VOL. 40 | ISSUE 16 | JANUARY 22–28, 2020
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THESE 10 DETROIT ACTS
BandsTo Watch In 2020
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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COMING SOON
1/26 SNOOP DOGG
1/30 DUSTIN LYNCH WITH TRAVIS DENNING
1/31-2/1 TWO NIGHTS WITH UMPHREY’S MCGEE WITH THE NEW DEAL
2/14 TRIPPIE REDD (SELL OUT ALERT) WITH BLOCBOY JB AND KODIE SHANE
2/21 STONE TEMPLE PILOTS: * AN INTIMATE AND ACOUSTIC EVENING
2/22 CHRIS LANE (SELL OUT ALERT) WITH BLANCO BROWN AND ERNEST
3/4 STEVE HACKETT: GENESIS REVISITED TOUR * 3/6 THE REVIVALISTS WITH TANK AND THE BANGAS
3/11 DERMOT KENNEDY (SELL OUT ALERT) WITH SYML
3/17 SILVERSUN PICKUPS WITH THE NEW REGIME
3/20 SCOTT BRADLEE’S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX: WELCOME TO THE TWENTIES 2.0 TOUR *
3/21 CHIPPENDALES – GET NAUGHTY TOUR (18+) * 3/27 BRENDAN SCHAUB: 50 SHADES OF BROWN TOUR *
* denotes a seated show
4 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
on sale friday:
coming soon concert calendar:
1/24 – magic city hippies @ the shelter w/ tim atlas
1/25 – imposters in effect a tribute to the beastie boys w/ dj psycho
jan. 22 black pumas
st. andrew’s w/ seratones - low ticket warning
apr. 2
the shelter
tommy cash
1/28 – the adicts 1/29 – lettuce 1/30 – temples @ the shelter w/ art d’ecco & sisters of your sunshine vapor
1/31 – nightly @ the shelter w/ sawyer
2/5– badfish: a tribute to sublime w/ tropidelic & little stranger
2/6 – earthgang apr. 2
dave hollis:
st. andrew’s the dave hollis book tour
seated show
aug. 43 apr.
st. andrew’s
the acacia strain lukas nelson & w/ kublai khan promise of the real
w/ mick jenkins, wynne & jurdan bryant low ticket warning
2/8 – the verve pipe
w/ domestic problems & brother elsey - 18+
2/10 – dirty honey w/ the amazons upgraded to sah presented by wrif
2/11 – amber liu apr. 7
the shelter
lauren sanderson
apr. 26 greg dulli
st. andrew’s w/ joseph arthur
w/ meg & dia, justin park
2/12 – soul asylum w/ local h
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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Vol. 40 | Issue 16 | Jan. 22-28, 2020
News & Views
Publisher - Chris Keating Associate Publisher - Jim Cohen
Feedback/Comics ................. 8 News Hits ............................ 10 Informed Dissent ................ 12
EDITORIAL Editor in Chief - Lee DeVito Digital Editor - Sonia Khaleel Investigative Reporter - Steve Neavling Music and Listings Editor - Jerilyn Jordan Copy Boy - Dave Mesrey Contributing Editors - Michael Jackman, Larry Gabriel Editorial Interns - Alexis Carlisle, Brooklyn Blevins, Marisa Kalil-Barrino
ADVERTISING
Feature Bands to Watch ................... 14
Regional Sales Director Danielle Smith-Elliott Senior Multimedia Account Executive Jeff Nutter Multimedia Account Executive Jessica Frey Account Manager, Classifieds - Josh Cohen
BUSINESS/OPERATIONS Business Support Specialist - Josh Cohen Controller - Kristy Dotson
Food
CREATIVE SERVICES
El Harissa Market Cafe ...... 24
Graphic Designers - Paul Martinez, Haimanti Germain
CIRCULATION Circulation Manager - Annie O’Brien
What’s Going On ............... 26 Livewire: Local picks ......... 30 Fast-Forward....................... 31
EUCLID MEDIA GROUP Chief Executive Officer - Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers - Chris Keating, Michael Wagner Creative Director - Tom Carlson VP of Digital Services - Stacy Volhein Digital Operations Coordinator - Jaime Monzon euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising - Voice Media Group 1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com
Arts & Culture Film ...................................... 32 Stage & Canvas................... 34 Higher Ground .................... 36 Savage Love ........................ 40 Horoscopes .......................... 46
On the cover: SuperCoolWicked photographed by Noah Elliott Morrison
Printed on recycled paper Printed By
6 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
248-620-2990
Detroit Metro Times 30 E. Canfield St. Detroit, MI 48201 metrotimes.com Editorial: 313-202-8011 Advertising: 313-961-4060 Circulation: 313-202-8049 Got a story tip? Email editor@metrotimes.com or call 313-202-8011 Get social: @metrotimes Detroit distribution: The Detroit Metro Times is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. The Detroit Metro Times is published every Wednesday by Euclid Media Group. Verified Audit Member
EUCLID MEDIA • Copyright - The entire contents of the Detroit Metro Times are copyright 2020 by Euclid Media Group LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Prior written permission must be granted to Metro Times for additional copies. Metro Times may be distributed only by Metro Times’ authorized distributors and independent contractors. Subscriptions are available by mail inside the U.S. for six months at $80 and a yearly subscription for $150. Include check or money order payable to - Metro Times Subscriptions, 30 E. Canfield St., Detroit, MI 48201. (Please note - Third Class subscription copies are usually received 3-5 days after publication date in the Detroit area.) Most back issues obtainable for $5 at Metro Times offices or $7 prepaid by mail.
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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NEWS & VIEWS Feedback Readers react to stories from the Jan. 15 issue
We received comments in response to our article about Ivy Kitchen and Cocktails, a new fine-dining restaurant on the east side. HarryPalmer: Nice. Good to have more dining options outside of Gilbert Town (aka “Birmiingham South”)... Shaun Jerdel: Ok, I’ll have to check this out. This is so amazing. The businesses popping up from all our melanated indigenous people is so lovely. I cannot put enough words down to express the depth of that feeling.
8 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
We also received comments in response to Rev. Carolyn J. Mobley-Bowie’s opinion piece about protections for the LGBTQ communities. michael zubas: I agree with this article, the “Religious Freedom” stuff is A Trojan Horse to allow people who Interpenetrate their faith as it is OK to be Hateful against the LGBTQ community, and therefore, if we want to live in a Society that treats everyone equal, then people have to understand, that if [your] religion teaches you that abusing others for who God made them as is OK? then maybe that Religion isn’t teaching Love. Have an opinion? Of course you do! Send feedback to letters@metrotimes.com.
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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NEWS & VIEWS Gov. Whitmer writes letter to Facebook CEO in response to Metro Times story about violent group Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shared a letter she sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg following a Metro Times report about a Facebook group where members regularly called for violence against her, other female Democrats, the LGBTQ communities, and Muslims, among others. In the letter, Whitmer evokes industrial titans like former GM chairman William Knudsen, who was called to help his country by contributing to the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II. “The upcoming 2020 election will undoubtedly have its own historic impact on our nation, and you are today’s corporate titan whose time is now to ‘do the right thing’ and ensure violent and hateful speech on your platform does not undermine the security of our elections — and the safety of individuals — this year,” Whitmer writes. Whitmer goes on to describe some of posts reported in Metro Times’ story from the Facebook group “The People vs. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,” which
News Hits Too many deaths Nearly 900 people have been shot and killed in Detroit in the last six years, according to a report by The Trace. A nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in the U.S., The Trace recently updated its interactive map of gun violence in the country. The map shows all shootings, both fatal and nonfatal, that occurred over the last six years, from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2019. The data excludes suicides by firearm. In 2018, Metro Times reported that the gun violence appeared to be “evenly concentrated throughout the east and west side of Detroit.” That trend appears to continuing with this updated data. There have been at least 2,068 shootings in Detroit since 2014. This resulted in 894 deaths and 1,777 people being injured by gun violence. In Michigan overall, there have been 5,101 shootings, resulting in 2,161 people killed and 4,319 people injured. The Trace also reports that there have been 190,000 shootings in the U.S. overall during the same time frame. The interactive map allows users to sort
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
included calls for murder and rape. “As a lawyer who respects the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression, I realize there is only so much purview media platforms have for the content posted by their users,” she adds. “However, better enforcement of Facebook’s own community
by fatal and nonfatal shootings. It also allows filtering based on whether it was a mass shooting or accidental shooting, or whether an officer or child was involved. The data was compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that collects information about gun violence incidents in the country from a variety of sources, including media and law enforcement. For more information about the map, visit thetrace.org. —Sonia Khaleel Midas touch One lucky oligarch will soon be able to be the proud owner of a one-of-a-kind copy of President Donald Trump’s autograph — one that happens to be scrawled on his own articles of impeachment. The signature originated at Trump’s Dec. 18 rally in Battle Creek, where a man named Jonathan Moore reportedly printed out a copy for the president to sign. (The House of Representatives voted to move forward with the impeachment during the rally.) The autograph headed to auction at Goldin Auctions on Monday; according to TMZ, experts predict the document could fetch anywhere between $50,000 to $100,000. —Lee DeVito
10 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
TOM PERKINS
standards here atta s are de ned as, ‘violent or dehumanizing speech, statements of inferiority, or calls for exclusion or segregation’ — this election cycle is needed now more than ever. Mine is not a singular ask.” According to Reuters, the company responded in a statement, saying:
Metro Retro Looking back on 40 years of MT
30 years ago in Metro Times: Freelancer J.A. Hebler makes several observations amid the glitz and glamour of the 1990 North American International Auto Show that still resonate in 2020. At one point, Laurel Cutler, Chrysler’s vice president o onsumer affairs offered a candid view of America: “Consumers are becoming more polarized,” she said. “The middle class is fading away; the a uent and lower-income segments of the market are growing dramatically.” At another point, a GM product s e ialist sho ed off a ro oti arm during a technology demonstration. “Three guys lost their jobs on account of that machine,” a man in the audience wryly observed.
“Facebook prohibits hate speech and anything that incites or advocates for violence. While we take action against this type of content — in most cases before it’s reported — even a single piece that’s posted is too many. We appreciate Governor Whitmer bringing this to our attention.” — Lee DeVito
These things are connected: “[H] o man ill e a le to afford those new products?” Hebler writes. “Certainly not the growing population of unemployed auto workers on the streets.” Last year, UAW GM workers went on strike, demanding better wages and for the company to keep its plants open. And 2020 Democratic candidate Andrew Yang has launched a longshot campaign built on one signature issue: the rise o automation and arti ial intelligence will continue to wipe out entire sectors of the economy, so the government should pay all American adults a $1,000-permonth “Freedom Dividend.” Anyway, a wintertime NAIAS is now a relic of the past; this ear is the rst ear the A A has been moved to June. What was happening: Grace Jones at Taboo; Goober & the Peas at 3D Club.
NEWS & VIEWS
The lobby of 1st Quality Medz, a new recreational marijuana store in River Rouge.
COURTESY OF 1ST QUALITY MEDZ
Where’s the weed?
