District 142 celebrates second anniversary, donates $25,000 to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Last week, alternative rock veterans Papa Roach and local act Kaleido performed stripped-down acoustic sets at Wyandotte’s District 142 for a good cause. Presented by 96.3 WDVD, the sold-out “Shine a Light, Save A Life” benefit raised $25,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

According to District 142 co-owner Julie Law, the event sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale. The show was originally supposed to be held last year, but had to be rescheduled so Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix could get vocal surgery.

All proceeds from ticket sales went to the cause, Law says.

“I’m told there were only a couple venues in the nation that did that,” she says of the band’s charity work. “So we were super excited.”

She adds, “They’re definitely the biggest name we’ve had so far.”

Law says the venue — which focuses on rock and country music and celebrates its second anniversary next week — has so far hosted 206 concerts, more than 350 artists, and an estimated 120,000 music fans.

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Other big names to appear at the venue include acts like Hinder, Saliva, the Red Clay Strays, Tucker Wetmore, Maddie & Tae, and Michigan’s Uncle Kracker, who has made a tradition of performing at District 142 the Friday after Thanksgiving.

“He’s a hometown favorite, and we basically became his hometown show,” Law says. “We’re a smaller venue, so it definitely makes it more of an intimate experience.”

The venue holds around 800 people, and Law says District 142 has had some incredible luck booking acts just before they blow up.

“Tucker Wetmore was just a small country star and exploded when we put him on sale,” she says of the Nashville act by way of Washington. “He took off before the show even happened. So that was really cool — that’s magic when you can make that happen.”

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Courtesy photo

Uncle Kracker has made a tradition of performing at District 142 the day after Thanksgiving.

The same thing happened with the Red Clay Strays gig at District 142 in 2023. The next time the Alabama band heads to Detroit, it will be to perform two back-to-back shows at Detroit’s Fox Theatre later this year.

District 142 has also hosted pop acts like Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block and Chris Kilpatrick from NYSNC, as well as comedy with stand-up sets from the likes of Pete Davidson, Tom Green, and Bobcat Goldthwait.

Tribute acts covering beloved artists like Taylor Swift, Metallica, and Chris Stapleton have also proved popular, Law says.

“People love them,” she says. “They’re affordable, and you get to hear all your favorite songs. And we are real particular about the tributes that we bring in. We try to get the ones that replicate the original … We just had The Four Horsemen tribute to Metallaica, we’ve had them three times. It sells out every time.”

District 142 is set to host a St. Patrick’s Day party on Saturday, March 15 with bands from noon to midnight, anchoring a citywide pub crawl. Law says the venue is also branching out into other events like Bingo Loco on Friday, March 21, which bills itself as “the world’s largest bingo rave.”

“It’s a night of bingo, but it turns into pretty much a wild rave,” she says. “It’s a dance party.” She hopes to make it a regular event.

The venue plans to soon announce its shows for the summer and fall, Law says.

“We are going to start expanding a little bit on our genres,” she promises. “We just had our first blues show. Now that we have rock and country dialed in, you’ll probably see a little bit more genres getting added.”

The District 142 building was abandoned for more than a decade before it became a music venue. It dates back to the 1800s, and throughout the years it has housed a German beer hall, feather bowling, and a nightclub called Studio 142, among others.

Law says she and her business partner decided to open a venue in Wyandotte as the city became a Downriver entertainment destination, with a significant number of shops and restaurants opening in the past decade or so.

“It’s walkable, it’s safe, it has free parking. The free parking alone sets it apart,” Law says of the city. “And in the summertime, it’s beautiful ... it’s a fun little town.”

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Papa Roach, Kaleido perform sold-out suicide prevention benefit at District 142 [PHOTOS]

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