Cover Story
The contradictions of corporate-sponsored mural art in Detroit
Down the street, at the police-sponsored baseball diamond, condos are on sale for $600,000, not far from where the big car company is rehabbing the old train station for its fancy new offices. You can walk a little further and see where the local energy monopoly is paying to whitewash a substation — and their…
Detroit’s Coriander Kitchen and Farm hosts its fourth annual Harvest Dinner on Sunday
Eastside Detroit’s Coriander Kitchen and Farm will host its fourth annual Harvest Dinner on Sunday. The farm-to-table dinner will usher diners into the autumn season with plates infused with veggies and herbs grown by the restaurant. It will include charcuterie from Jake’s Country Meats; Coriander’s fermented green tomatoes with goat cheese and tomato jam; Spanish…
Halloween comes early with the Monster’s Ball in Detroit
Monster’s Ball, one of Detroit’s largest annual Halloween parties, returns Saturday to the Russell Industrial Center. The celebration will feature DJs, stilt walkers, acrobats, illusionists, and stage performers on multiple levels and stages. The monster bash, which begins at 9 p.m., is expected to attract more than 2,000 costumed revelers. Cash bars and food trucks…
Jett Plastic Records celebrates a decade of rock ’n’ roll with this weekend’s Jettblast Fest
What were you doing when you were 14? Back in 2012, local music fan Jarrett Koral founded his own record label. In the decade since, Jett Plastic Recordings has made a splash by putting out more than 75 vinyl discs by local acts like Bootsey X and Kenny Tudrick and plenty of national ones, too,…
Taco John’s to debut metro Detroit location downriver
A Wyoming-based taco joint has its sights set on Monroe for its next location. Taco John’s is opening its fourth Michigan outpost at 424 N. Telegraph Rd. in Monroe on Monday, Oct. 23. It’s the chain’s first location in the metro Detroit area. Taco John’s expanded to Michigan earlier this year with locations in Hudsonville,…
Hometown Hero Delta 8 gummies experience
This content is sponsored by the Hometown Hero shop. Please consult with your doctor before purchasing CBD, THC, or HHC. This content is one person’s experience, and the same products can affect the reader differently. Hometown Hero is hemp company that guarantees freshness and has full availability in Michigan; that is where we have been…
Legacy of Detroit street artist Tead honored at Janice Charach Gallery’s ‘Emergence’
After Detroit street artist Jordan “Tead” Vaughn tragically died while painting a mural, his mom set up an artist residency in his honor. The TEAD One Memorial Artist in Residence Program has been offering artists three months of private studio space in Dearborn since 2021, and on Oct. 22, former cohorts will come together for…
JACK DANIEL’S MILITARY GIVEAWAY-
Jack Daniel’s has teamed up with the Detroit Lions to support Operation Ride Home and send 4 GRAND PRIZE winners to the “Military Appreciation Game”, at Ford Field on Sunday, November 19, where the Detroit Lions face their NFC North rivals the Chicago Bears! HOW TO ENTER: Scan the QR code to link to the…
Detroit director Nico Swan releasing first feature film ‘Hip Hop Clowns’ on Halloween
Detroit native Nico Swan has always had a passion for filmmaking, but now it’s time for the world to know. Whether you’ve discovered his content on TikTok or are just getting acquainted with his work, a brief encounter with Swan’s infectious energy is all it takes to leave a lasting impression and pique curiosity. At…
Samhain XXIII takes spookiness to a cosmic level, Halloween weekend
Got a Detroit music tip? Send it to music@metrotimes.com. Taking spookiness to a cosmic level: The Interdimensional Transmissions crew have been the preeminent techno party-throwers for the better part of two decades, and their annual Samhain party is a particular local favorite. The event is named for the Celtic holiday that Halloween spawns from, when,…
Speakeasy-style cocktail lounge Room 1904 opens above Jacoby’s
The upstairs space of Jacoby’s Bar in Detroit’s Bricktown neighborhood will soon open its doors to the public as a speakeasy-style cocktail lounge called Room 1904. The new spot will open to the public on Oct. 30 with an “evening of elegance and sophistication,” says a press release. The bar will offer limited seating and…
The Lip Bar is moving into a bigger flagship store in downtown Detroit
Detroit beauty brand The Lip Bar hasn’t stopped growing since Melissa Butler founded it in 2012. The Black-owned brand has its products in Target and CVS and is getting ready to move its flagship store to Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit. The Lip Bar opened its original flagship location in Parker’s Alley in Detroit in…
