Metro Times 10/16/24

NEWS & VIEWS

Feedback

We received comments in response to contributor Caryn Rose’s cover story last week, “The last word on the MC5.” The article told the story behind the new book MC5: An Oral History of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band, written by Jaan Uhelszki and Brad Tolinski based on the archives of the late Ben Edmonds.

It’s a shame that Wayne Kramer didn’t get to see his band going into the hall of fame, but I also question if he would have attended the induction ceremony. He stayed true to his beliefs and the message he had from the mid 60s all the way to the end.

—@mt_dawgy, Instagram

You could also read Wayne Kramers autobiography… he was there the whole time, or so the legend goes.

—@williamhaders, Instagram

Thank you Caryn Rose for telling the MC5 story so eloquently. I too have always wanted to change the ending. Tell them, No, No, just don’t do THAT!

—Jaan Uhelszki, Facebook

Congratulations Jaan Uhelszki and Brad Tolinski, and thank goodness for Ben Edmunds’ notes and Mary Cobra for protecting his archives. Just picked up my copy and I can already smell the patchouli oil! Kim Sulek, Facebook

Have an opinion? Of course you do! Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com

NEWS & VIEWS

Opinion

Consumed by flames

At Thursday’s inaugural Detroit Story Fest event at the Detroit Film Theatre, Metro Times reporter Steve Neavling recounted his journey covering fires for a year through his independent project Motor City Muckraker. Below is a transcription of his story.

I lay in the back of an ambulance with an oxygen mask pressed to my face. My heart was pounding. Tears streamed down my face.

I was losing my job at the Detroit Free Press, where I had worked for six years. The medic kept telling me, “It’s going to be OK. It’s going to be OK.” But I wasn’t so sure. I had worked so

hard to get where I was — the late nights, the relentless hustle, the sacrifices. And now, it felt like everything was slipping away, just as Detroit was sliding into bankruptcy.

When we arrived at the hospital, I learned I wasn’t having a heart attack. I wasn’t going to die. It was just a panic attack.

The next few weeks were a blur. I felt angry and sad and full of shame.

At the time, I lived in a loft in Midtown with my girlfriend Abby and our two Jack Russells. Abby was in college, and with no steady income, we were forced to move to a low-income apartment on Detroit’s east side. It

was there — inside that cramped, 500-square-foot apartment — that I decided to take a risk.

If Detroit had taught me anything — it was to never give up. So instead of waiting for a job, Abby and I created one. We started an independent investigative news site called Motor City Muckraker. It was a nod to the old-school reporters who exposed corruption.

But here’s the thing about starting a news site with no resources — you don’t get paid. But that wasn’t my focus, not yet anyway. I had a story to tell — the story of the city’s bankruptcy through the eyes of Detroiters.

With Motor City Muckraker up and running, I hit the streets of Detroit. One evening, I spotted thick, black smoke billowing in the distance.

I followed it, and when I arrived, flames were tearing through the back of a house. Heat shattered the windows, and the roof began to buckle. Firefighters hadn’t arrived yet, so rushed to the front door, pounding on it, just in case someone was inside. But no one answered.

I was about to call 911 when I heard sirens in the distance. Finally, they were coming.

But as the firefighters rushed to the nearest hydrant, it didn’t work.

Steve Neavling tells the behind-the-scenes story of covering every fire in 2015 — and how it may have saved his life.

STEVE NEAVLING

They tried another. And another. None of them worked. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

The flames spread to the house next door, where a mother huddled with her children and screamed at firefighters, “Why aren’t you doing anything? Put out the damn fire”

By the time firefighters found a working hydrant several blocks away, the fire had consumed not just the first house, but the neighbor’s house as well. A third home caught fire, and before long, a fourth.

When it was over, a fire chief told me this wasn’t unusual. It happened all the time.

Hydrants didn’t work. Trucks broke down on their way to fires. They were doing everything they could, he said, but they were losing the battle.

And people were dying.

That fire was just one of many in Detroit. The city had the highest arson rate in the country. The city was bankrupt, and firefighters were being laid off. Equipment was failing. And while the city burned, Mayor Dave Bing was making deep cuts to balance the budget.

I became consumed with the fires — the devastation they caused and how outmatched firefighters were. So much was at stake. Entire blocks were burning down and no one was reporting it.

In February 2015, I made a decision: I was going to cover every fire in Detroit for an entire year — all 3,500, it turned out. No salary. No newsroom. Just me, my beat-up sedan, and a fire scanner that never stopped squawking.

My office was a cramped 200-square-foot living room. My desk? A kitchen table covered in notes, empty pop cans, and coffee stains.

There were, on average, 10 structure fires every day in Detroit — those are houses, apartments, churches, businesses, and abandoned buildings. I drove to as many as I could, documenting the stories that weren’t being told.

When I couldn’t make it, I listened to recordings of the scanner so I didn’t miss anything.

To my surprise, thousands of people were reading each story I wrote, and the readership continued to grow with every burning house.

The city told me only a few dozen hydrants were broken. But I knew better. You couldn’t miss them — they were marked with large yellow discs or wrapped in caution tape — and they were outside schools, churches, day care centers, high-rise buildings. Even the damn fire stations had broken hydrants out front. They were everywhere, symbols of a system in collapse.

Even the one outside my four-story apartment building was inoperable.

When I asked the city for more details about the broken hydrants, they refused to turn over records to me, so I sued the city.

Meanwhile, as I spent more time at fire scenes, I became a familiar face to the firefighters. I befriended Mike Nevin, an old-school, battle-worn man who had seen too many bodies pulled from the flames.

We’d meet in dark bars, talking about the fire crisis, the toll it was taking on him and his brothers. I could see the weight he carried — the sadness behind the stoic mask. He told me firefighters had been begging the city for years to give them proper equipment and to fix the hydrants, but no one would do anything about it. They felt like they were fighting a losing battle.

I saw things I never imagined: whole blocks engulfed in flames, abandoned firehouses burning to the ground, the bodies of children carried from houses on fire.

Without working hydrants, fire could burn for a long time. Sometimes, the heat from the flames was so intense that the vinyl siding on homes across the street melted like wax.

Covering the nonstop fires was exhausting. My hands curled into fists from carpal tunnel, and I barely slept. My mind lived in a relentless cycle of flames and scanner static. But I couldn’t stop. This was bigger than me.

Then in September 2015, a court ordered the city to release the hydrant records to me. When I finally got my hands on them, the truth took my breath away. Thousands of hydrants were broken. Not a few dozen like the city had told me. Thousands.

Because of my fire coverage, people were finally paying attention. National media outlets interviewed me about my series. And if there’s one thing the city doesn’t like, it’s bad press.

A lot of times, as a reporter, you put your life into a story and nothing changes. But this was different. The new mayor, Mike Duggan, fired the fire commissioner and his top staff. The city launched an aggressive program to fix the hydrants. Fire stations reopened. More arson investigators were hired. And when Detroit finally emerged from bankruptcy, more than $20 million was spent on fire engines and equipment.

For the first time in years, firefighters could do their job. The hydrants worked. The trucks worked. They could save lives again.

And then, in February 2020, the fire came for me.

Detroit teacher fears GOP agenda could undermine

A Detroit educator recently told a congressional committee he is “terrified” at what a second Trump term as president could bring for America’s public schools.

Rodney Fresh, a high school social studies teacher in Detroit, said parts of the Republican agenda appear to call for dismantling the public education system. He added the transition plan known as Project 2025 would “kick the ladder out from under” students who need it the most and eliminate the federal Department of Education.

“Why do they want to weaken public schools? If you ask me, it’s because

they fear what public schools do — we teach critical thinking, honest history and tolerance — and because diverse, educated citizens threaten their power,” he asked.

Project 2025 is a 900-page blueprint by the conservative Heritage Foundation for reorganizing the federal government under a Republican administration. It calls for privatizing the public school system and cutting funding for more than 180,000 teaching positions.

Former President Donald Trump has denied any connection to the plan. Fresh, who is a second-generation

I woke up to sirens outside my apartment building. Firefighters were knocking on my door. When I opened it, orange embers were falling from the ceiling, and the hallway was covered in thick smoke.

Abby and I grabbed what we could and ran. Flames were tearing through the apartment above us, and I could see the orange glow of flames poking through the roof.

But this time, the hydrant worked. The ladder truck worked. Everything worked. And within a few hours, a fire that could have gutted our apartment building a few years ago, was out.

We lost almost everything, but we were alive.

Like so many Detroiters before us, we were forced to rebuild and start over. The community that supported Motor City Muckraker stepped in and donated what we needed to get back on our feet again.

I often think back to that ambulance ride, but not for the reasons I used to. It’s not the panic or the fear I remember anymore. It’s that moment of stillness, where everything was out of my hands, but I was still breathing. I just needed time to understand what was really worth fighting for — and that’s what the fire series did for me.

It reminded me why I fell in love with journalism in the first place. It renewed my belief that reporting can still make a difference.

Reporting is about listening, understanding, and finding meaning in the chaos, even when everything seems to be on fire.

And sometimes, it’s about realizing that, despite everything you’ve lost, you’re still here — and as long as you’re here, there’s always another story to tell.

—Steve Neavling

public education

instructor, teaches ninth-grade U.S. history, 11th-grade world history and Advanced Placement African American studies. He warned that under Project 2025, classes on African American history would be censored, help for students with disabilities would be eliminated, and programs like Head Start, one of the most successful preschool programs of its kind, would be cut.

“This would shut off access to highquality early childhood education for students in Detroit. It would also take away a lifeline many parents count on to give their kids a real opportunity and fair shot at overcoming poverty,” Fresh added.

Fresh told members of the U.S. House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee that under the plan’s guidelines, millions of public school students whose families can’t afford to send them to private schools would be deprived of the benefits of a quality public education.

“We can and must do better for the sake of our students. We cannot — and I repeat — we cannot allow Project 2025 to dismantle public education and destroy such an essential pillar of our democracy,” he said.

—Mark Richardson, Michigan News Connection

Lapointe

At age 86, Lois Teicher plans her next major abstract sculpture

By Joe Lapointe

In the Motor City, a quaint, old nickname for auto workers used to be “metal-benders.” They shaped it into attractive forms, colored it with pretty paint, and sent it down the assembly line for folks to buy and admire decades later at the Dream Cruise.

In this sense, the Detroit sculptor Lois Teicher is a notable and productive metal bender — but she doesn’t build cars. Teicher creates abstract sculpture, in small models and massive, site-specific installations, many of them in steel and aluminum. Some are 14-feet tall, others weigh two tons.

At the moment, Teicher is displaying small models of her work in her show Quiet Performance: The Stillness of Shape at Midtown’s Galerie Camille, her first major show since her big hit at the Scarab Club in 2019, described then by The Detroit News as “electrifying.” The current show closes Saturday.

In the near future, Teicher will undertake a 10-foot-tall project at 12 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway for the Southfield Public Arts Commission. It is a jagged, red circle called “Burst” which is obviously, you see, it looks just like . . .

Well, exactly what do you think it might mean?

“It’s like a focused one, a burst of energy,” Teicher says. Of this and other of her works, she adds: “If people say, ‘I like it, but I don’t understand it,’ it’s fine! Because they feel it on a body level. I love that.”

Teicher — herself a focused, 86-yearold burst of energy — will host a free, public dialogue at the gallery at 5 p.m. on Friday and take questions after a brief speech.

“I want to talk a little bit about what inspires me,” she says. “People wonder about that all the time. I don’t want people to be bored.”

Her work certainly does not bore. As to what specifically inspires her, Teicher says it is “the fundamental structure of the universe” and, to her, “the larger picture, the umbrella, and not all the little stuff underneath it.

“To me, it’s about relationships that seem universal to me,” Teicher says. “It’s all about holes, it’s about gravity, it’s about space, it’s about energy, it’s about light . .

. That’s what I mean by universal . . . It’s about shape and relationships in a context

explain one of her more whimsical installations, “Paper Airplanes with Deep Groove,” at Bishop Airport in Flint, from 1996. Although they look like folded paper planes flying about the lobby, they are made of steel and aluminum. The largest weighs two tons.

And, maybe, on a personal level, Teicher will explain her mid-life transition from a mother who raised three children to adulthood, then became a middleaged student at the College for Creative Studies, and then grew into an acclaimed sculptor with a studio in the Eastern Market.

Biographically, she describes herself as a little kid from Northwest Detroit — and Mumford High School — who used to work alone in the empty lot next to her home, building forts with neighborhood scraps, including logs and big branches.

“My parents let me do it,” she recalls. “They didn’t say, ‘Girls don’t do that.’ I just had to do it. I loved doing it.”

When most people think of outdoor, public, sculpture, they think of the human form — Michelangelo’s David, perhaps, or “The Thinker” by Rodin, or of the faces of the presidents on Mount Rushmore. Not Teicher, who doesn’t sculpt the faces or physiques of people or objects found in nature.

“No, I never have,” she says. “I never wanted to and I never want to.”

She dreaded those courses in college.

“It made me actually nauseous to think about it at CCS,” Teicher says. “I don’t know why. I got a sick feeling about it. It was a body thing.”

. . . Does that make sense?”

Perhaps she will discuss her 2000 Scarab Club outdoor installation “Curved Form with Rectangle and Space,” in the Hudson’s Art Park near the Detroit Institute of Arts. It is stainless steel, one inch thick, painted white, a study in balance that looks almost fragile and vulnerable. Gaze at it long enough and it starts to look like a portal to time travel. Or, maybe, Gumby. Or the upper-case letter “D.” Scarab Club executive director MaryAnn Wilkinson — who gave Teicher the nickname “Woman of Steel” — once wrote of its balance between heavy and light, right outside her office.

