Feedback NEWS & VIEWS
We got feedback in response to contributor Natalia Holtzman’s “A new ‘Red Scare’ at the University of Michigan,” about the coming crackdown on the college’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Days after publication, U-M announced it was shutting down its DEI offices.
USHERING IN MCCARTHYISM.
—Maureen Dunwoodie, Facebook
Donald Trump’s mentor was Roy Cohn, who was the driving force behind the McCarthy [era]!! He was an awful man who ruined many people’s lives and Trump put him on a pedestal! He wants to be a dictator!
—@jeffrey_floral_architecture, Instagram
UOFM always bends the knee. Hedge fund attached to a school.
—@skottybell Instagram
When you see headlines like this….. it’s assuming that people of color are not qualified ��. Newsflash no one gets a job because of the color of their skin!!! Any Joe blow can’t walk off the street and say hey look at me I’m a woman or I’m black brown or green and poof gets a job. These people have to have credentials, they have to have experience and DEI only allows them an equal playing field. Without DEI some VERY qualified people would not have a chance and certain opportunities would not be possible for them.
—@heartofgrace125, Instagram
Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com
NEWS & VIEWS
DFD apologizes for emergency alert error following explosion
A jarring, ear-splitting emergency alert that startled many metro Detroit residents awake at 6 a.m. Monday was mistakenly sent to cell phones across the region, the Detroit Fire Department acknowledged.
The high-pitched alert was intended only for the immediate area surrounding an early-morning explosion at an apartment building on Littlefield Street near Schoolcraft Road on the city’s west side. But due to human error, the alert was broadcast through a federal system that sent it to a much wider audience, prompting confusion and frustration from residents across the area.
“The alert was supposed to be sent out just to the ZIP code surrounding
the incident using Detroit Alerts 365, but an error was made and the person sent the alert erroneously using IPAWS,” DFD spokesperson Corey McIsaac, tells Metro Times, referring to the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. “DFD apologizes for any inconvenience this caused the community.”
Detroit Alerts 365 is the city’s emergency notification system that allows officials to send targeted alerts via text, email, or phone to residents who opt in.
IPAWS is a federal platform managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that sends alerts to all wireless devices in a designated area, often used for Amber Alerts and severe
WSU stops pro-Palestinian vigil
Wayne State University prevented a group of peaceful proPalestinian activists, including students and professors, from gathering at a campus site, the latest example of the college cracking down on opponents of Israel’s relentless killings in the Middle East.
Organizers were surprised when campus police told them on Friday, March 21 that they were not allowed to hold their vigil and pop-up clinic in front of the Mazurek Medical Education Commons on East Canfield, less than two months after they got permission for their biweekly gatherings.
weather emergencies.
The explosion occurred around 4 a.m. Monday, about two hours before the alert was sent out. The blast sent flames and debris into the air, prompting an emergency response that included fire crews rescuing residents trapped inside, WDIV reports. Twelve people, including six children, were taken to a hospital for injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to severe burns.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
People living miles from the explosion, including in the suburbs, took to social media to complain about being jolted awake by the emergency tone. Many said they were frightened by the
message and initially feared a regional emergency.
“Sorry for that happening but why the fuck did we need an emergency alert for this?” one person tweeted. “Made people worried about nothing that affects them.”
Another sounded off, “The alarm was a dereliction of duty and abuse of the alert system. Anybody who actually lived near the explosion would have… heard it.”
Some even called for the termination of whoever was responsible.
“Someone should be fired immediately for posting that alert, completely useless,” one user wrote.
—Steve Neavling
The activists weren’t impeding traffic or creating loud noises and had just been setting up when an officer approached them shortly before 11 a.m., says Dr. Thomas Pedroni, a tenured Wayne State professor.
Wayne State officials ordered students and faculty to clear out their
vigil and clinic, which included a single table, twice in January, prompting the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan to get involved. In a Feb. 4 letter to university officials, staff attorneys for the ACLU noted that Wayne State has no policies prohibiting students and faculty from
The aftermath of an explosion at an apartment building on the city’s west side on Monday morning.
JULES CHRISTIAN
meeting in outdoor campus spaces. The university also lacks a consistent policy on how to reserve space.
“The organizers’ experiences with organizing this recurring Vigil reveals the detrimental effect of this lack of clarity and consistency in Wayne State’s campus use and space reservation policies,” attorneys Ramis J. Wadood and Philip E. Mayor wrote. “Without action, Wayne State’s policy framework may unwittingly lead to the suppression of constitutionally protected speech activity.”
Two days later, Vice Provost Darryl Gardner acknowledged in an email to Pedroni that the university’s policies on using outdoor space “could be clearer” and said the vigil could take place.
“If the vigil should happen to spill on to campus immediately adjacent to the sidewalk, as long as it does not impede university access or operations, and as long as the event is not stationary for a period of more than two hours, and as previously stated, otherwise complies with the law, it will be permitted,” Gardner wrote.
Until March 21, demonstrators had gathered peacefully without any intervention from the university since then. Why officials decided to crack down remains a mystery to demonstrators. They came with signs that read, “Stop funding genocide,” “Stop murdering children,” and “Stop killing patients.”
In an email to the vice provost, Pedroni asked what had changed. As of 2 p.m. Monday, he did not receive a response. Neither did Metro Times when it requested an explanation.
A few days before the vigil was planned, Israel pounded Gaza with rockets, marking the first large-scale military action since a ceasefire began in January. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in less than a week.
Since October 2023, Israel has killed nearly 50,000 Palestinians, about 80% of whom were civilians. That doesn’t include the countless number of Palestinians who have died from malnutrition and waterborne illnesses.
At a time like this, Pedroni says the university should be encouraging engagement.
“Many of these students have very real connections to the genocide and have a natural desire to speak and do something about it,” Pedroni says. “Now the university is going beyond its own policies to chill students’ rights to express themselves.”
Wayne State’s actions come as the Trump administration threatens to deport foreign-born students who sympathize with Palestinians. On March 8, immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of Palestinian descent who was a Columbia University grad student and a prominent voice in campus protests against the war in Gaza.
“That is one of the fears – that this will happen to one of our students,” Pedroni says.
When Pedroni notified activists that police were breaking up the gathering, some didn’t show up.
“We’re in a moment right now where there are threats to students who are here on visas and show up to a protest,” Pedroni says. “There is a big difference between going to a vigil where police say you can be there and one where you are facing potential arrest if you are there.”
In an email to university officials, Wayne Academic Union President Dr. Jennifer Sheridan Moss criticized the administration’s handling of public space gatherings, noting that Pedroni and others have a right to protest.
“The University is acting in bad faith in this matter and it is beyond time for it to be resolved,” she wrote. “Free speech and academic freedom are the cornerstones of universities, and must be preserved in all instances without intervention of police.”
Pro-Palestinian activists have accused Wayne State of repeatedly trying to silence them. In April 2024, plainclothes cops forcibly removed students from the Wayne State University Board of Governors meeting, where they were demanding the school divest from companies linked to Israel. More than 100 faculty and staff members denounced the action as a “racist assault.”
Then in May 2024, campus police in riot gear resorted to violence to remove pro-Palestinian activists from campus. About six peaceful protesters were arrested, but Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy decided not to charge them, saying they were engaged in free expression.
After pro-Palestinian activists said they planned to attend a public Board of Governors meeting in June 2024, the elected board went virtual for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. By doing so, the board avoided face-to-face encounters with student and faculty protesters.
—Steve Neavling
Tlaib calls for direct cash payments to young people experiencing homelessness
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib wants to give rent money to young adults and youth experiencing homelessness.
The Detroit Congresswoman has reintroduced her Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act, which calls for direct cash payments to adults under 30 and emancipated minors experiencing homelessness.
The payments would be $1,400, or the adjusted fair market rent, per month for up to three years.
“Now, more than ever, we need federal programs that address the growing housing crisis,” U.S. Rep. Tlaib said in a statement. “Youth homelessness is at an all-time high while the Trump Administration is slashing federal support and gutting the Department of Housing and Urban Development. By providing direct cash assistance, we can address our housing crisis with the urgency this moment demands.”
Tlaib said the bill was inspired by talking to youth.
“This bill came directly from young people with lived experience who helped craft the bill to ensure that it meets the real needs of our unhoused neighbors,” she continued. “In the richest country in the history of the world, it’s time to eradicate homelessness. The Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act brings us closer to that goal.”
The legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Hank Johnson Jr. (GA-04),
Jim McGovern (MA-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12). It is also endorsed by organizations including Detroit’s Ruth Ellis Center and the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, among others.
According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, more than 3.5 million young adults and about 700,000 young people experience homelessness each year. The risk is 83% higher for Black young adults and youth and 120% more for LGBTQ+ youth.
The number of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness increased 10% from 2023-2024 — an all-time high, Tlaib’s office says.
While studies have found that providing cash assistance has saved money by reducing strains on housing shelter systems, Tlaib’s office says more analysis is needed. The legislation also calls for a study of the effects of the program.
“It is time to demonstrate the benefits of direct cash assistance for young people experiencing homelessness, which is why the Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act is needed,” Tlaib’s office says. “More importantly, participants in past cash assistance programs have described the impact as life changing. Cash assistance provides individuals with the freedom to make their own choices about how to address their unique circumstances.”
—Lee DeVito
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
ERIK PAUL HOWARD
The case for social housing in Detroit
You don’t have to be an expert to know that the way we’ve chosen to do housing in this country is horribly dysfunctional. Rents are too high, supply is too low, banks and credit agencies are still discriminatory dinosaurs, and neighborhood segregation is still rampant. On top of all that, Detroiters were recently reminded that the status quo is also deadly.
Last month, the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the horrifying death of two children in a casino parking garage in February was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. But the unspoken underlying cause was that 2-year-old A’millah Currie and 9-year-old Darnell Currie Jr. were unhoused during a punishing winter, and were living out of a van with their mother, Tateona Williams, grandmother, and three other children. Greektown’s parking garage was a last resort after Williams’s requests for help slipped through the cracks of the city’s homeless response system. In an especially brutal twist, there is now speculation that the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office could pursue charges against Williams for what is essentially the crime of being poor.
More broadly, the unspeakable tragedy has kicked off a wave of reflection about what experts call our “broken” homeless response system. What will it take to make sure this isn’t a city where people die freezing on the streets or poisoned in their cars?
As Bridge Detroit reports, the mayor’s office has released a seven-point plan in response. The city will now keep housing helpline hours open 24/7; expand the number, hours, and coverage areas of outreach teams; double the number of shelter beds; and start treating every call that involves children like an emergency.
This is better than nothing. But the infuriating reality is that this is all preventable. There is a very effective way to protect anyone from ever hitting such a devastating rock bottom: by preventing homelessness in the first place through a guaranteed universal right to housing.
As John Stoyka, president and executive director of Community & Home Supports, Inc. told the Detroit Free Press, “As long as there’s not enough housing, people will continue to pile up in shelters” and “be on the streets.”
Addressing the actual problem
There’s an analogy about fires I like. One common mistake you see across mainstream media and political com-
mentary is to talk about public policy as if it was akin to a fire department. In this scenario, there are serious problems out there like poverty and homelessness that are torching people’s lives and ravaging communities. In response, we send in our lawmakers and institutions to put out the flames.
But this gets it all wrong. To quote Matt Bruenig, founder of the progressive think tank People’s Policy Project: “the economy is a government program.” Property law, contract law, corporate law, commercial law, and on and on — all of these are politically built economic institutions. In the case of housing, our institutions force people to acquire units through the private market rather than directly providing housing as a basic human need the way we do other public services.
