Turning into a Grammy-winning festival juggernaut has its obvious perks — at this stage in their career, Arcade Fire have nothing to prove and nothing to lose. Like their latest album, 2013′s Reflektor, which saw them ditch the stoic, fire-and-brimstone shtick in favor of wackier disco and Carribean Carnival influences. On Monday night, the band rolled their Reflektor tour through the Palace of Auburn Hills, and the wackiness continued: At one point, singer Win Butler donned a cube-shaped mask that displayed video of our embattled ex-mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, as the band broke into a rendition of “Uptight (Everything Is Alright)” by Stevie Wonder. Weird! From Butler’s awkward dance moves, it looks like the mask weighed a ton. Watch the video below, and also check out 30 groovy photos our photographer took:

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So here’s the deal. We were offered an interview with Eric Burdon of the Animals fame (“House of the Rising Sun” and all that), and of course we leapt at the chance. However, we were then told that Mr. Burdon doesn’t do interviews with print publications face-to-face or on the phone, only via email. We hate this, because it makes follow-up questions impossible, but that didn’t stop us having a go. We very nearly decided not to do it at all but, you know, it is Eric Burdon after all. So here you have it: every word of these questions was written before we received any answers, our attempt at the tricky “email follow-up question.” Hi Eric. We’re looking forward to having you here in Michigan. Is this a place that you’ve enjoyed performing at in the past? Do you have any particular memories of playing Detroit and/or Ann Arbor? Thank you, Brett. I am looking forward to returning to Michigan. I always like playing the Detroit area. There is definitely something that connects my youth in Newcastle with Detroit. I grew up mystified by big American cars. And the music that drives the motor!!!! All Exported from Detroit. It’s […]

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Spring is almost here, which means it’ll soon be time to put away your winter coats and enjoy the outdoors. ComePlayDetroit offers a number of recreational leagues for adults that meet in Detroit throughout the week at locations like Belle Isle, Z’s Villa, Rivard Plaza and Jackson Park. Check out ComePlayDetroit’s website for the available schedules, enrollment prices and more information. Football: Thursday Co-Ed Flag Football - starts May 1 at Belle Isle Park Basketball: Monday Men’s Draft League - starts March 24 at Joe Dumars Fieldhouse Sand volleyball: Monday Co-Ed - starts April 28 at Z’s Villa Tuesday Co-Ed - starts April 29 at Z’s Villa Wednesday Co-Ed - starts April 30 at Rivard Plaza Wednesday Co-Ed - starts April 30 at Z’s Villa Thursday Co-Ed - starts May 1 at Z’s Villa Kickball: Tuesday Co-Ed Recreational - starts April 29 at Belle Isle Park Wednesday Co-Ed Competitive - starts April 30 at Jackson Park Thursday Co-Ed Recreational - starts May 1 at Jackson Park Softball: Sunday Co-Ed - starts April 27 at Inglenook Park Sunday Men’s - starts April 27 at Inglenook Park Wednesday Co-Edl - Starts April 30 at Belle Isle Park Ultimate frisbee: Saturday Co-Ed Leagues - starts May 3 at Belle Isle Park

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Free money! There’s been plenty of ink spilled over the $1 billion challenge from billionaire Warren Buffett and billionaire Dan Gilbert to pick a perfect NCAA March Madness bracket. The insane contest crafted by Buffett (net worth: $58.2 billion) and Quicken Loans Founder Gilbert (net worth: $3.5 billion) will award $1 billion to whomever actually manages to put together a perfect bracket in the 68-team tournament. As you can expect, the odds are insane – like, 9.2 quintillion to 1, that is, if you have no knowledge of basketball. But that’s OK! You all should still try — because free money! Plus, you’ll make Dan Gilbert even happier: [Buffett's] partner in all this is [Gilbert], who also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers. Gilbert stands to gain as many as 15 million new sales leads with the registration process alone on this thing. “You can’t buy that kind of PR,” Gilbert says. “We love this.” See, everyone wins! Even if you lose the contest, you’ll still come away with a free phone call from Quicken. Think of all the time you’ll spend explaining you don’t want to refinance your mortgage. You’re a winner!

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Back in 2010, I remember hearing the news that the elusive British street artist Banksy had been in Detroit, using the city as his urban canvas. At that time, the artist’s name was buzzing after the popularity of his acclaimed documentary, Exit Through The Gift Shop — or was the graffiti-tour part of the marketing for the film, and was Bansky himself behind his own documentary? The artist, whose identity has been kept secret from the public, became a faceless face of the street art community — a post-modern prank that is as impressive as it is humorous. If you’re a patron of street art, you may have felt a bit honored that Banksy would consider coming here to leave his mark. You may have even ventured out to snap photos before they were washed away or covered up. However, one piece was taken from its original spot by the 555 Gallery in Southwest Detroit — an 8-foot painting of a young boy holding a paint can and brush next to the message, “I remember when all this was trees,” at the site of the dilapidated Packard Plant. The 555 Gallery’s co-founder Carl W. Goines claims that it was out of […]

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Marshall Crenshaw and late poster artist Gary Grimshaw will be honored at this year’s Detroit Music Awards, which take place on Friday, April 25 at the Fillmore in Detroit. Crenshaw will perform, alongside metal band Battlecross, X-Factor finalist Jeff Gutt, ICP-affiliate Legz Diamond & the Purple Gang, blues radio host Mark Pasman and his super-session musicians, rapper Boldy James, and indie singer-songwriter Olivia Millerschin. Tony Daldin, host of Under the Radar Michigan will emcee. Jimmy Johns will be the presenting sponsor, and founder and CEO Jimmy John Liautaud came out with a gloriously random quote. “We sell a lot of sandwiches in Metro Detroit, and I know that we count many of the area’s musicians among our loyalest customers,” he said. Here’s some more buzz: “The DMAs are similar to the Grammy Awards. Award winners are determined by local musicians and music industry professionals in southeast Michigan, and presented in ten music genres; Folk/Acoustic, Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Country, Classical, Rock/Pop, R&B/Hip-Hop, Electronic and World. The DMAs are the only local music awards in the nation to be presented by a not-for -profit organization. Voting is accomplished entirely via the Internet. For a list of 2014 nominees and past winners, please […]

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