“I’d look out at that piece so light and buoyant,” she wrote, “but probably weighing a ton and a half. Lois’ works look weightless. They create their own space and their own sense of movement.”

Teicher says it has sustained winds of 60 miles per hour without damage.

“Never, it’s not going anywhere, because Lois does overkill,” Teicher says, explaining that it is held by huge bolts anchored into the cement. “It’s been there for 24 years,” she says. “I think we’re good.” Or, perhaps, at her talk, Teicher will

So what does Teicher think of the Joe Louis “Fist,” perhaps Detroit’s most symbolic work of public sculpture and its civic homage to a body part?

“Interesting question,” she says, before answering carefully. “At first, I didn’t like it. I thought, ‘Oh, gosh, a big fist, what kind of a connotation is that for Detroit. Tough city?’ But it’s grown on me, I have to admit . . . I can accept it as a Detroit icon. I’m O.K. with it. It’s well-done. I’ve learned to accept it.”

The Louis Fist — there since 1986 — may be symbolic on several levels, but its initial impression is as subtle as a punch in the nose. Teicher’s work searches for something different, sometimes puzzling the beholder.

“Some people don’t like ambiguity,” she says. “Some people need things black and white. To me, healthier people are OK with uncertainty.”

As an older student at CCS, Teicher recalls with no false modesty, “I was a star student. I have to say I worked harder than anybody.” After getting her masters at Eastern Michigan University, Teicher gradually shed her personal career ambiguity.

“Slowly, I would ask myself, ‘Why am I doing this? What is it for? Who cares?’”

Lois Teicher with a model of “Burst.”

JOE LAPOINTE

she says. “I was very shy, very quiet. I had to find my voice. And I found my voice through art.”

Once again, Trump dumps on the “D”

By insulting his host city in his speech last Thursday at the Detroit Economic Club, convicted felon and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump figuratively pinned a “Kick Me!” sign on the backside pocket of his baggy, blue suit.

Quick to take the bait on Friday were two elected Michigan Democrats, Attorney General Dana Nessel and State Senator Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak, both on Deadline: White House on MSNBC with Nicole Wallace.

Nessel suggested Trump should contest his many court cases with a plea of his own insanity and demand a competency hearing. She said Detroit went bankrupt only once while Trump did so four times.

McMorrow, less glib, found Trump more sane — and called his tactics “ugly.”

“Donald Trump is actively trying to whip up white votes by convincing white people, maybe who don’t live in Detroit, that something nefarious is happening,” said McMorrow, who suggested Trump speaks coded language to scare voters away from the biracial Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

What Trump said, in part, was:

“The whole country’s gonna be like — Wanna know the truth? — it’ll be like Detroit,” Trump told the business elites of the Motor City. “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president. You’re gonna have a mess on your hands.”

McMorrow, whose telegenic presence is extraordinary, responded directly.

“What a tactic,” she said of Trump dissing the D. “It’s like inviting a friend into your house. They look around and tell you how much of a dump it is . . . What I heard here was dog-whistling and Trump trying to divide Americans against each other and Michiganders against Michiganders.”

Pointing to rowdy protests by Trump supporters in 2020 in downtown Detroit during the counting of ballots, McMorrow added: “You saw those visuals of largely white people, not from Detroit, banging on the glass, intimidating largely Black election workers. And he’s trying to do it again.”

Later in his Detroit appearance — which consumed nearly two hours — Trump rambled on like Abe Simpson (father of Homer, grandfather of Bart), talking about different circles while talking in circles and weaving from topic to topic as if responding to voices in his head that only he could hear.

With not-quite-convincing sincerity but with pointed specificity, McMorrow

compared the 78-year-old Trump to the 82-year-old President Joe Biden, who is retiring.

“In the same way that it was sad for many of us to watch with President Biden, time catches up with all of us,” McMorrow said. “This [Trump] isn’t even a man who can finish a cohesive thought in less than 100 minutes.”

End of a happy Tigers’ tale

Suddenly on Saturday, the Tigers stopped hitting well. Then, they stopped pitching well. And they stopped fielding well, too. And, thus, Detroit’s magical baseball season ended when the Cleveland Guardians defeated them, 7-3, in Game 5 of a best-offive American League Divisional Series.

Now, Cleveland will move on to represent the Great Lakes bracket in the Final Four of the Major League Baseball postseason tournament that ends in the World Series, the “October Classic” probably finishing in November, just as college basketball’s “March Madness” now ends in April.

The Guardians deserved to advance. They were the better team. Next, they will be the underdogs against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. If they upset them, Cleveland will face another big-city, coastal team — either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Mets — in the Series.

So it is safe to say fair-minded Detroit baseball fans will cheer for our Lake Erie neighbor, another municipality in flyover country that has long served those not from this region as a punchline for urban decline.

As for the Tigers, their shortened offseason might delay construction at Comerica Park of the new seating and private club scheduled to be built in the lower deck behind home plate for wealthy swells. Another business question to be answered includes their local television presence.

The parent company of Bally Sports Detroit is facing bankruptcy. Even when that channel is operating smoothly, some customers pay more for it now and more games are being leaked away to national “streaming” services that add additional expense and are difficult to use.

Were the 2024 Tigers, with their lateseason run, a fluke? Sure, in the best way. It was absolution for penance. Over the decades, Detroit sports fans have learned if you suffer enough for long enough, eventually a local team will rise to surprise you with sudden success.

The Lions showed how last season, almost reaching the Super Bowl. The Red Wings and Pistons insist they are on the rise and the playoffs might finally be in reach for the hockey team. As someone once wrote, hope springs eternal in the human breast.

IT’S AN ELECTION YEAR

, which means it’s time for Detroiters to make their voices heard… by casting their votes in the Metro Times

Best of Detroit poll. Once again, the power rests in your hands, the readers, to decide who reigns supreme among the city’s sizzling dining scene, its cultural hotspots, nightlife, and more. And just like in any other election year, Detroiters have cast their votes with pride, passion, and strong opinions about what makes this city unbeatable. Whether you’re a lifelong resident or new to town, this list is your guide to what makes the Motor City great in 2024. Enjoy! (But seriously — make sure you also remember to vote in the general U.S. election on Tuesday, November 5. That’s even more important!)

Best Annual Festival Arts, Beats & Eats artsbeatseats.com

Best Anime Convention Youmacon youmacon.com

Best Art Fair Funky Ferndale Art Fair funkyferndaleartfair.com

Best Art Gallery Habatat Galleries 4400 Fernlee Ave., Royal Oak habatat.com

Best Beer Festival Detroit Fall Beer Festival mibeer.com

Best Burlesque Show/Troupe Rouge Reveal

Best Celebrity Guests at a Comic Con

Motor City Comic Con motorcitycomiccon.com

Best Comic Con for People Watching Astronomicon astronomicon.com

Best Comic Convention Motor City Comic Con motorcitycomiccon.com

Best Community Theatre Planet Ant 2320 Caniff St., Hamtramck | planetant.com

Best Cosplay at a Comic Con Youmacon youmacon.com

Best Tribute Band The Mega 80’s mega80s.com

Best DJ DJ Godfather instagram.com/djgodfatherdetroit

Best Drag Show Five15

600 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak | five15.net

Best Family Entertainment Complex C.J. Barrymore’s 21750 Hall Rd., Clinton Twp. | cjbarrymores.com

Best Live Local Theater Planet Ant 2320 Caniff St., Hamtramck | planetant.com

Best Local Comedian Jaded Jaden Best Local Podcast

best local podcast The Drew Lane Show drewlaneshow.com

Best Movie Theater Emagine Multiple locations | emagine-entertainment.com

Best Multi-Sport Complex Lexus Velodrome 601 Mack Ave., Detroit | lexusvelodrome.com

Best Music Festival Movement Music Festival movementfestival.com

Best New Music Venue District 142 142 Maple St., Wyandotte | district142live.com

Best Night Out Five15

600 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak | five15.net

Best Photographer Josh Justice joshjusticephotography.com

Best Place to Be a Geek Green Brain Comics 13936 Michigan Ave., Dearborn | greenbraincomics.com

Best Place to See an Indie Film Detroit Film Theater 5200 John R St., Detroit | dia.org

Best Street Fair Dally in the Alley dallyinthealley.com

Best Performing Arts Venue Theater

Detroit Opera House 1526 Broadway St., Detroit | detroitopera.org

Best Venue for Electronic Music Elektricity

15 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac | elektricitymusic.com

Best Venue for Folk Music The Ark 316 S. Main St., Ann Arbor | theark.org

Best Venue for Hip-Hop Saint Andrew’s Hall 431 E. Congress St., Detroit saintandrewsdetroit.com

Best Venue for Jazz Music Aretha’s Jazz Cafe 350 Madison St., Detroit | jazzcafedetroit.com

Best Venue for Metal Sanctuary 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck | sanctuarydetroit.com

Best Venue for Rock ’n’ Roll Lager House 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit | thelagerhouse.com

Best Venue to See a Tribute Act The Magic Bag 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale | themagicbag.com

Best Visual Artist Richard Halprin

Business with Best Wall Mural Godfrey Hotel 1401 Michigan Ave., Detroit godfreyhoteldetroit.com

Best Film Festival Ann Arbor Film Festival aafilmfest.org

Best People Watching Michigan Renaissance Festival michrenfest.com

Best Arcade Bar Barcade

666 Selden St., Detroit | barcade.com/detroit

Best Bar (Macomb) Hamlin Pub

50659 Gratiot Ave., Chesterfield | 48929 Hayes Rd., Shelby

Twp. | 55076 Van Dyke Rd., Shelby Twp. | 66771 Gratiot Ave., Richmond hamlinpubs.com

Best Bar (Oakland) Barrel House

22740 Woodward Ave., Ferndale | barrelhouseferndale.com

Best Bar (Washtenaw) Mash

211 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor | mashbar.net

Best Bar (Wayne) Kamper’s Rooftop Lounge 1265 Washington Blvd., Detroit | kampersrooftop.com

Best Bar at Midnight Love & Tequila

20 W. Adams Ave., Detroit | loveandtequiladetroit.com

Best Bar Before a Lions Game

The Old Shillelagh

349 Monroe St., Detroit | oldshillelagh.com

Best Bar Before a Game Gilly’s

1550 Woodward Ave., Detroit | gillysdetroit.com

Best Bar Food (Macomb)

Ale & Eddies Taphouse 15015 13 Mile Rd., Warren | aleneddies.com

Best Bar Food (Oakland) Brown Iron Brewhouse 30955 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak browniron.com

Best Bar Food (Washtenaw) The Grotto

303 S. Ashley St., Ann Arbor thegrottobar.com

Best Bar Food (Wayne) Side Hustle Lounge 1226 Library St., Detroit | mootzpizzeria.com

Best Bar for Day Drinking The Rock On 3rd 112 E. 3rd St., Royal Oak | rockon3rd.com

Best Bar on the Water Mike’s on the Water 24600 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores mikesonthewater.com

Best Beer Bottle Selection (Detroit) Ye Olde Tap Room 14915 Charlevoix St., Detroit

Best Beer Bottle Selection (Suburbs)

Three Blind Mice Irish Pub

101 N. Main St., Mount Clemens | threeblindmiceirishpub.com

Best Bloody Mary Vivio’s

2460 Market St., Detroit 3601 12 Mile Rd., Warren viviosdetroit.net

Best Distillery Tasting Room Belle’s Lounge at Valentine Distilling 61 Vester St., Ferndale valentinedistilling.com

16-22, 2024 | metrotimes.com

Best Comedy Club

Detroit House of Comedy 2301 Woodward Ave., Detroit | detroit.houseofcomedy.net

Best Dive Bar (Macomb) Locker Room Saloon 7790 Auburn Rd., Utica | thelockerroomsaloon.com

Best Dive Bar (Oakland) Gusoline Alley 309 S. Center St., Royal Oak

Best Dive Bar (Washtenaw) 8 Ball Saloon 208 S. 1st St., Ann Arbor | blindpigmusic.com/8-ball

Best Dive Bar (Wayne) The Old Miami 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit

Best Draft Selection (Detroit) Cøllect Beer Bar 9301 Kercheval Ave., Detroit collect-beerbar.com

Best Draft Selection (Suburbs) CK Diggs 2010 W. Auburn Rd., Rochester Hills ckdiggs.com

Best Happy Hour for Drinks (Macomb)

Detroit Grill House 55161 Shelby Rd., Shelby Twp. | detroitgrillehouse.com

Best Happy Hour for Drinks (Oakland) McVee’s Pub & Grub 1129 E. Long Lake Rd., Troy mcveespubandgrub.com

Best Happy Hour for Drinks (Washtenaw) Aventura

216 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor | aventuraannarbor.com

Best Happy Hour for Drinks (Wayne)

Bobcat Bonnie’s

1800 Michigan Ave., Detroit | 118 Sycamore St., Wyandotte | bobcatbonnies.com

Best Dance Club Bleu

1540 Woodward Ave., Detroit facebook.com/bleudetroitofficial

Best Irish Pub (Detroit) The Old Shillelagh 349 Monroe St., Detroit oldshillelagh.com

Best Irish Pub (Suburbs) Danny’s Irish Pub 22824 Woodward Ave., Ferndale

Best Jaw-Dropping Interior Design at a Bar Candy Bar 1509 Broadway St., Detroit ash.world

Best Karaoke Night

Northern Lights Lounge

660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit northernlightslounge.com

Best LGBTQ+ Bar (Detroit) Menjo’s

950 W. McNichols Rd., Detroit | menjoscomplexdetroit.com

Best LGBTQ+ Bar (Suburbs) Pronto!

