Cover Stories
Husband-and-wife duo Adult. celebrate two decades of musical mischief at city airport fest
The world was a different place 20 years ago when visual artists, filmmakers, and married couple Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller formed Adult., Detroit’s musical pillar of fraught, austere, and caustic dance-punk. But today, with a growing and labyrinthian production of synthesizers, unbridled affection for discomfort, and a shared repulsion for all things EDM,…
Electronic music party promoters Paxahau head back into the warehouse for 20th anniversary
It all began in the ’90s, at 1217 Griswold St. — a building in Detroit’s Capitol Park that housed 10 sprawling lofts, making it the perfect breeding ground for art, music, and a healthy dose of hedonism. At the time, many of the city’s budding electronic music promoters inhabited the space, each floor dedicated to…
Tyree Guyton’s polka-dotted Heidelberg Project career enters its next phase
In the case of Tyree Guyton, one gets the sense that the artist might see time as a flat circle. At the very least, he certainly believes in the power of a flat circle. Guyton’s career started in 1986, when he began painting pastel polka dots on his grandfather’s house on Heidelberg Street in Detroit’s…
Modern country crooner Joshua Hedley brings Nashville to Third Man Records
The bastardization of country music is an epidemic and it’s gone on far too long. Thankfully, Nashville newbie and quick country staple Joshua Hedley is the antidote. Hedley, who released his debut record Mr. Jukebox on Third Man Records earlier this year, rejects the term throwback and has said that “something can’t be a throwback…
DIA hosts free festival celebrating Taiwan ahead of Asian gallery expansion
On any given day the Detroit Institute of Art is transportive. In a series of special events leading up to the museum’s unveiling of its newly expanded Asian art galleries in November, the DIA will host a free two-day Taiwan festival to give gallery-goers another stamp in their passport. The festival will include film screenings,…
Art show at N’Namdi Center returns power to refugees
America is a country of immigrants. This is irrefutable. While the followers of the “orange persuasion” are calling for stronger borders, the voices of immigrants and refugees are growing louder. After spending years conducting “creative interventions” with refugee youth, Michigan native Biba Sheikh returns to Detroit with her inaugural exhibition “Mitli Mitlak (Like You, Like…
Predatory towing? Detroit McDonald’s customers say they’ve been scammed
This story was updated at 1:47 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 12 with comment from McDonald’s. On an almost daily basis, we at the Metro Times observe some poor soul’s vehicle being towed from the Midtown Detroit McDonald’s, thanks to our bird’s-eye view of its parking lot. We assumed that the cars were just illegally parked,…
Great American Lobster Fest is exactly what it sounds like and it’s coming to Detroit
Get your claws out, because the Great American Lobster Fest is here. The largest lobster and seafood festival in the midwest, the GALF makes its Detroit debut after a successful five-year run in Chicago. Live lobster will be flown fresh from the East Coast and will be stuffed in everything from rolls, fries, and tacos,…
Northern Michigan saw the aurora borealis last night, viewings possible tonight
People venture far and wide to see the northern lights, planning vacations or bearing freezing temperatures along the way, but Michiganders in the northern part of the state were lucky enough to see them in their own backyards last night. Roman Kahler, a photographer who has led Aurora tours in Finland, Norway and Sweden, captured…
Detroit salon burglarized of tens of thousands of dollars worth of wigs
Detroit’s wig enthusiasts might be a little worse off after a bizarre burglary last week. A thief broke into Giovonni Hair Company at McNichols and Outer Drive and left with 40 women’s wigs made from human hair. What would a thief want with 40 wigs? Well, these wigs come with a hefty price tag. A whopping…
Interpol brings ‘Marauder’ to Royal Oak Music Theatre
Nothing calls to mind the sweet age of indie rock quite like the musical stylings of Interpol, who first formally shimmied into our hearts with their 2002 debut Turn on the Bright Lights. Since then, the New York trio, fronted by Paul Banks, has not strayed far from their early 2000’s post-punk sound. A follow-up…
Postpartum and behind bars, Siwatu-Salama Ra ‘yearns for her children’