it oun il at the last minute de ided to im ose a moratorium on ot usinesses in earl o em er oun ilman ames Tate led the e ort sa ing the it has et to determine rules and guidelines or dis ensaries e assured ros e ti e dis ensar o ners that the moratorium ould li el e li ted the end o anuar ut so ar the oun il has not ta en u the issue and Tate re uses to dis uss it is o e didn t return alls rom Metro Times A el oints out that etroit has ars li ensed li uor stores and eer and ine li enses i dis ensaries and t o gro o erations ha e sued etroit and the state s e artment o i ensing and Regulator Affairs ARA arguing the ere re a ro ed or li enses e ore the it s moratorium ent into effe t on o it oun il doesn t li t the moratorium soon A el and others ha e ledged to organi e a etition dri e to let oters de ide i the it should ha e dis ensaries tate la allo s oters to o erride re reational ot ans The arijuana Regulator Agen RA hi h regulates the legal ot mar et has issued li enses or dis ensaries gro ers ro essors and testing la s a ross the state The state is re ie ing an additional li enses or a ro al “ hen e get a li ations e are mo ing them through in an e ient manner” RA s o esman a id arns tells Metro Times adding that the state
Michigan’s recreational marijuana sales are off to a sluggish start By Steve Neavling
Seven weeks after legal
re reational marijuana nall e ame a aila le or sale in i higan ar er still relies on the la mar et or ot e d rather u marijuana at a legal dis ensar ut there are none that sell re reational ot ithin minutes o his home in etroit the state s largest it “ t s ullshit ” er tells Metro Times “ ou d thin there ould e some la e to get it no hat s the oint o legali ing it i ou an t u it ” o ar onl re reational dis ensaries ha e een a ro ed the state om ared to medi al ones The ro lem isn t ith the state it s the ommunities A out o the state s ities to ns and to nshi s ha e assed la s rohi iting re reational ot dis ensaries rom o ening ithin their orders n a ne ount ommunities in luding etroit ha e im osed ans As a result there are onl t o a ro ed dis ensaries in a ne ount the most o ulous ount in the state ith million residents ne o those dis ensaries hasn t o ened et e ause
o a state ide shortage o ot t too i higan si ee s to to million in re reational ot sales ontrast it too llinois just e da s nli e llinois i higan s re reational marijuana allot initiati e a ro ed oters in o em er allo ed ommunities to re ent ot usinesses rom o ening ithin their orders e ore sales egan on e o one e e ted so man ommunities to o t out es e iall e ause o the roje ted ne re enue rom ot sales Attorne att A el e e uti e dire tor o i higan R sa s ities li e etroit are missing out on ne re enue and the han e to ll a ant store ronts li e en er did hen olorado legali ed re reational marijuana “ e still ha e a it administration that is stu in the ast ” A el tells Metro Times “ a or uggan still hasn t said a ord a out marijuana hile loo ing or a a to oost the e onom in etroit n en er there are no em t store ronts and em lo ment is u ” o ens o entre reneurs in luding li elong etroiters ere lanning to o en re reational dis ensaries until the
has not denied an li enses an o the re reational dis ensaries that ha e o ened so ar are struggling to meet the immense demand or legal ot The state ide shortage has reented one o a ne ount s t o dis ensaries rom selling re reational marijuana er olog in Ri er Rouge hi h ser es anna is to medi al atients is aiting or the su l side to i u e ore o ening sales to re reational ustomers “ hen e o en or re reational ustomers m sure e ill ha e long lines and ant to ma e sure e er one al s out ith something ” Tare a ad o ner o er olog anna is o tells Metro Times “There is a lot o demand ” a ad sa s he e e ts to egin selling re reational anna is “in the ne t ou le o ee s ” e s also li ensed to deli er re reational marijuana ut he doesn t ha e the su l to egin the ser i e st ualit ed in Ri er Rouge o ened last ee and e ame the rst a ne ount dis ensar to egin selling re reational marijuana Although the dis ensar doesn t ha e a ro ust sele tion et it s a le to sell t o to three strains e ause the o ner etra te hens also runs a ulti ation usiness that gro s marijuana or re reational sho s “The o er is er lo and there s a er strong demand ” te hens tells Metro Times “ e onl ha e a e strains ” ut te hens is o timisti a out the uture in e o ening re reational ustomers ha e outnum ered medi al ardholders “ t s just a matter o time ” te hens sa s “This is a mo ement that is going to e ol e into something great ” tate regulators are also o timisti The RA has a ro ed li enses to gro ers o re reational marijuana and more are on the a n e the ulti ators om lete their rst gro le more ot ill e on hand “There is al a s going to e su l issues at the eginning o a ne mar et ” arns sa s “As gro ers are a ro ed and the rodu t is in the ground the industr ill or itsel out ” nli e medi inal anna is re reational marijuana has a e ise ta and a sales ta ise ta re enue goes to lo al go ernments s hools and roads Re reational marijuana sales are e e ted to to million in sales and e ise ta es in the s al udget hi h egins in to er a ording to the enate Fis al Agen the agen roje ts the ta re enues ill rea h million
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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NEWS & VIEWS Informed Dissent
What Bernie (might have) said By Je rey C. Billman
Several months ago, a very progressive, proudly feminist friend asked me who I was supporting in the Democratic race for president. I said I wasn’t sure, but I was leaning toward Elizabeth Warren. “She won’t win,” she replied. “So who are you voting for?” “Biden,” she said quickly. That took me aback. Of the major Democratic candidates, the moderate former vice president was the one probably least aligned with her values. “Why don’t you think Warren can win?” I asked. “This country won’t vote for a woman.” The only thing that mattered, she added, was defeating Donald Trump. She thought Joe Biden was the safest path toward that goal. Everything else was secondary. I have no idea if Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren in late 2018 that a woman couldn’t beat Donald Trump in 2020, according to an explosive CNN report. I’ll confess some skepticism that such a remark would have gone un-
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
had the choice between a smart, overuali ed oman and a loutish ra ist aggressively ignorant man. The man won. There are caveats galore, of course. Trump’s election required a perfect on uen e o e ents tart ith illar Clinton’s godawful campaign, led by an uncharismatic candidate tarnished by a quarter-century of ginned-up pseudo-scandals. Throw in the FBI’s mishandled email-server investiga-
In 2016, America had the choice between a smart, overqualified woman and an aggressively ignorant man. The man won. leaked for a year only to surface the day before CNN’s debate in Des Moines and weeks before the Iowa caucuses. But it’s possible that Sanders said it; CNN’s audio of their post-debate interaction last week suggests Warren believes he did. It’s also possible that Sanders said something that Warren interpreted in a way Sanders didn’t intend. Either way, I’m less interested in The Feud than I am the question underlying it. For the sake of argument, assume Sanders said a woman can’t beat Trump. Is he wrong? I know more than one shellshocked progressive who has their doubts, and not without reason: In 2016, America
tion that the media hyped like it was Iran-Contra times Watergate to the power of Teapot Dome. Add some Russian hacking and Wikileaks dirty work. Mix in a late callback to Anthony Weiner’s dick pics. And for the coup de grace, the Electoral College, which gave Trum the hite ouse des ite his earning 3 million fewer votes, thanks to a football-stadium-size margin spread across three states. In an election that close, everything mattered. So, yes, maybe Bernie would’ve won because he’d have rallied the millennials who stayed at home. Maybe he would’ve won because the Rust Belt
12 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
would’ve responded to his message. Or maybe he would’ve won because he’s not a woman. This thesis can’t be tested, of course. Who knows where Bernie would’ve ended up after a billion dollars’ worth of “he honeymooned in the Soviet Union” ads? But Sanders, at least, wouldn’t have had to endure the torrent of misogyny, both from Trump and his supporters and from the media, that Clinton did. Three years later, “I’ll vote for a woman, just not that woman” has become a meme, but like any good meme, it gets at something real: Large swaths o the ountr des ised illar linton ut the ll ro a l nd some reason to despise the next woman who makes a serious run for commander in chief, too. Consider the Democratic primary: Among the reasons amala arris never caught on was that Democrats voters feared a Black woman wouldn’t be electable. Amy Klobuchar, who seemed primed to make a Rust Belt case, was met at the gate with stories painting her as, well, a bitch. And Warren has been labeled “angry” and “antagonistic,” another way of calling her “unlikable.” To e ome the rst la resident Barack Obama had to not only be an exceptional politician, but he also needed the stars to align. With the economy tanking and the Iraq War a dum ster re in hi he er Democrat won the nomination would almost certainly win in November. And
Obama had given a speech opposing the Iraq War in 2002 — before his opposition carried any consequence — hile linton a ed it e as lu and good. To e ome the rst oman resident, Warren (or Klobuchar) will need to defeat an incumbent presiding over a growing economy. To break through the barrier in the worst rich country in the world to be a woman, she’ll have to parry a misogynistic depravity that knows no bottom and a media that still treats Trump as normal. She’ll have to persuade a country conditioned to a e t a man s a s Trum on just si weeks after the “grab ’em by the pussy” tape came to light) and to doubt a woman’s ability and wherewithal (remember that time Clinton coughed?). She’ll also have to deal with the fact that female ambition tends to make men uncomfortable. In short, she’ll have to be exceptional. And like Obama, she’ll need some stars to align. Despite the economy, Trump is unpopular, widely perceived as crass, venal, mendacious, impulsive, corrupt, and cruel. A good candidate — man or woman — will make the election a referendum on the president while also motivating the party’s base to turn out. t s a ne line to al ut i it ha ens Trump will lose. There’s no reason that candidate can’t be a woman. But like Ginger Rogers, she’ll have to do it backward and in high heels.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT’S BEEN 40 YEARS? SINCE 1980, WE HAVE SERVED THOUSANDS OF VETERANS, HOSTED COUNTLESS PERFORMANCES OF DETROIT’S ARTISTS & ORIGINAL MUSICAL ACTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. WE HAVE BEEN PROUD TO BE A LEGENDARY CASS CORRIDOR ESTABLISHMENT. NOW WE WANT TO INVITE YOU TO CELEBRATE A MILESTONE!
PLEASE JOIN US! MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD @5PM BRING YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES & PHOTOS TO SHARE
APPETIZERS - BONFIRE ON THE PATIO - OPEN UNTIL 2AM TO ALL OF OUR VETERANS, PATRONS, FRIENDS & FAMILY, THANK YOU! WE LOVE YOU DETROIT! CHEERS!
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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T
radition is important, folks. If we at Metro Times have learned anything
in our 40 — that’s right, 40 — years of existence, it’s that we know a thing or two about what you should be listening to. In keeping a tradition, formally started in 2015, we’re returning with another stunning entry in our annual Bands to Watch roundup, where we ro le some o metro
etroit s nest
singers, sonic players, and, in the instance of one up-and-coming band, skilled roller skaters. From meditati e neo soul and dream lo
to
garage rock revivalists, librarians with synthesizers, and what happens when Radiohead-meets-old-school show tunes, our class of 2020 is one to watch. Your playlist will never be the same. (You’re welcome.) —Jerilyn Jordan
14 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
Shadow Show
The minute ate erringer errigan Pearce, and Ava East of Shadow Show reali e the an go “off the re ord” during our interview, chaos ensues. “That s off the re ord ” ast sa s about the concert the band members met at during high school, what their forthcoming debut record sounds like, their ages, tour plans, details of weird airport encounters, top-secret internships, and their shared desire to score a cosmetics contract or tampon sponsorship. Shadow Show’s paper trail, as East refers to it, started in 2018 when the band started recording demos. However, their history as friends and bandmates started well before then with what East alls “a er ute stor ” that ear e must tell because it starts with her. “I knew Kate since, like, middle school, and I knew she played bass, and I knew I wanted to play drums, and there was a really, really good excuse to start. So I just hit her up and then, through the gra e ine ate ne A a ” Pearce laughs. “It’s not that great of a stor ” What is clear is that the ladies of Shadow Show are controlling their own narrative: from their retro shag hair uts ared ants and e ertl placed liquid-eyeliner stars and hearts on their cheeks, to their united front in maintaining what Pearce calls “mysti ue ” olle ti el the dodge uestions about what we can expect from Silhouettes, the mod trio’s debut record set to e released on alentine s a hi h ast sa s is “ ute as he ” Burger Records and UK’s Stolen Body Records. “We really wanted to approach it in the most sensible way we could with spreading the word about us, but also not really releasing music until we had
a ull re ord ” ear e sa s “ e ne e didn’t want to self-release because you put it out in the world and then what’s a ter that ” The rst taste o hat hado ho has been cooking up came earlier this month with the premiere of their video or “ harades ” hot the o s o arlo “ harades” eels li e a dream candy-colored romp through their everyday lives, which Shadow Show o ten re ers to as their “ onderland ” as they dart around Belle Isle on roller skates, taking turns smoking a shared cigarette, and performing at UFO Factory. Part home movie, part Monkees/ eatles misad enture montage “ harades” is just a ee ehind the urtain Pearce describes Silhouettes as both “angular” and “dream ” “We love chewing bubble gum, but it s not a u legum re ord ” ast sa s “I don’t know, I don’t know what it sounds like. Are we supposed to know hat it sounds li e ” “If we can instill curiosity about our music or our band in general, that’s a great u ing thing ” ear e sa s hen erringer gets u to rie step out of the interview, both Pearce and East want to gush, labeling her the most agile of the Shadows, and credit her with having engineered the entire re ord And hen erringer returns they take turns complimenting each other, recalling a memory that may or ma not e off the re ord in hi h the drank white wine as the sun came up over Venice Beach after drunkenly and repeatedly soaking beach towels in the ocean, and throwing them in the air just to celebrate the sound it made after it hit the sand, all while listening to the Beach Boys’ Surf’s Up. They dig around in their hones to nd e iden e o that night’s aftermath, a photo of themselves piled onto a friend’s couch, under
Shadow Show.
a mass of blankets. “There were several couches,” Pearce jokes. “We just had to be together.” In conversation, they refer to each other as family, treating even the shortest separations as heartbreak, and they all speak about the coming months in a way that makes us feel as though they’re gearing up for more than a record release and some local shows, including their album release at Outer Limits Lounge on Feb. 14 and a performance during the Hamtramck Music Festival. Shadow Show has more tricks up their bell sleeves. “This album is all of us in one. You know, we all bring a part to it, and so, like, even though we have this mystery, this aesthetic, this is an honest record. Like, I could not stress that enough. It’s like this is who we are,” East says. “I think the only way to stop us is if someone put their heels on or, like, skirts or something.” —Jerilyn Jordan
SuperCoolWicked
Morgan Hutson, a singer, songwriter and actress known as SuperCoolWicked, says her earliest memories are of her mother singing to her. Growing up on Detroit’s west side, Hutson
SuperCoolWicked.