To be clear, then: homelessness is a fire started and fueled by public policy. And it is entirely reversible. Our admirable care providers can only do so much. And our many affordable housing gimmicks fall enormously short. Instead, we should just put the fire out at its source through a massive social housing program.
Social housing: the way to go
Social housing, or large-scale publiclyowned housing, is a simple and elegant solution to an infuriatingly persistent problem.
Back in 2018, the People’s Policy Project released a blueprint for building ten million social housing units around the country. Going on a building spree like this would increase the housing supply at a time when we desperately need it. And by making the units mixed-income, perhaps with wealthier residents subsidizing lower-income ones, we can avoid the fear of displacing ordinary people that comes with luxury developments — not to mention the disastrous consequences of income and racial segregation that doomed our last public housing push.
While we can’t expect the federal government to launch a universal housing program anytime soon, we don’t have to wait either. The people of Seattle, for instance, just voted overwhelmingly in favor of taxing wealthy corporations as a way to finance mass public housing. They achieved this over the furious opposition of corporate giants like Amazon and Microsoft and local corporate Democrats. As the PPP proposal outlines, cities can combine moves like this with municipal bond market financing to fund social housing programs.
We could do the same here, but there’s
one major problem. Out of either a sincere and misguided belief in the superiority of market-based housing or fear of incurring the wrath of the real estate lobby, our current political class will never embrace a universal right to housing. A few years ago, for instance, Mayor Mike Duggan’s machine led a ferocious attack against Proposal P, which would have rewritten Detroit’s charter to create an affordable housing fund along with addressing other human needs like water affordability and transportation.
But with enough political courage, the kind inspired by massive public pressure, we could eradicate homelessness in short order, both for the thousands of Detroiters and the nearly 800,000 across the United States who we force to sleep on the streets and in shelters.
Tried and tested
As the PPP report highlights, other countries have a lot to teach us about providing high-quality, affordable housing for everyone.
In Austria’s capital city of Vienna, 60% of residents live in public housing, while Finland has significantly reduced homelessness through its “Housing First” model. Sweden went on a spree of its own, building one million social housing units “for the benefit of everyone.” And Singapore, as Bruenig writes in The Guardian, “has taken it the furthest of them all: 80% of its residents live in apartment units built and owned by the nation’s public housing authority.”
Each of these approaches has its challenges, but our system is atrocious by comparison. We should learn what we can from them and apply the lessons.
Our responsibility to make different choices
When Tony Stark goes to recruit Peter Parker to join the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, he asks Parker what motivates him.
“When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you,” the young Parker replies.
This is how any honest policymaker should think of their job. If you have the power to throw a rope out to a drowning person, or to put out a fire, or prevent one from ever starting in the first place, but choose not to, then you are responsible for the consequences of that decision. This is especially true for the wealthiest country in human history, where it should be trivially easy to make sure everyone has a place to sleep.
Parker’s point is that refusing to use the power at your fingertips for good leaves an intolerable moral stain on whoever holds that power. Our society has chosen a course of action that guarantees some will be homeless, instead of one that guarantees no one will be. People suffer and die needlessly because of that decision. Tateona Williams and her family were homeless because we’ve decided housing is a luxury good instead of a publicly guaranteed one like schools, libraries, and the fire department.
To put it plainly: homelessness is not a force of nature we have to overcome. It is a direct result of choices we make, and we can make different ones. We can stop the flames from ever engulfing people’s lives by removing the arsonists from power and taking care of our residents the way more humane countries do.
—Eli Day
In February, two children died while sleeping in a Greektown parking garage. SHUTTERSTOCK
NEWS & VIEWS
Lapointe
Might this be Mallory McMorrow’s moment?
By Joe Lapointe
The bumper stickers and the yard signs practically write themselves: “McMorrow for Tomorrow,” they might say, or maybe even “from Whitehouse to the White House.”
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves regarding Mallory McMorrow, a bluntspeaking (and relatively young) Democratic state senator from Royal Oak who just might be Michigan’s version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or maybe even Barack Obama.
Raised in Whitehouse, New Jersey, and educated at Notre Dame, McMorrow is serving her second, four-year term in the state Senate at age 38. She is expected to announce soon her candidacy for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the Democrat Gary Peters.
In addition, McMorrow just published a book titled Hate Won’t Win: Find Your Power & Leave This Place Better Than We Found It. In a telephone interview late last week, she was asked how Republicans and President Donald Trump have seized control of the national narrative.
“Republicans are really good at story,” McMorrow said. “We’ve got to get better at story-telling and telling an aspirational story of the new American dream that people want to see themselves in.
“We’re letting Republicans define Democrats in ways that are untrue . . . Instead of fixing the issues, Republicans will tell you it is somebody else’s fault to make you angry and fearful of somebody else.”
McMorrow’s national profile grew last summer when she addressed the Democratic national convention that nominated Kamala Harris to run against Trump, who prevailed for the second time.
Onto the convention stage McMorrow brought a prop that looked like a large book to represent “Project 2025,” the plan by which the Trump administration is now radically attacking the
federal government. McMorrow’s words proved prescient.
“If Donald Trump gets back into the White House, he’s going to fire civil servants, like intelligence officers, engineers, and even federal prosecutors if he decides that they don’t serve his personal agenda,” McMorrow told the convention. “They’re talking about replacing the entire federal government with an army of loyalists who answer only to Donald Trump.”
Two years before, McMorrow’s national breakthrough came after she was insulted by a Republican State Senator, Lana Theis of Brighton, because McMorrow supported LGBTQ rights and the teaching of American racial history in schools.
In campaign fund-raising literature, Theis wrote: “Progressive social media trolls like Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Snowflake) . . . are outraged they can’t teach, can’t groom and sexualize kindergarteners or that 8-year-olds are responsible for slavery.”
McMorrow responded with a speech in the state Senate that went viral on the internet.
“I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme,” McMorrow said, speaking of and to Theis without naming her. “You are targeting marginalized kids. You dehumanize and marginalize me. You say ‘She’s a groomer. She supports pedophilia. She wants children to
believe they were responsible for slavery and to feel bad about themselves because they’re white.’”
Instead of conceding the moral high ground to the Pharisees of the religious right, McMorrow stressed her Catholic Christianity. She said her mother sometimes missed Sunday Mass to work, instead, at a soup kitchen. Christianity, McMorrow said, means serving the community.
“So who am I?” she asked in her speech. “I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom . . . Call me whatever you want. We will not let hate win.”
Asked last week about discussing her religion in public, McMorrow said she used to shy away from it.
“I was very nervous for many years to talk about my religious upbringing,” she said. “My relationship with Catholicism is complicated, like a lot of people’s is. On top of that, I’m married to a Jewish man. But I realized when we don’t talk about it, we leave the vacuum for Republicans to really have a monopoly on religion.”
Referring to Theis’s attack, McMorrow said: “Seeing somebody use Christianity as a weapon to hurt people was not the Christianity I was raised in and I realized I’ve got to talk about it more openly.”
When asked to name her heroes in life, she replied: “Oh, my goodness.
I’m an Irish girl. So John F. Kennedy is certainly somebody I look up to who wasn’t afraid to take risks and wasn’t afraid to appeal to a broad swath of people.” Her book offers high praise for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her persuasive power of story-telling.
For the most part, Hate Won’t Win is an engaging mixture of autobiography, personal self-help guidance, and political participation manual. She writes that too many Democrats are venting now to each other through internet silos instead of organizing grassroots resistance.
As an example, she cites revulsion toward Elon Musk, Trump’s unelected Deputy President, who recently delighted a right-wing rally with a stiffarmed salute.
“When Elon Musk very clearly gave the Nazi salute, I saw people for the next 48 hours spiraling on social media, trying to do social analysis,” she said. “You can be angry, but you can’t shame the shameless. No amount of posting about Elon Musk is going to get him to feel any regret. But you can turn anger that is negative into a positive. What if, instead, you signed up for one canvassing shift?”
Her writing style varies widely in Hate Won’t Win. One sentence on Page 199 runs on for 138 words, beginning with “Every now and then . . .” and
Michigan state senator may soon seek U.S. Senate seat.
DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
ending with “. . . carry out public executions on the front steps of the Capitol.”
In other places, entire sentences and even paragraphs take just one or two words, often as not without a verb, as in “Social media.” and “Proudly.” and “To Feel.” and “To grieve.” and “Not you.” and “Not me.”
Short sentences also ask rhetorical questions like, “So why was everyone so miserable?” Parts are a bit wonky, not uncommon for a political book right before a campaign. One example of that is the chapter “Workbook” at the end, which reads like a syllabus for Political Science 101.
In her more personal memoir voice, McMorrow covers career complexities, including motherhood, and feeling “like a human feedbag” and “a soulless food vessel.” Touches of candor include “I bounced in and out of terrible relationships” and that she is “a high-functioning adult diagnosed with ADHD in college.”
McMorrow makes clear throughout that much of her political consciousness has bloomed from the past decade of Trump, the #MeToo movement, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“COVID-19 unleashed a nightmare,” she writes. “The perfect storm of conspiracy theories, hatred, violence and anger. And it was a much more dangerous sickness than any virus.”
At its best, McMorrow’s writing echoes the passion of her speaking style, much like that of Ocasio-Cortez, the outspoken Democrat from New York in the U.S. House of Representatives. McMorrow describes her reaction to seeing a Trump flag fly at a family home in her neighborhood in 2016. The family included little girls.
“At least one of their parents decided that a man openly bragging about sexual assaults was exactly who they wanted to hold the highest office in the United States of America,” she writes. “And they flew that flag. Proudly . . . And just like that — our country went from electing our first Black president to electing a blatantly misogynistic, racist, serial liar . . .”
Sexual assault appears often in Hate Won’t Win. McMorrow describes one against her in high school, another in college, and the unwanted attention she attracted as a freshman in the Legislature from Peter Lucido, then a fellow state senator, now the Macomb County prosecutor.
“ . . . [M]y body entered fightor-flight mode desperately seeking escape,” McMorrow writes of encountering Lucido. “Grasping my hand tight enough to indicate he didn’t want me going anywhere, he asked where I was from.”
She answered this as well as a question of who she defeated.
“He pulled back slightly and looked me up and down, still holding both my hand and low back,” McMorrow writes. “‘I can see why,’ Lucido told me with a smirk after I’d felt his eyes assess every inch of my body and score me in his mind like a purebred at a dog show.”
Despite moments like this, McMorrow’s recent rise is part of a decade-long movement of women in Michigan politics, particularly — but not exclusively — on the liberal, progressive, Democratic left. It includes Governor Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin, U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
“There is a lot of power in that so many of us ran together,” she said of the pivotal election of 2018. “I am very proud that Michigan is a standout. When I travel the country, and I speak to people, they ask me what is going on with those women from Michigan.”
Her major legislative achievement so far, McMorrow said, is Michigan’s red flag law, “my first bill signed into law,” that allows fearful friends and relatives to petition a court for the removal of a firearm from someone considered dangerous to themselves or others.
“We know that it is saving lives in a meaningful way,” she said.
One of her top advisors is a Democratic consultant named Lis Smith, who “doesn’t try to change who I am.” They were connected by Ray Wert, McMorrow’s husband, who knew Smith had helped raise the television profile of Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, presidential candidate, and secretary of transportation. Smith booked McMorrow on CNN.
“Lis knew I just needed a chance,” McMorrow wrote, “that once people saw me, I’d become their go-to — a fresh new face in politics who was smart as hell and didn’t put up with anyone’s BS.”