(Ed Note: Read today’s story on Siwatu-Salama Ra’s appeal here.) As the gears slowly grind on her appeal, Siwatu-Salama Ra waits in the Huron Valley Correctional Facility women’s prison. Her mom, Rhonda Anderson, tells Metro Times that Ra in May gave birth to her son, Zakai Siklar Ra Muhammad, while in Michigan Department of Corrections’ custody.…
Detroit activist Siwatu-Salama Ra appeals questionable gun, assault conviction
(Ed. note: Read today’s story on Siwatu-Salama Ra, her baby, and her family here.) An attorney for Siwatu-Salama Ra — the young Detroit community organizer sentenced to prison after a questionable conviction for an assault charge involving a firearm — has filed an appeal of her two-year sentence. The appeal contends that Wayne County Circuit…
Emails show state staff helping Schuette conduct personal business (again)
Attorney General Bill Schuette used state staff to promote or make arrangements for his 2015 book tour, emails obtained by Metro Times suggest. The newly surfaced emails are the latest indication that Schuette may have used public employees — whose salaries are funded by taxpayers — to perform personal or political business on his behalf.…
Ann Coulter goes on Twitter tirade over disabled Detroit immigrant facing deportation
Snakey-shit-that-just-won’t-flush Ann Coulter is at it again with the internet bullying. No, this time her target du jour is not the Jewish diaspora (Happy Rosh Hashanah, y’all) or women who dare exit the kitchen to protect the public. Rather, it’s a disabled Nigerian man who’s lived in Detroit for decades and is suddenly facing deportation.…
Aretha Franklin to be celebrated in tribute video at tonight’s Lions’ season opener
It was almost two years ago that Aretha Franklin, in typical fashion, brought down the house at Ford Field with her jaw-dropping rendition of the national anthem at the 2016 Thanksgiving Day game between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. Franklin’s voice dominated the field to such a degree that analysts even chalked her into…
Geomagnetic storm could bring Northern Lights to Michigan as early as tonight
The collision of electrically charged molecules that send particles of plasma hurtling from the sun towards earth may sound terrifying, but hey, it sure looks pretty. The U.S. government’s space weather bureau, the Space Weather Prediction Center, which really could have been named something much more exciting, has issued a “moderate” geomagnetic storm watch beginning…
Schuette’s running mate suffered ‘total loss’ in house fire
I’m so sorry to see this and am glad the Lyons family is ok https://t.co/xbUJ3kWk4S — Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) September 9, 2018 Over the weekend, Republican gubernatorial running mate Linda Posthumus Lyons suffered the devastating loss of her family home. According to the official Lisa Posthumus Lyons Twitter account, the incident occurred on Sunday with…
‘Rick And Morty’ fans can visit the Rickmobile in Michigan
If you find yourself living by the gospel of animated mad scientist Rick Sanchez, then paying a visit to the “Rickmobile” might be akin to some sort of twisted, belching mecca. While many fans of Adult Swim’s Emmy Award-winning series Rick And Morty have proven themselves to be toxic after launching abusive campaigns aimed at…
Schuette’s latest attack ad uses images from Whitmer’s sexual assault story
Bill Schuette knows that the race for governor is ramping up, which means that now is the time for low-blow campaign tactics ahead of the November election. In his latest attack ad against Democratic candidate Gretchen Whitmer, the Republican candidate’s rhetoric positions Whitmer-Gilchrist as being the “Most left-wing ticket in Michigan history.” Dripping in propaganda,…
Zeke’s Rock & Roll BBQ in Ferndale closes this week
Zeke’s Rock & Roll BBQ in downtown Ferndale will close on September 13 after more than three years in business. The restaurant made the announcement on Facebook, stating, “It is with a heavy heart that we announce Zeke’s will be closed permanently beginning September 13th, 2018. These past few years have been nothing short of…
Why Republicans want to ban straight-ticket voting in Michigan’s November election
Straight-ticket voting has been around in Michigan for more than 126 years. But Republicans in the Michigan legislature changed all that in 2016, drafting a law that was signed by Governor Rick Snyder to abolish the practice. From then on, it’s been a fight mostly between Democrats and Republicans to get the old voting strategy back…