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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FEATURE says her mother sang to her and her four siblings classic hits like Annie’s “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow,” Motown favorites, and old-school rap. Now, Hutson says, “I can’t think of a life without music.” Going into her freshman year at University Liggett School, Hutson decided to take singing seriously and auditioned for the school musical. “I bombed, and I landed myself in the chorus,” she says. Although she didn’t get a leading role her on den e as growing, and the following year she secured a lead role in Into the Woods. Throughout high school Hutson says she had a “plan to be a pediatric neurosurgeon” — in her mind, it seemed like the logical and safe career to pursue since she was constantly told, “You’re smart — you should be a doctor, a lawyer, a surgeon.” Still, she had other dreams. “I remember crying to my mom like, ‘I think I want to go to theater school,’” she says. In 2012, Hutson enrolled at Syracuse University in upstate New York. The private university known for visual and performing arts gave her “some of the best training of my life,” she says. “But it was also traumatic.” As one of the few Black students in her theater program, she often “felt overlooked,” and dropped out after two years. When she returned home in 2014, Detroit was changing in exciting ways, but in Hutson’s mind it couldn’t compare to the college culture she had grown to love. Her identity was tied to being a theater student. Hutson says she felt lost until she realized that she could be a singer here. “I can create the life I want to live anywhere,” she says. Hutson began playing around with music software like GarageBand and Logic. It wasn’t long after that she found herself a member of music collective Video7, a music collective of singers, rappers, and producers from Detroit, Los Angeles, and Seattle that would come together for jam sessions. The group eventually started playing quarterly performances called “Cable Night.” At the beginning of last year, Hutson started making plans to go solo. While still collaborating with Video7, Hutson began recording her solo R&B project, High Gloss, last summer. She says the project “is shiny, iridescent, and wellpackaged” like the magazines she grew up reading that shaped her into the woman she is today. “High Gloss is a way of life,” she says. The tracklist takes you through a journe o nding oursel through self-love. Hutson begins the project
The Stools.
with a monologue telling the listener, “If it moves you then let it groove you/ relax yourself, let your guard down and take a deep breath.” In the last song, “Flappy,” she says, “I am a bird in the s annot hel ut to o to stop hiding my wings.” She wants the listener to feel they have the power to be their full selves: “I would like for people to remember me by the freedom I allowed them through my music,” she says. The project is already making waves: In October, she scored a gig opening a rally for Bernie Sanders at Cass Tech, sharing the stage with Jack White and the hip-hop duo Passalacqua. SuperCoolWicked was also featured in the Dazed documentary, Showing Up Showing Out a lm a out the past, present, and future of Motown. —Jasmine Graham
The Stools
Things have moved quickly for garage rock band the Stools — but that’s how the band likes to do things. “I think it was on the eve of my 20th birthday and I was kind of, like, having a manic episode,” frontman Will Lorenz says. He called his friend Charles Stahl. “I was like, we have to start a band tonight. We have no choice.” With Lorenz on guitar and Stahl on drums, the two started recording that rst da dire tl to ta e using a boombox. Stahl had never played the
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drums before, but they already had the name the Stools picked out, based on a doodle Stahl sketched in a high-school psychology class a few years earlier (which they settled on because it could sound like “an ’80s punk thing or like a British invasion band, depending on what mood we’re in,” Lorenz says). The next month, the band even booked its rst sho at a house art All the needed was a bassist. Krystian Quint had been playing in local bands, including Blaire Alise & the Bombshells. Though he was reluctant to join another garage band — “I was, like, kind of over it,” he says — he agreed to play the show because one of his other bands was already also playing that night. The Stools played for just eight minutes — because that was how many songs they knew. “One of our friends sparked a joint right before we started,” Quint says. “By the time we had nished ro en do n and al ed off stage he as still smo ing it and passed it to me.” “Some people were still waiting in line for the bathroom,” Lorenz says. The band says nobody would book them for “like, six months” after the show, but that was just as well — it gave them time to slow down, at least a little bit. A friend who worked at the School o Ro in Farmington offered to re ord the band pro bono; that became the
and s rst 30mg Blues. When they nished the and s rst ull length Q-Nails, they promoted it by spraypainting “The Stools” on bedsheets and hanging them around town. Though the young band couldn’t even tie their shoes during Detroit’s heyday as a hub of garage-rock revival, led by bands like the White Stripes around the turn of the century (Lorenz and Stahl are 22, while Quint is 23), they discovered those bands and their in uen es later in li e through a mi of cool elders and digital algorithms. A friend’s uncle turned Lorenz onto Detroit garage-rock bands like the White Stripes, the Hentchmen, and the Dirtbombs, as well as older punk acts like Black Flag. Meanwhile, Quint says his mind was blown one day when his Pandora radio station started playing the Oblivians. “I was just like, what the fuck is this?” he says. “At the time, I was, like, into the Black Keys. This sounded like the Black Keys were literally having their organs ripped out. I was like, this is the most amazing thing ever.” The friends also bonded over more recent acts rock like Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Jay Reatard, and Burger Records bands. “We were just, like, obsessed,” Quint says. The bandmates, all from Grosse Pointe, have since become connoisseurs o lo “ e re huge nerds or garage
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FEATURE rock,” Lorenz says. “At this point, e an sa That and s de nitel a Memphis band, that band’s a Detroit band, that’s a New York band, that’s a Japanese band.’” At one point during our interview, the band breaks into an argument about Detroit cassette ta e la els hen tahl and uint start tal ing a out their shared lo e o skateboarding, Lorenz jokes, “It sounds li e the re s ea ing Fren h to me ” The band says they were drawn to un and garage ro or the same reason kids in every generation since the late s ha e “ e heard that T egall made his o n ta es and that a Reatard started ma ing musi on li e ots and ans ” uint sa s “ e ere li e ell e an u ing do that t s the same as the punk bands back in the da the heard the Ramones la ing three chords and they said, ‘I can do that, too.’” And these days, the distance between a band and its output is even smaller than s to the dire tness o digital lat orms li e and am The band’s garage-rock geekdom has aid off ast ear the aught the e eo a hite s la el Third an Records, who put out a 7-inch record. n ul the la el in ited the and to o en or hite s and the Ra onteurs at the asoni Tem le This ear the and lans on releasing a li e assette, and is working on writing a new re ord There are no solid lans or a ollo u et or a hange the and seems to e reall ta ing its time — Lee DeVito
Dani Darling.
and a uel n attended their rst da o indergarten the ere on the ront age again this time in mat hing stri ed shirts ru ed s irts snea ers raids and he er oard smiles ou an nd this hoto online too and it s as adora le as it sounds “ e al a s elt li e a sidesho ” she sa s “And on e eo le ound out e ould sing it as li e sing tri let sing al a s elt li e as art o a s e ta le ” The s e ta le arling re ers to started at a young age when she and her sisters egan singing together ut as the gre older ent to ollege and mo ed into their respective careers — Darling majored in literature hile i i e ame a ight attendant or elta and
Dani Darling
ou re lu ani arling just might gi e ou a elestial ni name or as she re ers to it a “dreamer” name “ and is almost li e m o n little olle ti e o dreamers ” she sa s arling n e anielle a is jo es that assem ling her and as a it li e a journey down The Wizard of Oz s ello ri road gathering illing la ers along the a “ li e to gi e m dreamers astrologi al or elestial names ” she sa s “ oor m assist is oor orealis and oel is Retrograde e ha e a stand in drummer mil uino ” e ore arling ould o en her e es she and her sisters appeared on the ront age o The Ann Arbor News in une o or no reason other than the ere orn tri lets The eauti ul la and hite hoto hi h an e ound online sho s arling s mother at the hos ital ith a serene smile on her a e her arms lled ith the three newborns, each with a tiny bow in their hair hen anielle and sisters i ole
Teddy Roberts and the Mouths.
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a ui ursued musi thera their musi al sights dri ted lea ing arling to carve her own distinct path. “I didn’t get started back in new musi until mu h later a tuall ” she sa s “ nished s hool tried to rite a no el e ause that as hat anted to do ut ound that e er time sat do n to rite m no el d loo o er and m guitar ould e sitting there and d i u the guitar m li e m totall heating on m no el ith this guitar might as ell start tr ing to la guitar and ma e musi ma e it m main s uee e ” A ter a rie stint in a reggae and hi h s hooled arling in stage resen e and some time s ent ol-
la orating ith ing a and later trans orming into oul ala irl or the hi ho olle ti e the la era a roje t s un rom the Athleti i eague arling ound hersel on ronted ith a at h o eats ut no real desire to e a hi ho artist “ as li e ho am o as tr ing to gure it out ” she sa s “ m more o an acoustic artist, you know. I write with my guitar, I have a big background in li e old mo ie musi als and ja a orite o alist is lla Fit gerald and Thom or e is one o m iggest ins irations And as just listening to all these eats and m li e o don t no i this is or me ” Thus ani arling as orn a ne
Jan. 24, playing a headlining set at the Old Miami alongside New York City’s Castle Black and Detroit’s Float Here Forever. —Anthony Spak
Monica Plaza
Monica Plaza.
name, a new direction, and a new sound that s some here et een lo R&B, chillwave, and REM sleep, all of which came together on Darling’s 2019 debut EP, Nocturne. Inspired by a dream sequence Darling had, Darling and her band lift listeners from slumber and into a secret world in just 13 minutes. “ tranger” is the er e t on uen e of Darling’s earthly and celestial selves, sounding every bit like a glitched-out Disney princess longing for something beyond the castle walls, perhaps while also humming along to Lauryn Hill on her Walkman. Meanwhile, “Sentimental” evokes the romanticism of strolling along the Seine. As Darling and her bandmates gear up for performances at Willis Show Bar on Thursday, Jan. 23 and during Hamtramck Music Fest on Feb. 29, they’re already working on Nocturne’s followup, and according to Darling, it’s a little more soul ul a little less lo and a it more along the lines of Radiohead’s more stunning In Rainbows moments, “Nude” and “Weird Fishes.” This time around, though still dreaming, Darling has focused her sights on the big big picture, one song at a time. “I would say the inspiration was getting more into, like, the meaning of li e here e all t in in the uni erse ” she says of the new record. “I really like philosophical themes like love, empathy, color, creativity, and courage, because, you know, going from being in a trio to being by myself and having anxiety, courage is a really big part of
why it took me so long to get out there.” —Jerilyn Jordan
Teddy Roberts and the Mouths
After playing a few local gigs around Detroit after releasing their excellent debut, Never Wanna Die, a record full of mellow country ballads tailor-made for long highway drives, Teddy Roberts and the Mouths made a name for themselves quickly this past year. A follow-up album, Ain’t No Outlaw, is slated for release in early 2020, continuing to explore country sounds but with more grit. “This batch of songs are all more on re than ooling off ” Ro erts sa s “ e want [the record] to sound like hot, burned desert and cactus.” Roberts grew up in Livonia, playing in all types of bands and writing his own folk music on the side. In recent years, he’s performed with popular emo band Tigers Jaw, touring the country full-time. Logging thousands of miles on the road, he says, gave way to a newfound appreciation of country music. “Country music feels so good driving with the windows rolled down,” Roberts says. “I ended up listening to it a lot on those tours, driving trailers and vans all around the country.” Last year, Roberts linked up with Mark and Jon Lebiecki — twin brothers and veterans of the Detroit D.I.Y. and punk scene — and Brent Allen, guitarist for metalcore band I See Stars, to form a new band. “We’re the weirdest collection of
humans you could put into a band,” Roberts says. “When Brent’s not playing in his metal band, he’s playing with us and wearing cowboy boots.” Allen is the band’s secret weapon, stepping away from his metal shredding roots and playing the pedal steel guitar, adding a taste of the classic a ers eld ountr sound “We didn’t start this band with the intention of blowing up,” Roberts says. “Our goal is to play every dive bar in Detroit.” Drummer Jon Lebiecki has played in just about every punk bar and D.I.Y. music space in Detroit, playing in bands like Undesirable People and Strange Magic alongside his twin, Mark. “We’ve grown tired of the industry woes and endless emails sent to nothing,” Lebiecki says. “[This band] is like therapy for everyone involved. ountr musi and its differing audience are a new challenge for him — a genre he admits to never listening to before this new band. Since diving into classic country artists like Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, Lebiecki says he notices a parallel between country and his native punk rock. Roberts also insists that this new band is more focused on songwriting and ha ing un than tr ing to nd an sort of critical or commercial acclaim. “First and foremost is loving the tunes,” Lebiecki says. “Our vibe is wanting to play shitty bars and give a dirty-ass country experience.” The band will continue on its quest to play every Detroit dive bar on Friday,
Just 10 minutes into our conversation at the Hamtramck bar Bumbo’s, threequarters of the band Monica Plaza is crying. After discussing whether or not members Tia Fletcher, Jen David, Holly Johnson, and Donnie Gretsch had interesting stories or meaning behind their irth names a id as named a ter eff Bridges’ love interest in the 1984 John ar enter romanti s i i Starman, and Gretsch was almost born Sydney), and what inspired the band name (a perfectly stuck-in-the-’90s strip mall Fletcher used to drive by when she lived in Los Angeles), the waterworks begin. “I’ve teared up during practice,” David says. “ e de nitel ried during ra tice,” Fletcher says. “We have a great dynamic. Everyone is playing very emotionally.” Johnson and Gretsch also admit to getting emotional at rehearsal every now and then. A self-described melancholic romantic, Fletcher co-owns Bumbo’s, writes the music for and sings in Monica Plaza, and describes the project, which formed in May 2019, as being a “lifesaver.” “Within this year, I went from feeling, like, really weak and afraid to feeling really strong and brave enough to be vulnerable,” she says. “I’ve had just like a really transformative year, and I had all this stuff stored u that didn t tell anyone about and that’s why I really had a atalog o stuff The onl a could express any of this was by writing all these songs to myself,” she says. “And I think you guys are my support system,” Fletcher says, waving away tears. “I had this [band], which was like a total lifesaver. It gave me value and gave me an outlet.” ou on t nd an oni a la a tunes online, but the band has its sights set on recording a full-length record this year, which, in terms of actual material, is basically in the books already. David describes the band’s output so far as a cross between “a David Lynch soundtrack and Mazzy Star.” In an unreleased demo of a song tentatively titled “Easy Wanting,” Monica Plaza mirrors the devastating weight of the Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want,” calling to mind slow dancing with someone while your ga e es on the erson ou on e lo ed and still love, who too, is dancing with someone else. In other words, a sonic punch in the gut.
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FEATURE The band started with Fletcher and Gretsch, whom Fletcher met and enlisted through Bumbo’s. David is best known locally for, well, a bunch of things. She owns Third Wave Music in Midtown, frequently hosts karaoke nights around town (during which she performs a stunning array of tunes from Dolly Parton to Eminem), and she plays with her husband in Jenny & Jackie. David says she and Johnson, known for membership in Detroit’s Double Winter as bassist and vocalist, were in search of a project that would allow them to focus on less front-facing musicality. “I had never played bass before in a band or ever,” David says. “The only way you can really learn an instrument, for me at least, is to start a project with it.” For Johnson, Monica Plaza allowed her to return to one o her rst lo es drums, though she’s had to learn to “soften” her “thrashy shoegaze” ways once explored by her membership in Real Ghosts. And for Gretsch, this is his rst ormal and “I’m just a stray dog that came wandering through,” Gretsch jokes. For the band, the project has been about risk. Fletcher admits to still being nervous performing as she likens Monica Plaza material to reading her “diary,” but says it feels good. “It’s just another challenge of my bravery, in a way,” she says. “I guess
we all set personal goals for our own growth. And one thing for me is to always try to get over something that I’m afraid of.” “That might be the theme of the band, though it might not be the theme o all our l ri s and stuff ” rets h jumps in, “but…” “We all had something that we wanted to accomplish and fear to overcome, and we’re all doing it,” Fletcher says. “It’s really cool.” —Jerilyn Jordan
Milk Bath
Sometimes your band doesn’t have a drummer ut ou oo our rst sho anyway. Necessity breeds invention, or in this case, discovery. That’s what brought guitarist Kely Markley and bassist Nadine Chronopoulos to their drummer att ensmore the nal and integral piece of the sonic puzzle that is Milk Bath. Markley and Chronopoulos started jamming together in early 2018. Both have been musicians for some time, but neither was regularly playing when they met. “We saw this as a need,” Markley says. “Nadine was hungry to play, I was hungry to play.” Densmore, too, hadn’t played in a band for several years before Milk Bath. The timing was right. A ter a ear their rst sho loomed and the nished e songs in less than a month. Two made it onto a demo they recorded live at Outer Limits Lounge,
Milk Bath.
