perks of this whole thing,” she sings over Sing’s “Shape of my Heart” sample. Most of the video takes…
Fiscal agency projects marijuana taxes to bring in $287.9 million in new revenue to Michigan
If the proposal to legalize recreational marijuana passes this November, the potential new tax revenue is projected to be more than double than original estimates. The new analysis released Monday from the non-partisan Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency projects that a successfully passed Proposal 1 could generate up to $287.9 million in new tax revenue in…
Detroit will soon be getting sushi pizza – because of course it is
If you’re someone who likes to obsessively Instagram your food, then boy, do we have good news for you. Behold, sushi pizza. Yes, it’s a thing, and yes, it’s something that will soon be coming to a stomach near you. Poke Burri, a national chain that, as the name suggests, serves poke, also specializes in…
Dan Gilbert plans to open Quicken Loans office in Windsor
Quicken Loans has had a formidable presence in Detroit since the mortgage lending company first made the move downtown in 2010. Now, billionaire Dan Gilbert has his eyes on downtown Windsor. A building in Windsor’s mostly shuttered downtown district is currently being renovated with the goal of creating a micro-office of software engineers and tech…
Greenacres neighborhood thwarts Asian Corned Beef egg roll threat — classism?
The city of Detroit Zoning Board of Appeals has denied Asian Corned Beef a zoning variance it needs to open a store in the former Stanley’s Other Place building near Eight Mile and Woodward. That means owner Hasan White won’t open the carryout corned beef egg roll restaurant and commissary for his other five locations that…
GOP Senate candidate calls swastika in TV spot ‘a terrible error’
Well here’s something that feels like an increasingly rare sight these days — a Republican politician 1) admitting they were wrong about something and 2) distancing themselves from the alt-right. But that’s exactly what Michigan Senate candidate John James did following backlash on Monday after it was discovered that one of his TV spots featured…
Detroit activists: Ford should provide more community benefits in exchange for $104M
A coalition of Detroit community groups is urging Ford to return to the bargaining table and strike a more robust community benefits agreement as it seeks more than $104 million in city tax incentives for a planned Corktown campus. City council is to vote on the agreement and the incentive package Tuesday. In a proposal…
Detroit police officers can’t shoot unlicensed dogs without consequences, court rules
A federal court has ruled police officers cannot kill dogs — even unlicensed ones — without consequences. Today, a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a previous ruling in a lower court which stated that unlicensed pets were not protected as personal property under the Fourth Amendment. This ruling wraps up a long civil rights…
Michigan GOP Senate ad features a swastika for some reason
John James — the Republican running against Democrat Debbie Stabenow for Michigan’s Senate seat in November — released a 30-second TV spot earlier this month. Titled “Ready to Serve,” it features shots of blighted buildings, embattled military vets, failing schools — and, for some reason, a prominent shot of a Nazi swastika in the foreground.…
Michigan thrashers Extra Arms release new video for ‘Headacher’
Described by singer Ryan Allen (formerly of Thunderbirds Are Now!, Friendly Foes, and Destroy This Place) as the Michigan band that wasn’t a band until, well, it was a band, Extra Arms dropped their latest video from their LP Headacher released last week. The album’s titular video stays tight on Allen’s mouth with occasional close-ups on the…
Kevin Saunderson’s son spite-peed at the club after trying to destroy a female DJ’s set
Updated at 12:39 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15: Damarii Saunderson has issued an apology for allegedly peeing at MIX Sunday morning. “I was not aware of the extent of my alcohol consumption, I have no recollection of even going to the club,” he wrote in message to Metro Times. “Now I am hearing on the…
Umphrey’s McGee announce back-to-back shows at The Fillmore
Midwest rockers Umphrey’s McGee are headed to Detroit this winter for a two-night run. The progressive-jam band, known for their long, improvisational sets, have cultivated a strong national gathering since forming in South Bend, Indiana in 1997. Having clocked in over 2,000 live shows since that time, Umphrey’s McGee wows audiences by playing a different…
Gather to open new craft beer bar in Eastern Market
Eastern Market’s Gather team is preparing to open a new a craft beer bar called Cøllect in its building’s second story. Co-owner Kyle Hunt tells Metro Times that the bar is awaiting final city approvals, which are expected to come this week. When the taps start flowing, you’ll find a range of about 30 fine…