608 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak | prontolounge.com

Best Margarita

Mr. Miguel’s Multiple locations mrmiguels.com

Best Martini Le Suprême

1265 Washington Blvd., Detroit | lesupremedetroit.com

Best Meadery

B. Nektar Meadery 1511 Jarvis St., Ferndale | bnektar.com

Best Microbrewery or Brewpub (Macomb)

Kuhnhenn Brewing Co.

36000 Groesbeck Hwy., Clinton Twp. 5919 Chicago Rd., Warren | kbrewery.com

Best Microbrewery or Brewpub (Oakland)

Royal Oak Brewery

215 E. 4th St., Royal Oak royaloakbrewery.com

Best Microbrewery or Brewpub (Washtenaw)

Grizzly Peak

120 W. Washington St., Ann Arbor grizzlypeak.net

Best Microbrewery or Brewpub (Wayne)

Batch Brewing Company

1400 Porter St., Detroit | batchbrewingcompany.com

Best Mocktail List

Eastern Palace Club

21509 John R Rd., Hazel Park epchp.com

Best Neighborhood Bar (Macomb)

Ale & Eddies Taphouse 15015 13 Mile Rd., Warren | aleneddies.com

Best Neighborhood Bar (Oakland)

Renshaw Lounge

210 E. 14 Mile Rd., Clawson | renshawlounge.com

Best Neighborhood Bar (Washtenaw)

Conor O’Neill’s Irish Pub

318 S. Main St., Ann Arbor | conoroneills.com

Best Neighborhood Bar (Wayne) McShane’s Irish Pub & Whiskey Bar

1460 Michigan Ave., Detroit | mcshanespub.com

Best Bourbon/Whiskey

Bottle Selection at a Bar or Restaurant

Ale Mary’s Beer Hall

316 S. Main St., Royal Oak | alemarysbeer.com

Best New Bar (Detroit) Elephant & Co.

456 Charlotte St., Detroit | elephantand.com

Best New Bar (Suburbs)

Gus’ Snug Irish Pub

38 S. Main St., Clawson | gussnug.com

Best Old Fashioned Motor City Gas

325 E. 4th St., Royal Oak | motorcitygas.com

Best Patio for Drinking (Detroit)

The Old Miami 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit

Best Patio for Drinking (Suburbs)

Orchid Theatre

141 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale orchid-theatre.com

Best Rooftop Bar (Detroit)

3Fifty Terrace

350 Madison St., Detroit 3fiftyterrace.com

Best Rooftop Bar (Suburbs)

Social

225 E. Maple Rd., Birmingham socialkitchenandbar.com

Best Salsa Night Vicente’s Cuban Cuisine 1250 Library St., Detroit | vicentesdetroit.com

Best Sports Bar (Macomb) Hayes Social 46793 Hayes Rd., Shelby Twp. hayessocial.com

Best Sports Bar (Oakland) J’s Penalty Box 22726 Woodward Ave., Ferndale | jspenaltyboxferndale.com

Best Sports Bar (Washtenaw) Fowling Warehouse 3050 Washtenaw Ave., Ypsilanti fowlingwarehouse.com

Best Sports Bar (Wayne) Starters Bar & Grille 18426 Plymouth Rd., Detroit | 4501 Woodward Ave., Detroit | startersdetroit.com

Best Tiki Bar

Eastern Palace Club 21509 John R Rd., Hazel Park epchp.com

Best Trivia Night Common Pub 5440 Cass Ave., Detroit commonpub.com

Best Wine Bar (Detroit) Ladder 4 Wine Bar

3396 Vinewood St., Detroit | ladder4winebar.com

Best Wine Bar (Suburbs) Vinology

110 S. Main St., Ann Arbor | vinologya2.com

Motor City Casino.

DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Best Beer (National) Miller Lite molsoncoors.com

Best Beer Selection in a Store Red Wagon of Troy 1613 Livernois Rd., Troy redwagontroy.com

Best Bourbon Woodford Reserve woodfordreserve.com

Best Champagne Korbel korbel.com

Best Gin

Detroit City Distillery 2462 Riopelle St., Detroit | detroitcitydistillery.com

Best Hard Cider

Blake’s Hard Cider Co. blakeshardcider.com

Best Michigan Beer Founders Brewery foundersbrewing.com

Best Michigan Bourbon Motor City Gas

325 E. 4th St., Royal Oak | motorcitygas.com

Best Michigan Rum Mackinac Island Rum gypsyvodka.com/mackinac-island-rum-co

Best Michigan Tequila Anteel Tequila anteeltequila.com

Hard Cider.

Best Michigan Vodka Grand Traverse Distillery grandtraversedistillery.com

Best Michigan Whiskey Coppercraft Distillery coppercraftdistillery.com

Best Michigan Wine (Red) Black Star Farms blackstarfarms.com

Best Michigan Wine (White) BOS Wine boswine.com

Best Michigan Winery Detroit Vineyards 1000 Gratiot Ave., Detroit detroitvineyards.com

16-22, 2024 | metrotimes.com

Best Tequila Maestro Dobel Tequila maestrodobel.com

Best Vodka Zim’s Vodka zimsvodka.com

Best Whiskey Jameson Irish Whiskey jamesonwhiskey.com

Best Wine Meiomi Wines meiomi.com

Best Wine Selection in a Store ML Spirits 33644 Woodward Ave., Birmingham | mlspirits.com

Best Shot Fireball Cinnamon Whisky fireballwhisky.com

Best “Ready To Drink” Canned Cocktail Jack and Coke jackdaniels.com

Best Michigan Brewer Griffin Claw Brewing Company 575 S. Eton St., Birmingham griffinclawbrewingcompany.com

Blake’s

COURTESY OF BLAKE FARMS

Best Bagel

New York Bagel

23316 Woodward Ave., Ferndale 6927 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield 19731 W. 12 Mile Rd., Southfield newyorkbagel-detroit.com

Best Bakery (Detroit) Avalon International Breads

441 W. Canfield St., Detroit | 1049 Woodward Ave., Detroit avalonbreads.net

Best Bakery (Suburbs)

Zingerman’s Bakehouse 3711 Plaza Dr., Ann Arbor | zingermansbakehouse.com

Best Barbecue (Macomb) K-Blocks BBQ

66880 Van Dyke Ave., Washington | kblocksbbq.com

Best Barbecue (Oakland)

Woodpile BBQ Shack

303 S. Main St., Clawson | 630 E. 11 Mile Rd., Madison Heights | woodpilebbqshack.com

Best Barbecue (Washtenaw) Blue Tractor BBQ & Brewery

207 E Washington St., Ann Arbor bluetractor.net

Best Barbecue (Wayne) Slows Bar BQ

2138 Michigan Ave., Detroit slowsbarbq.com

Best Bistro

Diamond Jim Brady’s Bistro Bar

43271 Crescent Blvd., Novi | djbistro.com

Best Breakfast/Brunch (Macomb) Brunch With Me

25801 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores | brunchwithme.net

Best Breakfast/Brunch (Oakland) Toast

203 Pierce St., Birmingham 23144 Woodward Ave., Ferndale eatattoast.com

Best Breakfast/Brunch (Washtenaw) Northside Grill 1015 Broadway St., Ann Arbor

Best Breakfast/Brunch (Wayne) Dime Store 719 Griswold St., Detroit | eatdimestore.com

Best Breakfast Sandwich Iggy’s Eggies 34 W. Grand River Ave., Detroit iggyseggies.com

Best Burger (Macomb) Frank’s Eastside Tavern 126 Avery St., Mount Clemens | frankseastsidetavern.com

Best Burger (Oakland) CK Diggs

2010 W. Auburn Rd., Rochester Hills; ckdiggs.com

Best Burger (Washtenaw) Union Rec 545 S. Main St., Ann Arbor unionrec.com

Best Burger (Wayne) Kelly’s Bar 2403 Holbrook Ave., Hamtramck facebook.com/kellysbarinhamtramck

16-22, 2024 | metrotimes.com

Best Cajun Fishbones

400 Monroe St., Detroit | 23722 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores 29244 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield fishbonesusa.com

Best Carryout (Detroit) Go! Sy Thai 4240 Cass Ave., Detroit | gosythai.com

Best Carryout (Suburbs) Redwood Grill 7726 Cooley Lake Rd., Waterford Twp. redwoodgrill.net

Best Chinese (Detroit) Shangri-La 4710 Cass Ave., Detroit | midtownshangri-la.com

Best Chinese (Suburbs) Young’s Chinese 921 E. Eleven Mile Rd., Royal Oak youngschinesefood.com

Best Coffeehouse (Indie) (Macomb)

Eos Cafe & Coffee House 30625 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores | eoscoffeehouse.com

Best Coffeehouse (Indie) (Oakland) The Red Hook 220 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale | theredhookcoffee.com

Best Coffeehouse (Indie) (Washtenaw) RoosRoast 1155 Rosewood St., Ann Arbor roosroast.com

Best Coffeehouse (Indie) (Wayne) Red Dot 505 N. Center St., Northville | reddotcoffeeco.com

Best Coney (Macomb)

Leo’s Coney Island Multiple locations | leosconeyisland.com

Best Coney (Oakland) National Coney Island Multiple locations | nationalconeyisland.com

Best Coney (Washtenaw) Mark’s Midtown Coney Island

3586 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor 3672 S. State St., Ann Arbor 529 E. Michigan Ave., Saline | marksmidtown.com

Best Coney (Wayne) American Coney Island 114 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit | americanconeyisland.com

Best Corned Beef

Bread Basket Deli Multiple locations breadbasketdelis.com

Best Cuban Frita Baditos

117 W. Washington St., Ann Arbor 66 W. Columbia St., Detroit fritabatidos.com

Best Deli (Macomb) New York Deli

40700 Garfield Rd., Clinton Twp. | 25008 Little Mack Ave., St. Clair Shores originalnewyorkdeli.com

Best Deli (Oakland) Stage Deli

6873 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Twp. stagedeli.com

Best Deli (Washtenaw)

Zingerman’s

422 Detroit St., Ann Arbor zingermansdeli.com

Best Deli (Wayne) Mudgie’s 1413 Brooklyn St., Detroit mudgiesdeli.com

Best Deep Dish / Detroit-Style Pizza Buddy’s Multiple locations | buddyspizza.com

Best Desserts at a Restaurant (Macomb) Luciano’s

39091 Garfield Rd., Clinton Twp. | lucianositaliancuisine.com

Best Desserts at a Restaurant (Oakland) Cafe Cortina

30715 W. 10 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills | cafecortina.com

Best Desserts at a Restaurant (Washtenaw) La Dolce Vita

322 S. Main St., Ann Arbor | facebook.com/LaDolceVitaAnnArbor

Best Desserts at a Restaurant (Wayne) Adelina

1040 Woodward Ave., Detroit | adelinadetroit.com

Best Diner (Macomb) Gina’s Cafe

5600 Harper Ave., Clinton Twp.

Best Diner (Oakland) Whistle Stop Diners

24060 Woodward Ave., Pleasant Ridge 501 S Eaton St., Birmingham | whistlestopdiners.com

Best Diner (Washtenaw) Fleetwood Diner

300 S. Ashley St., Ann Arbor | thefleetwooddiner.com

Best Diner (Wayne) Side Street Diner

630 St. Clair Ave., Grosse Pointe | sidestreetdiner.com

Best Doughnut Shop

Apple Fritter Donut Shop

741 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale | facebook.com/fritterman

Best Fish & Chips Terry’s Terrace

36470 Jefferson Ave., Harrison Twp. | terrystime.com

Best Food Hall

Detroit Shipping Company

474 Peterboro St., Detroit detroitshippingcompany.com

Best Food Truck Gathering

Detroit Harvest Fest & Food Truck Rally detroitharvestfest.com

Best Food Truck

Detroit 75 Kitchen detroit75kitchen.com

Best Food Truck for Foodies

Cousins Maine Lobster cousinsmainelobster.com

Best French Cuisine Coeur

330 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale | coeurferndale.com

Best French Fries HopCat Multiple locations | hopcat.com

Best Greek Restaurant

Pegasus Tavernas

558 Monroe St., Detroit 24935 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores | pegasustavernas.com

Best Grilled Cheese Cafe Muse

418 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak | cafemuseroyaloak.com

Best Gyro (Detroit) Golden Fleece

525 Monroe St., Detroit goldenfleecedetroit.com

Best Gyro (Suburbs)

KouZina Greek Street Food

121 N. Main St., Royal Oak | gokouzina.com

Best Happy Hour Menu Jim Brady’s Royal Oak

1214 S. Main St., Royal Oak | jimbradysroyaloak.com

Best Hot Dog Imperial

22828 Woodward Ave., Ferndale imperialferndale.com

Best Ice Cream Shop

Ray’s Ice Cream

4233 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak raysicecream.com

Best Indian Restaurant Star of India

180 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale starofindiami.com

Best Irish Food O’Connor’s Public House

324 S. Main St., Rochester oconnorsrochester.com

Best Italian Restaurant (Macomb) Da Francesco’s Ristorante & Bar

49521 Van Dyke Ave., Shelby Twp. dafrancescos.com

Best Italian Restaurant (Oakland)

Trattoria Da Luigi

415 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak | daluigis.com

Best Italian Restaurant (Washtenaw)

Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina

3050 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor | bigalora.com

Best Italian Restaurant(Wayne) La Laterna 1224 Griswold St., Detroit | lalanternadetroit.com

Best Japanese Restaurant Edo Ramen

4313 W. 13 Mile Rd., Royal Oak edo-lounge.com

Best Juice Bar

Beyond Juicery + Eatery

Multiple locations beyondjuiceryeatery.com

Best Korean Restaurant Noori Pocha

1 S. Main St., Clawson | nooripocha.com

Best Late-Night / 24-Hour Restaurant

Honest John’s

488 Selden St., Detroit | honestjohnsdetroit.com

Best Mac and Cheese Vinsetta Garage

27799 Woodward Ave., Berkley | vinsettagarage.com

Best Mediterranean Mare Mediterranean

115 Willits St., Birmingham | maremediterranean.com

Best Mexican Restaurant (Macomb)