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which is home base for the band for man reasons hrono oulos artends there, the majority of the band’s shows ha e een la ed there and its rst album will be on the house record label. Before that’s released, however, they ha e another re ording in the or s a 7-inch out on Third Man Records, recorded by Warren Defever and sure to e as er e as the demos The demos include “Spy,” a song about the imagined lost art of faceto a e es ionage and “ ” hi h translates to “Fire” and borrows lyrics — sung in Greek — written by Chronopoulos’ uncle to cover the Bob Marley song “Burning and Looting.” “His lyrics talk about how there’s no a o li ing ree no od is ghting for anything, and we’re just scared,” Chronopoulos says. The two tracks immediately seem conceptually connected. “All of our songs have some sort of connection politically, ‘cause we’re angry,” Markley says. “As someone who doesn’t write the lyrics, as much as the songs have these similar themes, I feel like we’re not a political band,” Densmore says. “We’re just a band, but in today’s world, how do ou not rite a out that stuff ” “It’s the situation we live in,” Chronopoulos adds. “With the music, we tend to be aggressive, but most of the time, the songs are written very mellow and sweet. And because of this feeling
we have, they end up becoming hell.” Though the music is decidedly rock, the band is not afraid to follow their songs through different st les hi h results in a sense of freedom. As Chronopoulos puts it, “Why not do something that’s not supposed to happen there ” To illustrate, Markley tells a story. “ e ame off stage in Fort a ne and this guy just got up in my face and said, hat are ou hat ind o musi are ou la ing m li e ou just heard us. What the fuck kind of question is that ” he laughs “ said don t no e goes ou re un as u ” “But it’s not!” Chronopoulos says. “But it’s not,” Markley agrees. Densmore points out that they’re not trying to be the fastest or heaviest. “The a t that he had to as hat are ou before he said we were punk, clearly he knows we’re not in that category,” Markley adds. But he still felt the need to label them. This need to explain things is a persistent one, but Chronopoulos doesn t see its alue “ hat s going to happen if you don’t know what [something is ” il ath de es e lanation demanding to be experienced instead. Don’t be like that guy in Fort Wayne. Watch, listen, and revel in the mystery. Meaning is there, but it doesn’t need to be stated up front. It’s an expression, a
societal expectations and confronted her personal hurdles and fears, the fog began to clear and Kesswa’s artistic path e ame more e ertl a ed The rst step was securing income by embracing a creative and communicative skill developed early on: braiding hair, which she does at Textures by Nefertiti in Midtown. This decision freed up emotional bandwidth and allowed Kesswa to feel as though she was not compromising her destiny for the sake of stability. The next frontier was music. “My initial intention was [to] record something that I truly, genuinely love and put it on Bandcamp and call it a day,” she says. “It’s such a complex feeling, that release, you know, because Soften was so deeply personal. It connected so much of my process of releasing the old narratives that I was holding onto from childhood about being worthy of my desire and perfectionism and being able to express m sel reati el and e on dent and fearless and owning it. And standing in it. And repeating it again and again and again and again that ill nd m dreams, I will manifest my dream.” Written as a series of mantras, Soften, Kesswa says, is a moment in time forged from Buddhist principles and inspired by Anita Baker, Underground Resistan e traditional A ri an music, Afrofuturism, and what Kesswa refers to as Afro-surrealism. Though she hopes the EP will continue to evolve and resonate with people, her next project, which is in the works and on pace to be released later this year, explores an even softer side of Kesswa. “Now that I feel like I’m standing on
mood, a guttural scream released in the twilight of our fucked-up modernity. Let yourself feel that, and you might learn a thing or two. —Ana Gavrilovska
Kesswa
Kesswa asks a lot of questions, many of which there are no answers to. A Detroit native, former Buddhist, natural hair braider, and sociology major, Kesswa, born Kesiena Wanogh, emerged last year as her latest and truest incarnation: a multifaceted electronic neo-soul singer whose debut EP, Soften, revealed a meditative and blooming desire to dismantle selfdoubt and trust the process. A daughter of Nigerian immigrants and one o e hildren ess a was encouraged from an early age to pursue more traditional career paths, despite having experienced the undeniable magnetic pull of late ’90s and early sR hi h as she got older gre into a li e altering internal on i t “I grew up listening to a lot of traditional Nigerian music, and then I’m se ond to last in a amil o li e e ids so ha e all o these in uen es from my siblings and my older cousins. i e there ere lots o R girl grou s I was so inspired by the perception of sisterhood, and beauty, and femininity, and girl power,” she says, recalling having been transformed by a Destiny’s Child video. “And they just looked like they were having fun, which had the iggest in uen e on me as li e this is what I want to do. But life didn’t really work out that way at the time.” Once Kesswa graduated from Wayne tate she egan or ing in the eld of sociology straight out the gate and very quickly realized that something wasn’t clicking as her gnawing artistic impulses became a distraction and a guiding light. From the professional dissatisfaction, Kesswa began to emotionally problem-solve, as she pieced together the possibility of being able to utilize her understanding of social theory and intersectionality to further embed herself in Detroit’s rich hub of like-minded artists. “It was clear, but it was scary because I put so much into it,” she says of her change of heart. “But at the same time, I feel like I’m in perpetual awe of my ability to create life for myself and to be a part of this artistic community because I never really thought that it was something that, not even that I physically had access to, but that I could belong to. We spend so much of our lives at work, and if I’m going to give my life to something, I want to give my life to something that feels restorative and inspiring and empowering and allows me to connect with other people.” Once she let go of interpersonal and
Kesswa.
Bad Fashion.
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FEATURE my own two feet as an artist and I know what I like and I know what I want and what’s important to me and what matters to me, I can create from a space that is lighter, more fun, less pensive, and less brooding, but still meaningful,” she says. “And, of course, you can dance to it.” —Jerilyn Jordan
Bad Fashion
“I was told I had to sell my soul just to make it big someday, but I guess that’s how the world works, anyways.” Austin Carpenter isn’t looking to sell his soul anytime soon, but the quote is from a song he recently released for his solo project known as Bad Fashion. Carpenter, even at just 23, has embraced a healthy kind of que será, será disposition about putting music out into the world. “It’s hard for me, when people ask what kind of music I play,” he says. “I just want to tell people to listen and tell me what they think about it.” Carpenter, a Grosse Pointe native, reei ed his rst guitar at the age o e was in a shambly guitar-punk band in high school and studied jazz in college. Bad Fashion wound up being neither un nor ja is Vulnerable, has six sleek guitar-centric pop songs that are so delicately coated in reverb and coiled with shimmery synth adornments that it’s seriously soothing to the ears, while also galvanizing this sweet middle ground between night-drivingmusic and a chill-danceability. Carpenter sa s his in uential re eren e oints were Beach Fossils, DIIV, the Drums, and to an e tent Real state and Tame Impala. But it really comes back to just making music that he wanted to hear. “When my previous project (Mango Lane) ended, I really just wanted to do m o n thing ” he sa s “There as a band before that, too, that was sort of psychedelic (Varsity Rats). I’ve admittedly been in too many projects! But I was inspired to start recording at home and just work on (music) by myself. I still want to collaborate more with eo le ut or no it s de nitel ni e to just feel like you have full control.” Carpenter’s more concerned about song structure — the actual building of a piece — more so than he would be about strategizing some swift path to ame is are or the ra t is no on paper, with a degree from Wayne State in musi te hnolog e genuinel loves the production process, even if it also produces anxiety. “I’ll wake up at night worrying whether one harmony part is too loud,” he says. “It can haunt you. But I always think of [producing] like painting a pic-
Book Lovers.
ture on canvas. You have all these plugins just li e different olors and ou can make that painting really mushy if you use too much.” That leads us to his t o ne est songs and his app, “Cure Your Writer’s lo ” e a tuall turned this in as his senior project and knew he had to work toward a copyright quickly when his classmates accosted him for the app code’s programming language. “I wanted a simple way to look at [songriting differentl to gure out which key to play in, what tempo to follow, which chord progressions, and all these fundamental song structure parameters,” he says. “It’s all up to the interpretation of who uses it.” Carpenter is wrapping up some more ne musi to release throughout along with the launch of his new app. e s eighing the realit o a mo e out of state, but intending to perform locally as much as possible before then. Je Milo
Book Lovers
artiall ins ired the road ast song in hi h singer Trish Keenan instructs, “Read the sign above the door/ it’s not for everyone,” early Stereolab tunes, and, well, the fact that three out of the sometimes six rotating members are librarians, Ann Ar or s o un out t oo o ers is turning the page on the raucous days of heavy-handed self-promotion and scrappy tour life. For Autumn Wetli and the band, it’s about keeping it cathartically casual. “I mean, we’re older. Most of us … are well into our thirties,” she says. “It’s tough when you don’t really want to be a band that’s out there promoting
22 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
yourself when you just want to, like, make the music and play locally. I don’t know. I like the stability of my job, I’m older, I’m comfortable. I don’t want to be, like, sleeping in a van anymore. I want to play music, I want to release it and put it out there.” Wetli, formerly of Rebel Kind, Bad ndians or a minute and Fred Thomas Failed Flowers, formed Book Lovers with drummer Ryan Cady and his partner, Clara Salyer (who spent the better art o touring as te hura s bassist), when Wetli approached him in need of a new outlet. During the process, Wetli began recruiting friends. There s iolinist aomi innie though Wetli says the violin sometimes gets lost during live shows, and Binnie’s husband, Michael, who plays guitar in no other band but Book Lovers, something Wetli found refreshing considering the usual local logistical conundrum of “trying to share people a ross different ands ” ariah herem was also brought into the fold with her pocket piano and synths. With just several shows under the band’s belt, according to Wetli, who fronts the band, plays guitar, and writes lyrics, Book Lovers has yet to release anything formally, save for a 23-minute set the band performed at U-M’s F in e em er and released to and am The musi uts etli s staccato warble crisply front and center and calls to mind a more subdued Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex if she were to team u ith oni outh ir a s Sonic Nurse, while Stereolab and road ast remain strong in uen es even if sonically that’s not what Book Lovers end up sounding like. Wetli says Book Lovers has about
seven songs in the barrel right now ith lans to re ord ith Thomas ne t month. She hopes to be a bit more collaborative in terms of structuring the music and songwriting because she says she isn’t used to being in a band with as many diverse moving parts as Book Lovers, and when she set out to work on this project, she really wanted to do something different “I wanted to play with, like, a ton of eo le on different instruments ” she says. “You know, I wanted to do something er different And thin also I kind of want someone else to sort of be adding to it just because if I wrote everything, it’s just going to sound like everything I’ve always wrote.” While she’s been accustomed to writing what she considers “heartbreak songs,” that’s not the case so much these days. For Wetli, songwriting is more about striking a balance between manageable depression and honest expression. “ mean suffer rom de ression or whatever,” she says. “I feel like the sad arts o li e are the most in uential on me as far as writing. When I’m the saddest, it actually sort of spurs me more into writing more, but sometimes it’ll happen when it happens. I don’t think you can have a massive creative output all of the time. So you kind of have to be patient and wait for those moments to come, and I wouldn’t want anyone to sabotage themselves. Life’s too short to be miserable just to make some art.” So how does Wetli combat misery? Simple: a visit to her home library. “A book that always makes me happy and always makes me laugh is John Waters’ Crackpot,” she says. “It’ll put you in a good mood.” —Jerilyn Jordan
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
23
FOOD
Chicken chermoula and merguez meatballs.
