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Dontae Rockymore

Pig & Whiskey is back.

Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Submit your events to metrotimes.com/calendar.

Youmacon

Thursday, 10/28-Sunday, 10/31: Con you believe it? Something anime-zing is returning to Detroit. Youmacon — Detroit's celebration of Japanese animation, comics, video games, and culture — turns 15 this year. Thousands will attend, many of whom will cosplay, or dress as their favorite characters, and many will craft costumes from original concepts because Youmacon is all about creativity. When it debuted in 2005 at the Troy Hilton, Youmacon drew an initial crowd of a little more than 1,000 attendees. This year, the event will return to the Renaissance Center and TCF Center, and the three-day event, which was cancelled last year, could top its record of over 22,000 con-goers making it one of the largest anime conventions in North America.

In addition to fan favorite events like Live Action Mario Party, tabletop gaming, Clara Cow's Cosplay Cup, a Youmacon Dance Competition, and the Maid Cafe, Youmacon also features a plethora of panels, some of which are hosted by celebrities, voice actors of popular series, animators, and writers. Many others are fan-operated and cover topics ranging from the ultra-niche to full-on crash courses on entire anime series. This year, educater, hip-hop artist, and gamer extraordinaire Mega Ran will serve as a special guest, as well as Shaffer the Darklord, MC Lars, Mark Cooper, and actors Tyson Rinehart, Erica Lindback, SungWon Cho, and many more.

A few updates to note: Unfortunately the People Mover will be unavailable this year, however, for cosplayers with disabilities or mobility limitations, the event is offering up its crew shuttle services for those who may need to travel between venues.

Per the event website, organizers are working with the TCF Center to finalize safety protocols, which include mandatory face masks, so you may want to get creative and work your mask into your cosplay. —Jerilyn Jordan

The 25th annual Edgefest

Thursday, 10/28-Saturday, 10/30: Even for us, a 41-year-old alt-weekly, we know that 25 years is a long time to do anything. Celebrating its 25th year as a world-renowned avante-garde jazz and creative music festival is Edgefest, which is, once again, being hosted by Ann Arbor's Kerrytown Concert House. The music festival celebrates the past, present, and future of jazz with three days of music-packed festivities featuring a wide array of artists across various subgenres of jazz, some of whom have played the festival in years past. The event, which takes place at Kerrytown Concert House as well as the nearby Bethlehem United Church of Christ, will host performances by Michael Malis, Crump/Laubrock/Smythe, Three Rivers with Lee Mixashawn Rozie, William Parker, and Francisco Mela, Blue Reality Quartet, Ken Kozora's Electrosphere, Andrea Wolper's Cento Project, Agape, Steve Swell's 'If Trains Could Speak,' and more. Returning this year is the Edgefest parade, which kicks off the festival's final day at noon and is led by Scarlett Middle School band students. Just remember: Jazz cabbage is not included. —Jerilyn Jordan

Champions of Magic

Friday, 10/29: Take it from us — you're never too old to believe in magic or, you know, masterfully crafted illusions that leave us scratching our aging heads, mouths agape, minds blown. Whether you're a cynic, a believer, or someone who simply needs to see it to believe it, the Champions of Magic are headed to Detroit and, yes, they have some tricks up their sleeves ... and pant legs ... and well, possibly an orifice or two. All the way from the U.K. Kayla Drescher, whom David Copperfield once called "the next great magician," Alex McAleer (mind reader), Fernando Velasco (escape artist), and Young & Strange (illusionists) are the Champions of Magic. Together, this team of magicians, described as "the Avengers of magic," have sold out shows across the globe thanks to crazy-ass shit like, oh, you know, escaping Houdini's water torture cell, a jaw dropping prediction, levitation taken to new heights, and a finale that is, well, pretty damn wild, according to event producers. Guys — we want to believe. —Jerilyn Jordan

Pig & Whiskey

Friday, 10/29-Sunday, 10/31: We know what you're thinking: isn't summer aka BBQ season over? Well, Barbara, yes, summer is over and we are in the thick of autumn aka pumpkin spice season and seeing that, well, one, it's a free country and, two, we've never really given a frickin' heck about convention, this year we are bringing the sticky sweet spicy heat to the spookiest time of year. Of course, we are referring to Pig & Whiskey, the annual Ferndale blowout co-produced by Metro Times and Woodward Avenue Brewers.