‘The Daily Show’ host Trevor Noah returns to Detroit in 2019
Just hours after The Daily Show host aptly compared President Trump to cancer at Fuck Cancer’s inaugural Heroes Gala in Los Angeles, Trevor Noah announced details of his Loud & Clear tour slated for a 2019 run— a welcomed antidote to the Orange persuasion. Noah, New York Times bestselling author who took on the impossible…
Christina Aguilera postpones tonight’s Detroit show
Bummer for Detroit Xtina fans — tonight’s gig has been unexpectedly postponed due to illness. The singer took to her Twitter account to bear the bad news: Ahhh😭😭It pains me to say, I have been doing all I possibly can to speed recovery and I’m so much closer, but on my doctors orders I’m unable…
Rochester Hills man found guilty for shooting at unarmed black teen
Jeffrey Ziegler — the white Rochester Hills man seen shooting a shotgun at an unarmed black teenager in a viral video this week — was found guilty by a jury on Friday. The jury at Oakland County Circuit Court found Ziegler guilty of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and possession of a firearm in the…
7 reasons to watch ‘The Untold Story of Detroit Hip-Hop’
Hip-hop heads already know about the history of one of Detroit’s most innovative genres, but for those who don’t, Brian “Champtown” Harmon’s documentary The Untold Story of Detroit Hip-Hop is a good launching point. The Untold Story of Detroit Hip-Hop is a documentary rich with guest appearances, great interviews, and untold stories about the early…
USA Today readers say Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has the nation’s best fall colors
As Michiganders, we’ve known for a long time that our fall colors are pretty special. But now we can brag that we’ve got the best fall colors in the nation. The votes were counted and the results are in for “Best Destinations for Fall Foliage” in USA Today’s Reader Choice Awards 2018. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula…
Detroit’s Church of Scientology is getting ready to do… something
After more than a decade of owning the building, the Church of Scientology appears to be close to opening its Detroit location finally. A construction crew was spotted on Friday erecting an ornate stage outside of the former Standard Savings & Loan, located near Hart Plaza on Jefferson Avenue and Griswold Street. A spokeswoman said…
Norman Rockwell’s iconic ‘Four Freedoms’ are on view at the Henry Ford
Illustrator Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms paintings are among the iconic illustrator’s most well-known and impactful works, helping rally the nation during World War II (and getting endlessly parodied in the years since). And now, they’re on view at the Henry Ford museum. The paintings are the core of an exhibition entitled Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the…
James Beard Award-winning chef to open Italian restaurant in downtown Detroit
James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur Andrew Carmellini will open an Italian restaurant called San Morello in the soon-to-open Shinola Hotel. His New York-based NoHo Hospitality Group is also planning a beer hall and craft cocktail bar in the 130-room boutique hotel, which is targeting a December launch at Woodward and Grand River avenues. The 3,700-square-foot San…
‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Senate candidate jokes about sexual assault at Macomb County rally
You can now add the guy who’s running against Sen. Debbie Stabenow to the growing list of Republican men making light of a national movement to hold men accountable for sexual misconduct. At a rally last week in St. Clair Shores, guy-running-against-Stabenow made an apparent reference to the controversy surrounding accused sexual abuser Brett Kavanaugh’s…
UFO Factory announces opening month lineup, Laika Dog return
The UFO Factory is back from the grave on Oct. 26, and it’s packed its first month’s calendar with some of Detroit’s favorite acts. The relaunch weekend also includes on Sunday the return of the venue’s hot dog, grilled cheese, and tater tot purveyor, Laika Dog. The line up is as follows. Find more info…
Kid Rock went to the White House but not for an entirely shitty reason
We all know that Kid Rock and Donald Trump are buddy-buddy in a way that’s slightly grotesque. But today, we’re actually OK with it. Kid Rock went to the White House as Trump signed into a law the Music Modernization Act, a much-needed copyright reform law which will streamline the process for songwriters and producers…
Well, here’s Bill Schuette being creepy as hell to a woman in 1989
Was he buzzed? Was he flirting? Whatever Bill Schuette’s frat-boy-lookin’ ass was up to in this newly surfaced clip from 1989, it sure was creepy as hell. The video obtained and posted to Twitter by liberal activist group American Bridge shows a then-34- or 35-year-old Schuette speaking strangely and, dare we say, seductively to a…
MC50 will celebrate 50 years of ‘Kick Out the Jams’ with live recording