Optimistic supporters of McMorrow may envision another parallel career path for her. Obama went from Illinois state senator in 1997 to U.S. Senate from Illinois in the election of 2004 to President of the United States in the election of 2008.
McMorrow also represents the Upper Midwest. Her hometown, “Whitehouse,” is sometimes spelled “White House.” Might McMorrow take the Obama track? That seems far-fetched. But, 20 years ago, so were notions like “President Barack Obama” and “President Donald Trump.”
LETS GO PISTONS & TIGERS! JOIN US ON TIGERS OPENING DAY APRIL 4TH
DRINK SPECIALS BEFORE & AFTER WINGS GAMES! ONE MILE FROM STADIUMS/ MINUTES FROM QLINE/ FREE STREET PARKING ON SUNDAYS
Wed 4/02 OFF THE RAILS TRIVIA EVERY WEDNESDAY HOSTED BY THE PAZMASTER 8PM/NO COVER
Fri 4/04
TIGERS OPENING DAY
WE OPEN EARLY MAIN BAR@11A PATIO BAR@NOON FIRST PITCH@1:10P CORONA & CUERVO DEVIL’S RESERVE PROMO
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PATRICK CAREY! DJ SKEEZ & FRIENDS (HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/HOUSE) DOORS@8P/$5COVER
Sat 4/05
TIGERS DANCE PARTY W. DJ MEAN DEAN (TECHNO/HOUSE) DOORS@9P/$5COVER
Mon 4/06 FREE POOL ALL DAY
Coming Up: 4/11 J Michael & the Heavy Burden/ BMcC Jamboree/Dave Tonnies
4/12 DIVAS vs. DIVAS (monthly dance party) 4/18 Castle Black(NYC)/Sound of the Shell/ Sonic Smut/Cherry Drop 4/19 DANNY OVERSTREET DAY 4/25 Vlad’s Skeletal Circus/Living Ai/ Lonesome Skeleton Band
4/26 FOOL SCHOOL pres. “Sally Jenny Donahue”
5/02 Vultures of Culture/Funderbird/3148s
5/03 Sudden Death Syndrome/ Yeddie/Scum Queens
5/04 PATIO OPENING PARTY w/ Howard Glazier
5/10
Last year, no one from the Detroit Tigers organization ever seemed particularly surprised by the team’s remarkable — and improbable — late-season winning streak that led to their first MLB playoff appearance since 2014.
For those of you who need a recap: On August 10, 2024, the Tigers were eight games under .500 (55-63), their season seemingly drawing to another unremarkable finish. The team had even sold off starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, catcher Carson Kelly, and lefthanded reliever Andrew Chafin at the MLB trading deadline.
Most observers assumed the Tigers were done competing for the year and would resume their organizational rebuilding process.
But after August 10, when Fangraphs gave the Tigers a 0.2% chance of making the postseason, they proceeded to go 31-13 (a .705 winning percentage) and clinch a wild card spot in the American League playoffs.
In addition to that remarkable winning streak, they also needed the simultaneous late-season collapse of division rival Minnesota. Sure enough, the Twins wilted down the stretch and finished the season 17-29.
Without that unlikely scenario, the Tigers wouldn’t have made the playoffs. In the midst of this improbable, almost magical run of success, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch did a masterful job of utilizing his young, hard-throwing pitching staff.
Managing the unpredictability of their so-called “pitching chaos,” Hinch and his staff mapped out a highly adaptive and constantly shifting plan based
on each of his pitchers’ abilities and how they could best be used in daily matchups against opposing lineups.
A plan called chaos
For the Tigers to successfully execute the plan, each pitcher had to be willing to adapt to a constantly shifting set of variables and fully embrace the advance preparation offered by their coaches and analytics staff, looking beyond preconceived pitching roles (and even leaving a little of their egos behind in the process).
Seemingly, the entire pitching staff bought into this unconventional plan.
“Not knowing when [you’re] going to get called, it is chaos at times,” Tigers pitcher Beau Brieske told MLB.com. “So you try to just be ready. The thing that I always tell myself is, ‘You’ve got to trust that if your name’s getting called, there’s a reason for it and you›re the guy for the situation. You›ve got to go out there, do your job and that’s it. You don’t try to make it more than what it is, and you just trust that the next guy’s going to pick you up and there’s a plan.’ It’s not just randomness.”
The Tigers’ success during one and half months of playing very good baseball exceeded their play over the season’s long seven months and had a dramatic effect on the perception of a franchise’s success.
If the Tigers hadn’t made their presence felt in the playoffs last year, fans likely still would’ve had an increased level of excitement entering this season. But instead, the Tigers’ surprising postseason success has only further heightened the expectations of an
otherwise recently dormant baseball fan base.
Any 2025 season preview has to consider that Tigers fans are primed to watch a successful and competitive team, regardless of just how rare the circumstances were that conspired to make them a playoff team in 2024.
“Baseball is the most perfect of games, solid, true, pure and precious as diamonds,” W.P. Kinsella wrote in Shoeless Joe. “If only life were so simple. Within the baselines anything can happen. Tides can reverse; oceans can open. That’s why they say, ‘The game is never over until the last man is out.’ Colors can change, lives can alter, anything is possible in this gentle, flawless, loving game.”
As Kinsella suggests, many baseball fans are willing to suspend their disbelief for their favorite team. The surprising end to the Tigers’ 2024 season only further supports fans suspending their disbelief in the hopes of an even better outcome in 2025.
With the home opener finally upon us, most Tigers fans are expecting a very successful and highly competitive 2025 campaign. And they have a number of good reasons to expect more this year, most notably all 13 members of Detroit’s top-tier pitching staff.
Many fans are also expecting to see improvement from young core players like outfielders Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, center fielder Parker Meadows (currently recovering from a shoulder injury), catcher Dillon Dingler, and newly minted first baseman Colt Keith.
Plus they’ve added a talented veteran in second baseman Gleyber Torres
(who’s performed well at Comerica Park) on a contract that will yield big rewards for him next season, contingent upon a successful 2025.
Torres should be highly motivated. The Tigers do still carry the burden of shortstop Javier Baez and former first baseman and once highly touted draft prospect Spencer Torkelson. Both players have a tenuous hold on their roster spots, with increasingly diminished expectations. So how will the Tigers integrate them into the mix this season without costing the team?
Anything can happen
Can a variation of “pitching chaos” yield productive performances from each of them?
Remember: Within the baselines, anything can happen. And from August 10 onward last season, the Tigers proved just that. But can fans still believe “anything is possible” in a media environment of 24-hour sports coverage and the daily, grinding skepticism of sports talk show hosts?
Are they inured from allowing themselves to hope for even more in a media environment where every last play is analyzed and scrutinized? In a longtime baseball stronghold like Detroit, I believe that without a doubt that they can. Fans want to believe that the Tigers are making considerable progress. But what do baseball experts think? Are they just as bullish as fans? Does the Tigers’ end-of-season success last year change expectations?
Fangraphs is a popular website that features the statistical history of every Major League Baseball player, as well
as both shared baseball industry-wide and proprietary analytical tools that are useful for both those inside and outside of the baseball industry.
Their “depth charts” feature is where you can find their playoff odds for each team and the projected standings for the upcoming season.
“The Depth Charts are pretty simple in theory,” writes Fangraphs’ Neil Weinberg. “They blend together two of the leading projection systems (Steamer and ZiPS) and then scale those projections to our expectations about playing time. … You can think of the Depth Charts as the baseline projections for the entire site, as they are the input for the projected standings, playoff odds, and game odds.”
Fangraphs’ depth charts are useful for a couple of reasons, Weinberg adds. “First, they blend two projection systems together without you having to do any of the work, and that’s helpful because aggregate projections are better than any one system.”
These proprietary projection systems also measure a team’s playoff odds based on their players’ performances as the season goes on.
Playoff odds are affected by players who either play above or below their expectations (which directly impacts
changes in their playing time), as well as accounting for each injury as they occur.
Every season, injuries limit players from producing their originally expected performance and generally directly impacts the success of a team.
The 2025 Tigers are already facing injuries to starting pitcher Alex Cobb and outfielders Matt Vierling, Wenceel Perez, and Parker Meadows. A particularly prolonged injury (especially in the case of Meadows) would directly impact their expected playoff odds.
Fangraphs currently predicts the Tigers will go 82-80, one game behind the Minnesota Twins and just a game ahead of the Kansas City Royals.
Their initial expectation is basically for the AL Central to be a hotly contested race, with an exciting photo finish of teams who all appear remarkably well-matched as competitors.
That doesn’t seem far from what any of us can rightfully expect, given how competitive the division was in 2024.
Fangraphs’ Jay Jaffe indicates that their projections model doesn’t apply more weight to the Tigers’ last 44 games of 2024 except to the extent that the players’ stats likely improved over that span. Those projections are based on full-season numbers.
The view from the cheap seats
Each long-running podcast closely follows the Tigers and their entire organization while maintaining the balance of objective analysis and understanding subjectively how fans and experts are feeling about organizational decisions and team performance.
For so many of us as baseball fans, a team is much more than a set of data points. We see progress based on more than just quantitative measures. There are qualitative differences that Brown and Castillo have monitored closely along the way while the team has developed the top farm system in all of Major League Baseball (according to MLB Pipeline).
We asked Brown and Castillo if fans should have higher expectations after the team’s spectacular 44-game performance to end the regular season last year. Each of their responses were unique, but they also echoed similar thoughts.
“Proceed with caution,” Castillo says. “The young core (of the team) is improving. Riley Greene and Colt Keith continue to develop, and they were key parts of that strong finish. If they take another step forward, the offense could see real gains.”
“Obviously the late-season run raised expectations for the fan base,” Jaffe says. “But the Tigers may not have been aggressive enough in terms of shoring up the roster for a similar run — but they did seem to get good bargains in re-signing (Jack) Flaherty and adding (Gleyber) Torres.”
The Tigers clearly have some weak spots or at least some uncertainty, Jaffe says. “(Spencer) Torkelson hasn’t panned out, the infielders on the left side (shortstop Trey Sweeney and recently demoted third baseman Jace Jung) don’t have very strong projections, and right field looked particularly weak even with (a healthy Matt) Vierling.
Analytics are the most dispassionate and least intangible method of gauging expectations. They’re useful but they’re even better for measuring actual ingame performance.
There are also components of the game that analytics can’t really account for. There are no discrete measures for momentum or a vibe that surrounds the performance of a team.
That’s why we asked longtime Motor City Metrics and the Detroit Tigers Minor League Report podcasters Rogelio Castillo and Chris Brown for their thoughts about this season and increased fan expectations.
“I think baseball fans should almost always be cautiously optimistic heading into the season because you just never know what might happen,” says Brown. “Last year is one great example of why, and I’d argue 2006 was probably one of the 10 greatest seasons in franchise history, partially because no one saw it coming.”
Brown and Castillo agreed that the Tigers’ strong pitching staff, led by Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, would help the team remain very competitive.
“Pitching will keep them in games,” Castillo says. “Tarik Skubal looked like a legitimate ace down the stretch, Reese Olson showed promise, and Casey Mize is back in the mix. The Tigers have enough pitching depth to be competitive most nights.”
“Getting Jack Flaherty back was a coup,” Brown adds, “even if he doesn’t quite match what he did in 2024. Reese Olson and Casey Mize have looked stellar this spring, and (rookie pitcher) Jackson Jobe has some of the best pure stuff in baseball, even if he hasn’t quite harnessed it yet. This is the best, deepest Tigers rotation in at least a decade.”