Mr. Miguel’s

26837 Ryan Rd., Warren 7636 Auburn Rd., Utica mrmiguels.com

Best Mexican Restaurant (Oakland) Mesa Tacos and Tequila

312 S. Main St., Royal Oak | likemesa.com

Best Mexican Restaurant (Washtenaw) Maíz

36 E Cross St., Ypsilanti | maizmexican.com

Best Mexican Restaurant (Wayne) Mezcal

51 W. Forest Ave., Detroit | mezcaldetroit.com

Best Middle Eastern Restaurant (Detroit) Leila 1245 Griswold St., Detroit leiladetroit.com

Best Middle Eastern Restaurant (Suburbs) Al Ameer

Best New Restaurant (Macomb)

Tequila’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina 30100 Gratiot Ave., Roseville | tequilasmexicanrestaurantsmi.com

Best New Restaurant (Oakland) Lincoln Yard 2159 E. Lincoln St., Birmingham | eatlincolnyard.com

Best New Restaurant (Washtenaw) Peridot

118 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor peridota2.com

Best New Restaurant (Wayne) Sexy Steak

1942 Grand River Ave., Detroit | sexysteakdetroit.com

Best Noodle Restaurant Ima

2100 Michigan Ave., Detroit | 4870 Cass Ave., Detroit | 32203 John R Rd., Madison Heights | imanoodles.com

Best Old-School Restaurant Mario’s 4222 2nd Ave., Detroit | mariosdetroit.com

Best Oysters Tom’s Oyster Bar 318 S. Main St., Royal Oak | tomsoysterbar.com

Best Patio (Macomb) The Brewery 39950 Hayes Rd., Clinton Twp. thebreweryonhayes.com

Best Patio (Oakland) Ferndale Project 567 Livernois Ave., Ferndale | ferndaleproject.com

Best Patio (Washtenaw) Palio del Sole

347 S. Main St., Ann Arbor | paliorestaurant.com

Best Patio (Wayne) Lumen

12710

alameerrestaurant.com

1903 Grand River Ave., Detroit | lumendetroit.com

Best Pet-Friendly Restaurant Detroit Fleat 1820 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale | detroitfleat.com

Best Pizza (Macomb) Green Lantern Multiple locations greenlanternpizza.com

Best Pizza (Oakland) Loui’s 23141 Dequindre Rd., Hazel Park

Best Pizza (Washtenaw) Jolly Pumpkin

311 S. Main St., Ann Arbor | 2319 Bishop Cir. E., Dexter jollypumpkin.com

Best Pizza (Wayne) Buddy’s Multiple locations buddyspizza.com

Best Polish Restaurant Polish Village Cafe

2990 Yemans St., Hamtramck | polishvillage.cafe

Sexy Steak.

16-22, 2024 | metrotimes.com

Best Restaurant (Macomb) Luciano’s 39091 Garfield Rd., Clinton Twp. lucianositaliancuisine.com

Best Restaurant (Oakland) Sylvan Table 1819 Inverness St., Sylvan Lake | sylvantable.com

Best Restaurant (Washtenaw) Taste Kitchen 521 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor | tastekitchena2.com

Best Restaurant (Wayne) Alpino 1426 Bagley St., Detroit | alpinodetroit.com

Best Romantic Restaurant (Macomb) Luciano’s 39091 Garfield Rd., Clinton Twp. lucianositaliancuisine.com

Best Romantic Restaurant (Oakland)

Cafe Cortina 30715 W. 10 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills | cafecortina.com

Best Romantic Restaurant (Washtenaw)

Blue LLama Jazz Club

314 S. Main St., Ann Arbor | bluellamaclub.com

Best Romantic Restaurant (Wayne) The Whitney 4421 Woodward Ave., Detroit | thewhitney.com

Best Saganaki Pegasus Tavernas

558 Monroe St., Detroit 24935 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores | pegasustavernas.com

Best Seafood Tom’s Oyster Bar 318 S. Main St., Royal Oak tomsoysterbar.com

Best Shawarma Bucharest Grill Multiple locations bucharestgrill.com

Best Sliders Joe’s Hamburgers 3041 Biddle Ave., Wyandotte joeshamburgers.net

Best Soul Food

Cornbread Restaurant and Bar 29852 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield | cornbreadsoulfood.com

Best Steakhouse (Macomb)

Mr. Paul’s Chop House 29850 Groesbeck Hwy., Roseville | mrpaulschophouse.com

Best Steakhouse (Oakland) Prime 29 Steakhouse 6545 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Twp. | prime29steakhouse.com

Best Steakhouse (Washtenaw) Chop House

322 S. Main St., Ann Arbor | thechophouserestaurant.com

Best Steakhouse (Wayne) London Chop House 155 W. Congress St., Detroit | thelondonchophouse.com

Best Stoner Food Hippie’s Pizza 121 E. Thirteen Mile Rd., Royal Oak hippiespizza.com

Best Sub Shop Oak House Deli 603 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak | oakhousedeli.com

Best Surf and Turf Black Rock Bar & Grill Multiple locations | blackrockrestaurants.com

Best Sushi Sozai 449 W. 14 Mile Rd., Clawson sozairestaurant.com

Best Tacos (Detroit) Taqueria Mi Pueblo 7278 Dix St., Detroit mipueblorestaurant.com

Best Tacos (Suburbs) Mr. Miguel’s Multiple locations | mrmiguels.com

Best Thai (Detroit) Go! Sy Thai 4240 Cass Ave., Detroit | gosythai.com

Best Thai (Suburbs) Bangkok 96 2450 S. Telegraph Rd., Dearborn bangkok96.com

Best Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant (Detroit) Seva 66 E. Forest Ave., Detroit sevarestaurant.com

Best Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant (Suburbs) Veg-O-Rama

44930 Ford Rd., Canton | veg-o-rama.com

Best Vegetarian/Vegan Carry-Out

Spacecat V-stro

255 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale | spacecatvstro.com

Best Wings (Detroit) Soul On Ice 8867 Livernois Ave., Detroit | soulonice.com

Best Wings (Suburbs) Detroit Wing Company Multiple locations | detroitwingco.com

Best Activist Rashida Tlaib rashidaforcongress.com

Best Attorney Mike Morse 24901 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield 855mikewins.com

Best Burlesque Performer Eartha Kitten earthakittenburlesque.com

Best Drag Queen Sabin instagram.com/sabindetroit

Best Local Ambassador Eminem eminem.com

Best Musical Artist (Americana) The Whiskey Charmers thewhiskeycharmers.com

Best Musical Artist (Gospel) Cece Winans cecewinans.com

Best Musical Artist (Hip-Hop) Eminem eminem.com

Best Musical Artist (Rock) Twizted twiztid.com

Best Neighborhood to Live In Ferndale

Best Place for a First Date Le Suprême 1265 Washington Blvd., Detroit | lesupremedetroit.com

Best Place for a Kid’s Birthday Party Urban Air Adventure Park

urbanair.com

Best Poet Nandi Comer nandicomer.com

Best Politician Rashida Tlaib rashidaforcongress.com

Best Visual Artist Richard Halprin

Worst Villain Ex-Detroit Riverfront Conservancy CFO

William Smith Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

ERIK PAUL HOWARD

Best Adult Store

The Pleasure Zone 35806 Van Dyke Ave., Sterling Heights | thepleasurezonestore.com

Best Adult Video Store

Uptown Bookstores

Adult Video

16541 Woodward Ave., Detroit | 16401 W. Eight Mile Rd., Detroit | uptownadult.com

Best Alternative Fashion Store

Noir Leather

124 West 4th St., Royal Oak | noirleather.com

Best Animal Shelter

Oakland County Animal Shelter

1200 N. Telegraph Rd., Pontiac oakgov.com/petadoption

Best Arcade

Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum

31005 Orchard Lake Rd., Farmington Hills | marvin3m.com

Best Auto Repair

Wetmore Tire and Auto 23459 Woodward Ave., Ferndale | wetmorestireandautorepair.com

Best Bank Chase Multiple locations | chase.com

Best Barbershop (Detroit)

Detroit Barbers 2000 Michigan Ave., Detroit | detroitbarbers.com

Best Barbershop (Suburbs)

Gentlemen First 949 S. Military St., Dearborn gentlemenfirst.com

Best Bicycle Shop (Detroit) Metropolis

2117 Michigan Ave., Detroit | metropoliscycles.bike

Best Bicycle Shop (Suburbs)

Downtown Ferndale

Bike Shop

163 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale downtown-bikeshop.com

Best Bookstore (Detroit) John K. King

Used and Rare Books

901 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit | johnkingbooksdetroit.com

Best Bookstore (Suburbs) The Book Beat 26010 Greenfield Rd., Oak Park thebookbeat.com

Best Boutique Hotel ROOST Detroit 1265 Washington Blvd., Detroit myroost.com

Best Bowling Alley (Detroit) Garden Bowl 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit | majesticdetroit.com

Best Bowling Alley (Suburbs) Bowlero Lanes & Lounge 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak | bowlero.com

Best Cider Mill

Franklin Cider Mill 7450 Franklin Rd., Bloomfield Hills | franklincidermill.com

Best Cigar Shop Red Wagon of Troy 1613 Livernois Rd., Troy | redwagontroy.com

Best Comic Book / Collectibles Shop Green Brain Comics 13936 Michigan Ave., Dearborn | greenbraincomics.com

Best Cigar Bar Churchill’s Cigar Bar & Bistro

116 S. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham | 19271 Mack Ave., Grosse Pointe Woods | 6635 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield | 2596 S Rochester Rd., Rochester Hills churchillscigarbar.com

Best Consignment Shop Label Legends 28801 Orchard Lake Rd., Farmington Hills labellegends.com

Best Credit Union In Touch Credit Union Multiple locations itcu.org

Best Escape Room Erebus Escape Room 34 Oakland Ave., Pontiac | erebusescape.com

Best Eyebrow Salon Detroit Brows 43227 Crescent Blvd., Novi detroitbrows.com

Best Eyewear SEE Eyewear

308 S. State St,, Ann Arbor 160 S. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham | seeeyewear.com

Best Eyewear (Boutique) Optik

247 W. Maple Rd., Birmingham optikbirmingham.com

Best Farmers Market (Detroit) Eastern Market 2934 Russell St., Detroit | easternmarket.org

Best Farmers Market (Suburbs) Royal Oak Farmers Market

316 E. Eleven Mile Rd., Royal Oak | romi.gov

Best Flea Market Dixieland Flea Market 2045 Dixie Hwy., Waterford Twp. | dixielandfleamkt.com

Best Floatation Therapy Motor City Float 1203 W. 14 Mile Rd., Clawson | motorcityfloat.com

Best Gift Shop Catching Fireflies 3117 Twelve Mile Rd., Berkley | catchingfireflies.com

Best Grocery Store Joe’s Produce 33152 W. Seven Mile Rd., Livonia | joesproduce.com

Best Group Night Out Fowling Warehouse

3901 Christopher St., Hamtramck | 3050 Washtenaw Ave., Ypsilanti fowlingwarehouse.com

Best Gym (Macomb) Planet Fitness

Multiple locations | planetfitness.com

Best Gym (Oakland) Planet Fitness

Multiple locations | planetfitness.com

Best Gym (Washtenaw) LA Fitness

155 N. Maple Rd., Ann Arbor | lafitness.com

Best Gym (Wayne) Planet Fitness

Multiple locations | planetfitness.com

Best Haunted House Erebus Haunted Attraction

18 S. Perry St., Pontiac hauntedpontiac.com

Best Hospitality Group

Apex Hospitality Group facebook.com/apexhospitalitygroup

Best Jewelry Repair

Mount-N-Repair

205 Pierce St., Birmingham mountnrepair.com

Best Jewelry Store

Tapper’s Jewelry

6337 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield | 2801 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy | 20800 Haggerty Rd., Novi | tappers.com

Best Law Firm Fieger Law

19390 W. 10 Mile Rd., Southfield fiegerlaw.com

Best Local Nonprofit

Ronald McDonald House of Detroit rmhc.org

Best Local T-Shirt Company Born In Detroit bornindetroit.store

Best Massage Essential Massage Therapy 22941 Woodward Ave., Ferndale emtherapy.com

Best Men’s Clothing Claymore Shop 908 S. Adams Rd., Birmingham | claymoreshop.com

Best Men’s Grooming Supplies Detroit Barbers Multiple locations | detroitbarbers.com

Best Metaphysical Store

Boston Tea Room 1220 Woodward Heights, Ferndale | bostontearoom.com

Best Michigan-Made Product Faygo faygo.com

Best Mobile Device Repair Computer Virus (GOD) 21513 Kelly Rd., Eastpointe mobilecomputerrepairdoctor.com

Best Moving Company Men on the Move michiganmovers.com

Best Nails Medusa Detroit 20100 Livernois Ave., Detroit | medusadetroit.com

Best Neighborhood Jewelry Store

Steven Bernard Jewelers 22266 Michigan Ave., Dearborn | stevenbernardjewelers.com

Best Museum Shop

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History 315 E. Warren Ave., Detroit | thewright.org