TOM PERKINS
To Tunisia By Tom Perkins
It could be argued that labeling Ann Arbor’s Harissa Market Cafe a “Tunisian” restaurant isn’t entirely accurate. The identity of the North African nation’s cuisine is the identity of the civilizations through time that met in the region along trade routes and headed north to Europe and the Roman Empire; east to the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East; or south to modern-day Africa. Co-owner Khaled Houamed’s explanation of each dish can also be a bit of a history lesson. But, regardless of whether there’s Italian, Lebanese, French, or Ethiopian prints on a recipe, Harissa’s food is often heavy on aromatics and built with layers of complementing a ors rom ases li e so rito Houamed, who runs the kitchen, opened the restaurant just over six years ago with his wife and son. He says Harissa is North African food from a Tunisian perspective. All his dishes are made from scratch with produce from local farms and meat from an Eastern Market butcher, while Harissa’s menu can change with the seasons. The menu, as it is, is actually a deli case. Each of Harissa’s dishes are in a cooler up front, and guests point to what they want. The employees warm
up the dishes that need it, and serve everything on regular plates while charging by the pound. It’s a good deal — a friend and I got enough food for e eo le or under ith drin s About a third of Harissa’s dishes are dips, and among the best is the sharp orange-red harissa. It’s a bright and smoky dish made with a blend of sweet and spicy red peppers, olive oil, and spices like cumin and caraway. The Zaalouk is also another smo di ut it s uilt off of caramelized onions that are cooked with garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, and spices like cumin. Houamed says it’s halfway between a Moroccan zaalouk and caponata, a Sicilian eggplant dish. If you’re standing in the right spot on Tunisia’s shore, you can look into the Mediterranean Sea and see Sicily on the horizon. The proximity is partly why Tunisians eat more pasta than any other people outside Italy, Houamed tells me, and when the Roman Empire took over modern-day Tunisia’s Carthage around the nation s heat elds ere utilized for the empire’s pasta production. That partly explains why Harissa serves lasagna and meatballs. The latter are made with merguez, which is typically a lamb sausage native to North
24 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
A ri a that s a ored ith s i es li e harissa, cumin, coriander, and more. Here it’s made with lamb and beef and rolled into tasty meatballs. The whipped feta rosso is a creamy, strong dip of feta, fresh basil, red peppers, and sundried tomatoes. If you like feta, this is your dish. Harissa’s take on Greek skordalia is a punchy mix of potato, parsley, olive oil, garlic, smoked paprika, and Ethiopian berbere spice. “It’s an excuse to eat a lot of garlic,” Houamed explains. Preserved lemon and olives command a heavy presence in the chicken tagine, which I like, but the dish was also loaded with spinach, which isn’t my favorite. However, that’s simply a personal preference and those who enjoy spinach should check it out. Harissa’s chicken chermoula is among the best chermoula I’ve tried. Houamed likens chermoula to chimichurri in that it’s an herb-heavy marinade or sauce. His version is tangy, with preserved lemon, fresh parsley cilantro, mint, basil, dill, green onions, and olive oil. That’s spread across a chicken breast that’s brined overnight in a mix of tea, sage, dried limes, sugar, salt, and other spices. Houamed then sears the bird and a es it in a roth a ored ith fresh herbs. Laborious, but worth it. Among the menu’s brightest spots is the berber terrine du poulet, a small pie of ground chicken, organic yukon gold potatoes, green onion, red pepper, and egg that’s partly driven by fenugreek
El Harissa Market Cafe 1516 N. Maple Road, Ann Arbor 734-585-0686 elharissa.com Handicap accessible Priced by the pound
and drenched with a rich, fragrant coconut curry sauce. It’s excellent. The spice-roasted mushrooms hold silver-dollar mushrooms with nice depth from being dredged in chickea our umin garli and oli e oil imilarl ig ie es o auli o er are dredged in hi ea and ri e ours then treated with spices and olive oil. Harissa’s bacalao is a salted cod pie consisting of two layers — one of salted cod mixed with leeks and celery, and another of potatoes with cumin and caraway. The salted, sun-dried cod takes days to prepare, as it’s soaked and ashed ut the nal rodu t ro ides a big umami bump. Houamed describes it as a “maritime shepherd’s pie,” which is an accurate way to put it. If the od s shiness is too strong tem er it with tzatziki served on the side. Find more o tal s in uen e on its southern neighbor for dessert. Houamed says there are gelaterias all over Tunisia, and a west Michigan om an rodu es a ors s e i all for Harissa.
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
25
THIS WEEK FRIDAY, 1/24 Omid Tofighian @ Pages Bookshop
LIT In 2013, Kurdish journalist Behrouz oo hani ed ran to see as lum on Australias hristmas sland here he as illegall detained at a detention enter on anus sland in a ua e uinea uring his our ear detain ment he ould e or ed to remain on the island until ho e er on e the enter losed oo hani do umented the inhumane treatment and torture o as lum see ers under the negle t o the Australian go ernment using hat sA The te ts ere then sent to oones ansou i ho re ormatted them as Fs to e translated rom Farsi to nglish translator mid To ghian re sulting in oo hani s a ard inning memoir No Friend but the Mountains. “ o mu h a out the Australian oli the order oliti s in Australia is sur real ” To ghian told R “ ou no it has this reall a surd ualit a out it and this ind o un athoma le nature to it and it s also horri ” This ree e ent ill el ome To ghian ho ill dis uss the delicate translation process as it pertains to e ile and in ar eration o ies o No Friend but the Mountains ill e a aila le or ur hase —Jerilyn Jordan
What’s Going On
A week’s worth of things to do and places to do them tunes and i orona hel s ee the artists moti ated to ard ma ing a mon ster master ie e —Jerilyn Jordan Event begins at 6:30 p.m.; 4454 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-832-6622; mocadetroit.com. Tickets are $10 or $5 for MOCAD member.
SUNDAY, 1/26 Chaka Khan @ Sound Board
MUSIC Another ear another Ro and Roll all o Fame snu or the ueen o Fun ha a han This ear the le eland ased ramid o nightmares no seriousl ha e ou e er been to the Ro and Roll all o Fame nominated hitne ouston the otorious T Re the oo ie rothers e e he
SUNDAY, 1/26 Snoop Dogg @ The Fillmore
ode and ine n h ails Though the are all very deser ing re i ients ha a han and her e de ade long areer and ramm s as oth a solo artist and as the andleader or Ru us has on e again ailed to ma e the ut e eel or ou ha a The “Tell e omething ood” singer released Hello Happiness last ear hi h as the result o ha ing he ed hersel into reha or an addi tion to ain illers rought to light ollo ing rin e s a idental entan l o erdose in The last time the ueen o Fun isited etroit as in hen she er ormed an energi ed rendition o “ oing onder” at the massi e and tele ised ele ration o li e or ello musi ro alt Aretha Fran lin —Jerilyn Jordan
MUSIC A ording to stoner lore hen eed e omes legal state ide that state gets majorl hot o ed ra er i ard and the original AT noo ogg or de ending on ho ou as noo ogg ogg n le noo the ogg a ther noo noo illa noo adeli noo ion or e en oa h noo all him hat ou li e just don’t all him late or n re ent ee s the ear old unli el estie to artha te art ser ed as ins iration or a limited time doughnut and e ond eat sand i h or un in onuts it as also announ ed that noo ould ser e as uns Roses s e ial guest or the and s re u er o l er orman e and released an al um o lo hone hea lulla renditions o his greatest hits in luding “ in and ui e” e ause o ourse he did —Jerilyn Jordan
Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; 313-309-4614; soundboarddetroit.com. Tickets are $76+.
Doors open at 7 p.m.; 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-961-5451; Tickets are $57+.
Event begins at 6 p.m.; 19560 Grand River Ave., Detroit; 313-473-7342; pagesbkshop. com. Event is free.
FRIDAY, 1/24 8th Annual Monster Drawing Rally @ MOCAD
ART + MORE For man artists the reati e ro ess is a ri ate one For those ho ma not e arti ularl gi ted in the isual arts e might thin o an artist as a ing their studio here the e holed themsel es u or ee s and e might thin o in stained hands gri ing the ne er em t offee u Plantasia on re eat dra ing a er ta ed o er indo s and unironi o eralls Than s to A s Annual onster ra ing Rall those o us ith t o le t hands an ta e a ee ehind the reati e urtain The annual undraising e ent in ites artists ho ill reate a dra ing o er the ourse o three one hour shi ts hile a e hundred eo le glee ull ga at a ro ess that is rarel seen Artists ill ha e a ess to a ariet o materials and mediums hile AT i s out the
Chaka Khan, Sound Board, Jan. 26.
26 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
COURTESY OF SOUND BOARD
Saturday 1/25
ArKaNsAuCe Tuesday 1/28
FrUiTiOn
WsG ThE MiGhTy PiNeS
Tuesday 2/4
Snoop Dogg, the Fillmore, Jan. 26.
TUESDAY, 1/28 Nikole Hannah-Jones and The 1619 Project @ Rackham Auditorium
TALK Last year marked the 400th anniersar o hen A ri an hattel sla es rst arrived in Virginia. The 1619 Project posits that this moment — and not July 4, 1776 — marks the true beginning of United States history. Originally published in August as a special issue of The New York Times, the comprehensive package of stories and podcast re-examines the history of the United States in this context. Since its release, however, historians have clashed with project creator Nikole annah ones re orting in luding e white signatories, who approached NYT
Monster Drawing Rally, MOCAD, Jan. 24.
STERLING MUNKSGARD/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
to correct “factual errors” due to 1619’s “displacement of historical understanding by ideology,” as historian Gordon Woods said in a letter. Last month, NYT’s editor in chief responded with a lengthy defense of the project, and Hannah-Jones took to Twitter with a more direct rebuttal: “The fact that you are so uncomfortable with a project commemorating the 400th anniversary of the slavery of African-descended people actually focusing on the experience and role of African-descended people is something you might want to contemplate.” Hannah-Jones will visit the University of Michigan to discuss the project alongside former Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley. —Jerilyn Jordan Event begins at 6 p.m.; 915 E.
COURTESY OF MOCAD
Washington St., Ann Arbor; 734-9987666; wallacehouse.umich.edu. Event is free and open to the public.
WEDNESDAY, 1/29 Lea Bertucci and Saariselka
TaUk
Friday 2/7
KyLe DaNiEl
Saturday 2/15
PaJaMaS & ChIrP
Saturday 2/29
@ Trinosophes
MUSIC There are musicians, and then there are sound designers. New York City composer and performer Lea Bertucci falls into the latter category, thanks to her commitment to exploring the relationship between what she describes as “biological resonance and acoustic phenomena.” OK, if that sounds a wee bit abstract, that’s because it is. The classically trained saxophonist moved from classical and jazz music toward experimenting with woodwind instruments through various effe ts loo s distortion and ele troacoustic feedback. On 2019’s hauntingly sparse and ambient LP Resonant Field, Bertucci turned to the decommissioned Marine A Grain Elevator at Silo City in uffalo e or Through her horn ertu i lled the dormant s a e in hopes of reactivating it while archiving its melancholy. Bertucci will be joined by Saariselka, a collaboration of Marielle Jakobsons and Chuck Johnson. Saariselka’s debut record, 2019’s The Ground Our Sky, poses rolling and patient meditations on meaningful change and our place in the universe. —Jerilyn Jordan Doors open at 8 p.m.; 1464 Gratiot Ave., Detroit; 313-778-9258; trinosophes.com. Tickets are $10.
DaVe BrUzZa WsG FuLl CoRd
Sunday 3/1
LeSpEcIaL
Saturday 3/7
WiSh YoU WeRe HeRe Sunday 3/8
BaD BaD HaTs Thursday 3/12
CoNsIdEr ThE SoUrCe friday 3/13
MeLvIn SeAlS & JgB
FoR TiCkEtS & DiNnEr ReSeRvAtIoNs
ViSiT OtUsSuPpLy.CoM 345 E 9 MILE RD
FeRnDaLe
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
27
The
Old
Miami
OUR PATIO NIGHTLY BONFIRES ON
HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY TO US! COME CELEBRATE ON FEBRUARY 3RD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22ND
THIS WEEK MUSIC Wednesday, Jan. 22 Barishi, Ether Coven, Wvrm 7 m The an tuar aniff t Detroit; $10. Black Pumas 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.
~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUJUAN! ~
Mad Pursuit 7:30 p.m.; Blind Pig, 208 S. First St., Ann Arbor; $5.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24TH
Stone Sound Collective 7 p.m.; The Blue LLama Jazz Club, 314 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; No cover.
TEDDY ROBERTS & THE MOUTHS, CASTLE BLACK, FLOAT HERE FOREVER (ENERGETIC INDIE PUNK) 9PM DOORS / $5 COVER
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25TH
FRUIT OF THE WOMB, JAKDD, SPACECADET (HEAVY DIRTY PUNK) 9PM DOORS / $5 COVER
MONDAY, JANUARY 26TH
FREE POOL ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PHIL! ~
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31ST
ISAAC RYDER BAND, GOODWEATHER, LEOIRONY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST
RYN SCOTT, LEGAL IMMIGRANTS, MAMA YAYA
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD OLD MIAMI 40TH ANNIV. CELEBRATION - 5PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH
DENISE DAVIS & THE MOTOR CITY SENSATIONS, MAIYANA DAVIS, DENAE
SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 8TH
NOTHING ELEGANT MONTHLY LADY DJ’S DANCE PARTY
OPEN EVERY DAY INCLUDING HOLIDAYS INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK: THEOLDMIAMI CALL US FOR BOOKING! 313-831-3830
The Old Miami
3930 Cass • Cass Corridor • 313-831-3830
Thursday, Jan. 23 Justin Moore 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor–Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $33-$68. Olivia Jean 8 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $12. Slow Crush, Grivo, Outside, Silktail m The an tuar aniff St., Detroit; $10.
Ave., Detroit; $720-$25. Lawlapalooza featuring The Common Scolds and The 3148’s m The an tuar aniff t Detroit; $10. Minnesota Orchestra 8 p.m.; Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor; $19+. The Go Rounds, Chris Bathgate, Breathe Own Breath 7 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $14-$16.
Sunday, Jan. 26 Chaka Khan 7:30 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $76-$88. Snoop Dogg 8 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $57+.
Monday, Jan. 27 Nick Fradiani 8 p.m.; Music Hall, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $15. Red Death and Enforced 7 p.m.; The an tuar aniff t etroit
Friday, Jan. 24
Tuesday, Jan. 28
Class of 98 Band, the 90s Party Palooza 8 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $7.
Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy m The an tuar aniff t Detroit; $10.
Classical Revolution Detroit 8-11 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; Free.
China Crisis 8 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $25.
Herman’s Hermits 8 p.m.; Andiamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 E. 14 Mile Rd., Warren; $25-$69. Magic City Hippies 9 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $17.50. Matthew Dear 8 p.m.; Blind Pig, 208 S. First St., Ann Arbor; $18+. Your Smith 7 p.m.; Deluxx Fluxx, 1274 Library St., Detroit; $10+.
