On a cold Thursday night, people need a really good reason to venture out onto the snowy roads, and it would appear that a double bill featuring local heroes Sponge and former Brit pop faves Spacehog (for $20) isn’t enough to pull people out in force. Times are hard and the weather is getting harsh. The people that were at the Stick tried to make up for the lack of numbers by giving the bands their all, and kudos for that. God loves a Detroit crowd. It’s still a shame though, because this was a great show. This writer walked in about halfway through Lionize’s set, but the Maryland band did more than enough to impress. The stoner influence (particularly Clutch) is overt, but the Hammond organ adds a classic rock, Deep Purple element, and front man Nate Bergman has a Brian Johnson-esque screech. The chucky, sweaty result provides the perfect warm-up to the co-headliners. Time to fess up – going into this show, I was only familiar with one Spacehog song, the perennial commercial soundtrack “In the Meantime.” It’s a good tune, fair play. Thankfully, it’s not their only great tune (it just happens to be the one that […]

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  This may seem like a surprise, but PETA will be giving away  100 fur coats, leather jackets, wool scarves and angora sweaters to Detroit’s needy. The coats will be available at 1 pm. on Monday, Dec. 16 at Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, 150 Stimson St. (between Cass and Woodward). It’s a way to make use of existing fur coats without destroying them. The clothing was donated by “those who have moved on to garments whose production didn’t involve cruelty to animals,” according to a statement. “PETA can’t bring the animals who were slaughtered to make these coats back to life, but we can send a message that only people truly struggling to survive have any excuse for wearing fur,” PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk said.  

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Former Frost, Alice Cooper and Lou Reed guitarist Dick Wagner has written and recorded a song for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The song can be seen here: . According to Wagner, “In a style reminiscent of “We Are the World,” we recorded it in LA with a group of classic rockers who were gathered for the Rock n Roll Autograph Show.” The song was recorded at Sunset Sound Studios, and it features the following musicians: Lead vocals: Mark Farner, Trini Lopez, Merrilee Rush, Jean Beauvoir, Dick Wagner, Laurie Beebe Lewis Bass: Lee Sklar Drums: Danny Seraphine Electric guitars: Elliot Easton, Jennifer Batten, Dick Wagner Grand Piano: Fred Mandel Acoustic Guitars: Chris Sanders, Scott Raines Strings: Ray Colcord Engineered by: Warren Huart (Aerosmith) The song can be downloaded here and here. Follow @City_Slang

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In the past, we’ve enjoyed reading Gawker because of its penchant for taking the piss out of self-important figures. These jaded news-watchers have usually trained their sights on celebrities, moguls and other gasbags, with satisfactory results. But then we looked at a piece about Detroit in Gawker this week and thought, “That’s some seriously stupid bullshit right there.” The “article” in question was the content of a “campfire” chat between various bloggers about what was to be done about Detroit. And it shows that the folks who write for Gawker shouldn’t comment on stuff they obviously don’t know or really care about. That’s because the “article,” which the editors probably thought was a snarky, irreverent, laugh-a-minute chat that would stand on its own as a Gawker post, was a piece of offensive, self-important horseshit. Anybody who knows humor knows that, to be really funny, you only pick on big people, never little ones. But that news hasn’t been passed on to the people at Gawker. They exhibit a passing familiarity with the issues facing Detroit, all while flaming one another and spitballing ideas any Detroiter would find offensive. And watching these well-fed coastal bloggers joking about an underclass they obviously […]

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December is a busy month at the Detroit Contemporary art gallery, and there are plenty of music-related goings on. Get the full lowdown here. December 19 (and every third Thursday), check out Creative [dance] Incubator, which “unites experimental movement artists on to present short works and to share creative concepts, explore new possibilities and discuss all things movement. Each incubator is curated and hosted by a member of the Detroit artistic community.” This Saturday, December 14, you can go see the Ulysses Project, “a suite inspired by James Joyce’s modernist classic. The suite digs into the novel’s wide range of themes and the evolution of its protagonists through free jazz, rock, funk, and much more, and uses improvisation to explore Joyce’s stream of consciousness prose. The album was released in October, and was praised by Alterego Magazine as “powerful… fresh, relevant, a success” and by [arts]seen as “a manic journey of eerie beauty.” That same evening, there’s a performance of James Cornish’s Crypticzero, which “explores the relationship between musical and dance improvisation, sonic and physical movement and contrast, with powerful results.” Follow @City_Slang

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The only certainty with the Michigan men’s basketball team, as history tells us, is that they have an advantage when playing at Crisler Center.  The Wolverines have been more than dominant while at home — losing only twice in the past two years. They’ll need that home advantage this Saturday, because No. 1 Arizona is coming in very hot to Ann Arbor. The Wildcats, who defeated Duke (the same team that handled the Wolverines in Durham) two weeks ago, are undefeated on the year and riding a win-streak over that time that spans some pretty damn good teams. Michigan’s trajectory has been the complete opposite. While it doesn’t have any terrible losses, to have a 6-3 overall record this early isn’t ideal for Michigan. The Wolverines have suffered losses to Iowa State on the road, Charlotte in a neutral site, and Duke on the road. But they haven’t had any true tests at home. The Wolverines have struggled this season — to put it gently. They have no true point guard/leader, and the absence of Trey Burke as floor general has been devastating to the offense. It’s not that there aren’t playmakers — see Glenn Robinson III, Mitch McGary, Nik […]

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