Cover Stories
Crofoot’s Creepy Cheapy bash expands to two killer nights
Just as many classic horror film franchises started off low-budget before they grew into blockbuster proportions, the same can be said, in a way, for the Crofoot’s Creepy Cheapy Halloween party — which is now one of the area’s most enthusiastically anticipated concert-costume party hybrid events. Back in 2008, the first installment was concentrated inside…
Cosplay heaven Youmacon returns to Detroit
Halloween may come but once a year, but for many people dressing up in elaborate costumes is a way of life — and many of them will be in attendance at one of the largest cosplay conventions in the country. Youmacon, which debuted in 2005 at the Troy Hilton with a little more than 1,000…
The Monster’s Ball might be Detroit’s sexiest Halloween bash
The “Monster Mash” is for kids. The 2001 film Monster’s Ball starring Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry is for, uh, the Academy. And then there’s the Monster’s Ball at the Fillmore, which is back with round-the-clock entertainment as the sexiest Halloween bash in town. Monster’s Ball will host a slew of dazzling stilt walkers,…
You can celebrate Halloween the most Juggalo way possible at Hallowicked
Earlier this year it was discovered that Juggalo makeup may thwart public surveillance and facial recognition software. What better way to stick it to the man than to celebrate Halloween in true Juggalo fashion? (Whoop whoop!) Entering its 26th year, Insane Clown Posse returns to Detroit to throw the stickiest, wickedest Halloween party around. What…
Detroit 2019 Halloween party guide
All dressed up and nowhere to go? Have no fear, we’ve got you covered. Check back for updates. Parties House of Trash Checker Bar, 124 Cadillac Square, Detroit; 313-961-9249 Wednesday, Oct. 23, 6 p.m.; No cover. 80s & 90s Pop Icons Costume Party Boogie Fever Cafe & Disco, 22901 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248-541-1600; boogieferndale.com Friday,…
Detroit’s ‘Damned’ exhibition offers three days of art, performances, and absinthe
If you missed out on this year’s Theatre Bizarre, worry not, little demon, there’s another immersive and tantalizing circus coming to town to satiate your darkest desires. The 12th annual Damned exhibition offers three days of art, performances, and absinthe. Thursday kicks off with a primal introspective, followed by Friday’s lineup, which is described as…
Each Halloween, a two-and-a-half block in Romeo goes all-out with Terror on Tillson Street
In the weeks leading up to Halloween, it seems as though everyone has a favorite haunted attraction. But tucked away in Romeo, a handful of residents come together to create their very own scare-inducing sights right on their own front lawn. Every year, the homeowners on Tillson Street band together to create Terror on Tillson…
Why Ann Arbor’s longstanding The Bang! dance party must die
When artists Jeremy Wheeler and Jason Gibner first started their cassette tape-fueled dance party, The Bang!, nearly 20 years ago, Wheeler says it was more about convenience than trying to be retro or cool. The two had just moved to Ann Arbor from Grand Rapids, and quickly took to the city’s house party scene. “We…
Doom metal pioneers Pentagram will stop at the Sanctuary in Hamtramck
Unfortunately, it seems like it’s always one step forward and two steps back with heavy metal icons Pentagram. Founded some 50 years ago in northern Virginia, the band earned a cult following thanks to its pioneering of a druggy, sludgy sound that would eventually be known as doom metal. The band eventually fizzled out due…
The unsinkable legend, Celine Dion, will grace us with first metro Detroit concert in 11 years
Near, far, wherever you are, a Celine Dion ballad is probably playing, because she’s an unsinkable French-Canadian hit-making powerhouse whose heart and incredible show-womanship will go on and on. The incomparable 51-year-old diva is closing the book on a massive record-breaking 16-year residency in Las Vegas, which was arranged by her late husband and longtime…
Big Freedia brings New Orleans Bounce to Detroit’s Saint Andrew’s Hall with Low Cut Connie
One nation, under azz: Booty-shaking icon and queen of New Orleans Bounce Big Freedia is twerking through the Motor City. For the unenlightened, Big Freedia is, well, kind of a big deal. Earlier this year, the 41-year-old New Orleans-based queer icon landed a Billboard magazine cover with fellow LGBTQ+ trailblazers Adam Lambert, Hayley Kiyoko, and…
Rock icons Sleater-Kinney head to Detroit’s Majestic Theatre — without longtime drummer
When longtime Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss announced she was splitting from the band, weeks before the release of its St. Vincent-produced ninth studio album, The Center Won’t Hold, citing its “new direction,” it seemed to spell trouble for the rock ’n’ roll icons. Weiss’s drumming had become every bit a part of the Pacific Northwest…