Saturday Jan 25 Cheikh Lo 7 p.m.; The Blue LLama Jazz Club, 314 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; $40+. Frank McComb 8 p.m.; Music Hall, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $30. If Walls Could Talk, The Timbre of Cedar, Signature Mistakes, The Skinny Limbs 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $12. Imposters In Effect–A Tribute To The Beastie Boys 8:30 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $15. John Waite 8 p.m.; Andiamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 E. 14 Mile Rd., Warren; $25-$55. Jordan Davis, Haley Whitters 7 p.m.; Majestic Theatre, 4140 Woodward
28 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
Cold War Kids 7 p.m.; Majestic Theatre, 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $27.50. The Adicts 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.
THEATER A Bronx Tale Jan. 21-Feb. 2. TuesdayFriday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 2 & 8 p.m., Sunday, 2 & 6:30 p.m.; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit; $39+. A Doll’s House Part Two Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. and Sundays, 7 p.m.; Slipstream Theatre Initiative, 460 Hilton Rd., Ferndale; $20. As Far As My Fingertips Take Me Through Feb. 9. Institute for the Humanities, 915 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor and Arab American National Museum; 13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; $19+. Roadsigns Through March 14. Thursdays, 3 & 8 p.m., Fridays, 8 p.m., Saturdays, 3 & 8 p.m., Sundays, 2 p.m.; Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea; $28+. Sesame Street Live! Let’s Party! Wednesday 6:30 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m., Friday 11 a.m. & 6:30 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m., 2 & 6 p.m. and Sunday 12 & 4 p.m.; Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $15-$80.
The Believers Are But Brothers Through Jan. 26. Wednesday & Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Friday & Saturday 8 p.m.; Arthur iller Theater ur n A e Ann Arbor; $35 or $12-$20 students.
COMEDY All-Star Showdown Fridays & Saturdays, 10-11:30 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $20. Brewing For Comedy Every other Tuesday, 9-11 p.m.; Craft Heads Brewing Company, 89 University Avenue West, Windsor; Free. Brooke Cartus Live Thursday 9 p.m.; The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant aniff A e amtram $8.50+. Cocktail Comedy Hour Fridays, Saturdays, 8-9 p.m.; The Independent omed lu at lanet Ant aniff Ave., Hamtramck; $10. Fresh Sauce Sundays, 9 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; Free. Funny Side Up: A Stand-Up Comedy Brunch Sunday noon; The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant, aniff A e amtram Double Feature: Gorgeous Orphans & Don’t Google It Wednesdays, 9 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $10. It’s the End of the Small World Tuesday, 8 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $10. This Should Be a Comedy Special! Saturday, 7 p.m.; Redford Theatre, 17360 Lahser Rd, Detroit; $20+. I Ain’t No Joke Thursday 9 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $10. Jeff Foxworthy Sunday, 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor–Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $33-$73. Mo’Nique Thursday 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $38-$50. Monday Night Improv Mondays, 8-10 p.m.; Planet Ant Black Box, 2357 aniff treet amtram Name This Show Fridays, Saturdays, 11:45 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; Free. Open Mic Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m.; Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle, 310 S. Troy St., Royal Oak; $5. Proving Grounds Wednesday, 8 p.m.;
To Be Or Not To Be Saturday, 2 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m.; Detroit Film Theatre, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $9.50.
ART A Conversation with Cullen Washington, Jr.: The Hope of Abstraction and the Possibilities of the Public Square Saturday, 4-5:30 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; free.square. American Paintings from Nancy and Sean Cotton Collection, 1850-1940 Through April 5; Oakland University Art Gallery, Oakland University, Rochester; Free. C. Gazaleh, “Flight Over Jerusalem,” 2015. Ink on paper. Through Feb. 22; Simone DeSousa Gallery, 444 W. Willis St., Units 111 and 112, Detroit; Free. Cullen Washington Jr.: Abstract Meditations on the Grid and Humanity Thursday, 5:10 p.m.; Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor; Free.
Lea Bertucci, Trinosophes, Jan. 29. COURTESY OF TRINOSOPHES
Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $10. Reality Check Thursday, 8 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $10. Sunday Buffet Sundays, 7 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $10. Thursday Night Live! Thursdays, m Ant all aniff t amtramck; $5.
DANCE Shen Yun 2020 Through Jan. 26. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, 2 p.m., Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, 2 & 7 p.m. and Sunday, 1 p.m.; Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway St., Detroit; $80+.
FILM Bolshoi Ballet: Giselle Sunday, 12:55 p.m.; Maple Theater, 4135 West a le Road loom eld To nshi Free For Covered Girls with Baraa Ktiri Roundtable Discussion & Filming Sunday, 1 p.m.; Arab American National Museum, 13624 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; Free. Let the Corpses Tan Wednesday, midnight; Main Art Theatre, 118 N. Main St., Royal Oak; $7. The Rock Friday & Saturday, midnight; Main Art Theatre, 118 N. Main St., Royal Oak; $7.
Through Feb. 23. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free. Family Art Studio: Imaginary Places Saturday, 2-4 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; free but registration required. Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Presents Cullen Washington Jr. Thursday, 5:10-6:10 p.m.; Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor; Free. Preoccupations: Palestinian Landscapes Through Feb. 8; Holding House Gallery, 3546 Michigan Ave., Detroit; Free.
-LIVE ON STAGE-
Thursdays at the Museum: Highlights of the Permanent Collection Thursdays, 1 p.m.; Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free.
Exhibition: “Collection Ensemble” Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free.
Rita Woods Sunday, 2 p.m.; Pages Bookshop, 19560 Grand River Ave., Detroit; Free.
Exhibition: “Reflections: An Ordinary Day” Through May 10. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a,m,-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free. Exhibition: “Take Your Pick: Collecting Found Photographs”
WEDNESDAYS
Structures of Light Through Jan. 31; Culture Lab Detroit, 1301 Broadway St, Detroit; Free.
Exhibition: “Abstraction, Color, and Politics: The 1960s and 1970s” Through Feb. 9. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free.
Exhibition: “Pan-African Pulp: A Commission by Meleko Mokgosi” Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free.
MOTOWN/JAZZ/FUNK FEATURED VOCALISTS: 1ST & 2ND TUESDAYS PAT SMILLIE 3RD & 4TH TUESDAYS LADY CHAMPAGNE NO COVER / 21+
STR8 JAZZ NO CHASER
The Big Picture Guided Tour Tuesdays-Sundays, 1 p.m., Fridays, 6 p.m. and Saturdays, Sundays, 3 p.m.; Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free.
Exhibition: “Mari Katayama” Through Jan.26. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free.
DENNIS COFFEY
Queen: From the Collection of CCH Pounder | Exhibition Tuesdays-Sundays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, 315 E. Warren Ave., Detroit; Free.
Drawing in the Galleries Fridays, 6 p.m., Saturdays, noon and Sundays, noon; Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free.
Exhibition: “Cullen Washington, Jr.: The Public Square” Through May 17. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free.
TUESDAYS 8PM
MOTOWN FUNK BROTHER
LITERARY EVENT
Translator of “No Friends but the Mountains” Omid Tofighian Friday, 6 p.m.; Pages Bookshop, 19560 Grand River Ave., Detroit; Free.
W/ THE MIKE JELLICK TRIO NO COVER / 9:30PM / 21+
THURSDAYS
THE JIMMY BLUES BAND JAZZ, FUNK & SOUL NO COVER / 9:30PM / 21+
FRIDAY JANUARY 24
[SOMETHING CLEVER] w/ DJ’s JEREMY POLING & SUTTER NO COVER/ 10PM / 21+
SATURDAY JANUARY 25
DOWN & DIRTY
w/ DJ’s TONY NOVA and special guest PHIL IN DA MIXX NO COVER / 10PM/ 21+
SUNDAYS
INDUSTRY LOVE
w/ your host AUSTIN HAPPY HOUR MENU FROM 9PM-2AM (food til midnight)(you call the music) NO COVER / 9PM / 21+
Zell Visiting Writers Series: Rion Amilcar Scott Thursday, 5:30-6:30 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free.
FUN FOR ALL Detroit City Chess Club Open Play Fridays, 4 p.m.; Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free. The Novi Home Show Friday, 2-8 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Suburban Collection Showplace, 46100 Grand River Ave., Novi; $9-$10.
SPORTS Detroit Red Wings v. Minnesota Wild Viewing Party Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; Free.
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
29
THIS WEEK Livewire
Local music picks By MT sta
THURSDAY, 1/23 Olivia Jean @ The Loving Touch
On Night Owl, Nashville-via-Detroit rocker Olivia Jean and her band covers “Jaan Pehechaan Ho,” a groovy track originall sung ohammed Ra in the 1965 Bollywood thriller Gumnaam and introduced to a new audience via the opening credits to 2001’s cult hit Ghost World. Here Jean sings it in its original Hindi, which would be hard enough on its own — she told Premier Guitar that she learned how to sing it phonetically — but also because the track is no simple rock ’n’ roll ditty. It’s a good example of the eclecticism and retro-kitsch of Night Owl eans se ond solo and rst to see her in the role of producer. She’s learned from some of the best, spending the past decade or so as a session musician of sorts for Third Man Records after giving Jack White a CD of demos following an early Dead Weather show in Detroit. During the stint, she’s played and recorded alongside White, as well as none other than the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson. —Lee DeVito Doors at 6 p.m.22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248-820-5596; thelovingtouchferndale.com. Tickets are $12-$14.
THURSDAY, 1/23 Melvin Davis, Dennis Coffey @ Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor & Urban Affairs
This is a lot of Detroit history packed into one evening. A partnership with the Detroit Sound Conservancy, Music in the Archives: A Celebration of Detroit’s Aural History features performances by “Detroit’s Soul Ambassador” Melvin Davis and Motown Funk Brother Dennis offe hi h ould e li e enough Detroit history on their own. Even better, the icons will be performing on the stage of the Blue Bird Inn, the historic west-side jazz club where icons like Miles Davis and John Coltrane played that was recently purchased and is undergoing renovations, thanks to the Detroit
Olivia Jean, Loving Touch, Thursday, Jan. 23.
Sound Conservancy. (While the club is undergoing construction, the stage has now become a mobile pop-up, even getting sent to 2017 Biennale Internationale Design Festival in Saint-Etienne, France.) The performances are a celebration of the recent oral-history interviews the artists donated to the Walter P. Reuther archives. —Lee DeVito Doors at 6 p.m.; performances at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; 5401 Cass Ave., Detroit; 313-577-4024; reuther.wayne.edu. Free admission.
FRIDAY, 1/24 Joe Hertler (solo acoustic) @ 20 Front Street
It’s been a decade since Joe Hertler and the Rain o ee ers rst ormed ut the band has shown no signs of slowing down. Hell, it’s been a busy past few weeks for the group. In December, the group opened for Denver by way of Detroit party machine GRiZ for his annual GRiZmas blowout, and then the group played a New Year’s Eve set at El Club. Last year, the band released Paper Castle, its ourth studio and rst re orded with an outside producer (Rick Carson), an eclectic and upbeat record that shows why the band has become favorites on the festival and jam-band circuits. This show is just a solo acoustic set from the band’s titular Joe, but we expect it to still be a jam. —Lee DeVito Starts at 8 p.m.; 20 Front St., Lake Orion; 248-783-7105; 20frontstreet.com. Tickets are $18.
30 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
BIG HASSLE MEDIA
SATURDAY, 1/25 The Go Rounds, Chris Bathgate, Breathe Owl Breathe @ Magic Stick
Here’s a big night for Michigan-based ol in e ted indie ro eadlining is the Go Rounds, a hard-working, Kalamazoo-based quartet that mixes elements of pop, folk, Americana, and psychedelia; the group released its ambitious, orchestral Whatever You May Be last year. Also performing is Chris Bathgate, a longtime ture o Ann Ar or s ol s ene ho last dropped 2017’s Dizzy Seas, which we described as “some of the best dark, psychedelic folk this side of ‘Sugar Man.’” Rounding out the bill is Breathe Owl Breathe, an Ann Arbor-based trio also known for mixing folk and experimental indie rock sounds à la Bon Iver. —Lee DeVito Doors open at 7 p.m.; 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9700; majesticdetroit.com. Tickets are $14-$16.
SUNDAY, 1/26 Melvin Davis @ PJ’s Lager House
More Melvin! For those of you who didn’t get enough o a soul this ee a is has another performance, this time an early show at PJ’s Lager House — where the 77-year-old living legend will play a mix of hits spanning his careers at Fortune and Motown Records. As a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist,
Davis has touched many songs that have become beloved by the U.K.’s Northern Soul scene: As Michael Hurtt, writing for Metro Times, reported in a 2009 longread, that’s Melvin’s drumming on ennis offe the man oodard Trio’s “River Rouge”/“It’s Your Thing,” his vocals on the 8th Day’s AM soul staple “You’ve Got to Crawl (Before You Walk),” and his pen behind the lyrics of J.J. Barnes’ “Chains of Love,” later made famous by the Dirtbombs. History, people! —Lee DeVito Doors at 5 p.m., music starts at 7 p.m.; 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-9614668; pjslagerhouse.com. Tickets are $12-$14.
SUNDAY, 1/26 Audra Kubat @ Detroit House of Music
In November, we reported that longtime Detroit-based folk artist Audra Kubat was at work on a new project: the Detroit House of Music, an abandoned 19th century Cass Corridor Victorian house that Kubat has been refurbishing into a community hub. You can check out the project during an intimate dinner and show. Kubat will perform, along with special guests Emma Guzman and George Montrelle, while Kind Cafe and Moon Bar will serve up dinner. Tickets include a year-long membership to the Detroit House of Music. —Lee DeVito Doors at 5 p.m.; 487 Alexandrine St., Detroit; brownpapertickets.com. Tickets are $50.