Latest Trump tweet shows he doesn’t understand the Ford Focus
President Donald Trump started Sunday with another one of his Twitter storms. Among the topics he weighed in on were Barack Obama, the economy, the NFL, and North Korea. He also tweeted about last month’s news that Ford scrapped its plans to import the Chinese-made Focus Active to the U.S. due to his proposed 25…
Celebration of life planned for Motown Funk Brother Eddie Willis in Detroit on Saturday
Eddie “Chank” Willis, one of the original Motown Funk Brothers, died on Monday at age 82. A celebration of his life is planned for Saturday, Sept. 8 at Detroit’s Northern Lights Lounge. Music starts at 8 p.m. and is set to feature members of the Funk Brothers’ touring band including Ralphe Armstrong, Carolyn Crawford, Delbert…
Detroit vegan taco truck owner harassed after restaurant refuses to serve cops
Rocky Coronado is the owner of a vegan taco and coffee truck in Southwest Detroit called Rocky’s Road Brew. Coronado’s truck has a unique policy in place — it doesn’t serve law enforcement. That includes the Detroit Police Department, ICE, Department of Homeland Security, etc. Unsurprisingly, that’s leading to trouble. Coronado, who identifies as “a…
Ann Arbor joins the Bird electric scooter craze
The electric scooter ridesharing craze has reached Ann Arbor. On Friday morning, Ann Arbor tweeters reported spotting Bird scooters around the U-M campus. Some had business cards attached offering a free ride with a voucher code. Bird electric scooters are in Ann Arbor. https://t.co/1jOg8375dE pic.twitter.com/qNgAN31YfT — Damn Arbor (@damnarbor) September 7, 2018 @BirdRide must’ve launched around…
Michigan teen shows why you shouldn’t joke about shooting up your school
A teenager from Linden High School wants other kids to know that joking about shooting up your school is no laughing matter. Earlier this year, Jordan Asbury, 16, wrote “I’m going to shoot up the school” on a desk in biology class. He wrote it on Feb. 20 — just days after the Feb. 14 massacre…
Royce da 5’9″ and Dej Loaf are performing a free show in Detroit and Wu-Tang is involved
It was announced Friday morning that two of Detroit’s favorite hip-hop voices are teaming up for a free performance, and apparently, Wu-Tang Clan will be there in spirit. Longtime rapper Royce da 5’9″ and the reluctant, on-the-rise star Dej Loaf will be joined by DJ House Shoes for “The Only On Earth Event” at the…
This is not a drill: Cher is coming to Detroit
“Do you believe in life after love?” Fuck yes we do and more than that we believe in Cher and Cher is coming to Detroit. Take our money. Following her performance as Meryl Streep’s mom (wait, what?) in this year’s Mamma Mia sequel, Cher announced her “Here We Go Again Tour” in support of her…
Greta Van Fleet announce debut album details, release date, and new song
When Metro Times last spoke with Frankenmuth retro-rock brethren Greta Van Fleet, they were procrastinating in Al Sutton’s Rustbelt Studios in Royal Oak just hours before embarking on an ambitious European tour. When asked if they were done recording their debut album, the answer was a resounding “not yet.” Well, the wait is over. And…
Emagine Theatres to screen every Harry Potter movie
Expecto Patronum! Dammit. Accused abuser Johnny Depp hasn’t been recast in the latest installment of the Wizarding World series, but metro Detroit Harry Potter fans have reason to celebrate. Repeat after us: “Harry Potter Month-athon.” Starting Saturday, Sept. 8 Emagine Entertainment Theatres in Canton, Royal Oak, and Rochester Hills will screen each of the seven Harry Potter films …
Insane Clown Posse added to Midwest Cannabis Cup lineup
The Midwest Cannabis Cup just got some clown love. On Thursday it was announced that rap duo Insane Clown Posse would join the bill of musical performances for High Times’ annual ode to all things herb set for this weekend. ICP joins a hip-hop heavy bill that also includes Nas, Trick Trick, Willy J Peso,…
That meteor from January left behind clues to help scientists find more like it
When a bright ball of light streaked across the night sky over Detroit in January, many residents were thankful just to have witnessed something so spellbinding. “I survived the Michigan meteor of 2018. Thank you for your support during these difficult and scary times,” read one tweet liked over 1,000 times. The Michigan meteor even…
Poolside talks Derrick May, Underground Resistance ahead of Detroit performance
