Cover Story
Lowriders are on the rise as Autorama hosts its first-ever invitational
Debbie Sanchez is getting nervous. Her car, a candy orange 1979 Buick Regal, is getting an interior makeover ahead of the first-ever Lowrider Invitational Exhibition to be held at this year’s Autorama custom car show at Cobo Center in Detroit. Sanchez has been tapped to host and curate the three-day showcase, which will feature 16…
Rapper Vince Staples just wants to have fun at the Royal Oak Music Theatre
Get off Vince Staples’ dick. Per the request of the 25-year-old Compton rapper, who has a penchant for speaking the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it might make his publicist. In a recent interview, Staples calls making music a “scam,” sympathizes with Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s alleged self-inflicted predicament, and refers to pizza as “disgusting.”…
WWE Live will bring brawn and beatdowns to Little Caesars Arena
If the words “Jackknife Powerbomb” mean anything to you then you might want to step away from your television sets — a smackdown is going down in real life. WWE Live presents the Road to WrestleMania, during which AJ Styles will take on Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston for the WWE championship and Asuka will…
Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and collaborator Bill Nance bring Body/Head to MOCAD
Sure one’s body and one’s head are connected, but what if they refused to communicate or cooperate with one another? What if they went their separate ways? If that were to happen, it might sound something like the discordant revery of Body/Head. The experimental noise project comprised of the patron saint of cool, Kim Gordon…
CatVideoFest is a thing and it’s coming to Detroit — we’re not even kitten
Where were you when “Charlie Schmidt’s Keyboard Cat” went viral? The 2007 video ripped from 1984 VHS footage of Fatso the cat (R.I.P.) took the internet by storm, and it was then that “Cat” became an unofficial genre. Celebrating that very genre is the CatVideoFest, which is exactly what it sounds like. Eighty minutes of…
All we want for Christmas is for Mariah Carey to get a proper soundcheck at the Fox Theatre
Christmas came early this year because “Heartbreaker” and best-selling female recording artist of all time Mariah Carey is headed our way. The Glitter star who practically invented whistle notes also unknowingly graced the world with the most pivotal moments in divadom on an infamous episode of MTV Cribs — during which she took a bath, worked…
Detroit artists come together at Tangent Gallery to support wheelchair-bound artist Ron Zakrin
Frida Kahlo once said, “I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.” The same can be said for local painter and musician Ron Zakrin, who suffered an accident last year that has left him paralyzed from the waist down. Though Zakrin’s road to rehabilitation appears to be a long one, the…
We’re seeing green — 61st Annual Detroit St. Patrick’s Parade will spread luck this weekend
Once a year, the streets of Detroit’s historic Corktown are flooded with upwards of 80,000 shamrock-wielding, green beer-drinking folks who want nothing more than to celebrate the arrival of Christianity in Ireland and the holiday’s namesake, Saint Patrick. The 61st Annual Detroit St. Patrick’s Parade is on pace to be one of the largest gatherings…
Is rent getting too damn high? Detroit’s apartment rates spike
The cost of renting an apartment in Detroit is sharply increasing and displacing long-time residents as young, predominately white professionals continue to flock to downtown, Midtown, Corktown, New Center and the riverfront. A new report shows rental rates in Detroit increased more than 15 percent from March 2018 to February 2019. Of the nation’s 100…
Paczki Day: Burning off those deep-fried calorie bombs is not so easy
They’re sweet, gooey and delicious. They’re a Fat Tuesday tradition. And they’re decadent, deep-fried calorie bombs. If you’ve been debating whether to indulge on a paczek today, consider this: the plump pastries pack between 500 and 1,000 calories and up to 40 grams of fat, depending on the size and ingredients, according to Blue Cross…
Controversial landlord buys former El Zocalo restaurant in Mexicantown
Detroit landlord Dennis Kefallinos has purchased the former El Zocalo Mexican restaurant in Southwest Detroit. The Detroit News reports that Kefallinos bought the building for $1.2 million in August, and he plans to reopen it this summer. It’s been closed since 2016. However, some label Keffalinos a slumlord as he has a record of sitting…
Review: ‘Captain Marvel’ has a dash of ’90s girl power, but mostly exists to serve Disney’s quest for domination
Captain Marvel is the story of a vast, technocratic empire coldly bent on expanding its territory and squashing all dissent. But enough about Disney/Marvel. A decade into its era of cultural and box office domination, it’s become nearly impossible to recall a time when the sky wasn’t spangled with the multitudinous stars of the Marvel…