Not surprisingly, they also had similar concerns for the 2025 season.
“Outfield depth is a concern,” Castillo says. “Beyond Double-A (Erie), the Tigers don’t have much reliable outfield depth. If (Riley) Greene and Parker (Meadows) aren’t healthy, it puts the
Tarik Skubal.
JEFFREY HYDE, FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS
team in a bind for a reliable source of offense.”
Unfortunately, the Tigers also have the recent injuries of outfielders Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez to consider.
Brown agrees that the injuries to Meadows and Vierling are a big concern, and adds that the vague nature of their recovery timelines doesn’t inspire much confidence.
“By wRC+ (an analytical measure of player performance) they were two of Detroit’s four best offensive players last year. And Parker Meadows sure seemed to be in the middle of a lot of huge plays down the stretch. Adding Gleyber Torres should help, but the longer Meadows and Vierling remain sidelined, the less optimistic I am about the Tigers’ chances.”
Island of Misfit Toys
To address those concerns, the team just added journeyman outfielder Manny Margot, who should provide a veteran counterbalance to the team’s vulnerability against left-handed pitching.
If there’s one criticism to be levied, it’s that the Tigers weren’t fully successful in their attempts to upgrade positions of organizational need in an admittedly weak free-agent class.
Their well-documented pursuit of former Astros (and now Red Sox) third baseman Alex Bregman proved fruitless, leaving them hoping for considerable improvement by their default in-house option, young Jace Jung.
But Jung has been sent down to Triple A Toledo, and the Tigers’ infield is starting to look like the Island of Misfit Toys.
“Unfortunately, I worry that bad defense and poor offense might undo the whole thing,” Brown says. “The probable Opening Day roster has a very underwhelming, slapdash feel to it. Multiple players are being asked to try new defensive positions, and the Tigers are likely to trot out at least five below-average (or worse) defenders in Los Angeles.”
Castillo suggests that we can still trust the process, noting that Tigers President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris has made some smart, if not flashy, moves. “The team is adding depth without overcommitting to longterm contracts that could eventually backfire.”
As a fan, it’s fair to wonder if hubris played any part in how the Tigers approached the offseason. Just like the buy-in needed by the pitchers to support “pitching chaos,” players throughout the organization are now being asked (after an incredible end-of-season inducement of making the playoffs) to trust the efficacy of the organization’s decision-making.
The elephant on the field
And then there’s the massive elephant on the field: the Tigers’ Cy Young Award winning pitcher, Tarik Skubal.
From our view here in the cheap seats, initial discussions about a contract extension for Skubal went nowhere. Now with two years remaining on his contract, the clock is ticking. But the Tigers have to balance winning now without entirely compromising the future of the franchise.
Adding Bregman would’ve solidified the team’s commitment to winning within the short window remaining in Skubal’s contract. Inevitably, the Tigers will have to decide whether to deal Skubal for prospects if the team falls short of its postseason goals.
The team can now be confident in its own resilience and trust its on-field leadership, headed by manager A.J. Hinch.
So what should we expect from the Tigers this year?
“Expectations should be higher than last year, but cautiously so,” Castillo says. “The Tigers aren’t a lock for the playoffs, but a .500 or better season is a realistic goal. Still, the margin for error is still thin.”
“I would tell fans to go ahead and be optimistic, because that’s more fun,” Brown adds. “But also expect a roughly .500 record.”
For my part, I have the same measured expectations for the team — but I also can’t forget what it felt like just a few months ago after Andy Ibanez’s gamewinning double off of Astros closer Josh Hader and Kerry Carpenter’s breathtaking home run off of Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase in the ALDS (a series that the Tigers still lost).
“You win a few, you lose a few,” said Satchel Paige. “Some get rained out, but you got to dress for all of them.”
Ultimately, the Tigers have proved that you can’t count this team out. They’re a resilient bunch, and they’ve got the right combination of quality leadership and talented players who believe enough in this organization — and in themselves — to remain bullish on their future after last year’s surprising playoff run.
I’m cautiously optimistic about the Tigers this season — without being unreasonable about their circumstances. But I won’t be surprised if the team struggles at times. I also know that you can’t rule ’em out until they’ve fully run out of chances.
If anything, their spectacular 44-game run only reinforces just how special it was last year. Expecting that again is a lot to ask for. But we do know that this organization can’t easily be counted out.
And what more can we ask for?
The Detroit Tigers kick off the 25th anniversary of Comerica Park on Friday, April 4 hosting the Chicago White Sox. The first pitch starts at 1:10 p.m.
Detroit Home Opener Festival
Starts at 9 a.m.; 440 Madison Ave., Detroit; detroithomeopener.com; $20$2,999
Billed as “Detroit’s largest opening day party,” this fest features two heated tents, DJs and live music, full bars, food vendors, games, and more. General admission tickets start at $20 with a number of VIP packages available. Proceeds benefit Angel’s Share, an organization that provides training to at-risk students for careers in the hospitality industry.
Firebird Tavern
Starts at 9 a.m.; 419 Monroe St., Detroit; firebirdtavern.com; no cover One of Detroit’s biggest opening day parties includes a large outdoor tent, beer and cocktails, food trucks, live DJ, and yard games.
Grand Circus Park
From 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Grand Circus Park; facebook.com; no cover Tailgate with a Miller Lite Beer Tent, food trucks, giveaways, music from DJ Invisible, TV screens with the game on, and more.
Grand Slam Festival
From 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway St., Detroit; facebook.com; $30-$120
Outdoor party includes heated tents, DJs, food trucks, games, and more. Woodward Sports will host a live pre-game broadcast with Darren McCarty, Terry Foster, and Braylon Edwards.
Opening Day Block Party
Starts at 9 a.m.; 24 W. Adams Ave., Detroit; eventbrite.com; $0-$300
One ticket gets you access to three parties in one building at The Annex, Brass Rail, and Love & Tequila. There will be full bars and food menus, multiple TVs and projectors screening the game, VIP bottle service, and music from DJs Godfather, Chrome, N.W. 45, and more.
The Fillmore
Starts at 7 a.m.; 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; eventsinthed.com; no cover Located across the street from Comerica Park, the Fillmore’s annual bash has music from DJ Bet and Sunset BLVD, and food and drink. The event is presented by 101 WRIF with Dave & Chuck the Freak broadcasting live from the venue’s lobby.
The Old Shillelagh
Starts at 7 a.m.; 349 Monroe St., Detroit; facebook.com
Opening day party has three floors of entertainment with live music and DJs, plenty of TVs to watch the game, and food, too.
The Detroit Home Opener Festival.
PHOTOS BY ALEX
WHAT’S GOING ON
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines (and give your bosses an early heads up that you’ll be sick on Friday). The Tigers kickstart the baseball season at home against the White Sox, and the city kicks off one of its biggest parties of the year. While we can quibble about whether there is such a thing as a moral victory, let alone one to be found in a series sweep, the Tigers played the Dodgers tough, and were a controversial review and reversal away from a ninth inning go-ahead run on Friday night. The team showed a lot of fight — the main quality that sparked their magical ALDS run last season. Jack Flaherty, who came back to the Tigers in free agency after getting traded to the Dodgers at the deadline and winning a World Series, looked good in his first start against his old team. He’s scheduled to start on Friday against the Sox, who look to bounce back from a historically bad 121 loss season.
—Josh Cohen
Starts 1:10 p.m. on Friday; Comerica Park, 2100 Woodward Ave., Detroit, ticketmaster.com. Tickets start at $110.
FestiFools and FoolMoon
This year’s FestiFools and FoolMoon parades are going to rock. The annual events — which see people march through the streets of Ann Arbor with outlandish papier-mâché puppets — have a musical theme this time, naming “Iggie Popp” as its “Luminary Grand Marshal” in a nod to the city’s rock ’n’ roll history. (Iggy Pop and the Stooges formed there.) The weekend kicks off with the illuminated FoolMoon “Rhythum & Fools” from dusk to midnight on Friday, starting at Washington
The Erotic Poetry and Music Festival.
from the Detroit Party Marching Band, the winner of the Neutral Zone’s Battle of the Bands contest, the Community High Jazz program, and the University of Michigan. The fun continues from 4-5 p.m. on Sunday with a “RevFOOLution” on Main Street. —Lee DeVito
Various events, see linktr.ee/ festifoolsstudio for more information.
Hurricanes at Detroit Red Wings
We’re not dead yet. Though the Wings haven’t played their best hockey of late, the other teams in the race for the second wild card in the East have also sputtered down the final stretch of the season. The Blue Jackets, Habs, Rangers, and Islanders have all been mediocre, and although the Wings need some luck, they’re still in the race. The white-hot Hurricanes beat the Red Wings twice in March and will present a tall task during this Friday night tilt. Shoutout to the true believers who hit Opening Day and then stick around downtown for the evening Red Wings game — just make sure you have a ride home.
—Josh Cohen
Starts 7 p.m. on Friday; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; ticketmaster.com. Tickets start at $61.
The Erotic Poetry and Music Festival
Poetry, burlesque, and musical performances are all part of the upcoming Erotic Poetry and Music Festival, now celebrating its 36th show. The annual event had its start in the Cass Corridor and bills itself as Detroit’s oldest community arts festival. This year’s version features performances by Satori Circus, Lushes LaMoan, and Sophia Von Stardust, among others, with a portion
SELECTIONS
Paws with a Cause, which trains and provides guide dogs for people with disabilities.
—Lee DeVito
Starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 5; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; thelovingtouchferndale.com.
Tickets are $20.
Memphis Grizzlies at Detroit Pistons
Though they seemed locked in to the 6th seed for a couple of months, the Detroit Pistons sit presently at the 5, and a strong finish could see them surpass the Pacers and grab the 4 seed, giving them a valuable home court advantage in that 4-5 matchup. Imagine traveling
Pistons 28-game losing streak and telling fans that the team would be vying for home court in just a years’ time — you would probably get stuffed back in the time machine. Hard to believe how far the team has come. And perhaps more importantly, to Detroit fans at least, is that the team has done it pugnaciously. Isaiah Stewart and Ron Holland don’t take shit from anyone, and head coach JB Bickerstaff has shown he’s willing to eat a fine from the NBA to stand up for his guys both on and off the court. This team has Bad Boys DNA. The Grizzlies are no shrinking violets either, and on paper this looks like a game they could play in football pads.
—Josh Cohen
Starts 7 p.m. on Saturday; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit;
Big Fun
For more than 15 years, DJs Mike Trombley and Scott Zacharias packed local nightclubs thanks to their Macho City dance night, moving bodies with their encyclopedic knowledge of disco, house, techno, and more. Now, the duo is back with Big Fun, a new dance night named after the 1988 track by the DetroitChicago electronic music duo Inner City. Trombley and Zacharias describe the LGBTQ-friendly event as “a night dedicated to classic ’90s house music, a genre deeply rooted in the values of inclusivity and freedom, particularly for marginalized communities.”
—Lee DeVito
Starts at 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 5; UFO Bar, 2110 Trumbull, Detroit; ra.co. Tickets
The FestiFools and FoolMoon parades in downtown Ann Arbor.
HOLLY BURKHART
WHAT’S GOING ON CONTD
Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Be sure to check venue websites before all events for the latest information. Add your event to our online calendar: metrotimes.com/AddEvent.
MUSIC
Wednesday, April 2
Live/Concert
ARTMS 6 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $45-$200.
Archer Oh, Orange Dog Club, The Telephone Poles 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.
Miracle Debt with The Bores 8 p.m.; Garden Bowl Lounge, 4120 Woodward Avenue, Detroit; no cover.