For California-based producer and DJ, Jeffrey Paradise, the easy breezy sounds of Poolside have much more nuanced influences than fans might initially hear. With a “record store mentality,” Jeffrey formed Poolside in 2006 as a side project which found inspiration in everything from Neil Young to acid house. The name Poolside was conjured from the…
Detroit Frita Batidos location announced
As previously reported, Ann Arbor’s popular Cuban-inspired Frita Batidos will expand to Detroit. We now know exactly where. According to a press release issued today, the restaurant will be located at the Columbia Street promenade between the Fox Theatre and Little Caesars headquarters. The 2,400-square-feet restaurant will be part of Olympia’s “District Detroit” developments around Little Caesars Arena. “I’ve…
Metro Detroit woman among dozens arrested in Kavanaugh protests
The last two and a half days of hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh have been repeatedly punctuated by the shouts and subsequent arrest of protesters who view his possible confirmation as a national emergency. From Tuesday through Wednesday, 73 people were arrested for making their voices heard. One of them was Stephanie Kenner,…
Report: Snyder won’t be endorsing Bill Schuette for Michigan governor
So much for party unity. It appears Governor Rick Snyder’s endorsement of Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Schuette will never come. Snyder did not immediately endorse Schuette after he won last month’s primary over Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley, but there was a chance he might have come around before Nov. 6. Now, WZZM reports that’s not…
Here’s what Michigan’s recreational marijuana proposal will look like on your Nov. 6 ballot
On Thursday, the state Board of Canvassers approved the language for the marijuana legalization proposal that will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot in Michigan. Here’s what it says: “A proposed initiated law to authorize and legalize possession, use and cultivation of marijuana products by individuals who are at least 21 years of age and…
Schuette takes hard line on immigration in new campaign ad
Attorney General Bill Schuette has made immigration a cornerstone in his campaign for governor as he increasingly mirrors President Donald Trump. In a new attack ad against Gretchen Whitmer, the Republican portrays his opponent as permissive of illegal immigration and in favor of getting rid of Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (or the agency known…
Detroit police shot twice as many dogs as Chicago police in 2017
A version of this story was originally published by Reason magazine and Reason.com. It is reprinted here with permission. C.J. Ciaramella is a criminal justice reporter at Reason. Detroit police officers shot 54 dogs last year, according to public records obtained by Reason. That’s a marked increase over the number reported by the department in…
Detroit artists auction works to support the Youth Arts Alliance
When Hollywood was 15, she was placed in juvenile detention in Washtenaw County for armed robbery. When asked how she wound up as a criminal at such a young age, she cites the circumstances of her upbringing: being raised by a single mother working three jobs, and peer pressure. “It was kind of like being…
Save the date: Metro Times’ oyster-tasting event Shuck Yeah! returns Sept. 30
Last year, Metro Times threw Shuck Yeah!, our inaugural oyster-tasting event at the Roostertail. This year the sophomorically named event returns on Sunday, Sept. 30, this time for a three-venue takeover at Ferndale’s Woodward Avenue Brewers, the Loving Touch, and the WAB’s attached Port bar. Tickets are $35 and include six drinks and six oysters, plus…
Michigan Republicans derail $12 minimum wage, paid sick leave proposals
Updated at 7:37 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5: The Republican-led Michigan House has now also adopted a pair of citizen-led initiatives that would raise the minimum wage to $12 and require employers to offer paid sick leave to their workers. The Detroit News reports that an attorney with the One Fair Wage ballot committee, former Michigan…
Even Michigan cops don’t like Bill Schuette
When you’re the state’s top cop, and you’re running to be the state’s top dog, you might expect the state’s largest independent police organization to endorse you. Yet that is not the case for Republican Bill Schuette. The Michigan Association of Police Organizations has passed over the attorney general in favor of Democrat gubernatorial candidate…