Tame Impala, Vampire Weekend, Lizzo tapped to headline Detroit’s Mo Pop Festival
Your “Apocolypse Dreams” are coming true thanks to the seventh edition of Detroit’s Mo Pop Festival, which announced its 2019 lineup Tuesday morning. The annual weekend-long festival celebrating a wide array of independent music as well as major acts that have inspired up-and-coming artists, will pop-off along Detroit’s West Riverfront Park July 27 and 28.…
The story of how a black activist took over a Detroit neo-Nazi group should be made into a Spike Lee movie
By now you may have heard about the curious case of Rev. James Hart Stern, the black civil rights activist who infiltrated the Detroit-based neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Movement with the goal of destroying it. The revelations were made last week when court documents filed in Virginia revealed that Stern replaced NSM leader Jeff…
Premiere: Detroit-based singer Silence is the Noise explores grief and intimacy with ‘Soothing’
Detroit-based artist Silence is the Noise, aka Jewel Bell is vulnerable. And she’s totally OK with it. Bell’s visuals for 2018’s, “Nappy,” established her jarringly soulful voice, dramatic aesthetic, and her message of empowerment. Her latest, “Soothing”, follows suit as it tells a story of a grief-stricken woman searching for comfort through unstable intimacy. The…
Madonna celebrates 30 years of ‘Like a Prayer’ by getting flagged by Instagram
The Bay City native took to social media Monday to reflect on the 30th anniversary of her controversial 1989 video, “Like a Prayer” and the widespread backlash that followed. “Happy Birthday to Me and Controversy!” she said in an Instagram post. At just 30 years old, Madonna unleashed the five-minute and thirty-second rock gospel opus…
The Smashing Pumpkins announce metro Detroit tour stop
The Smashing Pumpkins have announced a tour with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will make a stop in metro Detroit on August 14. The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan recently made Detroit headlines when he was reunited with his stolen guitar after 27 years. Last month, a woman in Flushing, Michigan returned Billy Corgan’s “lost…
Right-wing radicals Steve Bannon and Sheriff Clarke coming to Warren for ‘We Build the Wall’ event
Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist and former executive of Breitbart News, continues to use his ill-gotten celebrity to push fearmongering right-wing rhetoric — this time in Warren. Related Bannon will be joined by former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke — the registered Democrat but a frequent conservative mouthpiece for Fox News — and Kris Kobach,…
Noted baseball fan Jack White donates $10k to restore Hamtramck Stadium
A campaign to raise funds to restore the historic Hamtramck Stadium got a big boost Monday thanks to a $10,000 donation from Jack White. Led by the Piast Institute and the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium and hosted by Patronicity, the crowdfunding campaign is trying to raise $50,000 to restore Hamtramck Stadium for baseball and…
Detroit man sues three white women who called police on him for ‘gardening while black’
A black Detroit man is suing three white women who repeatedly fabricated charges against him in calls to the Detroit Police Department. Marc Peeples and attorney Robert Burton-Harris claim the women made up increasingly serious but bogus stories throughout 2017 and early 2018 as he built out an urban garden in Hunt Park near the…
Hometown hellion Alice Cooper announces tour with Halestorm
Mr. Niceguy is out. Ol’ Black Eyes is in. Hometown rebel rocker Alice Cooper, 71, announced that he and Grammy Award-winners Halestorm, fronted by powerhouse Lzzy Hale, will co-headline a 19-date North American trek this summer including a stop at DTE Energy Music Theatre on Saturday, July 20. Cooper’s touring show, dubbed “Ol’ Black Eyes is Back” will…
Rapper Trick Trick to host Detroit show to benefit anti-bullying campaign
Detroit rapper Trick Trick plans to celebrate 313 Day by performing a free show in support of the anti-bullying campaign, Defeat the Label. The “Welcome to Detroit” rapper and frequent Eminem collaborator will be heading to El Club on Wednesday, March 13 to raise awareness about bullying and anti-bullying efforts. “Ever since I was a kid…
Jaden Smith is using foundation to bring clean water to Flint
Rapper and actor Jaden Smith is giving a helping hand to Flint. The son of box office star Will Smith and Jada Picket Smith, Smith’s JUST goods foundation is collaborating with Flint-based First Trinity Missionary Baptist church to deploy mobile water filtration systems. The filtration system, known as “The Water Box,” was engineered and designed…
Gov. Whitmer gives boost to marijuana industry with creation of new agency