The Hard Quartet, Sharp Pins 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $42.50.
Matt Larusso Trio and guests 8-11 p.m.; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW: The Bacharach Songbook Live featuring Todd Rundgren 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $45-$57.
DJ/Dance
Planet Funk 7-10 p.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit.
Ripe April 2, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit; $10.
Nightcap Detroit 11 p.m.-2 a.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit.
Thursday, April 3
Live/Concert
Emery, Flake 6 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $30.
Hippies & Cowboys, Lori & the Darlings, Rose Hill Road 7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $20.
honestav, Damien Styles 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.
Jeremy Camp 6 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; Kickstand Productions Presents: Reggie Watts Live 7:30 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $39.50.
Lyfe Jennings 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $33-$49.
The Used: 25 Year Anniversary Tour (performing self-titled album in its entirety) 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $49.50-$75.
ZZ Top, The Sedonas 8 p.m.; FIM Capitol Theatre, 140 E 2nd Street, Flint; $90/$250.
DJ/Dance
Curated Cool 7-10 p.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit.
Realms of Techno 10 p.m.-2 a.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit; $10. Karaoke/Open Mic
Drag Queen Karaoke 8 p.m.-2 a.m.; Woodward Avenue Brewers, 22646 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; no cover.
Elixer: DJs John Ryan and GEO 9 p.m.-midnight; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
Friday, April 4
Live/Concert
The Backbeats (The Beatles tribute) 7-10 p.m.; The HUB Stadium, 44325 W 12 Mile Rd., Unit H-160, Novi; $25-120.
Closed Circuit Cassettes InStore Concerts 7-11 p.m.; Reware Vintage, 2965 12 Mile Road, Suite 200, Berkley; pay what you can.
The Creepos, Matt Smith (solo), DJ Hashbrowns 8 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.
Dom Kennedy, Casey Veggies 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $35.
Elegantes de Jerez 9 p.m.; El Agave, 1650 Perry St, Pontiac; $50-$200.
JUMP (Van Halen tribute) 8 p.m.; Emerald Theatre, 31 N. Walnut St., Mount Clemens; $22-$215.
Kickstand Productions Presents An Evening With Ida & Tsunami Coin Toss 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $30.
Outlaws, Horse Cave Trio 7:30 p.m.; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; $48.
Robert Cray Band 7 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $39.50-$69.50.
Sanction 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $25.
DJ/Dance
Detroit DSA Presents: Dance Against Fascism 9 p.m.-2 a.m.; UFO Bar, 2110 Trumbull Ave., Detroit; $10 advance, $15 at the door.
House Coffee April 4, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit. Marie Vaunt, Raedy Lex, KITTAMAMI, Juicy 9 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $15-$22.50.
Vibes Don’t Lie 10 p.m.-2 a.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit; $10.
Saturday, April 5 Live/Concert
The 36th Anniversary Show: The Erotic Poetry & Music Festival 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20.
80s Party 4a Purpose Charity Event 6:30 p.m.; Emerald Theatre, 31 N. Walnut St., Mount Clemens; $20-$300.
Caravan Palace, Zayka 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $40.
Connor Price 7 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $34-$99.
Dirk Kroll Band 7 p.m.; The Alleycat Cafe, 31 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $15.
The Detroit Doors (Doors tribute) 8-11:30 p.m.; Northville Marquis Theater, 135 E Main St, Northville; $20. Her Head’s On Fire, Touch the Clouds, Suburban Delinquents 8 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $12.
KC Lights, Maur, Nayt, Darren Divine 9 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $15-$20.
Magic Bag Presents: MEGA 80s 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20.
MAOLI 7 p.m.; Majestic Theatre, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $29.50-$128.50.
Supercrunch (Grateful Dead tribute) 7 p.m.; Dog & Pony Show Brewing, 14661 W Eleven Mile Rd., Oak Park; $10.
The Used: 25 Year Anniversary Tour (performing In Love and Death in its entirety) 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $49.50-$75.
Traitors, Crown Magnetar, Yosemite in Black, Walking Down Main, Bvried 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $18.
Winds of Neptune, Warhorses, DJ Matt Attack, DJ Stevie Michael 8 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover. DJ/Dance
Macho City presents BIG FUN: A
Night of Classic House 9 p.m.; UFO Bar, 2110 Trumbull Ave., Detroit; $10. Ravenscoon GLASS ORCHID PART ONE with BUKU, Canvas, Luminyst 8 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $30.
Saturday Grind 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit.
Sunday, April 6
Live/Concert
An Afternoon in England 4-6 p.m.; Grosse Pointe Unitarian Church, 17150 Maumee Ave., Grosse Pointe; $30 at the door, $25 in advance, $10 for students.
Angel Du$t, Glitterer, Restraining Order, Purest Form 6 p.m.; Lincoln Factory, 1331 Holden, Detroit; $23. Northern Lights: Music for Strings and Piano 3-4 pm; The Hawk Theatre, 29995 W 12 Mile Rd, Farmington Hills; $25 in advance $30 at the door $12 student.
Phil Ogilvie’s Rhythm Kings 5-8 pm; Zal Gaz Grotto Club, 2070 W. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor; No Cover (tipjar for the band).
The Used: 25 Year Anniversary Tour (performing Lies for the Liars in its entirety) 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $49.50-$75.
VOCES8 in Concert 7-8 pm; Christ Church-Detroit, 960 E. Jefferson, Detroit; $50-$65.
Ypsilanti First UMC Presents Ypsilanti Youth Choir 3-4:30 pm; First United Methodist Church of Ypsilanti, 209 Washtenaw Ave., Ypsilanti; Free. DJ/Dance
Boot Scootin’ Brunch with DJ Rodeo Ryan noon; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; $10.
SPKR BRNCH 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit.
Karaoke/Open Mic
Sunday Karaoke in the Lounge 5-9 pm; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; 0.
Monday, April 7
Live/Concert
Anxious 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $19.
Beth Gibbons, Cass McCombs 7 p.m.; Cathedral Theatre at the Masonic Temple, 500 Temple St., Detroit; $59-$110.
Billie Holiday tribute with Sky Covington 7-10 p.m.; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $35-$50.
Maddie Zahm, Mercer Henderson The Loving Touch, 22634 Wood-
ward Ave., Ferndale; $25.
DJ/Dance
Adult Skate Night 8:30-11 p.m.; Lexus Velodrome, 601 Mack Ave., Detroit; $5.
Tuesday, April 8
Live/Concert
Alan Sparhawk (of Low), Circuit Des Yeux 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $25. Bright Eyes, Cursive 6:30 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $45-$84.50.
Daniel Seavey, SOMBR, KYLEKELLY 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $34.95.
Magic Bag Presents: Dogs In A Pile 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $22.
Pouya, Freddie Dredd, Cursed, Terror Reid 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $32.50-$44.50.
Sean Blackman’s In Transit 7-10 p.m.; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
Tank and The Bangas, Jamila Woods, Peter CottonTale 7 p.m.; El CLub, 4144 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit; $38.07.
Karaoke/Open Mic
Open Mic : Art in a Fly Space 7-10 p.m.; Detroit Shipping Company, 474 Peterboro St., Detroit; no cover.
Tuesday Karaoke in the Lounge 8 p.m.-midnight; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.
THEATER
Performance
Detroit Opera House Così fan tutte
This brand-new production by Detroit Opera Artistic Director Yuval Sharon offers a fresh take on Mozart’s controversial comedy, where the role of Artificial Intelligence turns the tale into a futuristic experiment. Don Alfonso’s manipulations of the “emotions” of his robotic inventions (the lovers) become an obsessive quest to develop spiritual machines. Will his laboratory of lovers lead to a breakthrough for “Humanity 2.0,” or are human habits of jealousy and deceit hardwired into us? $30-175 Saturday April 5, 7:30 pm.; This brand-new production by Detroit Opera Artistic Director Yuval Sharon offers a fresh take on Mozart’s controversial comedy, where the role of Artificial Intelligence turns the tale into a futuristic experiment. Don Alfonso’s manipulations of the “emotions” of his robotic inventions (the lovers) become an obsessive quest to develop spiritual machines. Will his laboratory of lovers
lead to a breakthrough for “Humanity 2.0,” or are human habits of jealousy and deceit hardwired into us? $30-175 Saturday April 5, 7:30 pm.
The Loving Touch The Erotic Poetry & Music Festival The Erotic Poetry & Music Festival is an eclectic celebration of the erotic arts! It features poetry, music and burlesque performances, live painting, vendors and more! This is the longest running community arts festival in Detroit and this is the 36th Show! Join us for a night of risque entertainment! A portion of the proceeds benefits Paws with a Cause. For more info check out our page at www.Facebook.com/EroticPoetryandMusicFestival $20 Saturday April 5, 7-11 pm.
Max M. Fisher Music Center
Detroit Symphony Orchestra Friday April 4, 10:45 am, Saturday April 5, 8 pm and Sunday April 6, 3 pm.
Tipping Point Theatre English
Tipping Point Theatre’s 17th theatrical season continues beginning March 12th with English, by Sanaz Toossi, another Michigan premiere production! In an Iranian classroom for adult English learners, the teacher, Marjan, leads four students through a linguistic playground as they prepare for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam. Their dreams, frustrations and secrets come to the forefront. Will “English only” expand or limit what they truly want to say? This comic and heartfelt play about language and identity won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize. “A rich new play … both contemplative and comic” declares The New York Times.
$25 - $55 Wednesday April 2, 2-3:30 pm, Thursday April 3, 7:30-9 pm, Friday April 4, 7:30-9 pm, Saturday April 5, 6-7:30 pm and Sunday April 6, 2-3:30 pm.
Musical
Fisher Theatre - Detroit The Book of Mormon (Touring) - Open Captioned/ Audio Described Performance Wednesday April 2, 7:30 pm, Thursday April 3, 7:30 pm, Saturday April 5, 2 & 7:30 pm and Sunday April 6, 1 & 6:30 pm.; Friday April 4, 7:30 pm.
Hilberry Gateway - STAGE The Prom The Prom is a dazzling Broadway sensation that combines humor, heart, and show-stopping performances. When a group of self-absorbed Broadway stars discover a small town’s prom controversy, they rush to help and to restore their own reputations. This high-energy musical, fueled by catchy tunes and poignant moments, navigates themes of love and acceptance. With infectious energy and a powerful message, The Prom delivers an uplifting experience that celebrates the transformative magic of the stage and the importance of embracing diversity. $20$30 Through April 6, 8-10:30 pm.
24 April 2-8, 2025 | metrotimes.com
Meadow Brook Theatre Vanities: The Musical $46 Wednesday April 2, 2 & 8 pm, Thursday April 3, 8 pm, Friday April 4, 8 pm, Saturday April 5, 6 pm and Sunday April 6, 2 & 6:30 pm.
The Music Hall Menopause The Musical 2 $40-$70 Sunday April 6, 3 pm.
COMEDY
Improv
Embassy Suites Troy The Dinner Detective Comedy Mystery Dinner Show - Detroit, MI (Troy, MI) America’s largest interactive comedy murder dinner theatre show is now playing! Solve a hilarious mystery while you feast on a fantastic dinner. Just beware! The culprit is hiding in plain sight somewhere in the room, and you may find yourself as a Prime Suspect before you know it! Join us for an event that is very different from a traditional mystery dinner show. Our actors are not dressed in costume and are hidden in the audience! This results in a fun, social and interactive evening suitable for all adults. Each ticket includes our signature award-winning mystery dinner theatre show, $69.95 Saturday April 5, 6:30-9 pm.