Best Neighborhood Retail District (Macomb) Mount Clemens

Best Neighborhood Retail District (Oakland) Royal Oak

Best Neighborhood Retail District (Washtenaw) Ann Arbor

Best Neighborhood Retail District (Wayne) Plymouth

Best Pawn Shop American Jewelry & Loan

20450 Greenfield Rd., Detroit | 20804 John R Rd., Hazel Park | 1456 Fort St., Lincoln Park 546 N Telegraph, Pontiac 14336 Eureka Rd., Southgate | pawndetroit.com

Best Pet Supply Premier Pet Supply Multiple locations premierpetsupply.com

Best Piercing Studio DV8 Body Art 1531 Union Lake Rd., Commerce Charter Twp. dv8bodyart.com

Best Place to Buy Art The Art of Custom Framing

3863 Rochester Rd., Troy | framingart.net

Best Place to Buy BDSM Gear Noir Leather 124 West 4th St., Royal Oak | noirleather.com

Best Place to Buy Lingerie Cirilla’s Multiple locations | cirillas.com

Best Place to Buy a Musical Instrument (Independent Shop) Guitar Hi-Fi 607 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak | guitarhifi.com

Best Place to Buy a Musical Instrument (National) Sweetwater sweetwater.com

Best Place to Buy Rock Star Clothing Showtime Detroit 9704 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck showtimedetroit.com

Best Place to Buy Sneakers Bob’s Classic Kicks 4717 Woodward Ave., Detroit | facebook.com/bobsclassickicks

Best Record Store (Macomb) Trax N Wax 26535 Harper Ave., St. Clair Shores | facebook.com/traxnwaxstore

Best Record Store (Oakland) Found Sound 234 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale | facebook.com/foundsoundvinyl

Best Record Store (Washtenaw) Encore Records

208 N. 4th Ave., Ann Arbor encorerecordsa2.com

Best Record Store (Wayne) Dearborn Music 22501 Michigan Ave., Dearborn dearbornmusic.net

Best Resale Shop Regeneration Clothing 23700 Woodward Ave., Pleasant Ridge regenerationclothing.org

Best Salon (Macomb) The Hive Salon and Spa 47085 Hayes Rd., Shelby Twp. thehivesalonandspa.com

Best Salon (Oakland) Dye Salon 23365 Woodward Ave., Ferndale dyehairco.com

Best Salon (Washtenaw) Star Studio Ypsi 224 W. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti | starstudioypsi.com

Best Salon (Wayne) BlacktheSalon 2127 Michigan Ave., Detroit blackthesalon.com

Best Shop for a Bra Fitting Bra~vo intimates

4732 S. Rochester Rd., Royal Oak | bravointimates.com

Best Skatepark Modern Skate & Surf

1500 N. Stephenson Hwy., Royal Oak | modernskate.com

Best Spa Rivage Day Spa

210 S. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham | rivagedayspa.com

Best Specialty Market City Market 575 Brush St., Detroit citymarketdetroit.com

Best Store for an In-Store Performance Third Man Records 441 W. Canfield St., Detroit | thirdmanrecords.com

Best Streetwear Store Inspiration Clothing inspirationclothing.com

Best Strip Club Flight Club 29709 Michigan Ave., Inkster | instagram.com/theflight_club

Best Strip Club in Windsor Cheetah’s 86 Chatham St. W., Windsor, ON cheetahsofwindsor.com

Best Tattoo Shop (Macomb) Elite Ink 25543 Van Dyke Ave., Center Line | 8602 N. Telegraph Rd., Dearborn Heights | 32750 Mound Rd., Warren | 247tattoos.com

Best Tattoo Shop (Oakland) Signature Tattoo 230 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale signaturetattoo.com

Best Tattoo Shop (Washtenaw) Liquid Swordz 27 N. Washington St., Ypsilanti

Best Tattoo Shop (Wayne) Iconic Tattoo 3401 Cass Ave., Detroit | iconictattoodetroit.com

Best Thrift Store Value World Multiple locations | valueworld.com

Best Tire Store Sucher Tire 3641 E. Davison St., Detroit | suchertire.com

Best Vintage Clothing Store Lost and Found Vintage 510 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak | lostandfoundvintage.com

Best Visitor Experience Ford Piquette Avenue Plant 461 Piquette Ave., Detroit fordpiquetteplant.org

Best Western Wear Scott Colburn Boots & Western Wear 20411 Farmington Rd., Livonia | scottcolburnwestern.com

Best Women's Clothing Coup D'état 9301 Kercheval St., Detroit shopcoupdetat.com

Best Yoga (Detroit) Full Lotus Yoga

6505 Woodward Ave., Detroit | 20369 Mack Ave., Grosse Pointe Woods fulllotusyoga.net

Best Yoga (Suburbs) Namaste Yoga Center 3121 Rochester Rd., Royal Oak | namaste-yoga.net

Best Baked Goods Brand Covert Cups covertcups.com

Best Beverage Enhancer Brand MyHi by MKX Oil Co. mkxoilco.com

Best Budtenders (Macomb) Pleasantrees

237 N. River Rd., Mount Clemens enjoypleasantrees.com

Best Budtenders (Oakland) Nature’s Remedy Cannabis Dispensary

925 E. Drayton St., Ferndale | naturesremedycannabis.com

Best Budtenders (Washtenaw) Quality Roots

2 W. Forest Ave., Ypsilanti | getqualityroots.com

Best Budtenders (Wayne) West Coast Meds 8620 Lyndon St., Detroit | westcoastmeds.com

Best Bundle Deals at a Dispensary Clarity

24517 John R Rd., Hazel Park | claritycannabis.us

Best Cannabis Event Cannababe cannababe.co

Best Cannabis-Infused Drink Brand Highly Casual Seltzer drinkhighlycasual.com

Best Celebrity Weed Berner’s Cookies cookies.co

Best Concentrate Brand Strain Kings exclusivebrandsmi.com

Best Delivery Service at a Dispensary LIV Cannabis Co.

2625 Hilton Rd., Ferndale | 453 S. Broadway St., Lake Orion | 12604 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit | livcannabis.com

Best Dispensary Website for Deals Pure Options pureoptions.com

Best Disposable Church Cannabis churchcannabis.co

Best Drive-Thru Service at a Dispensary Bazozones 1760 E. West Maple Rd., Walled Lake | bazonzoesmi.com

Best Drive-Up Service at a Dispensary LIV Cannabis Co.

2625 Hilton Rd., Ferndale | 453 S. Broadway St., Lake Orion | 12604 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit | livcannabis.com

Best Edible (Non-Gummy) Covert Cups covertcups.com

Best Edible Brand Mitten Extract mittenextracts.com

Best Edible Selection at a Dispensary House of Dank Multiple locations | shophod.com

Best Grow Shop (Macomb) Hydro Depot 37771 Mound Rd., Sterling Heights | 4547 E. Eight Mile Rd., Warren | hydrodepot.com

Best Grow Shop (Oakland) HGS Hydro Multiple locations | hgshydro.com

Best Grow Shop (Washtenaw) Hydroponics 2 GO 1530 E. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti

Best Grow Shop (Wayne) Hydrogiant

14455 Ford Rd., Dearborn | 21651 W. Eight Mile Rd., Detroit 19363 Eureka Rd., Southgate hydrogiant.com

Best Gummy Brand Kushy Punch kushypunch.com

Best Head Shop Tha Head Shop 737 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale thaheadshop.com

Best Infused Flower Devil Driver THCA-Infused Flower

Best Infused Preroll Glorious Cannabis gloriouscanna.com

Best Local Flower The Hive at BDT 21630 John R Rd., Hazel Park thehivemichigan.com

Best Marijuana Cartridge Brand MKX Oil Co. mkxoilco.com

Best Marijuana Dispensary Deals (Macomb)

Joyology

26550 Liberal St., Center Line 35005 Bordman Rd., Memphis 75 Mary St., Mount Clemens | joyology.com

Best Marijuana Dispensary Deals (Oakland) Puff Cannabis 2 Ajax Dr., Madison Heights | shoppuff.com

Best Marijuana Dispensary Deals (Washtenaw) Patient Station 539 S. Huron St., Ypsilanti thepatientstation.com

Best Marijuana Dispensary Deals (Wayne) Herbology

11392 W. Jefferson Ave., River Rouge | 261 Burke St., River Rouge shophcc.com

Best Marijuana Dispensary for a Beginner (Macomb) Bloomery Cannabis 142 N. Gratiot Ave., Mount Clemens bloomerycannabis.com

Best Marijuana Dispensary for a Beginner (Oakland) Lume

1949 Twelve Mile Rd., Berkley | 3518 Grange Hall Rd., Holly 595 South Glaspie St., Oxford | 26760 Lahser Rd., Southfield | 861 N. Pontiac Tr., Walled Lake lume.com

Best Marijuana Dispensary for a Beginner (Washtenaw) Meds Cafe 700 Tappan St., Ann Arbor | medscafe.com

Best Marijuana Dispensary for a Beginner (Wayne) Gage Cannabis

14239 Eight Mile Rd., Detroit gagecannabis.com

Best Marijuana Dispensary Interior Design Utopia Gardens

6541 E. Lafayette St., Detroit | utopiagardens.com

Best Marijuana Provisioning Center for Concentrates Butter

509 State Cr., Ann Arbor 2222 W. Eleven Mile Rd., Berkley | butterworld.com

Best Medical Marijuana Provisioning Center (Macomb) JARS Cannabis

26700 Liberal St., Center Line | 101 N. Groesbeck Hwy., Mount Clemens | 51679 Gratiot Ave., New Baltimore | jarscannabis.com

Best Medical Marijuana Provisioning Center (Oakland)

Nature’s Remedy

Cannabis Dispensary

925 E. Drayton St., Ferndale | naturesremedycannabis.com

Best Medical Marijuana Provisioning Center (Washtenaw) Exclusive Cannabis

3820 Varsity Dr., Ann Arbor | exclusivemi.com

Best Medical Marijuana Provisioning Center (Wayne) Green Genie

24600 W. McNichols Rd., Detroit | 20046 W. Warren Ave., Detroit geniecannabis.com

Best New Dispensary Gatsby Cannabis Co.

5130 Meijer Dr., Royal Oak gatsbycannabis.com

Best Packaging Narvona narvona.com

Best Preroll Selection (Macomb) Cloud Cannabis

35269 Cricklewood Blvd., New Baltimore 44115 Van Dyke Ave., Utica | cloudcannabis.com

Best Preroll Selection (Oakland) Rush Cannabis

24733 John R Rd., Hazel Park | 20 Church St., Oxford | rushcannabiz.com

Best Preroll Selection (Washtenaw) High Society

465 E. Michigan Ave., Saline highsocietydispo.com

Best Preroll Selection (Wayne) House of Dank

3340 E. Eight Mile Rd., Detroit | 3394 S. Fort St., Detroit shophod.com

Best Recreational Marijuana Dispensary (Macomb) Pleasantrees

237 N. River Rd., Mount Clemens enjoypleasantrees.com

Best Recreational Marijuana Dispensary (Oakland) King of Budz

1300 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale | kingofbudz.com

Best Recreational Marijuana Dispensary (Washtenaw) Pure Roots

3430 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor pureroots.com

Best Recreational Marijuana Dispensary (Wayne) House of Dank

3340 E. Eight Mile Rd., Detroit | 3394 S. Fort St., Detroit shophod.com

Best Smoke Shop BDT Smoke Shops

21640 John R Rd., Hazel Park | bdtmi.com

Best THC Pill Brand Rise risemeds.com

Best Weed Loyalty Rewards Program (Macomb County)

JARS

26700 Liberal St., Center Line | 101 N. Groesbeck Hwy., Mount Clemens | 51679 Gratiot Ave, New Baltimore | jarscannabis.com

Best Weed Loyalty Rewards Program (Oakland County) Butter

2222 W. Eleven Mile Rd., Berkley butterworld.com

Best Weed Loyalty Rewards Program (Washtenaw County) Bloom City Club

423 Miller Ave., Ann Arbor | bloomcityclub.com

Best Weed Loyalty Rewards Program (Wayne County) Herbology

11392 W. Jefferson Ave., River Rouge | 261 Burke St., River Rouge shophcc.com

Best Up North Dispensary Herbology

518 E. Houghton Ave., West Branch | shophcc.com

Dopest Marijuana Dispensary for a Stoner (Macomb) Mood Cannabis 24320 Sherwood Ave., Center Line | enjoythemood.com

Dopest Marijuana Dispensary for a Stoner (Oakland) Greenhouse of Walled Lake 103 E. Walled Lake Dr., Walled Lake greenhousemi.com

Dopest Marijuana Dispensary for a Stoner (Washtenaw)

Exotics Cannabis 1820 Washtenaw Ave., Ypsilanti exoticscannabisco.com

Dopest Marijuana Dispensary for a Stoner (Wayne) Green Pharm 2619 Schaefer Hwy., Detroit | getgreenpharm.com

Most Deservingly Hyped Local Flower The Hive at BDT

21630 John R Rd., Hazel Park thehivemichigan.com

Most Knowledgeable Marijuana Provisioning Center Staff (Macomb)

Leaf & Bud

23860 Sherwood Ave., Center Line | leafandbud.com

Most Knowledgeable Marijuana Provisioning Center Staff (Oakland)

Royal Treatment

Royal Oak

420 E. Harrison Ave., Royal Oak royaltreatmentmi.com

Most Knowledgeable Marijuana Provisioning Center Staff (Washtenaw) Exclusive Cannabis 3820 Varsity Dr., Ann Arbor | exclusivemi.com

Most Knowledgeable Marijuana Provisioning Center Staff (Wayne)

House of Dank

3340 E. Eight Mile Rd., Detroit 3394 S. Fort St., Detroit | shophod.com

Strongest Weed at a Dispensary

JARS Cannabis

Multiple locations jarscannabis.com

JARS Cannabis.