U of M’s Desti-Nations of Hip-Hop program looks at Detroit’s contributions to the genre
Since 2009, the University of Michigan’s Semester in Detroit program has been a vehicle to build healthy relationships between its students and the city of Detroit, where they live, learn, take internships, or simply communicate with community leaders and organizations. Part of the programing of this term’s program is a four-part series of presentations to…
Eastern Palace Club to host inaugural PhantaSea Fest inspired by the Key West’s Fantasy Fest
A sexy event is coming to metro Detroit, as Eastern Palace Club in Hazel Park has announced its inaugural PhantaSea Fest, inspired by Florida’s Fantasy Fest, New Orleans’ Mardi Gras, and Brazil’s Carnival. Opened in January, the club has already garnered a loyal group of consistent customers for their Key West-inspired beach bar concept in…
‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ movie knows its audience all too well
“Here’s to Champagne problems!” a 20-something brunette in a ball gown cheers, her voice as bubbly as her lifted flute. It’s opening night at Alamo Drafthouse for what bodes to be one of the biggest movies this fall — not a Spielberg thriller, Halloween horror flick, or Oscar-baiting period piece, but a film version of…
Norma G’s may be closed, but chef Lester Gouvia isn’t done cooking
We thought we had seen the last of Norma G’s when owner Lester Gouvia announced the Detroit restaurant’s closure at the end of August. But Gouvia has begun hosting pop-ups at the shuttered Eastside diner after stepping away from operating it full-time. On Thursday, Oct. 12, the chef opened the restaurant for takeout only (including…
Thanedar was a harsh critic of Israel before becoming an outspoken defender
U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar has emerged as one of the most vocal — and hypocritical — members of Congress to criticize fellow Democrats who have shown sympathy with Palestinians following Hamas’s attack on Israel. Thanedar, of Detroit, said he was renouncing his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America over its response to the conflict…
This Detroit cannabis club wants to take you to the opera while you’re high
For James Blaszko, one of the best things you can do while high is go to the opera. “Classical music is such a good pairing with cannabis,” Blaszko tells Metro Times. “[At an opera] these arias are like eight minutes long, so cannabis enables the suspension of time in a way that is so complimentary……
Growing neofascist group spreads hate in metro Detroit, trains to become ‘white warriors’
A Michigan-based neofascist group whose members are committed to becoming “white warriors” is increasing its presence in metro Detroit by holding mixed-martial arts training, burning anti-fascist flags, and spreading hateful propaganda in the form of banners, stickers, and graffiti. The Great Lakes Active Club is part of a growing network of white men spreading hateful…
Nora Chapa Mendoza is the first Latina to sign Scarab Club beams
The Scarab Club beams are like a passport to the art world signed by highly respected artists. The likes of Isamu Noguchi, Diego Rivera, Charles McGee, Marcel Duchamp, Leroy Foster, and Margaret Bourke-White have signed the ceiling and side beams of the art club’s second-floor lounge, which serve as a permanent guest book. But in…
Pressure Pack x Big Shifter (Lou Gram) Announce Thrilling New Cannabis Strain – “Zombie Hunter”
Detroit, MI – Michigan’s premier cannabis brand, Pressure Pack, is thrilled to announce the much-anticipated release of their new strain, “Zombie Hunter,” in collaboration with renowned East Side rap artist, Lou Gram, which will be available on Friday, October 13th at select retailers. Zombie Hunter, the product of this thrilling collaboration between Pressure Pack and…
City of Detroit repeatedly violates state law on public records
The city of Detroit has a transparency problem. In a little more than a year, the city has either ignored Metro Times’ Freedom of Information Act requests or taken months to respond, despite a state law that requires records to be produced within three weeks. In September 2022, reporter Eddie B. Allen Jr. requested records…
Lapointe: Rashida Tlaib under right-wing attack for defending Palestine
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the Democrat representing Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, fired back Wednesday at critics who have accused her of supporting the Hamas terrorists of Palestine for their murderous pogrom last weekend against Jews in Israel. Michigan Advance quoted Tlaib, who did not return a request for comment from Metro Times. “I do not…