Go Comedy! Improv Theater Pandemonia The Allstar Showdown is a highly interactive improvised game show. With suggestions from the audience, our two teams will battle for your laughs. The Showdown is like “Whose Line is it Anyway,” featuring a series of short improv games, challenges and more. Fridays and Saturdays 7:30pm & 9:30pm 25.00 Fridays, Saturdays.; $20 Every other Friday, 8 & 10 pm.
Planet Ant Black Box Dress Rehearsal, the show **HILARIOUS NEW COMEDY: DRESS REHEARSAL** The stage is set, the costumes are ready—but when the lead actor quits the night before opening, chaos takes center stage. Each night, a surprise guest takes on the lead role with no script, no rehearsal, and no clue what’s coming next. As the cast scrambles to keep the show together, the audience becomes part of the unpredictable, fast-paced fun. Written and directed by Robyn Whitelaw, *Dress Rehearsal* is a must-see for fans of improv, interactive theater, and big laughs. $30 online or $35 door Fridays, Saturdays, 8-9:15 pm.
Stand-up Opening
Eastern Palace Club Stewart Huff LIVE @ Eastern Palace Club | The Smoke Show Comedy Show Born in Campbellsville, Kentucky and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, Stewart Huff has been performing comedy for over 15 years, beginning when he decided to drop out of college to become a writer. His knack for embracing the foibles of humanity
and his refreshing originality make him as likeable as he is hilarious. A storyteller at heart, Huff continues to amaze with his clever material and personal wit. 8:30 PM | $5 | 21+ $5.00 Thursday April 3, 8:30-10 pm.
Fox Theatre Tina Fey & Amy Poehler: Restless Leg Tour $79.50-$299.50 Friday April 4, 7 pm and Saturday April 5, 4 pm.
Magic Stick Ninja Sex Party & TWRPPure Elegance Tour Sunday April 6, 7 pm.
Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Jeff Allen Troy Bond is a comedian and writer based in New York, known for his sharp crowdwork skills and tongue-in-cheek Modern Seinfeld sketches that helped to build his fast-growing audiences on TikTok and Instagram. Beginning his impressive rise in stand-up at 17, the now-26-year-old is booked in the city seven days a week and hilariously tackles topics spanning from his unabashed love for comics to his belied that kale is corrupting the youth. In addition to his work on camera and on stage, Troy cohosts the BONDING podcast with fellow comic Torey Cole. $30.00 Thursday April 3, 7:30-9 pm, Friday April 4, 7:15-8:45 & 9:45-11:15 pm and Saturday April 5, 7-8:30 & 9:30-11 pm.; Jeff Allen’s 2025 tour blends his signature standup comedy with a heartfelt message. In the first half, Jeff’s rapid-fire humor covers everything from marriage to family life, showcasing the same wit that has earned him nearly a billion views on Dry Bar Comedy. The second half takes a deeper turn, inspired by his book Are We There Yet?, where Jeff shares his personal journey from dark times to redemption. $40.00 Sunday April 6, 6:30-8 pm.
The Hawk Theatre An Evening of Stand Up Comedy Join your host, 2024 Artist-in-Residence for the City of Farmington Hills, Mark Boyd, as he kicks off a night of laughs at The Hawk Theatre, Black Box. We’ll also welcome to the stage... Steve Smargon Steve, a USMC veteran, has become one of the most unique and sought-after performers in the country. And headlining the evening... Bob Phillips, who has been performing standup comedy at the country’s best theaters and clubs for 25 years. *Beer and wine will be available for patrons 21 years and above beginning at 7:00 PM. $20 in advance $25 at the door Saturday April 5, 8-10 pm.
Continuing This Week Stand-up Blind Pig Blind Pig Comedy FREE Mondays, 8 pm.
The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant The Sh*t Show Open Mic: Every Friday & Saturday at The Independent A weekly open mic featuring both local amateurs and touring professionals. Doors open at 8:30 p.m.
FOOD
New Faygo flavor is based on Superman ice cream
This might be one of the most Michigan things to happen… ever.
Faygo has released a new flavor based on Superman ice cream, the colorful combo said to have originated from Detroit in the 1920s.
“Super Pop” is one of two new products from the Detroit-based company, with the other being a bubblegumflavored “Bubble Pop!”
“This is one of the biggest launches in Faygo’s 118-year history,” said Dan Trpevski, Executive Vice President of Faygo Beverages. “We’re proud to introduce these all-new unique flavors, Super Pop and Bubble Pop!, to our lineup of over 50 iconic Faygo varieties.”
The company says both flavors are now available at local Meijer stores, and it expects them to be sold in more locations soon.
Detroiters can be among the first to sample the new flavors at the “House of
Detroit’s
artist-led Moondog Café announces grand opening with live music, DJs, and more
A new cafe and music venue is ready to open in Detroit’s Wildemere Park neighborhood.
Located at 8045 Linwood St., the artist-led Moondog Café says it hopes to continue the legacy of small music venues in the Dexter-Linwood corridor, which included clubs like the Minor Key, Hobby Bar, the Linwood Theatre, and others.
To that end, the club will focus on jazz and electronic music, hosting both local and nationally touring acts “with an objective to build stronger bridges between Detroit and music communities worldwide,” it says.
The venue will offer cafe service from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday with a menu including coffee, espresso, teas, mushroom lattes, kombucha, craft sodas, and pastries, and also feature a “mini-shop” selling records and analog audio equipment.
In addition, internet radio station Blue Moon Radio will broadcast live from the cafe from noon-3 p.m. every Saturday. Music production collective
D.Cipher also plans to host a jam session on the last Thursday of every month.
Neighborhood groups the LaSalle Gardens Community Association and Wildemere Park Neighborhood Association have also been invited to hold regular meetings in the space, the venue says.
Moondog Café is the brainchild of Jared Talaga, Rob Nash, and Joe Darling, who started work on the project in 2023. Development included a Motor City Match grant and a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.
While the Moondog Café has hosted some soft launch events in recent months including The Straits: Detroit in Motion, a photography exhibition by Andrew Petrov, it is billing Saturday, April 5 as its official grand opening party. The event will feature music including DJs sets by Whodat, Supreme Gratitude, others from noon-5 p.m. as well as live performances from the Caleb Robinson Trio at 5 p.m., Jon Dixon Live at 6:30 p.m., and Ahya Simone at 8 p.m.
80+ food trucks headed downtown
Twisted Street BBQ and its barbecue-loaded mac and cheese will be among the more than 80 food trucks posted up in downtown Detroit this year.
The Downtown Street Eats program will bring lunch options to Cadillac Square and the Woodward Esplanade 11 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays from Monday, April 7 through Oct. 10.
Faygo” pop-up at 1001 Woodward Ave. this weekend.
In addition to tastings, the free event will feature exclusive merch, photo opportunities, and even Detroit-style Jit dancers.
The pop-up is open from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, April 4 and noon-5 p.m. on Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, April 6.
According to Trpevski, the lineup has been under development for a long time.
“Consumers would be surprised by the amount of work that is involved in bringing a new Faygo pop flavor to life,” he said. “From inception to endless testing, to hitting store shelves — it takes a lot of tasting and teamwork. These new flavors have been a passion project for our team, and we’re excited to feature them at a unique and fun event.”
—Lee DeVito
Managed by the Downtown Detroit Partnership and curated by Ask Jennyfer, the event bills itself as Michigan’s largest weekly food truck experience, feeding more than 2,500 people daily.
“Each year, our Downtown Detroit Street Eats program brings something new and exciting to the table,” said Laura Dean, director of parks and public spaces for the Downtown Detroit Partnership.
“With a fantastic mix of returning favorites and fresh food trucks joining the lineup, there’s no shortage of delicious options to explore. We’re proud to support local food entrepreneurs and create a vibrant lunchtime destination where Detroiters and visitors can gather, discover new flavors and enjoy the city’s energy.”
Newcomer Twisted Street BBQ was founded in 2021, serving brisket, pork,
chicken, ghost pepper sausage, and ribs.
“BBQ has always been my passion, and it all started in my backyard,” said Nicholas Lodato. “I love experimenting with my own rubs and sauces, and the flexibility of running my own business has been a game-changer. said Lodato. “Joining Downtown Street Eats this year was a no-brainer. It’s an amazing opportunity to reach more people at lunchtime, grow my visibility and connect with customers for catering and private events. Plus, the atmosphere in the area is fantastic — it’s a great chance to contribute to the community and feed the masses.”
Detroit’s longstanding Irish pub the Old Shillelagh will also have a presence at this year’s Downtown Street Eats, organizers say.
Returning food trucks include Big Bo’s Grill, serving its burgers, wings, and egg rolls, in addition to The Rolling Stone Pizza, Hero or Villain Food Truck, Grand Traverse Pie Co., and Cousins Maine Lobster, among others.
The food trucks will also be on hand during special events such as the Detroit Grand Prix and the Detroit Tree Lighting.
—Lee DeVito
Super Pop is one of two new Faygo flavors.
COURTESY OF FAYGO
—Lee DeVito
Bites
CULTURE
Film A return to form for Soderbergh
By Jared Rasic, Last Word Features
Black Bag
Rated: R
Run-time: 94 minutes
Can we agree that Steven Soderbergh is one of America’s most exciting, influential, and innovative filmmakers currently working? Or, are his movies not “sexy” enough to elevate him to the ranks of artists like Hitchcock, Scorsese, Godard, and Truffaut? Actually, I don’t really care if we agree, I’m calling it. Since 1989’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Soderbergh has not only helped revolutionize independent film in the United States, but has consistently found ways to move cinema into blazingly original spaces of storytelling and technical innovation while remaining so prolific that it remains to be seen if he ever actually sleeps.
Somehow making it look effortless, Soderbergh bounces between glossy Hollywood crowd-pleasers like the Ocean’s trilogy and Erin Brokovich, experimental arthouse oddities like Bubble, Schizopolis, and The Girlfriend Experience, and intense, clinical deconstructions of bureaucracy like Traffic and Contagion. My personal favorite of
his sub-genres? His off-key character studies The Limey, Che, and Solaris
With his second release in just three months (after the flawed, yet mesmerizing ghost story Presence), Soderbergh’s Black Bag isn’t just a return to form for the formally restless auteur, but is inarguably the finest spy thriller since 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by Tomas Alfredson. Hollywood espionage movies have been mostly concerned with car chases and explosions as of late, so consider me refreshed that Black Bag would rather spend its brisk runtime on crackling dialogue, magnetic performances, and high stakes battles of wits.
British intelligence officer George Woodhouse (a tightly coiled Michael Fassbender) is given a list of five other British agents, one of whom leaked a software program MacGuffin known as Severus to the bad guys. Woodhouse has one week to investigate the five agents and discover the mole before thousands might die. The twist? One of the agents is his beloved wife Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett, having the time of her life in this role).
That’s not a spoiler as we learn that she’s one of the suspects in the opening minutes, but I won’t go into the plot
more than that since letting the slow burn of Black Bag unfurl in real time before you is a blissfully entertaining experience. When audiences complain about Hollywood not making films for “adults” anymore, I imagine them picturing something with the complexity and intelligence of Black Bag Soderbergh directs, edits, and shoots the film with such restless grace that it’s overwhelming to contemplate balancing such different artistic mediums simultaneously. He is one of the few directors alive talented enough to edit scenes in his head while building shot compositions and lighting a frame. Editing while filming might sound intuitive, but tightrope walking between cinematic disciplines on a $50 million studio picture requires a level of confidence I cannot even fathom.