COURTESY OF JARS CANNABIS

COME SEE US DURING & AFTER THE LIONS & WINGS GAMES

ONE MILE FROM STADIUMS / MINUTES FROM QLINE / FREE STREET PARKING ON SUNDAYS

Fri 10/18

JEN’S APARTMENT/HOMES/RITUAL SUNS (ROCK’N’ROLL/ALT ROCK) DOORS@9PM/$5COVER

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PATIENCE YOUNG!

Sat 10/19

DIVAS VS. DIVAS MONTHLY DANCE PARTY

W/ DJ AIMZ & DJ EM MIXING 90’S & 00’S DOORS@9PM/$5COVER HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ARKIEMA!

Sun 10/20

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROBBY GIBBONS!

Mon 10/21 FREE POOL ALL DAY

Sat 10/26

PINK 50’S HALLOWEEN BASH IV

FEAT. SICK LIKE YOU & PERMANENTLY PISSED PRIZES FOR BEST COSTUMES! (PUNK ROCK/STONER ROCK) DOORS@9P/$5COVER JAMESON PROMO

Coming Up:

10/25 Circus Boy/Nuke & The Nightshift/ Cinecyde

11/01 Brandon Z Smith/Gaddie/Elephant Den

11/02 Remote Controls(IN)/Sea Hag/ Mazinga/No Vision

11/08 Electric Honey/Hourlies/Slumlord Radio

11/10 Veterans Day Parade OPEN@11am 11/11 VETERANS DAY

11/15 Vissitone’s/Jacuzzi Beach

11/16 Tiberius/Carbon Decoy/Sonic Smut/ Solar Monolith

11/22 Vultures of Culture/3148’s/ The Dirty News

11/23 Middle Out /Nobody Wins/Diet Smiles

ELECTION DAY IS TUES. NOV. 5 Register Now! www.vote.org Book Your Parties: theoldmiamibarevents@gmail.com

Old Miami T-shirts & Hoodies For Sale

WHAT’S GOING ON

Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Be sure to check venue website before events for latest information. Add your event to our online calendar: metrotimes.com/AddEvent.

MUSIC

Wednesday, Oct. 16

Live/Concert

Boris, Starcrawler 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $26.50.

Dayglow, Sun Room 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $29.50-$65.

Dayseeker, Alpha Wolf, Catch Your Breath, Kingdom of Giants 6 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $32.50-$64.50. The Gladys Knight Tribute ft Sharon Love Jones Hosted By Lucretia Sain 7-10 p.m.; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $35. Kickstand Productions Presents: May Erlewine, The Charlie Millard Band 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $25. Matt Lorusso Trio & Special Guests 8-11 p.m.; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.

Temple of the Fuzz Witch, Faerie Ring, Blessed Black 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.

DJ/Dance

Wednesday Night Line Dancing & Lessons 6:30-10 p.m.; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; $10.

Karaoke

Offbeat KARAOKE with Robby Rob 9 p.m.; Third Street Detroit, 4626 Third St., Detroit; no cover.

Thursday, Oct. 17

Live/Concert

Hippies & Cowboys, Revelry, Cassidy Daniels 7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15. KMFDM, The Morlocks 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $37.

Magic Bag Presents: Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, Bri Bagwell 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $30. Manor Gates, Small Comforts,

Dad Caps, That’s Rough Buddy 7:30-11:30 p.m.; New Dodge Lounge, 8850 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck; $10. Redferrin, Brooke Lee 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale.

DJ/Dance

Tinzo + Jojo 8 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $19.99-$59.99. Karaoke

DARE-U-OKE 9 p.m.-midnight; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.

Drag Queen Karaoke 8 p.m.-2 a.m.; Woodward Avenue Brewers, 22646 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; no cover.

Karaoke at Detroit Shipping with DJ Mo Will 6-9 p.m.; Detroit Shipping Company, 474 Peterboro St., Detroit; no cover.

Friday, Oct. 18

Live/Concert

3MB with Snailmate and Pelly wsg Mark Cooper & Noveliss 7-11:30 p.m.; New Dodge Lounge, 8850 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck; $15.

Brett Young, Tyler Braden, Hannah McFarland 6 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $37.75$77.75.

Burton Cummings & His Band 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $33-$78.

Candlelight: From Bach to The Beatles 6:30-7:45 & 8:45-10 p.m.; Sanctuary Church Birmingham, 300 Willits St, Birmingham; $35.

Die Antwoord 7 pm; Cathedral Theatre at the Masonic Temple, 500 Temple St., Detroit; $44-$80.

Jenn’s Apartment, HOMES, Ritual Suns 9 p.m.; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; $5.

London Philharmonic Orchestra 7:30 p.m.; Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor; $23-$148.

Mod Sun, lovelytheband, No Love For The Middle Child, honestav 6 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $33.

Neko Case, Imaad Wasif 7 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $39.50-$59.50.

Pig Destroyer, The Red Chord, Premonitions Of War, See You Next Tuesday, SNAFU, Noisem, Boreworm 4 p.m.; Crofoot Ballroom, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $30.

Ryan Waters Band 8 p.m.; Tin Roof, 47 E. Adams Ave., Detroit; no cover. Single Mothers, The Carolyn, Former Critics, No Vision 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $17.

The California Honeydrops 7 p.m.; Majestic Theatre, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $32.50.

The Convalescence, Casket Robbery, Ignominious, Voluntary Mortification, Archimime, Dying Under The Influence, Krocophile 5 p.m.; Harpo’s, 14238 Harper Avenue, Detroit; $20.

The Shifters 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $10.

The Texas Tenors 8 p.m.; Andiamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 E. 14 Mile Rd., Warren; $35-$69.

Too $hort, Stevie Stone 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $48-$60.

Domination Detroit(Pantera tribute), Meat Plow (STP tribute) 8 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15.

WDET x Batch Brewing Company “It’s So Kölsch in the D” beer release show with Sugar Tradition, Winestoned Cowboys, Allen Dennard Trio 7-11 p.m.; Batch Brewing Company, 1400 Porter St, Detroit, Detroit; $25.

DJ/Dance

Ann Arbor Sober Rave 7-10 p.m.; First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor, 517 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor; $10.

Exodus Entertainment Presents: Choptober featuring Stayns, Joust, Renzo, Whisper, Six Paths b2b Okvne 9 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $20-$25.

Luci with Cass + XIRO + Lindzy Beatz 9 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $20-$25.

Saturday, Oct. 19

Live/Concert

Bee Gees Gold (Bee Gees tribute) 8 p.m.; Andiamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 E. 14 Mile Rd., Warren; $35-$69.

Chameleons, The Veldt 7 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $30.

Drug Church, Pony, Soul Blind, Modern Color 6:30 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $23. Erica Dawn Lyle, Griffin Brown,

Shells 7 p.m.; Moondog Cafe, 8045 Linwood St., Detroit; $15.

Heavy Metal Heaven 7 pm-midnight; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; 15.00.

Heavy Metal Heaven: Powerage (AC/DC tribute), Blood Stone (Judas Priest tribute), Bulletproof 7:30 p.m.; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; $15-$95.

Magic Bag Presents: MEGA 80s SPOOKTACULAR! 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20. Montell Fish, CLIP 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.

Night of the Living Dead Variety Show featuring the Outfits, playing songs of the Misfits 8-10 p.m.; Pontiac Little Art Theatre, 47 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $10 advance, $15 day of show. NOT.GREENDAY (Green Day tribute) 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $18.

Rise Against, Microwave, Spiritual Cramp 6:30 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $40-$79.50.

Ronnie Baker Brooks, Chris Beard Band 7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $20$180.

DJ/Dance

Sueco, SUICIDAL-IDOL 6:30 p.m.; Majestic Theatre, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25-$65.

Virtual Riot, Moore Kismet, Franky Nuts, Rankz, Lachjaw, Pandalicious 9 p.m.; Elektricity Nightclub, 15 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $18.75-$25.

Sunday, Oct. 20

Live/Concert

Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert 2 & 7 p.m.; Fisher Theatre - Detroit, 3011 West Grand & Fisher, Detroit; $59-$270.

Cowboy Bebop LIVE: Presented by the Bebop Bounty Big Band 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $35-$60.

Damien Escobar 7:30 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $43-$55.

Demon Hunter, War of Ages, Opponent 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $30. Phil Ogilvie’s Rhythm Kings 5-8

p.m.; Zal Gaz Grotto Club, 2070 W. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor; no cover (tipjar for the band).

Vertical Horizon 8 p.m.; Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts, 12 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $30-$60.

DJ/Dance

Problems (Chicago, Orange Milk Records), I-R, Seanni B, Wet Rag 7-10 p.m.; Job Stoppers Inc., 5631 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $10.

Monday, Oct. 21

Live/Concert

Heavy//Hitter, Walking Down Main, Seeding the Dead, Splinters 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15. Steve Wynn, Ladyship Warship 7 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; $25.

The Tribute to House Music featuring Nikki O & Erogenous, hosted by Lucretia Sain 7 p.m.; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $25.

DJ/Dance

Adult Skate Night 8:30-11 p.m.; Lexus Velodrome, 601 Mack Ave., Detroit; $5.

Tuesday, Oct. 22

Live/Concert

Andre 3000, Meshell Ndegeocello 7 p.m.; Cathedral Theatre at the Masonic Temple, 500 Temple St., Detroit; $39-$200.

Blues Traveler, Cody Dickinson 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $35-$75.

Global Sunsets, Blackman & Arnold Trio 7-10 p.m.; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.

Pain of Truth, Dying Wish, Outta Pocket, Balmora, Hold My Own, Godbody 5:30 p.m.; Tangent Gallery, 715 E. Milwaukee Ave., Detroit; $25.

Stevie Wonder 8 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $49.50-$129.50.

Timothy Monger 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Alpino, 1426 Bagley St., Detroit; $10. Open Mic

Open Mic: Art in a Fly Space 7-10 p.m.; Detroit Shipping Company, 474 Peterboro St., Detroit; no cover.

THEATER Performance

Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest The Dinner Detective Comedy Mystery Dinner Show; $69.99; Saturday, 6-9 p.m.

PhantaSea Fest returns to Eastern Palace Club

Eastern Palace Club in Hazel Park has announced the return of its annual PhantaSea Fest, a sexy multi-day event inspired by Florida’s Fantasy Fest, New Orleans’s Mardi Gras, and Brazil’s Carnival.

After a successful inaugural event in 2023, the club is once again bringing the festival to Hazel Park’s South End district, a rapidly developing area within the city. Opened in 2023, Eastern Palace Club has already built a loyal customer base with its unique Key West-inspired beach bar concept.

Key West’s original Fantasy Fest, first celebrated in 1979, was created to boost tourism during the slower season. The adult-oriented event has continued every October since, offering a week of themed parties and events across the city. Similarly, Hazel Park’s PhantaSea Fest will take place from Oct. 22-26 with multiple themed evenings held exclusively at the Eastern Palace Club.

The individual events consist of Tutu Tuesday Wine Tasting on Oct. 22, Kinky Karaoke on Oct. 23, Pink Pirate Party on Oct. 24, Space Rave Masquerade Beach Party on Oct. 25, and the Halos & Hooves unHAPPY ENDINGS DANCE PARTY on Oct. 26.

For more details and updates, see Eastern Palace Club’s Instagram or Facebook.

—Layla McMurtrie

ror Picture Show; Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

COMEDY

Improv

Go Comedy! Improv Theater

Pandemonia The Allstar Showdown; $25; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 & 10 p.m. Stand-up

Diamondback Music Hall Mike Bonner; $35-$40; Sunday, 6 p.m.

The Fillmore Dane Cook: Fresh New Flavor; $42.50-$73; Saturday, 6:30 p.m.

Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts Sweetest Day Laughfest; $55-$125; Saturday, 8 p.m.

Fox Theatre All Star Comedy Festival; $79-$199; Saturday, 7 & 10:30 p.m.

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Joe List, Jason Fylan-Mares, Matt Wayne; $25-$30; Thursday, 7:30-9 p.m.; Friday, 7:15-8:45 & 9:45-11:15 p.m.; and Saturday 7-8:30 & 9:30-11 p.m.

Roosevelt Park Comedy Ghost Walk: A walking comedy show where comedians lead you on an evening ghost-themed stories and jokes. At each section of the walk a comedian will tell a harrowing tale of ghastly ghouls, sadistic spirits, and murderous mayhem. Are the stories true? No absolutely not this is a walking comedy show there is absolutely no real information being offered here, just silly stories and a unique comedy experience! $10; Friday, 7:30-9 p.m.

Detroit Opera House La traviata; $30-175; Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Embassy Suites Troy The Dinner Detective Comedy Mystery Dinner Show; $69.99; Saturday, 6-9 p.m.

FIM Whiting Auditorium Dog Man: The Musical; $25; Tuesday, 7-8 p.m.

Fisher Theatre - Detroit Dogman: The Musical; Friday, 5 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.

Fox Theatre The Thorn; $39.75-$99.75; Sunday, 7 p.m. and Monday, 7 p.m.

Meadow Brook Theatre Strangers On a Train; $41; Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 8 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 & 6:30 p.m.

Power Center for the Performing Arts Penny Stamps Speaker Series: Elevator Repair Service. Chronicling the experiences of three Dubliners over a single ordinary day in June 1904, James Joyce’s Ulysses captures the chaotic and

fragmented nature of human consciousness. Modeled after Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Ulysses is the latest project by the New York City-based theater company Elevator Repair Service, perhaps best known for Gatz, its award-winning verbatim staging of the entire text of The Great Gatsby. This performance uses, as artistic director John Collins says, “only Joyce’s words, but not all of them.” $36$67; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, 2 p.m.