Beloved for brunch, AlTayeb now serves dinner
Two years ago folks around here went nuts when the New York Times included AlTayeb in Dearborn on its list of the country’s 50 exciting restaurants. I was one of many who flocked there for “breakfast” — available until 4 p.m. — and loved it. The Dearborn store was actually the second AlTayeb, the first…
Detroit’s Black Bottom Archives is collecting oral histories of Paradise Valley descendants
We often talk about Black Bottom and Paradise Valley — Detroit’s bustling Black neighborhoods of the 1920s — as a thing of the past. But for the people over at Black Bottom Archives, that history still lives and breathes through the descendants of Black Detroiters who lived in those once-thriving neighborhoods. The organization is collecting…
Detroit’s old State Fairgrounds bandshell will finally find home in Palmer Park in 2024
The old Michigan State Fairgrounds bandshell was starting to feel like forgotten history. Not much has been said about the historic gem after it was saved from demolition following the City of Detroit’s decision to sell the site to Amazon to build a distribution center in 2020. Years after a plea to save the bandshell…
Feds ask for three months in prison for GOP ex-gov. candidate Ryan Kelley
Former Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley should get three months in prison for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors argued in a Tuesday night court filing. Prosecutors outlined Kelley’s actions throughout the day of Jan. 6 2021, and his subsequent social media posts that they say…
A German couple got married at a Michigan McDonald’s, for some reason
Congratulations to Mike and Kathi Haller, a newly married couple from Munich, Germany who celebrated their wedding at… a McDonald’s restaurant in Croswell, a small town in Michigan’s Thumb region. The couple and their 23 guests, most of which flew in from Germany, stopped by the McDonald’s between their wedding ceremony and reception on Sunday.…
Best WiFi Mesh Routers for Home
The best mesh WiFi systems provide uninterrupted network coverage for every nook and cranny of your home. Mesh routers consist of a main router and several nodes, also called satellites, that can be strategically placed to ensure maximum coverage. If yours is a larger area and your current single router isn’t cutting it, a whole…
SEIU nursing home workers strike in Westland
Dozens of workers chanting, “We’re fired up; we can’t take it no more!” and “No justice; no peace” rallied on Tuesday at Four Seasons Nursing home in Westland. The effort kicked off a series of strikes at three metro Detroit nursing homes representing nearly 250 workers organized by Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The labor…
Free Will Astrology (Oct. 11-17)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Indigenous Semai people of Malaysia have an unusual taboo. They try hard not to cause unhappiness in others. This makes them reluctant to impose their wishes on anyone. Even parents hesitate to force their children to do things. I recommend you experiment with this practice. Now is an excellent time…
Curtis Chin tells Detroit history with a side of Chinese food in new memoir
Most parents tell their children not to talk to strangers, but writer and filmmaker Curtis Chin’s parents gave him the opposite advice. Chin’s parents owned Cass Corridor’s famed Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine in the 1980s until it closed in 2000, and there was a never-ending supply of intriguing characters for the young American-born Chinese boy to…
An ode to the pepperoni roll purveyors of metro Detroit
Chowhound is a weekly column about what’s trending in Detroit food culture. Tips: eat@metrotimes.com. For starters, let this Dearborn boy make a clear distinction: Pizza rolls are freezer food manufactured by soulless mega-conglomerates as subsistence fodder for the populace feedbag; bite-sized, cardboard wonton-wrapped fritters piped with mush a pizza-eating mother bird might readily regurgitate for…
Jacquees and Nick LaVelle bring their ‘Sincerely For You’ tour to Detroit
Chart-topping crooner Jacquees’ Sincerely For You tour arrives Oct. 14, the week before Sweetest Day. The self-proclaimed “King of R&B” has been a Detroit fave since his 2017 platinum hit “At the Club” that featured rapper DeJ Loaf. Jacquees, a native of Decatur, Georgia, has fond memories of spending time in Detroit during those early…