This elevated level of filmmaking combined with an intelligent and fun script from David (Jurassic Park) Koepp, a playfully propulsive, percussive score from David (Ocean’s 11) Holmes, and a flawless supporting cast featuring a murderer’s row of future movie stars like Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Gustaf Skarsgård makes Black Bag a compul-
sively watchable modern classic. On the surface, this sounds like something goofily convoluted like the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but the film takes itself quite seriously. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. Fassbender and Blanchett are such #couplegoals that reveling in the multiple levels of their devotion to each other is not just sexy and sweet, but refreshingly uncynical for a spy thriller. As intensely high stakes as the Severus mystery is, Black Bag is so ambitiously constructed that it works equally well as an achingly romantic love story.
Soderbergh has spent decades delighting in showing us good-looking people being incredible at their jobs, whether it’s as lawyers, prostitutes, thieves, astronauts, strippers, revolutionaries, or spies. He rarely ever approaches a story “normally,” instead coming in at singular and eccentric angles that make his audience re-examine their own preconceptions. Black Bag is so effortless, so elegant, that I want another five movies starring Woodhouse and St. Jean, but only with Soderbergh driving. Accept no substitutes.
Grade: A-
Cate Blanchett, having the time of her life in this role.
CLAUDETTE BARIUS/FOCUS FEATURES
The Straight Dope An unexpected defender of legal cannabis
By Steve Neavling
In a strange twist, Michigan Republicans are emerging as saviors of the state’s legal cannabis industry.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to more than triple the state’s recreational marijuana excise tax is facing strong resistance in the GOP-controlled House, where Speaker Matt Hill has pledged to block any attempt to raise taxes.
The proposal, part of Whitmer’s $3.5 billion plan to fix Michigan’s crumbling roads, would increase the cannabis excise tax from 10% to 32%, in addition to the state’s 6% sales tax. Industry advocates and lawmakers from both parties warn the tax hike could devastate small cannabis businesses.
Hall, a Republican from Richmond Township, said last week that Whitmer’s proposal has no chance of advancing in the House.
“In a situation where the prices of marijuana are going so low because the black market is taking over, you don’t see any enforcement on marijuana from Gov. Whitmer,” Hall said at a news conference. “Everybody in the world can get a license for this. You flooded this with supply, and now they want to tax it and push more stuff into the black market.”
Instead, House Republicans passed a $3.1 billion road-funding plan of their own last month that avoids new taxes but would require deep cuts elsewhere in the budget, including programs Whitmer has championed. Their plan shifts $2 billion annually from corporate income tax revenue to road repairs and ends state funding for economic development incentives. It also replaces the state’s 6% sales tax on gas with a dedicated 20-cents-per-gallon motor fuel tax.
The legislation passed mostly along party lines, but as many as seven Democrats, including House Speaker Joe Tate of Detroit, voted in favor of parts of the plan.
While the GOP package is unlikely to pass the Democratic-led Senate in its current form, it positions Republicans as defenders of a cannabis industry
they once opposed.
In a brief statement to Metro Times, Rep. Timothy Beson, a Republican from Bay City, said Whitmer’s plan “is sloppy and I’m definitely not a fan.”
Before voters approved the sale of recreational marijuana in Michigan in 2018, many Republicans were opposed to it. That quickly changed when Republicans saw an opportunity to make money. Some of them became proweed lobbyists, and one, former state Rep. Rick Johnson, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for accepting bribes when he led the marijuana licensing board from 2017 to 2019.
Even some Democrats are balking at Whitmer’s cannabis tax proposal.
Rep. Julie Brixie, D-Meridian Township, praises Whitmer for coming up with ways to fix the roads but says boosting the tax on cannabis is not the answer.
“I applaud the governor for putting forth a real solution for the roads,” Brixie tells me. “However, having said that, I would prefer to see additional sources of funding considered.”
Brixie says she views cannabis as part of Michigan’s broader agricultural economy, and the young, struggling industry employs nearly 38,000 residents.
“The industry is going through major disruptions, and what I don’t want to see is small businesses getting eaten up by massive corporations,” Brixie says. “Those small businesses reinvest in the communities they serve.”
The state’s legal cannabis industry brought in a record $3.3 billion in sales in 2024, but plummeting prices from an oversaturated supply is forcing dozens
of businesses to close. At an average of just $69 for an ounce of flower, margins are slim, and adding a 32% tax would be fatal for many businesses, people in the industry tell me.
Legal experts and industry leaders say Whitmer is mischaracterizing the tax hike by claiming her plan is closing “a loophole” that allowed the cannabis industry to dodge higher taxes. She insists marijuana should be taxed at the same rate as tobacco.
“This is plainly not the case,” attorneys Lance Boldrey and John Fraser at Dykema Cannabis Industry Group wrote in a recent analysis. “When Michigan voters legalized adult-use marijuana in 2018 by passing the initiative for the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (‘MRTMA’), they did not vote to assess a wholesale tax on adult-use marijuana. Instead, they levied a 10% excise tax at the point of retail sale (in addition to Michigan’s 6% sales tax).”
The attorneys warn that the tax would raise prices for consumers and cannabis businesses that cannot afford to absorb another blow.
“The economic reality of the Michigan industry is that most operators are in tremendous financial distress, and profitability is extremely challenging,” the attorneys wrote. “To put it mildly, we are not anecdotally aware of any grower or processor that sees close to a 32% net margin and could internally absorb a wholesale tax without raising prices. Even though the proposed tax would presumably be remitted by wholesalers, the cost will be passed
from wholesalers to retailers, who will pass on the increased costs to the end customer.”
The House Republican plan sets the stage for contentious negotiations with the Democrat-controlled Senate and Whitmer.
“There’s not a lot of great ideas coming from the Democrats, but we do have a proposal that we can put together that will solve this problem and that is putting road repairs above the corporations and corporate giveaways,” Hall said.
Although Senate Democrats have expressed opposition to the House plan, they have yet to offer an alternative of their own.
But Brixie says she plans to revive her “Raise Up Local” grant match program, a bill she previously introduced to address inequities in local road funding.
The legislation aims to support municipalities with lower per capita taxable values, like Detroit, so they can fix their local roads. To qualify, a municipality must have a per capita taxable value below the statewide average and pass a millage increase.
“This is a way to be a lot more equitable in the distribution of funds for local roads,” Brixie explains.
As for Whitmer, her office has repeatedly declined to answer my questions about the cannabis tax proposal and did not comment for this column.
In the meantime, cannabis businesses and consumers can rest easier knowing that the struggling industry won’t be burdened with yet another tax and challenge.
The GOP blocks a steep cannabis tax, helping an industry the party once opposed.
CULTURE
Savage Love Quickies
By Dan Savage
: Q How does one find the clitoris?
A: I’m told the clitoris is not hard to find go north, young man — but if one tries to find it and one fails, one should pull over (or pull out) and ask for directions.
: Q If someone tells you to “do whatever you want,” should you?
A: Someone who says that and means it is eventually going to say it to the wrong person and get hurt; they’re a danger to themselves. Someone who hears that and takes it as license to do whatever they want is a danger to others. So, a decent person by definition — wouldn’t do whatever they wanted to someone who told them to do whatever they wanted. And seeing as you’re a reader of mine, I’m hoping you’re a decent person.
P.S. People who say “do whatever you want” don’t mean it. What they mean is this: “I’m too embarrassed to ask for what I want, so I want you to guess.” Never guess.
: Q Instruct me on what I need to know about trying tantric sex with my boyfriend.
A: There’s only one thing I can tell you about tantric sex: You’ll have to ask someone else, as I don’t know the first thing about it.
: Q I’ve been with my partner for eight months now. I’m a quite small woman and seem to be even smaller down there, which means there’s much I can do in the bedroom without getting hurt. We have tried different positions but more than half cause me to bleed or be so that we’re left with maybe three positions that work. I can see he gets frustrated with being limited. Is there any way to make myself slightly bigger to give him more room to have fun?
A: Most straight couples experiment with different positions before landing on a few that work for them — positions and angles of penetration that work best for their bodies during PIV — and those positions become their go-to/default positions. There are lots of ways two people can enjoy each other prior to having PIV in a position that is pleasurable for both partners; two people can also enjoy each other (and get each other off) without having penetrative sex. If your boyfriend is pushing you to have PIV sex in positions that are painful for you, he’s a selfish asshole and you should DTMFA.
: Q Should a woman “prep” every time
before doing anything anal — even just a plug?
A: A woman who can’t tolerate even a chance of mess should “prep” (read: douche) before anal; if someone is into anal but squeamish about mess, he should ask his female partner to prep and show his gratitude for the effort with something other than his dick. As for butt plugs: since they don’t go in and out during sex, they don’t require prep. If you’re concerned about what a plug might look like when it comes out, head to the bathroom once the fun is over and remove on your own.
: Q I went to HUMP! 2025 Part 1. I want to know more about the mud pit used in one the films! Is that wrestling pit open to the public? What kind of mud is that? Why is it so hot?
A: “The magical muck in our pit is pure kaolin clay, which we buy in bulk from ceramic supply stores,” said MuddyBuck, co-creator and co-star of Pit of Pleasure, one of the more than twenty brand new HUMP! films now touring the country. “It’s skin-safe, silky smooth, and creates that perfect viscous consistency that lets bodies slide against each other in the most delicious ways.” While the mud pit featured in Pit of Pleasure isn’t open to the public, the team behind Pit of Pleasure hosts private sessions for vetted folks at their home base.
“Anyone interested in joining the Brotherhood of Mudsters can slide into our DMs,” said MuddyBuck. “As for what draws us to mud play, it’s the ultimate body-blurring experience. The boundaries between you and your partner literally melt away as you’re coated in this primordial goo. It’s like sensory deprivation and sensory overload simultaneously — perfect for kinky minds who get off on that liminal space between self and other.”
HUMP! 2025 Part is on tour now! Find out when HUMP! is coming to a city near you, watch the trailer, and order tickets at HumpFilmFest.com!
: Q How do I keep my boyfriend satisfied when he is more experienced than me? I have only had sex with him. He said the sex was so bad at sex at first that he almost ended things with me because I’m so inexperienced. It’s hard to act sexy because I don’t feel sexy. What do I do?
A: I think you should take your boyfriend at his word — you’d be better in bed if you were more experienced — and go fuck some nicer guys, some hotter guys, some guys who wanna build you up (and get you off) instead of tearing you down.
: Q My regular hookup continues to paint me. Should I call it quits?
A: Does your regular hookup know you’re bothered? If they know and it keeps happening… that’s on them: they’re not taking reasonable steps to prevent painting or they’re taking those steps and they’re
not making a difference or they get off painting your dick. But if they don’t know it bothers you — if you haven’t told them that’s on you.
: Q How do you find a no-strings-attached JO partner?
A: JO parties are a good place to start! To find out more about JO clubs and the men who attend them — men who are, by definition, looking for no-strings-attached JO partners — listen to my interview with Paul Rosenberg, founder of Rain City Jacks, on the Savage Lovecast.
: Q Gay anal virgin! A finger is OK anything bigger just hurts. I really want to get fucked! I don’t want to try poppers! Suggestions please!
A: Get some butt plugs! And dildos! Ranging in size! From a little bigger! Than your finger! To a little bigger! Than your goal dick/dicks! Don’t come unless you’re plugged for the next three months! Create a powerful association between having something your ass and getting off! Then find a patient, understanding dude who wants to be your dildo! There to get you off! Not there — at least not at first — to get himself off!