‘Washington Post’ editor Steve Luxenberg brings history of Plessy v. Ferguson to Detroit Public Library
In Steve Luxenberg’s latest book, the award-winning author and associate editor at The Washington Post examines the landmark 1896 case which led to the implementation of oppressive Jim Crow legislation. Described by The New York Times as an “elegant history” of the country’s path from emancipation to segregation, Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson,…
One-man orchestra Dixon’s Violin brings transportive soundscapes to Ferndale
Do not underestimate the power of a man and his violin. Dixon, who first picked up the violin at 10 and maintained the hobby for 25 years, encountered an existential crossroads after feeling trapped in his corporate career. That is until he, like others, wandered to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to attend Burning…
Michigan native Jesse Palter to bring jazz-pop balladry to Detroit’s Willis Show Bar
West Bloomfield-native and singer-songwriter Jesse Palter found herself severing some ties this year with the release of her debut full-length solo record, Paper Trail, which took more than three years to materialize and serves as her formal transition from classic jazz to pop balladry. She’s written music since the age of 13, with a handful…
Detroit’s Anna Burch heads to Detroit’s Deluxx Fluxx with Amy O and Advance Base
Since releasing her stunning and heartache-y debut, 2018’s Quit the Curse, Anna Burch has taken her wry musings on closeness on the road and around the globe. At the time of its release, Burch separated from her membership in Matthew Milia-fronted folk mainstay Frontier Ruckus and signed to Polyvinyl, a label she shares with Xiu…
Goat Boy and comedian Jim Breuer will bring PG-13 humor to Detroit’s Sound Board
Comedian Jim Breuer is cleaning up his act. The self-proclaimed “world’s biggest Metallica fan,” a former Saturday Night Live cast member, and the squinty-eyed munchy-listing dude from Dave Chappelle’s stoner cult comedy, Half Baked, Breuer is taking the path less traveled for the latest incarnation of his stand-up aesthetic. He’s done swearing. That’s right, no…
LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy is coming to Detroit to DJ
James Murphy is many things: frontman of indie rock darlings LCD Soundsystem, restaurateur, and unfortunate doppelgänger of the former chief strategist to President Donald Trump and Breitbart brat, Steve Bannon. But most importantly, an appearance by Murphy guarantees one thing: You’re going to dance yourself clean. The last time Murphy passed through Detroit, it was…
Talking Heads’ ‘Stop Making Sense’ returns to Detroit Film Theatre for 35th anniversary screenings
Arguably the greatest concert film ever made and, by some analysis, what could serve as the blueprint for the anti-concert concert film, Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense is 88 minutes of high art. Demme filmed the David Byrne-fronted Talking Heads over a four-night run in Hollywood in support of the band’s stunning fifth record, Speaking…
House Democrats introduce plan to repeal abortion ban with Whitmer’s support
With the support of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan House Democrats announced on Tuesday that they will introduce a plan to protect abortion access for women in Michigan by repealing abortion restrictions. The plan, called the Reproductive Health Care Act, consists of several bills that propose to repeal a 1931 abortion ban law, lift a 24-hour…
It’s 4:20 in America
There’s so much going on with marijuana these days that it’s hard to keep track of it all. The entire continent of North America just keeps moving closer and closer to becoming a legal marijuana zone. All of the major Democratic presidential candidates support some kind of marijuana law reform, and last week — at…
Dan Gilbert’s organization calls tax break story fake news
Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert’s Rock Family of Companies is on the defensive after ProPublica published a bombshell investigation that found swaths of downtown Detroit, a high concentration of wealth where Gilbert owns dozens of buildings, got an “opportunity zone” tax break meant to help spur development in impoverished areas after it donated to President…
Why recreational marijuana likely won’t be available for sale until spring
Stoners, just a little more patience. Recreational marijuana, which was approved by Michigan voters nearly a year ago, likely won’t be available for sale until March or April. There was hope that recreational sales would begin later this year, but doing so would come at the expense of medical marijuana users, according to the Michigan…
Detroit City Council to weigh Duggan’s $250M plan to eliminate neighborhood blight
Detroit City Council may decide as early as Tuesday whether to approve a ballot initiative that would ask voters to support a $250 million bond proposal to help eliminate the remaining blight in the city’s neighborhoods. Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration is expected to present its proposal at the 9 a.m. council meeting. Under the plan,…