Fifty years to the day, MC5’s Wayne Kramer is getting ready to once again “kick out the jams, motherfuckers!” To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MC5’s controversial debut — originally recorded live over two nights at Devil’s Night and Halloween in 1968 at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom — Kramer is bringing his MC50 supergroup to…
Metro Detroit man finds giant lizard ‘relaxing’ on front porch
Giant reptiles seem to really be feeling the Midwest this week. A few days after a four-foot long caiman was discovered by a fisherman in Lake Michigan, a large lizard was found “relaxing” on the porch of a home in Dearborn Heights. The homeowner, Richard Heatherly, saw the two-foot lizard outside his home on Tuesday, Oct.…
If this Detroit house isn’t on your trick-or-treat list, it should be
Think you’re too old to trick-or-treat? Get over yourself, and get on over to this extravagant Indian Village house to take in the ornate cobwebs, furry tarantulas and ghoulish witches. “The devil’s in the details!” declared self-described crazy Halloween lady, Incoronata D’Angela. “This isn’t even halfway done.” But her home near the corner of Agnes…
Detroit police took four days to respond to domestic dispute call on the city’s west side
Trust is fundamental to the sustainability of any society. Nowhere is that sentiment more pertinent than with the police. In Detroit, the trust between the police department and a young woman in the city was eviscerated last month. As WXYZ reports, on Saturday, Sept. 15, a mother (who did not want her identity disclosed) arrived at…
Literacy: Michigan kids of color falling behind
LANSING, Mich. – From cradle to career, a new report finds, children of color in Michigan face some tough barriers to educational success. The report from the Michigan League for Public Policy revealed that more than eight in 10 African-American students and two-thirds of Latino students aren’t reading proficiently by the end of third grade.…
Video released showing white Rochester Hills man shooting at black teen
Updated on Friday Oct. 12 at 5:08 p.m.: A jury has found Zeigler guilty of assault. Find the latest here. Originally posted Thursday Oct. 11 at 10:21 a.m.: Remember Jeffrey Zeigler, the white 52-year-old former Detroit firefighter who shot at an unarmed 14-year-old black kid in April? Zeigler’s home security footage of the incident was released to a jury…
Detroit government to sponsor 60 more murals in fight to curb graffiti
Beautifying the city, legally! That’s what dozens of muralists will be doing as the Detroit government expands its City Walls campaign to sponsor 60 more murals throughout Detroit. Launched in the summer of 2017, City Walls is an artistic, rather than punitive, element of in the city’s never-ending fight to curb graffiti. The program’s primary…
Saintseneca’s Zac Little brings Ohio’s Appalachian country to southeast Michigan
Saintseneca’s roots reach back to southeast Ohio, where frontman Zac Little grew up. And anybody who’s been to that slightly weird, isolated corner of the world might recognize some connection between it and the band’s tunes. Their new album out on ANTI-, “Pillar of Na,” offers indie-folk-psych cuts that just feel like a product of…
See what the future of Detroit looks like with this 3D map of downtown development
The landscape of downtown Detroit is ever-changing. Buildings that just a few years ago were disused and dilapidated are finding new use as investment and development strikes in the city’s core. Now, thanks to a 3D downtown development map, you can see 25 major development projects currently underway in the Motor City. Although many people…
Metro Times is looking for a full-time news reporter
Good news for people who love, well, news: Metro Times, Detroit’s award-winning alt-weekly, has an immediate opening for an ass-kicking, muckraking staff writer. Ideal candidates are equally at home writing short, snappy blog posts as they are doing 3,000-word investigative features. They should know how cultivate a wide array of sources, have experience in digging through public…
U-M is investigating faculty for Israel academic boycott
The University of Michigan says it is investigating its faculty after numerous perceived anti-Semitic incidents, including an alleged “academic boycott” on Israel on behalf of Palestinian rights. U-M President Mark Schlissel made the announcement in an open letter published Wednesday. “We want everyone in our Jewish community and beyond to know that we are committed…
Survey finds that Detroiters are getting gouged by ATM fees
Detroiters are paying exorbitantly high prices to withdraw money from ATMs, one study suggests. According to a new survey by bankrate.com, Detroiters pay higher ATM fees than any other city in the country. The study, which surveyed 10 banking and thrift institutions across 25 markets, found that Detroit topped the list with an average out-of-network…
Did Little Caesars just get busted serving DiGiorno frozen pizzas?
