Seeing as how I haven’t given a White Stripes update in the last 10 minutes, I thought I’d clue y’all in on the “official word” of why Detroit’s duo du jour (and tomorrow too) didn’t play on “The Late Show with David Letterman” as scheduled Oct. 10. Everything was going good. They arrived on time in the unnatural wee hours of the morning, ran through the planned song three or four times, set the equipment up on rollers and Dave started the show with White Blood Cells in hand. But then about five minutes before Jack and Meg White were supposed to go on, someone came back to the green room to tell them that the interviews with Nathan Lane and Cokie Roberts had gone over and there was no time for them to play. Dave announced that the band wasn’t going to perform and there were a few shouts of “no!” from the audience, but the Stripes took it well and headed over to Swim for a few drinks. Guests get bumped about once a month and it had nothing to do with the band’s “up and coming” status. Oct. 29 is floating around as a possible rescheduled date, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Video stars
Jack and Meg are set to hit cable television as well. I hear that MTV2, the English equivalent of MTV2 and even MTV Israel have shown the duo’s “Hotel Yorba” video, but I’ve only seen it online. Check it out for yourself at www.playlouder.com/feature/644whitestripes. It’s cuter than Kool-Aid stains on your upper lip. Right now, they’re in the process of filming a video for “Fell in Love With a Girl” with Michel Gondry, a French director who has previously worked with Björk, Beck and Foo Fighters.
On top of all that, the White Stripes are scheduled to play two performances (free with museum admission) at 6:30 and 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2 as part of Marshall Field’s First Fridays at the Detroit Institute of Arts. If you stick around, you’ll also see glass-blowing demonstrations and a hands-on Mexican paper-cutting workshop.
Zoinks!
Do you know what you’re going to be for Halloween yet? So far, all I’ve got is Velma from Scooby Doo, but that’s gonna get old the second time I “lose my glasses.” Or maybe I’ll just pull out my cop sunglasses, tight jeans and leather jacket and be a “Detroit rock star” again. The best part of that costume is coming up with a different “local celebrity” every time someone asks who you are. The possibilities are endless.
I think the harder thing might be deciding where to go the weekend before the big day. Saturday, Oct. 27 is shaping up to be a busy one for all things Halloween-related. Indie Kids of the Damned, a dance party-costume ball wins for the best flier quotes: “Jackass Halloween activities like costume contests, bobbing for apples, bags of candy and apples with razor blades in them!” Or “Imagine the fun of watching Dracula discuss, argue and bitch about local music to a guy in a bear suit!” Mr. Gold Soundz (aka Eric Weir) will spin pop-rock from Built to Spill to Boston, as he does at his once-a-month Lager House DJ gig. Doors are at 10 p.m. and it’s three bucks to get in.
From 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 to 5 a.m. the following morning, Season of the Witch, A Halloween Odyssey wins for shoving almost 10 hours of scary fun into one night at 715 E. Milwaukee, Detroit. In addition to art displays, film screenings and burlesque and fetish performances, a whole lotta bands are scheduled to play. Demolition Dollrods, Paik, Hearing Trumpet, Maersk, the Witches, Wolfman Band and Dragstrippers are just a few. The annual Halloween party at Harpos with heavy-metal horror provided by Halloween takes place the same night (Oct. 27). And Oct. 31 brings the Ghoul to the Magic Stick, with performances from 3-D Invisibles and the Paybacks.
Or if you associate Halloween with crawling through small spaces, getting knocked around, making a mess and listening to painful music (and who doesn’t?), you probably already know about Princess Dragonmom’s Annual Haunted Tube. But did you know that this year it’s happening Oct. 26 at Holbrook Café in Hamtramck? It is. The Piranhas, the Ruiners, the Gepetto Files and movies from the Freak Shack will entertain pre- and post-tube.
E-mail your costume ideas so I can steal them to [email protected]