Michigan potash mine opponents vow to continue fight
Despite a legal setback, opponents of a proposed potash mine in Hersey, Mich., say they’re not backing down. The group Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation filed a legal challenge to permits issued by the Department of Environmental Quality for potash mining wells in Osceola County. Related More than a year later, and just days before the scheduled…
Oh, good. Comedian and serial jerker Louis C.K. quietly announces metro Detroit dates amid #MeToo allegations
The latest comeback nobody asked for is that of comedian Louis C.K., who is quietly rolling out tour dates without a social media presence after being publicly accused of masturbating in front of female writers and comics. In an email sent to fans, C.K. announced the details of a 14-city international tour, which will kick off…
Jack White explains why Bernie Sanders gets his rare political endorsement at Detroit rally
Though Jack White’s songs have occasionally touched on political topics — his former band the White Stripes blasted corporate greed on “The Big Three Killed My Baby” and the hypocrisy of the United States’ immigration policy on “Icky Thump” — the rock star has largely stayed out of electoral politics. But White made a rare…
‘Parasite’ is a wickedly sharp black comedy about class
Parasite Rated: R Run-time: 132 minutes The line between comedy and horror is as thin as the edge of a chef’s knife in Parasite, South Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s (The Host) wickedly clever and extraordinarily sharp new thriller — a lacerating satire of the endless class war between the comfortable and desperate, which cuts…
Jack White joining Rep. Rashida Tlaib at Detroit rally for Sen. Bernie Sanders
Rock star and former White Stripes frontman Jack White will join U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib at a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday. White, who was born in Detroit and graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1993, will perform a set before speeches from Sanders and Tlaib. Detroit-area activists and…
Ferndale’s Catfé Lounge announces paw-some expansion to allow for retail and more cats
One of Ferndale’s furriest cafes is getting an upgrade, and it’s the cat’s meow. Serving as metro Detroit’s only cat cafe, Ferndale’s Catfé Lounge has recently made its way into a new space on 817 Livernois St., making room for more coffee, snacks, and most importantly, more cats. Now taking up the building adjacent to the…
Bernie Sanders unveils plan to legalize marijuana
Most folks know that 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders favors marijuana legalization. On Thursday, at 4:20 p.m., he unrolled details of his plan on how to do it. Sanders’ plan not only ends marijuana prohibition, it’s something of a Marshall Plan for people and communities devastated by the “war on marijuana.”…
Dan Gilbert got a tax break meant for the poor after donating to Trump
In 2015, when his presidency was just a fever dream, then-candidate Donald Trump pointed out, astutely, that big business buys off politicians. Trump would know. He openly admitted that he did it. “As a businessman and a very substantial donor to very important people, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them…
Detroit’s Hammer & Nail bar hits it on the head
I didn’t know I needed a Pink Squirrel in my life until someone handed me one last week. The last time I’d tasted one was the disastrous result of my grandparents’ liquor cabinet, a bunch of broke college students, and a copy of Old Mr. Boston Official Bartenders Guide. This one was significantly better. And…
Kroger to host Drug Take Back events in Michigan on Saturday
According to a 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, people who have access to drugs not prescribed to them often retrieve them from the medicine cabinets of family and friends. To help reduce access to unused and expired medications, Kroger and the Cardinal Health Foundation will host Drug Take Back events at over…
Documents reveal Eminem was actually visited by Secret Service for anti-Trump lyrics
Sometimes life imitates art — while other times life inspires art because the fucking United States Secret Service heard a rap song thanks to a concerned TMZ staffer. When Detroit-born rapper Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, unexpectedly dropped his 10th studio record Kamikaze in August of last year, it was made clear that no one was…
Waterford Township cop charged with sexual assault, but authorities mum about case
A Waterford Township cop has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct, but authorities aren’t saying much about what happened. Officer Kevin Thompson, 29, was placed on unpaid administrative leave in late May after township officials learned he had been charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony punishable by up to 15…