The free weekend-long festival is returning to, once again, offer access to an array of BBQ vendors and other munchies, as well as whiskey, craft brews, cocktails, and other spirits. Did we mention whiskey? While the event is absolutely about meat and booze, another staple of the annual celebration is music because boozing it up with major meat sweats needs a soundtrack. This year, the event will host performances by Laith Al-Saadi, Myron Elkins, Goober and the Peas, as well as the Muggs, Tart, Black Note Graffiti, and others. —Jerilyn Jordan

Armageddon Beachparty's VIBRANT OASIS Celebration

Saturday, 10/30: If 2020 was Armageddon and 2021 was a beach party then that must mean one thing: Woodbridge-area storefront, gallery, and performance space Armageddon Beachparty Lounge is back. Celebrating three years of vibrant, immersive, creative experiences is Detroit's once-nomadic self-styled "ambassadors of psychedelia" — married couple Elena (aka "Kozma") and Aubrey (aka "Motu") Smyth, who, after nearly a decade of creating contemporary surrealist pop art together, opened Armageddon Beachparty Lounge in the fall of 2018. To honor the anniversary of the shop's opening — and three years of the brand's mascot Gidget the Cyclops Cat — the duo are throwing a Vibrant Oasis Celebration with music from Detroit-based DJs Vourteque, Para//ax, Satta Don Dada, DJ Applejuice, DIZKO, and Esshaki. True to the space's versatility, the event will also feature burlesque performances by Leena Allure and belly dancing from Heather Marie. The he-art of the event, however, is the debut of the duo's newest collection of original paintings, sculpture, and limited edition fine art prints, and wearable merch. There will be food onsite and a bar for those 21+, too. —Jerilyn Jordan

The Crow screening and Devil's Night Gallery

Saturday, 10/30: There are plenty of films about tragedy but some films are, in their production, tragic. Most recently, actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun on the set of a Western film Rust, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and severely injuring director Joel Souza. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time something like this has happened in filmmaking. In the making of 1994's The Crow, a film about a musician who is resurrected to avenge his and his fiance's death which also takes place in Detroit during Devil's Night, lead actor Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee) was killed during a scene using a real Smith & Wesson Model 629 .44 Magnum. The gun had been improperly loaded and unloaded by crew members and Lee, 28, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital hours later. What was left in the wake of Lee's death was a cult favorite film that is heartbreakingly meta. The moody, broody film will be celebrated in the city where it took place (but was not filmed) when the historic Senate Theater hosts a Devil's Night screening of The Crow which was almost never released. The screening is also paired with short films of the supernatural and horror varieties, as well as paintings by local artists inspired by the films. To quote Lee's character, Eric: "Can't rain all the time." —Jerilyn Jordan

Beach Bunny

Monday, 11/1: Frown lines, mom jeans, second place, recurring dreams, and calorie counting. No, this isn't an iPhone memo of things to discuss with our therapist (although there is some crossover) but some of the imagery put into the world by Chicago rock foursome Beach Bunny, which dropped their long-awaited debut record, Honeymoon last year. Described as "the Liz Phair of the TikTok generation", Beach Bunny originated as a solo bedroom project by singer-songwriter, Lili Trifilio in 2015. A dash of Diet Cig with a sprinkling of Alicia Bognanno's project Bully — and maybe a touch of Ashlee Simpson's "Lala" — power chord-heavy Beach Bunny marries teenage angst with mid-20s malaise, and the growing pains that come with being an adult whose head is filled with a cocktail of confidence and crippling self-doubt, you know, human feels. The band dropped their Blame Game EP at the start of this year and on it, Trifilio and company pull back the curtain a bit further on the struggle which is, undoubtedly, real. "I'm tired of the bullshit/fed up with subtracting names," she declares on "Love Sick." "Need someone/that isn't an equation/only adding up to pain." Ouch. Minneapolis indie project Miloe is also on the bill. —Jerilyn Jordan

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