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is creating a new state agency to focus solely on what is expected to be a $1.5 billion marijuana industry in Michigan. The move, which includes abolishing the board that had issued licenses to sell and grow medical marijuana, is intended to “eliminate inefficiencies that have made it difficult to meet the…
Hamtramck sports bar invents the cheeseburger paczki
In recent years, Detroit’s American Coney Island took paczki into new territory with its coney paczki. Metro Times’ editorial staff tried sack of them last year and arrived at this verdict: “Actually good.” While there are plenty of weird paczki to choose from this year, one that stands out is the paczki cheeseburger that the…
Black activist infiltrates Detroit-based neo-Nazi group and plans to destroy it
A black civil rights activist has infiltrated a Detroit-based neo-Nazi group and plans to destroy it from the inside. Rev. James Hart Stern replaced Jeff Schoep as leader of the National Socialist Movement in January and wants to use the position to sabotage a lawsuit filed against the extremist group, according to court documents filed…
Radio personality Craig Fahle sentenced for drunken driving and possession of cocaine
Craig Fahle, a longtime radio personality who resigned as the spokesman of the Detroit Land Bank last year, was sentenced to one year of probation and community service after he was busted driving drunk with a small baggie of cocaine in his pocket. The 51-year-old’s blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit to…
Rep. Amash rose above GOP’s childish, desperate tactics during Cohen hearing
One Republican rose above his party’s desperate and cheap tactics to discredit and smear President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen during Wednesday’s House oversight committee. Three hours into the partisan circus, Rep. Justin Amash, of Michigan, broke ranks with fellow Republicans to ask a meaningful question of Trump’s attorney and fixer of 10 years. “What…
The ‘Momo Challenge’ isn’t real, but you should be afraid of kids YouTube
It sounds like the plot to a horror movie: The whole damn world is freaking out about an alleged “Momo challenge,” in which a ghoulish avatar is said to appear on children’s YouTube videos, instructing young, susceptible viewers to hurt themselves or others — or even commit suicide. On Wednesday, the hysteria reached metro Detroit, with…
Bob Seger adds fourth metro Detroit date to farewell tour
Bob Seger isn’t going to “Turn the Page” on his nearly six-decade music career without a bang. The ‘Old Time’ rock and roller announced on Thursday the fourth date to his previously announced three-night engagement at DTE Energy Music Theatre this June. Regularly priced tickets for the first three shows, taking place on June 6,…
A ‘punk rock cocktail lounge’ is headed to Southwest Detroit
A new bar called Bagley Central is in the works for the former Our/Detroit vodka space on Bagley Street in Southwest Detroit. The concept is a collaboration between Green Dot Stables owner Jacques Driscoll and former Green Dot bartender Mike Ketelhut, Eater reports. The latter says the bar will play punk, rhythm and blues, glam…
Husband of Fox 2 meteorologist Jessica Starr links Lasik complications to suicide
Two months after the suicide of FOX 2 meteorologist Jessica Starr, details have emerged about the broadcaster’s complications from laser vision correction surgery. Starr’s husband Dan Rose spoke with several media outlets this week, including his late wife’s home station, about the months leading up to her suicide and why he believes her Lasik SMILE…
9 Michigan chefs and restaurants named James Beard semifinalists
Nine Michigan chefs and restaurants are among this year’s semi-finalists for James Beard Foundation awards. That follows a year in which only three Mitten state restaurants and chefs were nominated. Five Michigan chefs are up for Best Chef: Great Lakes, including Anthony Lombardo (SheWolf), Norberto Garita (El Barzon), Kate Williams (Lady of the House), James Rigato (Mabel…
Prosecutors won’t charge EMU student for hanging a black doll in a dorm
Prosecutors declined to charge an Eastern Michigan University student with ethnic intimidation for hanging a black doll by the neck from a shower rod in a dormitory. The student behind the act earlier this month claimed his motive wasn’t racial and that he was pulling an innocent prank. EMU police disagreed and submitted a 17-page…
Buddy’s Pizza to offer quick-lunch service to upcoming downtown Detroit location
After revealing that it would be opening a downtown Detroit location Tuesday, Buddy’s Pizza has announced that it will be offering quick-lunch service. The new store which is slated to open this summer will be located in the Madison Building in the former space of Angelina’s Italian Bistro near Grand Circus Park. The quick lunch service is…
Detroit police terminate white officer following racist Snapchat video