Lizzo responds to accusations that she plagiarized ‘Truth Hurts,’ files lawsuit
Since landing her 2017 sleeper hit “Truth Hurts” on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for a record-breaking seven-weeks — which is on pace to become the longest-charting No. 1 by a female rapper — Detroit-born superstar Lizzo has found herself embroiled in controversy regarding the song’s opening line and the year’s most viral lyric. As of…
Wayne State University offers free tuition to Detroit high school graduates, others starting in 2020
Students graduating from high school in fall 2020 and beyond can now get free tuition from Wayne State University, so long as they graduated from a Detroit high school or are a Detroit resident that earned a high school diploma. Wayne State President Roy Wilson made the announcement about the Heart of Detroit Tuition Pledge…
Lawsuit claims white Detroit cop demoted because of his race following viral Snapchat video
Former Detroit police captain Gary Sroka is the subject of a recent federal lawsuit and is one of four commanding officers found to have exhibited “a lack of management, awareness, and action” regarding racial insensitivity within the precinct. Sroka, who is white, claims in an 11-page lawsuit obtained by The Detroit News that actions taken against him were…
Rep. Rashida Tlaib to rally with Bernie Sanders in Detroit on Sunday
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib will join presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders at a rally in Detroit on Sunday. “At the rally, Sanders and Tlaib will be joined by local leaders and activists fighting for economic and environmental justice,” Sanders’ campaign says. Tlaib is expected to announce her endorsement of Sanders as he tries to gain…
Chelsea Wolfe on meditation, yoga, and avoiding burnout as an indie musician
Categorizing Chelsea Wolfe’s music isn’t easy — a combination of elements of goth, electronica, metal (both black and heavy), country, industrial, and folk. The 36-year-old made a name for herself covering black metal progenitor Burzum’s “Spell of Destruction” in 2010, and since then she’s released seven studio albums, including her latest acoustic effort, September’s Birth…
Savage Love: How do two sluts find peace?
I am a guy in my 40s, handsome, more financially successful than most, and a classic sexual scoundrel. I cheated on my ex-wife and every girlfriend I’ve ever had. I’m currently dating a woman in her 20s. We are both each other’s ideal type. She has as scandalous a past as I do but has…
Photojournalist Linda Solomon shares intimate portraits of Aretha Franklin in new book
Sabrina Vonne’ Owens doesn’t remember the exact moment she was introduced to photojournalist Linda Solomon, but she estimates it was when her son LaRon, now an adult, was around 5 years old. “She just seems to have always been there, quietly and unobtrusively in the background, capturing images of my family,” Owens writes in the…
Horoscopes (Oct. 23-29)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20: This may be a test, but you have so much going for you it doesn’t even matter; all you need to do is keep steering the course and watch out for anything that no longer serves your higher purpose. That’s all everything comes down to. Building to a climax…
Under new management, Detroit’s Discount Candles is blazing a new chapter
Discount Candles manager and co-owner Star Gazer wants to debunk a common superstition: black cats are not a sign of bad luck to come. “It’s not true at all,” she says. “You have bad cats and bad dogs. Black cats are really good luck. All cats are good.” Gazer points to three cat-shaped candles ablaze…
Hunter Biden’s perfectly legal swim in oligarchical sleaze
I’ve never thought Joe Biden would be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. He’s too old, too moderate, too generic, too white. He only inspires Beltway pundits (and Onion writers) and few others. He gets by on Barack Obama’s halo. And he’s competitive because the progressive wing is still split between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.…
Ferndale’s GreenSpace Cafe enters a season of change
Metro Detroit is cementing its place among the top regions for vegan cuisine, and Ferndale’s GreenSpace Cafe is among the focal points of the local vegan industry. However, it’s not the same GreenSpace that it was a few years ago, and it’s not going to be the same GreenSpace for long. The Kahn family that…
Why Esham’s ‘acid rap’ is still vital
When you think about the pioneers of Detroit hip-hop, no one quite compares to Esham A. Smith. As Esham, the then-16 year-old rapper released his iconic first album, Boomin Words From Hell, in 1989 under his Reel Life Productions imprint, at the depths of Detroit’s crack epidemic. A fusion of hip-hop and rock, with lyrics…