Bon Jovi with Bryan Adams Little Caesars Arena, July 19, 7 p.m., $39.50+ AIJA LEHTONEN / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Fast-Forward King Princess Royal Oak Music Theatre, Feb. 7, 7 p.m., $29+ The Lumineers Little Caesars Arena, Feb. 7, 7 p.m., $71+ Tove Lo St. Andrews Hall, Feb. 18, 7 p.m., $59 Tim & Eric Masonic Temple, Feb. 19, 7 p.m., $47.50+ Garth Brooks Ford Field, Feb. 22, 7 p.m., Sold-out Sturgill Simpson Masonic Temple, Feb. 29 & March 1, 7:30 p.m., $49.50+
June 5, 7 p.m., $89.50 Halsey DTE Energy Music Theater, June 26, 7 p.m., $39.50+ Journey DTE Energy Music Theater, July 5, 7 p.m., $35+ Billy Joel Comerica Park, July 10, 7 p.m., $124+ Harry Styles Little Caesars Arena, July 17, 7 p.m., $79.50+ Alanis Morissette DTE Energy Music Theatre, July 21, 7 p.m., $105+
Thundercat Majestic Theatre, March 17, 8 p.m., $30
Rod Stewart with Cheap Trick DTE Energy Music Theatre, July 25, 7 p.m., $39.50+
Blake Shelton Little Caesars Arena, March 21, 7 p.m.; $84+
Green Day, Weezer, Fall Out Boy Comerica Park, Aug. 19. 7 p.m., $59.50+
Billie Eilish Little Caesars Arena, March 23, 7 p.m., Sold-out
Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe with Poison and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Comerica Park, Aug. 20, 4:30 p.m., $49.50+
Elton John Little Caesars Arena, May 1-2, 7 p.m., $271+ Bikini Kill Royal Oak Music Theatre, May 23, 7 p.m., $39+ Tame Impala Little Caesars Arena, May 31, 7 p.m., $47.50 Maroon 5 DTE Energy Music Theatre,
Lady Antebellum DTE Energy Music Theatre, Aug. 22, 7 p.m., TBD Justin Bieber Ford Field, Aug. 29, 4:30 p.m., $118+ Matchbox 20 DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sep. 1, 7:30 p.m., $36+
ALUMINUM • ANGLES • CHANNELS • FLATS • ROUNDS • SQUARES • SHEET Cut To Size No Order Too Small
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(Corner Of Mt . Elliott )
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metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
31
CULTURE
Kristen Stewart in Underwater.
ALAN MARKFIELD/TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
Only shallow By George Elkind
Often, during what’s meant to e some lm s e dramati s ene m rain turns off though this shutdo n se uen e re uires s e i ues hen s eed ram ing starts u the s ore rises to a holler and editing re ra ts hat s on s reen into a series o he ti darting glim ses shot in lose u t i all e ome lost other ie ers are at all li e me the ma no the eeling A series o re ei ed gestures their isdom o ten uestion a le instead la s as rigmarole an effort to stir a eeling is dulled o ressi e amiliarit u h o Underwater la s li e this A rare mo ie ith a ne setu that or s hen underta en its o n a it stum les hen it he s too lose to its rede essors Alien a o e all Gravity among others o ten re ena ting s enes oint oint and ro ing e en asual lmgoers o an sense o sur rise et dee in the ariana Tren h at a drilling ase run Tian ndustries a lainl orru t oil or oration the lm o ens on orah ri e risten te art an
engineer at the om an s e ler ase rushing her teeth just e ore it ol la ses or ing her to ra l through the lea ing re age to gather her a tain and a small art o sur i ors A ter on erring on strateg the agree to gam le on a dangerous tre to the ho ed or sa et o a neigh oring ase ut the or ers might as ell e out in s a e the ater ressure that surrounds the lead a tors dee sea en am ment is so great that an ra in their osmonaut li e ressure suits ill ma e their odies literall im lode a gor red mess ea h time it ha ens ith these loud ursts o is era e em li ing the mo ie s loosel ontained en hant or iolen e the lm s rated Underwater o erates as a s i slasher hose in entions and relati e intima its ast num ers e er than s ea ing roles deli er just enough to ma e ou ant more o oth Underwater s on e tual a eal lies mostl in its asi setting it ro es une e tedl re reshing to nd the li hes and aria les e re used to seeing
32 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
in s a e t isted their ena tment in a ne en ironment ras ing na iga tions o dar ened lands a es struggles or air and eeril Freudian um ili al tethers all eature literall grounded and made no el the reati e team s hoi e o setting The lm s interior s enes all in dated et dra l utur isti industrial hall a s ma e mu h o uores ent lights and lters the atmos here o the surrounding de ths seeming to lea into the or ers re uge e en hile their ase remains inta t i e ise the oint o ie se uen es in the e terior s enes in hi h the re trudges through undersea dunes um ling or a isi le ath e o e ideo games li e BioShock as strongl as the e ho Al onso uar n s Gravity e en as the ourt monoton at times ith their limited alette o aggres si el mur te tures A etter ersion o Underwater might ha e e t a old o us on the rh thm o odies mo ing at henomenal de ths through an alien en ironment e o ing the disem od ied e en osmi ualit e so o ten see in s a e lms or that e nd in us an ant s under a re iated Gerry nstead Underwater deli ers an atmos here o o ressi e onstant and insinuating ressure a tone that gets old the harder it s dri en in e en
Underwater Rated: PG-13 Run-time: 93 minutes as it or s at times Though there s mu h to li e or sim l a re iate in terms o the lm s eeting smoothness and ts o in en tion Underwater s o ershado ed its o n er asi e shallo ness The onl uestions it lum s are ormal and e eriential and it ails to inter rogate either realm ith the de th or onsisten the deser e itomi ed te art s a ing hiloso hi oi eo er at the eginning and end o the lm almost ertainl on ei ed in the editing room dire tor illiam u an ails to grant his e edition a lear reason or eing instead de aulting too o ten to genre mashu s dialogi li hes and ainsta ing homage The effe t ro s the lm hi h remains not ithout its leasures till a sense re ails o a dire tor a it outside his de th hose as irations mirror his hara ters in their sour limitations i e those o his trudging eleaguered ast and too man o the rest o us his dreams a ear limited and t o old to or and to sur i e
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
33
THIS CULTURE WEEK
Stage & Canvas By MT sta No Safety Net 2.0, various venues, Wednesday, Jan. 22-Sunday, Feb. 9.
WED., 1/22-SUN., 2/9
FRIDAY, 1/24
No Safety Net 2.0
In the Beginning…
@ various venues
@ DCDT Woodward Gallery
PERFORMANCE ART Organizers described last year’s inaugural No Safety Net using the philosophy that “universities should be dangerous places for ideas, and safe spaces for people.” That year, the University of Michigan’s University Music Society curated a performance art series that delved into ideas like terrorism, transgender identity, addiction, BDSM, and racism, among others. This year, the three-week festival returns, featuring some 20 staged performances, two school-day performances, and opportunities for open dialogue and conversation throughout venues in Ann Arbor and Dearborn. Highlights from this year include Javaad Alipoor’s The Believers Are But Brothers, which tackles masculinity and internet radicalization; Tania El Khoury’s installation As Far As My Fingertips Take Me, which looks at the refugee crisis; and Lee Minora’s White Feminist, which delves into race, feminism, and privilege in the era of #MeToo. —Lee DeVito
ART With In The Beginning…, the Detroit Center for Design + Technology “explores the fragility and tenacity of feminine identity” through a multimedia exhibition curated by Sarah Ayers. The exhibition features photographic multimedia work by L. Mikelle Standbridge, sculptural multimedia work by Nancy Unger, sculptural installations by Dee lements and an intera ti e o en er optic installation Irene Lavon Walker, tackling “ideas of women’s work, boundaries and expectation.” —Lee DeVito
Various times and venues; see ums.org/ no-safety-net for full schedule.
Opening 5:30-8 p.m. Friday; 4219 Woodward Ave., Detroit. No admission. The show runs through March 31, 2020.
FRIDAY, 1/24 Kelly and Kyle Phelps: Blue Collar @ Pewabic
ART Twin brothers Kelly and Kyle Phelps, the youngest of eight children in a family of factory workers, have been portraying issues like working-class
34 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
KATHERINE RAINES
struggles and race relationships through ceramic sculptures for more than two decades. Not only do the two brothers work together in a shared studio, they reportedly dress alike and even have the same tattoos, describing themselves as “one person in two bodies.” If they sound like their own miniature factory, they are: the Phelpses utilize industrial skills like welding and mold-making to combine handcrafted cast forms with foundobjects from abandoned factories. —Lee DeVito Opening reception from 5-8 p.m.; 10125 . Je erson ve. etroit pewabic.org. No admission. Exhibition is on view through April 27.
MON., 1/26-SUN. 1/27 Found Footage Festival Vol. 9 @ Michigan Theater, Cinema Detroit
FILM Facercise, acne rap, how to cybersex on the internet, and here come the hunks are just a few samplings of Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher’s national thrift store and garage sale foraging. The childhood friends began collecting found videotapes in 1991 after stumbling across a training video titled “Inside and
Outside Custodial Duties” at a Wisconsin McDonald’s. Thus, the Found Footage Festival was born — “a one-of-a-kind celebration of the videos that time forgot, dredged up in dusty thrift stores and estate sales throughout North America.” Since 2004, Pickett (The Onion) and Prueher (The Colbert Report) have sacri ed an sem lan e o a normal li e to deliver the best of the worst unearthed nds rom a ross the ountr including the 1983 travelogue Carnival in Rio, featuring in Arnold Schwarzenegger seducing a woman with watermelon and, later, wearing a very appropriated headdress. Now in its ninth volume, this year’s Found Footage Festival promises recently unearthed footage from the 1987 Miss Junior America Wisconsin pageant, an exercise video called “Skiercise!” a “jaw-dropping” home movie taken at a hose factory in Windsor, a local news story about Pudgie Wudgie the Wonder Cat, and a tape labeled “bonion sergery.” —Jerilyn Jordan Show starts at 7 p.m. on Sunday at the Michigan Theater Liberty t. nn rbor michtheater. org; Tickets are $18. Show starts at 8 p.m. on Monday at Cinema Detroit; Third ve. etroit cinemadetroit.org. Tickets are $12.
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
35
CULTURE
For now, entrepreneur Carnell Lockhart is just a benchwarmer.
LARRY GABRIEL
Higher Ground
Still waiting By Larry Gabriel
We still haven’t heard a word from Detroit City Council regarding opting in to the state recreational adult-use marijuana program. That’s getting pretty ominous as we approach the Jan. 31 deadline that Council set as a possible opt-in date. It doesn’t look like Detroit is getting on the weed train just yet because we haven’t heard anything, and it’s doubtful that anything could be in place by the end of the month. That doesn’t sit well with Carnell Lockhart, who can’t wait to get into the marijuana business. Lockhart owns the Green Hub on McNichols across the street from the former Marygrove College, where he wants a license to run a Designated Consumption Establishment. However, since Detroit has “temporarily” opted out of the state adultuse system, it’s not taking applications. “I’m real sad about what the city is doing,” says Lockhart. “We’re ready now. Until the city gets it together, it’s forcing people like me to stay in the black and gray market.” Lockhart has been running cannabisfriendly parties at the Green Hub or renting his building out for similar private events. He’s further ahead of the game than most folks trying to squeeze in because he owns his building. He’s already applied for his social-equity 36 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
status — qualifying for the 25 percent reduction in fees as a resident of a disproportionately impacted community, and another 25 percent for being the primary owner of his business. That drops the license application fee to $3,000, and the license fee to $500, something eminently doable in his world. “I want to be legit,” he says. “I’m tired of throwing underground smoke parties, man. There are plenty of people around throwing parties.” Lockhart also works as a tree trimmer for DTE Energy. His partner runs a daycare center out of their home behind the campus of the recently closed Marygrove. His brother owns a daycare a block over on McNichols. Lockhart owns another building nearby. Let’s say he’s invested in the local community. He envisions the Green Hub as a community center open for local meetings and gatherings. He’s been trying, with little luck, to get his college fraternity interested in the project. It’s an uphill battle for him among young Black professionals who don’t see Detroit as the place they want to do business. Lockhart recalls being asked, “Why would anybody want to mess with the city of Detroit?” Frankly, he was told that and worse. Detractors include
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
37
CULTURE most of his educated and professional siblings. His response is, “Have you heard about recreational marijuana?” The 38-year-old former college football player has something to prove on a lot o ronts o hart re alls the rst building he bought with little more than determination. He paid attention when contractors came in to bid jobs, then got busy on the internet to learn how to do the task, taking things one piece at a time in order to do it himself with a low overhead. The same thing goes for his history of having daycare centers in his home. He can charge less when you’re not paying rent to someone else. Lockhart wants to prove that you
reinvention. Such a large and impressive endeavor would have to be city-led, isionar and e ensi e o it s not going to happen. Across the street at the Green Hub, Lockhart has a vision. Can it get grandiose? It sure can. But Lockhart takes it through the achievable building blocks as he moves forward. “A part of me wanted to go to retail,” he says. “But I decided to focus on a private club. Just keep the club, then maybe do delivery services. You can’t come into this trying to get rich, but money is going to come.” Lockhart would see himself having a retail store down the line. But he’s also aware that the state isn’t even taking retail applications from non-medical
‘We’re ready now. Until the city gets it together, it’s forcing people like me to stay in the black and gray market.’ can make it in Detroit and uplift the city. He wants to prove that marijuana is a viable business that can help uplift a neighborhood. He envisions hosting community meetings and educational events. That’s something akin to what’s happening a few blocks east on McNichols around the Detroit Sip offeehouse and the efforts o the i e Alliance and the city’s Fitz Forward initiati e to reha houses and u the neighborhood. ut none o those o ial isions seem to include marijuana. The Fitzgerald neighborhood is in transition. When the Fitz Forward initiative was announced a few years back, Marygrove College anchored its western border. Marygrove ceased operations in December with no stated plans for the 53-acre campus. The Fitz Forward initiative is stalled, ha ing nished onl a ra tion o its goal of rehabilitating 115 homes by fall ost o the i e su esses are on i ernois not i ile Road So Lockhart’s dream looms as big as an one else s on his little stri o i Mile, where Lou’s Delicatessen is the last remaining icon of an era when this was a vibrant, active business strip. Dare I say that the 53-acre Marygrove campus would make an incredible marijuana industrial center with grows, processing, education, and research all centered on cannabis. It’s in the middle of a depressed area that could use some
38 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
marijuana facilities until November 2020. So he’s taking what’s available, eyeing the landscape, and staying in onta t ith the arijuana Regulator Agency. That’s a formula for growth. He’s got a parking lot on the side of his building that will hold about 15 cars. The building will hold about 100 people for a party. There’s a tiny kitchen in the back. This place could be operating soon after the city gives the go ahead for recreational marijuana businesses. “Until the city stops dragging their feet,” says Lockhart. “It feels basically like I’m sitting in front of the club. Sitting on my little bench that I built.” For the moment, then, he’s just a benchwarmer.