Detroit Police Chief James Craig held a press conference Wednesday announcing the termination of Corporal Gary Steele following a racially charged Snapchat post obtained by WXYZ-TV last month. The department launched an internal investigation on Feb. 1, just two days after obtaining the video. Both Steele and his partner Michael Garrison, who can also be heard…
Southfield native Selma Blair opens up about M.S. diagnosis in ‘Vanity Fair’ profile
Actress Selma Blair made a stunning appearance Sunday night at Vanity Fair’s annual Academy Awards soiree. Blair, a native of Southfield, Michigan, and UM alumn sent her sherbert-colored chiffon Ralph & Russo cape in the air with one hand, the other gripping a black cane. More than a bold accessory, the cane has become a…
Campbell Soup Co. sells Garden Fresh to Quebec company
Garden Fresh Gourmet co-founder Jack Aronson won’t be buying back his baby from the Campbell Soup Company. Crain’s reports that Campbell confirmed the sale of Garden Fresh to Quebec-based Fontaine Sante for an undisclosed amount. Aronson recently announced that he made a bid to buy back the company, which he sold to Campbell for $231…
Comedian Ryan Schutt will crack NBA jokes in Hamtramck this week
Ryan Schutt is easily bothered. The New York-based, NBA-obsessed comedian has built a reputation on being bothered and the many things that bother him as well as sticking up for the unsung heroes of nature documentaries. A frequent performer at international comedy festivals with his brand of relatable, complaint-centric stand up, sketch, and improv, Schutt…
Meet Detroit rapper Milfie, the princess of bad bitch rap and ghettotech
Rapper Jasmine Campbell, aka Milfie, is the personification of her own lyrics. If she tells you in a song she will punch you in your head, in real life she will punch you in your head. If she says in a song she will give you the best sex you ever had, know that in…
Are you too high to drive? There’s an app for that
One of the last refuges for people who oppose marijuana is the “you won’t be able to tell when someone is high or not” dodge. That’s related to the “people are going to get high and turn our roads into demolition derby mosh pits” scare. So all the concern is about how police can discern…
The Democratic primary is full of big ideas — and candidates who won’t do what it takes to make them law
Last week, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced that he’ll once again seek the Democratic nomination for president, launching a campaign premised on the same sort of bold initiatives he championed four years ago: Medicare for All, the Green New Deal and free universal college, along with raising taxes on the wealthy and breaking up big…
Rock band Float Here Forever has momentum
For a little while it seemed like nothing was happening, and then suddenly everything happened at once. At least that was the case with Darrell Bazian, Nick Marko, and Sam Easterbrook of Float Here Forever. The local post-grunge fuzz-rock trio might have a name that suggests tranquil inertia, but that betrays not only the expediency…
As Empress Of, Lorely Rodriguez maintains her individuality on sophomore record
Los Angeles-based songwriter and producer Lorely Rodriguez — aka Empress Of — released her debut record, Me, in 2015. The stunning, self-produced album set the tone for Rodriguez’s unique brand of music — honest, pop-centric, and uncompromising. Her latest release, Us, is a new branch off the same tree, this time bringing in powerhouse collaborators…
These metro Detroit spots are serving up unique paczki for Fat Tuesday
The hedonistic holiday of Paczki Day in Detroit is one filled with tradition and glazed with Polish heritage. When it comes time to celebrate the Christian-adjacent holiday of Fat Tuesday, we line up outside Hamtramck bakeries, which annually stuff us silly with classic plum, prune, rose, or raspberry treats. In the spirit of originality, here…
Savage Love: Should I tell my sister’s kids that their dad is gay?
I’m a gay guy in my late 40s with a straight sister in her early 50s. She’s been married for a bit over two decades to guy who always registered as a “possible” on my average-to-good gaydar. But I put “BIL,” aka my brother-in-law, in the “improbable” bucket because he actively wooed my sister, was…
Horoscopes (Feb. 27-March 5)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 You’ve got more than enough to keep you busy. Whether or not you are up for this depends a lot on the extent to which you can let go of the need to control things. I see parental issues that involve a willingness to drop the reins when it…
Review: Hamtramck’s Yemeni sandwich maker Hello Shawarma stacks ‘Shower Burgers’ and shawarma burritos
One of the best perks of living in Hamtramck are the killer sandwiches made by Yemeni immigrants, who fuse Middle Eastern and “American” ingredients and condiments. It’s something that we’ve seen more of in recent years with restaurants like Boostan, Fantastic Subs, and others. What they’ve discovered is that cheese is really good on a…