: Q Is “I’m not sure that’s the vibe” a good way to tell someone that a friendship probably won’t turn sexual?
A: When you say, “I’m not sure that’s the vibe,” the other person should hear, “I’m not sexually attracted to you and nothing sexual is going to happen between us.” But someone in the grip of dickful/ clitful thinking can easily misinterpret conditional statements/phrasings meant to soften the blow. So, when you say, “I’m not sure that’s the vibe,” the other person might here, “I’m not sure RIGHT NOW that’s the vibe BUT THAT COULD CHANGE SO KEEP TRYING.” Likewise, when someone says, “I’m not in the right place for a relationship,” the other person might here, “I’m not in the right place for a relationship BUT I MIGHT BE SOON SO KEEP TRYING.” If you tried to gently let someone know it wasn’t going to happen and it didn’t work… you’ll have to try again, less gently and more bluntly.
: Q How can I give my boyfriend a prostate orgasm and convince him to let me try? I’m a woman, he’s a man, and he’s reluctant to let me do this.
A: If your boyfriend is reluctant because he doesn’t enjoy anal stimulation that much — if he doesn’t truly love anal stimulation — you’re not gonna be able to give him a prostate-stim-only orgasm, which even guys who love anal have difficultly achieving. So, you might have to let this go.
: Q Could you help with the timing of eating, anal douching, and sex? I don’t feel sexy when I’m hungry.
A: Douche a couple of hours before play and have something light to eat an hour before play and you’ll be fine.
: Q Is it OK to drink pee for someone’s kink?
A: Trump hasn’t issued an executive order barring it — but you might not want to wait, as there’s no way of knowing what he might screw up for us next.
: Q My new boyfriend doesn’t talk during sex. I love some verbal communication. How do I ask for it?
A: Not only are we likelier to get the things we want when we ask for them, you’re modeling the very behavior you want to see — you’re communicating with your boyfriend verbally about the verbal communication you want to see from your boyfriend. Ask him! Use your words! And here’s my handy guide to dirty talk:
: Q What’s a reliable rimming technique?
A: Go deep or go home.
: Q Does PrEP need to be taken at the same time every day?
A: Let me Google that for you: “PrEP works best if you take it at the same time every day. You may want to take PrEP before or after a daily activity, like when you eat breakfast, or when you brush your teeth before bed. To help you remember, keep your pill bottle where you will see it.”
PrEP User Guide, NYC Health
: Q What is proper etiquette at a play party when you’re propositioned by a couple and you’re into one of them but not the other?
A: “If a couple is obviously playing together at a party, you should assume that’s the deal on offer,” said Ali Bushell, author of The Sex Party Handbook. “When the couple seems to be a package deal, then you need to be OK with accepting both of them, even if you prefer one more than the other. So long as the partners are engaging with you in a way that’s OK for you, accepting the ‘package deal’ may work for you — but if one person is so out of your zone of comfort that you can’t engage with them both, just say, ‘Thank you but no thank you, have fun,” and politely move on.”
Ali Bushell is a therapist, author, and public speaker and the host of The Healers Guild podcast.
: Q Best advice for your first threesome?
A: Decide what’s on the menu and don’t add anything — don’t reopen negotiations — during the threesome. Make sure your third knows this is your first time, tell them what’s on the menu, and ask them if that sounds good to them. And remember: if things get awkward, it’s better to break for some ice cream and a quick check-in convo than to attempt to power through.
Read the full column online at savage.love.
Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love! Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns, and more at Savage. Love.
CULTURE Free Will Astrology
By Rob Brezsny
ARIES: March 21 – April 19
Have you ever been part of an innovation team? Its goal is not simply to develop as many new ideas and approaches as possible, but rather to generate good, truly useful new ideas and approaches. The most effective teams don’t necessarily move with frantic speed. In fact, there’s value in “productive pausing” — strategic interludes of reflection that allow deeper revelations to arise. It’s crucial to know when to slow down and let hunches and insights ripen. This is excellent advice for you. You’re in a phase when innovation is needed and likely. For best results, infuse your productivity with periodic stillness.
TAURUS: April 20 – May 20
Barnacles are crustaceans that form vast colonies on rocks, pilings, whales, and boats. They may grow so heavy on a ship that they increase its heft and require as much as a 40% increase in fuel consumption. Some sailors refer to them as “crusty foulers.” All of us have
our own metaphorical equivalent of crusty foulers: encumbrances and deadweights that drag us down and inhibit our rate of progress. In my astrological opinion, the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to shed as much of yours as possible. (I’ll be shedding mine in June.)
GEMINI: May 21 – June 20
In 1088, the Chinese polymath and statesman Shen Kuo published his book Dream Torrent Essays, also translated as Dream Pool Essays. In this masterwork, he wrote about everything that intrigued and fascinated him, including the effects of lightning strikes, the nature of eclipses, how to make swords, building tall pagodas resistant to wind damage, and a pearl-like UFO he saw regularly. I think the coming weeks would be an excellent time for you to begin your own version of Dream Torrent Essays, Gemini. You could generate maximum fun and self-knowledge by compiling all the reasons you love being alive on this mysterious planet.
CANCER: June 21 – July 22
The mimosa is known as the “sensitive plant.” The moment its leaves are touched, they fold inwards, exposing the sharp spines of its stems. Why do they do that? Botanists say it’s meant to deter herbivore predators from nibbling it. Although you Cancerians sometimes display equally extreme hair-trigger defense mechanisms, I’m happy to say that you will be unlikely to do so in the coming weeks. You are primed to be extra bold and super-responsive. Here’s one reason why: You are finely tuning your protective instincts so they work with effective grace — neither too strong nor too weak. That’s an excellent formula to make fun new connections and avoid mediocre new connections.
VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22
A star that astronomers call EBLM J0555-57Ab is 670 light years away. Its diameter is the smallest of any known star, just a bit larger than Saturn in our solar system. But its mass is 250 times greater than Saturn’s. It’s concentrated and potent. I’ll be inclined to compare you to EBLM J0555-57Ab in the coming weeks, Virgo. Like this modest-sized powerhouse, you will be stronger and more impactful than you may appear. The quality you offer will be more effective than others’ quantity. Your focused, dynamic efficiency could make you extra influential.
LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22
Libran jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk was an influential musician in part because he didn›t conform to conventions. According to music writer Tarik Moody, Monk’s music features “dissonances and angular melodic twists, and are consistent with his unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of switched key releases, silences, and hesitations.” Many of Monk’s most innovative improvisations grew out of apparent mistakes. He explored and developed wrong notes to make them into intentional aspects of his compositions. “His genius,” said another critic, “lay in his ability to transform accidents into opportunities.” I’d love to see you capitalize on that approach, Libra. You now have the power to ensure that seeming gaffes and glitches will yield positive and useful results.
SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21:
10-foot wingspan. They’ve got a good strategy for conserving their energy: riding on thermal currents with little effort, often soaring for vast distances. I recommend that you channel the Andean condor in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. Always be angling to work smarter rather than harder. Look for tricks and workarounds that will enable you to be as efficient and stress-free as possible. Trust that as you align yourself with natural flows, you will cover a lot of ground with minimal strain. Celebrate the freedom that comes from embracing ease.
CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19
While hiking in nature, people often rely on their phones to navigate. And what if their battery dies or there’s poor cell service out in the middle of nowhere? They might use an old-fashioned compass. It won’t reveal which direction to go, but will keep the hiker apprised of where true north lies. In that spirit, Capricorn, I invite you to make April the month you get in closer communication with your own inner compass. It’s a favorable and necessary time to become even more highly attuned to your ultimate guide and champion: the voice of the teacher within you.
AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18
“It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool.” Aquarian author John Steinbeck wrote that. I think it’s useful counsel for you in the coming weeks. What does it imply? Here are a few meditations. 1. Be tuned in to both the small personal world right in front of you and the big picture of the wider world. Balance and coordinate your understandings of them. 2. If you shift your perspective back and forth between the macrocosmic and microcosmic perspectives, you’re far more likely to understand how life really works. 3. You may flourish best by blending the evaluative powers of your objective, rational analysis and your intuitive, nonrational feelings.
PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20
The potto and the lotto, should get together, for every five bucks of weed purchased, you get a ticket. Guess the right numbers and the sticky ball, you’re high for life!!
OBERON, BASEBALL, APRIL,
ALL IS RIGHT.
LEO: July 23 – August 22
While sleeping on a recent night, I dreamed of an old friend I had lost touch with for 20 years. It was wonderful. We were remembering mystic breakthroughs we had while younger. When I awoke the next day, I was delighted to find an email from this friend, hoping for us to be back in touch. Hyper-rationalists might call this coincidence, but I know it was magical synchronicity — evidence that we humans are connected via the psychic airways. I’m predicting at least three such events for you in the coming weeks, Leo. Treat them with the reverence they deserve. Take them seriously as signs of things you should pay closer attention to.
Author Richard Wright said that people “can starve from a lack of selfrealization as much as they can from a lack of bread.” That’s rarely a problem for Scorpios, since you are among the zodiac’s best sleuths when exploring your inner depths. Does any other sign naturally gather more self-realization than you? No! But having said that, I want to alert you to the fact that you are entering a phase when you will benefit from even deeper dives into your mysterious depths. It’s an excellent time to wander into the frontiers of your self-knowledge.
SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21
Andean condors hunt for prey while flying through the sky with their
The earliest humans used bones and pebbles to assist in arithmetic calculations. Later, they got help from abacuses and crude mechanical devices. Electronic calculators didn’t arrive until the 1960s. All were efforts to bypass tedious reckonings. All were ingenious attempts to manage necessary details that weren’t much fun. In that spirit, I encourage you to seek time-saving, boredom-preventing innovations in the coming weeks. Now is an excellent time to maximize your spacious ability to do things you love to do.
Homework: Did you know I write books? Here are some: tinyurl. com/3BrezsnyBooks
JAMES NOELLERT
ADULT SERVICES
MASSAGE RELAXING
NURU MASSAGE
for the quarantine must not be sick. Must be clean and wear mask. Outcalls only incalls are at your cost Hey I’m here to help. This is Candy melt in your mouth so try my massages they’re sweet as can be!!! (734) 596-1376
WINDOWS
BEAUTIFY YOUR HOME with energy efficient new windows! They will increase your home’s value & decrease your energy bills. Replace all or a few! Call now to get your free, no-obligation quote. 844-335-2217.
CABLE CABLE PRICE
INCREASE AGAIN?
Switch To DIRECTV & Save + get a $100 visa gift card! Get More Channels For Less Money.Restrictions apply. Call Now! 877-693-0625
Vintage freaky emotion’s! Fully equipped, strap- on, S&M, couples phone consultations, cash app, dreams, come true, honest! Pleasure, experience a Natural Dominatrix. 313-293-0235
SERVICES
MEDICAL
VIAGRA & CIALIS ALTERNATIVE PILLS
$99/50 Pills Promo Bundle. Bundled network of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra alternative products for a 50 pill for $99 promotion. Call 888-531-1192.
CABLE
DISH TV $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95
High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/21/24. Call 1-866-566-1815
ADULT
ADULT ENTERTAINMENT HIRING SEXY WOMEN!!!
Hiring sexy women (& men). Highly Paid Magazine, Web, and Movie/TV work. no experience needed, all sizes accepted. 313-289-2008.
ADULT
ADULT ENTERTAINMENT THE EBONY FOOT FETISH GODDESS (Not an escort) 24 hr No blocked calls Specials $100 hr, in call only My feet rock your world. 248-431-9211 Serious callers only.