Detroit’s delay
Over the past decade as medical marijuana and recreational marijuana became a reality, the city of Detroit has had little to say. Leaders never addressed provisioning centers until forced to. In the meantime, a sprawling, unkempt industry emerged with a vested self interest to keep it that way. Again, the city has failed to get out ahead of recreational marijuana. It won’t lead to the kind of sprawl we saw with provisioning centers, but the delay puts the city at a disadvantage as the industry consolidates without Detroit. Could you imagine Illinois legalizing without Chicago?
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
39
CULTURE
Savage Love By an avage
Q:
I’m a 30-year-old bi male. I’ve been with my wife for five years married nine months. month into our relationship let her know that watching partners with other men has always been something wanted and that sharing this had caused all my previous relationships to collapse. er reaction was the opposite of what was used to. he said she respected my kink and we both agreed we wanted to solidify our relationship before venturing down the cuckold road. ast-forward a couple of years and we are in a healthy relationship living together regularly visiting se clubs though playing only with each other and beginning to add some cuckold dirty talk to our se play. Then after proposed we got busy with wedding plans. e and e perimentation were set aside. nce we got married we started looking for a house. e again took a back seat. Life has settled down now and when bring up my desire to see her with other men she tells me she’s willing but the conversation uickly ends. have suggested making profiles on various websites but it doesn’t happen. m doing something wrong fear that saying Let’s make a profile right now is pushy and absolutely do T want to be the whiny and pushy husband. ny advice you might have would be ama ing. annabe Cuckold Growing rustrated
A : So you don’t want to be pushy
where the wife is concerned, WCGF, but you’ll send me the same email half a dozen times in less than a week. Look, WCGF, some people mean it when they say, “We can have threesomes/go to BDSM parties/try cuckolding once our relationship is solid.” But some people don’t mean it. They tell their kinky and/or nonmonogamous partner what they want to hear in the hopes that after the wedding and the house and the kids, their husband and the father of their children (or their wife and the mother of their children) isn’t going to leave them over something as “trivial” as a threesome, a public spanking, or cuckolding. Complicating matters further, some people say it and mean it and then change their minds. To gure out hat s going on and to gure out hether ou re doing something wrong), you’re going to have to risk being a little pushy — not about utting u a ro le ut a out ha ing a conversation. You’re ready for this to happen, she tells you she is willing, but nothing ever happens. If she does want it to happen, what steps can you take together to make it happen? If she doesn’t want it to happen — if she never wanted it to happen — you need
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
her to level with you. Remember, WCGF, she’s the one being asked to take the risks here — it’s her picture you want to put on a ro le not ours she s the one ho s going to potentially be meeting up ith strangers or se not ou she s the one who is risking exposure to STIs, not you. (Although you could wind up exposed, too, of course. But just because you’re comfortable with that risk doesn’t mean she is.) She also might worry that you’re going to want her to fuck other guys way more often than she’s comfortable with. There are a lot of solid reasons why she might have developed cold feet, and by addressing her concerns constructively — no face pics, no strangers, no cream pies, it can be a very occasional thing — you might make some progress. But if it turns out this isn’t something she wants to do — because she never did or because she changed her mind — then you have to decide whether going without being cuckolded is a price of admission you’re willing to pay to stay in this marriage.
Q:
did one of the things you always say is bad immature and hurtful. was a erk to my girlfriend for weeks because wanted her to break up with me. know it was cowardly. think she is a great woman but ust wasn’t into the relationship and let it go longer than should have. felt terrible that she loved me and didn’t love her back and didn’t want to hurt her. My uestion is this hy do you think sabotaging a relationship in this way is so bad ’m glad she hates me now. he can feel anger instead of sadness. didn’t want to be a great guy who did the right thing when the relationship needed to end. want her to think ’m awful so she can move on with her life. f said all the right things that makes me more attractive
40 January 22-28, 2020 | metrotimes.com
and a loss. ’ve had women do that to me break up with me the right way and respected them more and felt more in love with them and missed them more. still think about them because they were so kind and respectful when they dumped me. prefer the relationships ’ve had that ended with hatred because at least knew we weren’t good for each other and the end was no skin o my back. sn’t it better this way ’ve got no sign-o that creates a clever acronym. Make one up if you want to publish my letter. nnoying hittiness hould elp utraged Lovers scape
A : I did what I could with your sign-
off Being a jerk to someone you’re not interested in seeing anymore in the hopes that they’ll dump you is never OK. It’s certainly not a favor you’re doing them, ASSHOLE, if for no other reason than they’re unlikely to call it uits at the rst sign o our assholer When someone’s actions (jerkishness, assholer on i t ith their ords “ love you, too, sweetheart”), the person on the receiving end of crazy-making mixed messages rarely bolts immediately. They seek reassurance. They ask the person who’s being an asshole to them if they’re still good, if everything’s OK, if they’re still in love. And those aren’t questions the person being an asshole can answer honestly, ASSHOLE, because honest answers would end the relationship. And that’s not how the asshole wants it, right? The asshole doesn’t want to honestly end things themsel es the asshole ants to dishonestly (and dishonorably) force the other person to end the relationship. So the asshole says we’re good, everything’s OK, I still love you, etc., and then dials the assholery up a little more. Does the other person bolt then?
Nope. The other person asks all those same uestions again the asshole offers up the same lying assurances, and the other person asks again and is fed more lies. This sometimes goes on for years before the person being emotionally abused by a lying asshole decides they can’t take it anymore and ends the relationship — often over the objections of the person who wanted out all along! Gaslighting isn’t a term I throw around often or loosely, ASSHOLE, but what you describe doing — and what you’re attempting to rationalize as a gift of some sort — may be the most common form of gaslighting. Nothing about being gaslighted in this manner makes it easier to bounce back after a relationship ends. It makes it harder. Yeah, yeah, your ex “gets” to be mad at you, but she’s going to have a much harder time trusting anyone after dating you because your assholery will likely cause her to doubt her own judgment. (“This new guy says he loves me, but the last guy — that fucking asshole — said he loved me, over and over again, and it was a lie. What if this guy is lying to me, too?”) These brand-new insecurities, a parting gift from you, may cause her to end or sabotage relationships that could have been great. As for your worry that a person may wind up carrying a torch for an ex who ends things with kindness and respect, well, torches have a way of burning out over time, and it’s even possible to will yourself to set a torch down and walk away from it. But the kind of emotional damage done by actions like yours, ASSHOLE? That shit can last a lifetime. n the Lovecast erotic hypnosis with Michal aveed savagelovecast.com. Questions mail@savagelove.net. ollow an on Twitter @fakedansavage. t’s time to M humpfilmfest.com.
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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CULTURE
We now have masked, singing, guest bartenders every third Thursday, that falls on a prime number...Optimus Prime. Transformers, bartenders in disguise...
MY ONESIE IS MORE ONESIE THAN YOUR ONESIE.
Horoscopes By Cal Garrison
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 Recent letdowns have thrown you for a loop. After pouring everything you’ve got into a situation that hasn’t panned out, you’re having a tough time reckoning with the way things are. Instead of tearing your hair out, it might work better to remind yourself that everything happens for a reason. Disappointment and disillusionment can be devastating, but growth goes hand in hand with both of them. Get a grip on yourself. It looks to me like you tried too hard or gave way too much to something that didn’t work out because you had to erase yourself to hang onto it.
LEO: July 21 – August 20 No one has the right to tell you they know what’s best for you. It’s crazy to think that you, of all people, would stand for this. I don’t care if it’s your lover, your boss, your parent, or someone who plays a powerful role in your life at the moment; you’re at a point where only you know what it’s going to take to pull yourself through this. Inside that thought, the idea that it’s OK to change your mind has to be considered. Don’t worry too much how others take it or see it. They don’t have to live your life, and they don’t need to be making judgments about anything you do.
SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 21 – Dec. 20 You can’t monitor what people do. The most you can do is give them plenty of rope and see what they do with it. This goes both ways, by the way. I say this because it looks like someone’s control issues are screwing things up, one way or another. If it’s you who’s trying to lay down the law, what makes you think your rules apply to anyone but you? To those of you who are being expected to go along with anyone’s program but your own, it’s time to get hip to the idea that you could wind up losing yourself to things that will not serve either one of you in the end.
TAURUS: April 21 – May 20 Too much work has distorted your perspective to the point where you’re either burned out or running on automatic and totally inured to the pressures of the treadmill. The light at the end of the tunnel is around the corner. In a few weeks, life will open up long enough for you to stop the madness and simmer down to a more human pace. As you open your eyes to what you could be doing, or to what you’re meant to be doing, a whole new phase of expression will be birthed. Get ready for the dawn to break. Your heart is awakening to changes that will blow your mind.
VIRGO: August 21 – Sept. 20 Sometimes life allows us to remember what it’s really all about. In the midst of too many things to do and more than your share of pressure, someone showed up to remind you that love is the operative word. All of a sudden e er thing ou see is lled ith it Times li e this are re ious and eeting, so soak it up and be prepared for everything else you do to be altered by this feeling. Of course, you have to hold steady and remain focused enough to stay grounded in the real world, but that will pose no problem because the love that you feel right now is there to make it all worthwhile.
CAPRICORN: Dec. 21 – Jan. 20 You’re setting yourself up for something that could totally wreck all the goodness you’ve created if you don’t wise up. Of late, your need to control and/or be right about everything has driven the life out of your relationship with yourself and your relationship ith others n e ou gure out that making things work means that everyone involved is allowed to be themselves, you’ll be able to use your power to support the situation instead of needing to control everything to death. t s time to dro the reins a ing off far enough to let everyone have their space would be a good place to start.
LIBRA: Sept. 21 – Oct. 20 Too many things call you to review your motives; why did you get into this? Underneath it all, were you pushing the envelope? Trying too hard? Are you sure that you got involved for all the right reasons? When things don’t work, it’s a sure sign that something isn’t balanced on the inner levels. Instead of trying to manage a situation where the odds were stacked against you from the get-go, maybe it’s time to call a halt to it, or to at least rearrange things from a place of total honesty. Nothing works when it’s standing on a weak foundation. Tell the truth. It will set you free.
AQUARIUS: Jan. 21 – Feb. 20 The question of where to go from here is always a good one. You’re pretty clear that you’re on the right path. Part of you is expecting to receive clear signs that offer ou more ertaint as to what’s next. Nothing in life is certain; we learn as we go. It’s naïve to think that you can knock on God’s door and expect him to rush down the stairs with all the answers just because you asked. Keep in mind, there is no prescription. Any answers we seek are revealed in the act of living. Right now it’s about staying in the moment, remaining grounded, and following your heart.
GEMINI: May 21 – June 20 You’ve got too much going on to worry about how other people feel about it; the last few weeks have been full of change. It’s not just circumstan es that are u tuating our mind is going all over the place trying to gure out hat it might mean to ha e everything come together like it never has before. This is one of those times when you can only do the one true thing — and that may not have anything to do with doing what looks good to the naked eye. The only way to get a handle on situations like this is to dive a little deeper; connect with yourself. The answers are there. CANCER: June 21 – July 20 So many things have come together in the last few years, you feel pretty good about where things are going. At this point, it won’t hurt to remind yourself that you’ll stop growing if you get too comfortable on this plateau. Yes, my dear, there is more to life than this. What you’ve got lined up needs to be pumped up with new ideas and new information. And P.S., it’s totally OK to start over. The tendency to huddle around your nest egg and count your shekels will keep you stuck in a rut. Trust me; there’s more to life than this. Why stay put when your wildest dreams are out there?
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SCORPIO: Oct. 21 – Nov. 20 After a stretch where you weren’t sure about anything, life is looking better. If you’ve taken the time to look at what’s gone on, you see that your confusion came from thinking that something else should be going on. Now that you have a more realistic sense of who you are and what’s unfolded in the last year, you’re ready to come out from behind the door and get rolling in a positive direction. This new leaf is bound to turn up something that’s more to your liking. What will surprise you is that it will be easier, and much more fun than anything you’ve done in a long time.
PISCES: Feb. 21 – March 20 Your bright ideas are about to get sidelined by forces that are larger than life. Don’t be fooled by what looks like it’s about to settle down. Sudden change will require you to think on your feet and keep your natural-born instincts sharper than usual. Possibilities include being uprooted, reversing your direction, or coming to the point where you realize that it might be best to pick up and go, no matter how good things look. At times like this, logic is less of an asset than what’s coming up on the internal loudspeaker. Lose your expectations. Toss out your plans. Make way for change.
metrotimes.com | January 22-28, 2020
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