Little Caesars has some explaining to after a video that went viral appears to bust one of its stores for serving DiGiorno. On Saturday, Twitter user @vinandwesson posted the evidence with a caption of “this can’t be happening right in front of me.” The video starts with a shot of Little Caesars’ menu, then pans…
Detroit rock community remembers photographer Robert Matheu, dead at 63
Celebrated rock ‘n’ roll photographer Robert Matheu died unexpectedly in Los Angeles on Sept. 21 at the age of 63. Matheu was born on Detroit’s northwest side in 1955, the youngest of four children. He began his photo career as a teenager during the high-energy Motor City scene of the late 1960s. His early photos…
Ryan Allen’s Extra Arms is a true band now
Ryan Allen says that the idea of Extra Arms was that “it was never ‘a band’ until it became a band.” Sometime last year, the local singer and guitarist shortened the name of the band formerly known as “Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms.” What had once been a true solo project had transformed into…
‘First Man’ puts the audience in the pilot’s seat
We choose to go to the moon, President John F. Kennedy told us, not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Director Damien Chazelle wasn’t born when Kennedy spoke those words. Nevertheless, he must have taken them to heart, as he’s fashioned in First Man a film that reverentially demonstrates the difficulty and…
Savage Love: ‘I’m horrified the kids will find these pictures’
I was involved with a straight man who enjoys cross-dressing and taking explicit photos. The problem is that the props he uses belong to his three children, all under age 12. For example, he dressed up as a slutty schoolgirl and wore his daughter’s backpack. He dressed up as a slutty cowgirl and posed with…
Trixie Mattel is ready to take over the whole tuckin’ world
After cementing her place in the Drag Race Hall of Fame by winning the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars and releasing two folk albums that took her to the top of the iTunes charts, it’s safe to say that Wisconsin-bred Trixie Mattel is having a moment. And if things couldn’t get even…
How marijuana is winning over hearts and minds among military vets
Marijuana is winning over hearts and minds among military vets Folks supporting Proposal 1 to legalize recreational use of marijuana are doing everything they can to assure a win for their side. The Listserv for this group has been jumping off the hook with reports, ideas, and pleas to cover every base possible. Memes in…
Review: There’s plenty to love about Detroit’s Avalon Café and Biscuit Bar
I always loved my mama’s biscuits. The fact that I was called on to help sometimes made them even better. I remember the thrill of cracking the Pillsbury canister sharply against the counter to break it open, then separating the pre-separated rounds and placing them on the dark and aged baking sheet. They’d go in…
Horoscopes (Oct. 10-17)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 Lots of things are ready to come full circle. For better or worse one door is closing and another one is about to open. You keep thinking that you need to “do something” about it, but how things unfold is up to your higher self. I suspect that this…
A group is trying to save the Inkster home where Malcolm X once lived
It’s just a small, fire-damaged, wood-frame house at 4336 Williams St. in Inkster. It was a forgotten place surrounded by overgrown vegetation. In many cases it would be on somebody’s list for demolition. Not in this case. The less-than-modest edifice was once owned by Wilfred Little, the brother of the revolutionary minister Malcolm X. In…