Tipping Point Theatre Grand Horizons; $25-$55; Wednesday, 2-3:45 p.m.; Thursday, 7:30-9:15 p.m.; Friday, 7:30-9:15 p.m.; Saturday, 6-7:45 p.m.; and Sunday, 2-3:45 p.m.

Musical

FIM Elgood Theatre Godspell; $27; Wednesday, 2 p.m.; Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, 2 p.m.

Fisher Theatre - Detroit Rocky Hor-

The Independent Comedy Club Tales From The 313: SCARY STORIES — LIVE. Six stand-up comedians share their true and hysterical stories of the supernatural, true crime, freaky experiences and all things spooky. Featuring: Lisa Green, Sara Young, Brandon Mullins, Miky Burch, Smada Adams, and Scott Sviland. $10 advance, $15 day of show; Friday, 9-10:30 p.m.

Continuing This Week Stand-up Blind Pig Blind Pig Comedy FREE; Mondays, 8 p.m.

The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant The Sh*t Show Open Mic; $5 suggested donation; Fridays, Saturdays, 11 p.m..

Supernatural Brewing and Spirits Supernatural Brewing Comedy Night; $10; Thursday, 7-9 p.m.

FILM

Screening

Detroit Public Library — Main Branch Reconnecting the Dots: A Detroit-Based Transracial Adoptee’s Story; no cover. Saturday, 1 p.m.

COURTESY PHOTO

FOOD

Bites

Effin Egg readies to open in Midtown

A new fast-casual breakfast sandwich restaurant with a colorful name is set to open in Midtown.

The cheekily named Effin Egg is moving into the former Treat Dreams ice cream shop at 4160 Cass Ave., Detroit.

The brand was established in Florida in 2019 and has around 10 stores across the U.S. This is its first Michigan location.

The Detroit location’s owner Lucretia Willams, who worked as an executive in the auto industry and says she was looking to start a local business when the opportunity fell into her lap, as she describes it.

“I contacted the owner and just said, ‘Hey, I’m effin’ interested in Effin Eggs,’” she tells Metro Times.

Most of the restaurant’s menu revolves around eggs, with a variety of breakfast sandwiches and breakfast

burritos available.

“It’s a twist on comfort food, in a way,” Willams says. “It’s very tasty, very delicious, as all food should be. We’re more interested in giving people high-quality, made-to-order breakfasts that taste just as good as any fine-dining, if you will, breakfast.”

Williams anticipates her customers will be largely made up of college students from nearby Wayne State University. She’ll be offering a coffee drink called the “Effin Warrior,” named after WSU’s mascot.

A variety of other espressos, lattes, and teas will also be available — what the chain calls “pot” drinks. (Continuing its theme of tongue-in-cheek language, the company’s website proclaims, “Potheads welcome.”) Williams says she also plans to cater to the young customer base by serving nonalcoholic mocktails “to appeal

to their sense of almost grownish selves.”

It’s not all kid’s stuff, though; Williams plans to open by 6:30 a.m. daily so workers at the nearby Detroit Medical Center can also come in for a bite to eat before their shifts.

The restaurant will close at 3 p.m. except from Thursday through Saturday, when it will have a later shift from 7-11 p.m. Then, “we’re going to have breakfast all effin’ day,” Williams says.

The restaurant can seat 33 inside and another 20 on an outside patio.

“We’re trying to give [customers] the best of both worlds,” Williams says. “Everyone’s trying to do this thing, but fast-casual is in between where you do get to sit-down, you do get fresh cooked meals, but it’s not carrying the expense of having a large staff of servers and all that.”

Williams says she’s hoping to open by WSU’s homecoming game on Oct. 26. The restaurant is now hiring; more information is available at effineggdetroit.com.

—Lee DeVito

Sepia Coffee Project opens in former Gathering Coffee Co. space

The space at 2831 E. Grand Blvd. in Detroit wasn’t empty for long.

Just a few weeks after Gathering Coffee Co.’s final day on Sept. 8, a new coffee shop is set to take its place. Highland Park-based Sepia Coffee Project, a roasting company founded by Martell Mason in 2021, opened its first sit-down cafe earlier this month.

Originally announced in July, the cafe was expected to open on Oct. 1, but Sepia recently updated the launch date to Oct.

3 via Instagram, simultaneously revealing a fresh new look for the space’s exterior.

The new cafe marks an important step for Sepia Coffee, which currently operates as a micro-roastery in Detroit’s North End. The owner hopes the new spot will generate revenue to further fund a planned roastery and tasting room in Highland Park, slated to open in fall 2025.

With ethical sourcing at its forefront, Sepia Coffee Project specializes in single-

Detroit City Beef is serving sandwiches by chef Matty Matheson

Chef Matty Matheson

— perhaps better known to some from his acting role in the FX series The Bear — is bringing a taste of Chicago to Detroit.

The acclaimed chef (who also serves as executive producer of the hit TV show) has revamped the menu for Detroit City Beef, the food cart located outside the Skip in the Belt alley in Detroit.

Fittingly, Detroit City Beef will serve Matheson’s take on the hot Italian beef sandwich featured in the show, in addition to a vegetarian fried eggplant sandwich version.

The Detroit City Beef cart is actually an old Italian beef and sausage cart from Chicago that was brought to Detroit and refurbished.

“Matty’s connection to Italian beef runs deep, as well, with his involvement in The Bear bringing this Chicago staple into the spotlight,” the Skip says in a press release. “Guests can expect the same unpretentious, highquality approach that defines Matty’s style — simple, bold flavors executed with precision by Standby’s kitchen team. The cart will offer the perfect food pairing with the laid-back, easygoing vibe of The Skip. It’s the ideal stop before or after a game or a show, for an eat-with-yourhands, flavorful experience.”

origin and blended whole beans from Black and brown farmers from throughout the Americas, Africa, and the Indian Pacific. The company currently supplies its beans to about 30 clients across metro Detroit, New York, and Minneapolis. The upcoming opening of the new community coffee shop will be a soft launch, with no grand opening date yet. Updates can be found on Instagram @scpdetroit.

—Layla McMurtrie

The Italian beef sandwich includes braised chuck simmered in beef jus served with mild or hot giardiniera relish on a soft Italian roll (it comes dipped), while the “Eggplant Sammy” features fried eggplant, red sauce, and mozzarella available in mild or sweet versions.

A native Canadian who cut his teeth in Toronto’s dining scene, Matheson joined the Skip’s sister bar Standby as a partner earlier this summer. The Skip is located at 1234 Library St., Detroit.

—Lee DeVito

Effin Egg is moving into the former Treat Dreams ice cream shop at 4160 Cass Ave., Detroit.

STEVE NEAVLING

CULTURE

Film

Why no serious?

By Jared Rasic, Last Word Features

Joker: Folie à Deux

Rated: R

Run-time: 138 minutes

From the jump I’m going to say that Joker: Folie à Deux is both a little better than most people say, while somehow being worse in a lot of ways for which I wasn’t prepared.

But, and this might be a hot take, so I guess you can take my opinion with a bucket of salt… I didn’t think the first Joker was very good either. Cowriter and director Todd “I made three Hangover movies” Phillips’s 2019 Joker movie just felt like he was a big fan of Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy and also had the rights to play around with a comic book character.

In fact, ever since the press tour from the original into the filming and press tour of Joker 2: Electric Boogaloo, Phillips has seemed to despise comic books, superheroes, and quite possibly even the character of Joker himself. Because, to me, it doesn’t even seem like Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck is the Joker. I think Fleck is a very interesting character and that Phoenix plays him beautifully. But Phillips and

Phoenix don’t seem remotely interested in engaging with the character on anything other than the terms set in the original.

Which, in theory, is fine, but the entire plot of Joker: Folie à Deux is Arthur in prison for what he did in the first film and then going to court over those actions as well. Zazie Beetz returns as Sophie, Arthur’s former neighbor who he spent the entire first movie in an imaginary relationship with, only realizing his error at the end before going to prison.

So, Sophie shows up in the sequel to testify against Arthur… and just repeats all the things we saw already the last time. In fact, Joker: Folie à Deux spends almost its entire runtime interrogating Arthur’s actions from the original, which is about the least interesting thing for a filmmaker to possibly focus on in a sequel — especially one that, somehow, cost $200 million to make with barely a set piece in sight. Someone needs to look at receipts.

Millions and millions of people saw Joker. It made more than $1 billion. To spend an entire 140-minute sequel going over the events of the original seems like either next-level trolling or a filmmaker genuinely struggling inter-

me, “Lee”) that we’ve never seen before. Some of the musical numbers are also pretty fun to see. That’s about all, though. I don’t want to really get into spoilers, but the actual story of Joker: Folie à Deux is one that probably reads well on paper, but Phillips has absolutely no idea how to approach the material with drama, intensity, or even an internal logic that makes the film coherent.

Arthur is not a protagonist or an antagonist. Everything that happens to him in Joker: Folie à Deux is a direct response to his actions in Joker. He doesn’t really do anything in this movie at all. He doesn’t drive the story. He’s not intelligent or trying to outthink the characters around him that wish him harm. He walks into a scene, things happen, he reacts to them, and then the scene is over. He has no agency and little to no imagination other than a possible mental illness the film shows as musical hallucinations. Perhaps Phillips is too afraid to really connect with what this means on a realistic and empathetic level.

Arthur Fleck is a paper-thin character sketch idea that Philips had when he watched Taxi Driver for the fiftieth time. He was incredibly lucky to find a once-in-a-generation genius on the level of Phoenix to make Arthur seem like he has more depth than he actually does.

nally to find anything of worth to say. The addition of Joker: Folie à Deux being a jukebox musical is a nice idea and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn is inspired casting. But as a thematic touchstone to Arthur’s possible mental illness it feels like a thin thread that never unspools into anything emotionally resonant.

And there goes that disdain again. Gaga’s Harley Quinn is only ever called “Lee” in the film, which, again, that’s cool. It makes sense not to want the character compared too much to Margot Robbie’s iconic take on the antihero, but Lee never feels like Harley. The first time we meet her in Folie à Deux she’s already obsessed with and in love with Arthur, and because he’s such a lonely incel edgelord, he’s immediately smitten as well — meaning we don’t watch Lee and Arthur fall for each other. They’re in love because the script says they are, so their relationship carries no dramatic weight, no tension, no passion, no chemistry… only the machinations of a plot so thin it hangs together like a threadbare rug in a violent storm.

Phillips composes a few nice shots and the cinematography from Lawrence Sher is handsome and muscular. Phoenix is amazing, as always, and Gaga brings a side to Harley (excuse

There are a few moments where you can see what a good movie Joker: Folie à Deux might have been if Phillips had any interest in actually making it. He didn’t want to. He never did. DC Comics backed a truckload of money up to him and he sighed and said “what if we just make it a musical?” In his flopsweated desperation to be a “serious” director, he made one of the biggest mistakes a writer can make about his subject. He didn’t take it seriously.

By the end of the movie I couldn’t even tell if Phillips liked Arthur or whether he even thought Arthur was the Joker at all or just some sick, sad, lonely abused man-child that feels power for the first time when he finds a loaded gun. Arthur Fleck isn’t the Joker. He’s barely Kyle Rittenhouse.

I’m no fan of Jared Leto, but I would still rather see his weird-ass Juggalo Soundcloud rapper version of the Joker again than spend another minute in Todd Phillips’s morally bankrupt and depressing imagination. I’ll watch Joaquin Phoenix recite recipes for meatloaf for a month, but I’m not sure I ever want to spend time with his Arthur Fleck character again either. I’m done with these movies and, hopefully, you are too.

Grade: D-

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga make an unconvincing Joker and Harley Quinn.

NIKO TAVERNISE/DC COMICS

CULTURE

Savage Love

Ace Space

By Dan Savage

: Q I am a 28-year-old cisgender sexrepulsed asexual gay man. While some asexuals choose to have sex for the pleasure it provides their partner, sex-repulsed asexuals like me do not engage in sexual activity and do not wish to be exposed to it. As a sex-repulsed asexual gay man, I feel alienated when I enter gay spaces like bars, parties, clubs. Gay allosexuals don’t seem to be aware that hypersexualized spaces make asexual men like me feel unsafe and unwanted. We are forced to choose between being isolated or entering spaces where other gay men are kissing, grinding, or worse. Also, bartenders are often shirtless, there are go-go dancers, and even the posters on the walls feature sexually explicit imagery. When gay sex is foregrounded like this it makes gay men like me feel like we are not welcome in the gay community. And to answer the obvious question: I go to gay bars for many of the same reasons allosexual gay men go to gay bars: to socialize and feel safe and to meet potential romantic (not sexual) partners. I also go because gay hookup apps are terrible for everyone, but they’re especially terrible for asexual gay men.

I feel like there should be one night a week where gay bars are safe spaces for asexual gay men. It doesn’t feel like asking people to remain clothed and refrain from groping each other one night a week is too much to ask if it makes a marginalized group within our own community feel welcome. I am curious what you think of my proposal and whether this is an idea that you would get behind.

—Gay Ace Gay Space

A: “I’m a 28-year-old gay man, just like GAGS, but I’m not asexual,” said Jonathan, a regular commenter at Savage.Love who I’ve tapped to speak for all allosexual gay men everywhere. “I’m an enthusiastic gay bar, club, and partygoer. I went to Town in DC for the shirtless twinks and twunks and go to the Eagle in NYC for the hot leather guys in jockstraps. We go out because of the dancing, kissing, groping, grinding, hot bartenders, and go-go boys. We like it this way! If we wanted weak drinks in a nonsexual environment, we’d go to Applebee’s.”