Kellogg’s Honey Smacks linked to salmonella outbreak
Throw away your Kellogg’s Honey Smacks. That’s the warning from both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which are continuing to advise consumers “not to eat and discard any Kellogg’s Honey Smack cereal” as part of an ongoing national salmonella outbreak. Since March, more than 100 people have…
Bill Schuette backs Exxon Mobil appeal that calls climate change ‘unsettled science’
Bill Schuette, Michigan Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate, isn’t sold on climate change. In a recent amicus brief signed on Aug. 10, Schuette and 11 other Republicans put their weight behind oil giant Exxon Mobil in the United States Court Appeals for the Second Circuit to contest the validity of a civil investigative demand…
PETA wants Aretha Franklin’s fur coat collection
When Aretha Franklin slid out of her full-length cocoa-colored fur coat mid-performance during the Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony in 2015, she likely had no idea her thematic gesture would be immortalized in a viral GIF that would go down as a definitive moment in diva history known simply as “the fur coat drop.” That fashion hallmark,…
Hamtramck to get massive Detroit City Football Club mural
Detroit City Football Club fans heading to Keyworth Stadium for matches next season will have their path brightened by a new mural honoring the team. Muralist Kyle Danley began working on a DCFC and Spirit of Detroit-themed mural today and plans to complete it within a week. It’s located on a loft building a couple…
Detroit sees 29 percent increase in 90-degree days since 1968
It was a hot one in Detroit this summer. And it’s likely getting hotter in the coming years, according to a new interactive feature by the New York Times. The feature lets you compare how many days, on average, cities across the U.S. could expect to see temperatures of 90 degrees or more in the year…
Eminem beats a dead horse with ‘Fall’ video
Without excessive promotion in the form of wheat-pasted buildings, sike-out pharmaceutical advertisements, or spaghetti pop-up’s, Eminem’s tenth record Kamikaze is set to break records according to CNN, stating that it is on pace to take the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 charts. Less than a week from Kamikaze’s unannounced release the 45-year-old rapper dropped a visual…
Savage Love: ‘I don’t get cuckolding’
Q: I’m a cis woman in my mid-40s, and my significant other has a cuckolding fetish. My first response was “Oh, hell no!” But if I’m willing to have a threesome, how much further of a stretch is it, really? He does have some experience with this varsity-level kink, so he knows what to expect.…
Horoscopes (Sept. 5-11)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 Don’t assume that more is better. If you’re suffering from a lack of stuff, work, love, time, or attention, how can you make the most of what you’ve got? The truth is we always have everything we need. If you look around you will see that it’s all here…
OK Michigan, let’s treat marijuana like alcohol
Marijuana and alcohol are headed for a showdown despite a temporary courtship brought on by the idea of regulating marijuana like alcohol. It’s an easy though not particularly exact comparison. In a campaign to legalize and de-stigmatize marijuana, making the comparison to something familiar and legal (alcohol) can be helpful. The idea of regulating marijuana…
‘Drag Race’ superstar Asia O’Hara tells us how to live our queenliest life
When Asia O’Hara went wig-to-wig with fellow RuPaul’s Drag Race finalist Kameron Michaels during a lip-sync battle set to Janet Jackson’s “Nasty,” she had a risky trick up her sleeves — and bra — that ultimately forced the 35-year-old Texas queen to sashay into fourth place. The stunt, which has been called everything from an…
Review: Bowl by bowl through Detroit’s Urban Ramen
It’s rare to consistently see lines forming outside of a Detroit restaurant, and the last time it happened here, it happened at an out-of-town burger chain, which I found not to be worth the hype. So when on a daily basis a line began snaking down Woodward outside of Urban Ramen, Midtown’s new ramen shop, I…
How to be a fan of the Detroit Lions, one of the worst teams in the NFL
Two guys from Michigan die and go to hell. They don’t mind it too much — it’s a nice change of pace from the winter weather they were experiencing at the time. The Devil, bothered by their jubilance, decides to turn the heat up. It doesn’t work; they’re still enjoying their barbecue. The Devil keeps…