Jonathan argues — and I, another allosexual gay man, happen to agree with him — that gay men clumped up in urban

areas to create spaces where we could be ourselves. When the first gayborhoods began to appear (or, more accurately, began to enter public consciousness), those spaces were pretty much limited to bars (sexually charged) and bathhouses (extremely sexually charged). But as more gay men and other queer people came out and moved in, lots of other kinds of spaces in gayborhoods— less sexually charged spaces — became places where we could be ourselves, e.g., cafes, restaurants, bookstores, gyms, sidewalks, city halls, etc., etc., etc.

“GAGS should try gay sports leagues, gyms, meetup groups, book clubs, youth mentorship programs, supper clubs — all of those have the nonsexual vibe he wants,” Jonathan said. “And if there isn’t a scene he likes where he lives, he should create one. My city didn’t use to have a fisting club or an ABDL night but now, thanks to friends, it does. GAGS should focus on cultivating the environments he desires instead of asking other gay men to censor ourselves. We aren’t interested in being demure. It also wouldn’t be profitable for the venues.”

Kevin Kauer, who co-owns and curates Massive, a bar in Seattle created for the whole LGBTQIA+ community, agreed with Jonathan on the venues point.

“I strive to create a space that’s safe and welcoming for all,” Kauer said, “but GAGS proposal sounds like an unprofitable flip of the fun switch to off. While certainly fun for some, what he describes is just not the essence of a large queer nightclub. Maybe GAGS could try a house party?”

You may have a hard time filling a house party. While there are roughly forty million men in the United States between the ages of 21 and 40 — age-appropriate potential romantic partners for a 28-year-old gay man — only 2% of those men are gay (800,000), only 1% of gay men are asexual (8000), and only a small percentage of asexuals are sex-repulsed (as opposed to sex-positive, sex-neutral, and sex-negative).

While you’re not limited to dating or partnering with other asexuals — because of course you aren’t — you’re asking bars owners to set one night a week aside for asexual guys and their admirers and, I’m sorry, but there aren’t enough asexual guys for a night like that to pencil out.

OK, since I don’t want to be accused of stacking the deck against you — or ganging up on you — by only quoting allosexuals, GAGS, I reached out to Cody Daigle-Orians, the author, educator, and asexuality advocate behind “Ace Dad Advice,” a social media-based asexuality education project.

“The gay male community can make ace men feel like shit,” said Daigle-Orians. “Ace men meet a brick wall of invalidation, dismissal, and being rendered invisible in the

gay male community. And there’s absolutely room — and a real need — for allosexual gay men to catch up on the range of ways one can inhabit gayness, including gay ace men, and to be gentler, more supportive, and to build solidarity with men whose gayness looks different from theirs.”

So, what does Daigle-Orians think of your modest proposal: one night a week when gay bars ask bartenders to keep their pants on, lock go-go boys in their beer coolers, and ask men to keep their lips and hips to themselves?

“I can’t agree with GAGS’ suggestion,” said Daigle-Orians. “Gay bars have a long history, of which sex is a part. They’re sexually charged spaces and that’s OK. The freedom to express your Big Gay Sexuality on the dance floor at the gay bar is one I’m glad allo gay men have. It’s something they should have.”

Like Jonathan, Daigle-Orians thought you might be looking for love — and community — in all the wrong places.

“There are other ways to find gay social connection,” said Daigle-Orians. “There are gay book clubs, bowling leagues, gaming groups, rugby leagues, softball. The choice isn’t ‘gay bar or isolation,’ as GAGS frames it, because ‘gay spaces’ aren’t only bars, parties, or clubs. Just as there are multiples ways to be gay, there are multiple ways to socialize with those gays. So, I would encourage GAGS to broaden his ideas of where gay community can be found and built. It’s more likely they’ll find the like-minded friends and possible romantic partners they’re seeking in places other than the gay bar, anyway. Leave the backroom to the allos.”

P.S. Even though you’re unlikely to find a partner in a gay bar, GAGS, don’t despair of finding a partner. Cody Daigle-Orians who identifies as queer, ace, and agender — has three: his husband of ten years (met online), his other partner of three years (met online), and a platonic partner (his husband’s other romantic partner). I’m confident you can find the right guy or guys for you too!

P.P.S. Congrats to everyone out there who got the “hips or lips” reference. Follow Cody Daigle-Orians on Instagram @AceDadAdvice and learn more about his work and order his books — I Am Ace and Ace and Aro — at his website, acedadadvice.com. Follow Kevin Kauer on Instagram @kk_nark. Follow Massive on Instagram @ massive_club. Full disclosure: my husband — who can you follow on Instagram @ disappearing_tm — hosts a monthly fetish night at Massive.

: Q I’m a 38-year-old gay male. I recently got back on dating apps, and I’ve been chatting with other gays online. I’m not unattractive and I get a fair amount of hits when I post pictures. To my surprise, I’ve accidentally connected emotionally with a few guys who quickly expressed an interest

in exploring something long-term with me. The problem is that I was diagnosed with terminal cancer years ago and not given long to live. I’ve made a miraculous recovery, but I still have cancer, and I’m told it’s still terminal. I could pass in weeks, months, or after another couple of years. I haven’t lied to any of the men I’ve been chatting with, but I haven’t been entirely forthcoming with them either. It’s day two of chatting with these guys and now I’m in some situationships. I don’t know what to do. I want to feel normal, but I don’t want to string these guys along. Please advise. —Cancer Announcement Now Could End Relationships

A: First, CANCER, I’m so sorry about your diagnoses — but given that it’s been years since you were given months to live, I’m hoping you’ve gotten a second, third, and fourth medical opinion. Cases of spontaneous remission are rare when it comes to cancer but they have happened, CANCER, and people have been misdiagnosed with cancer. I’m sure it’s already occurred to you to explore both possibilities — and ones that haven’t occurred to me — but on the off chance you haven’t, you might wanna.

Second, CANCER, about the men you’ve been chatting with for two days — torso pics that went from “sup” to “let’s explore something long-term” in forty-eight little hours — they’re bullshitting you. And if you think you’re in a situationship or any other kind of ‘ationship with any these men, CANCER, you’re bullshitting yourself. Forgive me for being blunt… but you’ve gotten worse news and survived… and I don’t wanna waste what little time you have left beating around the bush.

Dating sites and hookup apps are crawling with fakes and flakes, CANCER, and while swapping text messages with a stranger can be fun and sometimes it feels like we’re catching feelings for someone we haven’t actually met in person yet, when someone you’ve never met claims they wanna make explore a long-term commitment… that’s a red flag. That person either isn’t who they say they are (and they’re about to hit you up for the money they need to buy a plane ticket to come and meet you) or they are who they say they are (and they’ve just outed themselves as too emotionally immature and/or too emotionally manipulative to risk meeting, much less dating).

In that pile of responses you’ve gotten, CANCER, there are guys who are open to chatting but who aren’t trying to rush things — chat with them, block the others.

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

As a young adult, I lived in a shack in the North Carolina woods. I was too indigent to buy a car or bicycle, so I walked everywhere I needed to go. Out of necessity, I discovered the practical power of psychic protection. I envisioned myself being surrounded by an impenetrable violet force field and accompanied by the guardian spirits of a panther, wolf, and bear. This playful mystical practice kept me safe. Though I was regularly approached by growling dogs and drunk thugs in pickup trucks, I was never attacked. Now would be an excellent time for you to do what I did: put strong psychic protection in place. You’re not in physical danger, but now is a good time to start shielding yourself better against people’s manipulative gambits, bad moods, emotional immaturity, and careless violations.

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

“Dear Rob: I once heard you say

that the best method for solving any dilemma is to sit silently, calm my mind, and listen for the ‘still, small voice of the teacher within me.’ I have tried your advice, but I have never detected this voice. What am I doing wrong? —Deprived Taurus.” Dear Taurus: Here’s how to become available for guidance from the still, small voice of your inner teacher. 1. Go someplace quiet, either in nature or a beloved sanctuary. 2. Shed all your ideas and theories about the nature of your dilemma. 3. Tenderly ask your mind to be empty and serene as you await an intuition. 4. Feel sweet gratitude for each breath as you inhale and exhale. 5. Visualize your inner teacher smiling. 6. Make yourself expectant to receive an insightful blessing.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

I once had a Virgo girlfriend. She was talented, hardworking, meticulous, organized, health-conscious, and resourceful. She also hated it if I neglected to put the jar of honey back in the cupboard immediately after using it. She would get upset if I neglected to remove my shoes as soon as I entered the house. Her fussy perfectionism wasn’t the reason we ultimately broke up, but it did take a toll on me. I bring this to your attention because I hope you will mostly keep fussy perfectionism to yourself in the coming weeks. It’s fine if you want to indulge it while alone and doing your own work, but don’t demand that others be equally fastidious. Providing this leeway now will serve you well in the long run. You can earn slack and generate good will that comes in handy when you least expect it.

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

— although I wouldn’t discount that possibility. So expect a surprise or two, Sagittarius. But I suspect you will ultimately be pleased to revise your theories about how you came to be the resilient soul you are now.

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

Hey, all you young bars out there, with a little bit of perseverance you too could be the best dive bar. All you need is a decent beer selection, an OK jukebox and stay open until 2 AM. It never hurts to have a little bit of Riff Raff hanging around. THANK YOU, METRO TIMES READERS!!

In the parlance of people who love to trek in natural places, a “cobbknocker” refers to a hiker who precedes you and knocks down the spider webs crossing the trail. I would love for you to procure a similar service for all your adventures in the coming weeks, not just hiking. See if you can coax or hire helpers to clear a path for you in everything you do. I want you to be able to concentrate on the essentials and not get bogged down or distracted by trivial obstructions. You need spaciousness and ease.

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

When you are at your Cancerian best, you nurture others but don’t smother them with excessive care. You give your gifts without undermining your own interests. You are deeply receptive and sensitive without opening yourself to be abused or wounded. In my astrological estimation, you are currently expressing these qualities with maximum grace and precision. Congratulations on your ever-ripening emotional intelligence! I trust you will be rewarded with grateful favors.

LEO: July 23 – August 22

Here’s the deal that life is offering: You temporarily suspend your drive to possess crystalline certainty, and you agree to love and thrive on ambiguity and paradox. In return, you will be given help in identifying unconscious and hidden factors at work in your destiny. You will be empowered to make confident decisions without needing them to be perfect. And you will learn more about the wise art of feeling appreciative reverence for great mysteries.

Your bulboid corpuscles are specialized nerve cells in your skin that can experience intense tactile pleasure — more so than any other nerve cells. They are located in your lips, tongue, and genitals. According to my analysis of your astrological potentials, these ultra-sensitive receptors will be turned on extra high in the coming weeks. So will their metaphysical and metaphorical equivalents. That’s why I predict you will gather in more bliss than you have in a long time. Please give yourself permission to exceed your usual quota.

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21:

Once upon a time, you were more hazardous to yourself than you are now. I’m pleased about the progress you have made to treat yourself with greater care and compassion. It hasn’t been easy. You had to learn mysterious secrets about dealing with your inner troublemaker. You had to figure out how to channel its efforts into generating benevolent and healing trouble. There’s still more work to be done, though. Your inner troublemaker isn’t completely redeemed and reformed. But you now have a chance to bring it more fully into its destined role as your ally and helper.

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

I predict that your past will soon transform. You may discover new details about old events. Stories you have told and told about your history will acquire new meanings. You will be wise to reinterpret certain plot twists you thought you had figured out long ago. There may not be anything as radical as uncovering wild secrets about your true origins

Of all the astrological signs, Capricorns are least likely to consult horoscopes. There are many skeptical people among your tribe who say, “Astrology is irrational and illogical. It can’t be precise and accurate, so it’s not even real.” My personal research also suggests, however, that a surprising percentage of Capricorns pretend not to be drawn to astrology even though they actually are. They may even hide their interest from others. How do I feel about all this? It doesn’t affect me as I compose your oracles. I love you as much as the other signs, and I always give you my best effort. Now I suggest that in the coming weeks, you do what I do: Give your utmost in every situation, even if some people are resistant to or doubtful of your contributions. Be confident as you offer your excellence.

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

You are ready to graduate to a higher octave of maturity and wisdom about everything related to love, romance, and sex. It will be instructive to meditate on your previous experiences. So I invite you to ruminate on the following questions. 1. What important lessons have you learned about the kind of togetherness you want? 2. What important lessons have you learned about the kind of togetherness you don’t want? 3. What important lessons have you learned about how to keep yourself emotionally healthy while in an intimate relationship?

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

Are you longing to feel safe, cozy, and unperturbable? Are you fantasizing about how perfect life would be if you could seal yourself inside your comfort zone and avoid novelty and change for a while? I hope not, Pisces! By my astrological reckoning, you are due for a phase of experimentation and expansion. You will thrive on the challenges of big riddles and intriguing teases. Please take full advantage of this fun opportunity to hone your intuition and move way beyond random guesswork. For extra credit: Prove the theory that it’s very possible to cultivate and attract good luck.

Homework: Is it time to rest in one area of your life as you work harder in another area?

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

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

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

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.

HOME IMPROVEMENT

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES

in as little as ONE DAY!

Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call 1-866-370-2939 MASSAGE

SOOTHING MASSAGE COUPLES / SINGLES

Handsome, white male, 45, fit, short salt n pepper beard and mustache. I travel to your house, hotel or office. $80 hourly cash. My word of mouth is amazing. Call Jake - 248-571-2826.

VOLUNTEERS

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED CAT VOLUNTEERS

Cat Volunteers needed in Manchester. 9 AM - 1 PM 1 X weekly. Lynn 734-748-6251

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 ENTERTAINMENT

CHEAP PHONE SEX

407-536-7007. 99 cents per minute. PhoneSexLady.com

ESCORT

STRAP ON QUEEN

Naturally dominant you should have a love & fetish for chocolate pie. Therapeutic massage 313-293-0235