Rubric
Review
Confident, specific criticism. Records, shows, restaurants, exhibitions, games.
Monday at Movement 2026: DJ Minx and Dom Dolla close a packed Hart Plaza
Paxahau's twentieth Movement closed Memorial Day with a full Hart Plaza. DJ Minx at the Pyramid, Dom Dolla at the Movement Stage, Sillygirlcarmen on the Detroit Stage, and the day-three crowd that Hart Plaza counts on every year.
CCS sent its 2026 senior fashion class down a 700-foot runway at Somerset Collection
The College for Creative Studies sent its 2026 senior fashion class down a 700-foot runway at Somerset Collection on April 26, with projected lighting on the lower-level corridor.
Yungblud sold out Freedom Hill on a cold Friday with Return to Dust opening
Yungblud sold out the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill on Friday, May 1, on a cold night with Los Angeles band Return to Dust opening.
Vernal 2026 fills Buffalo Prescott with botanical sculpture and an oversized worm couch
Vernal 2026 is Buffalo Prescott's spring exhibition, a contemporary group show built around a botanical theme — decorative rabbits, plant installations, and an oversized worm couch.
Sunda lands a fifth restaurant in the district Detroit
Billy Dec is honest about the bet. He has framed Sunda's Detroit room as a step outside the brand's familiar model and called it an exciting risk that is still a risk.
Hamtramck Blowout 2026 dropped the wristband back to twenty bucks and pulled in 130 acts
The 2025 Blowout sold 220 acts across 25 venues with a thirty-five-dollar wristband.
Medusa opens Anthony Lombardo's Sicilian restaurant a block from SheWolf
Selden Street between Second and Third is Anthony Lombardo's block now.
Street Beet finally gets a Corktown address with its name on it
The pop-up has been Detroit's most ambitious vegan operation for seven years. McDaddy's. Taco Hell. The plant-based versions of the things you actually want to eat at one a.m.
Saksey's opened off Parker's Alley with Cap'n Crunch sundaes and Teeny 'tinis
Saksey's opened on Friday, November 14, 2025, with eight tables and 55 seats in the basement of Gilly's Clubhouse at 1550 Woodward. The entrance is in Parker's Alley.
Mary-Ann Monforton's Heart Land plays house at the Mobile Homestead
The MOCAD main building closed in August for HVAC and infrastructure renovations through early 2026.
Autechre played the Russell Industrial Center
Paxahau booked Autechre at the Russell Industrial Center on October 21, 2025.
Marble Bar turned 10 the only way it knows how
Marble Bar turned 10 on October 3 and 4, 2025, and marked the occasion by booking Octave One live and Danny Daze on the same weekend.
The DIA's first major Native American show in 30 years
Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation opened at the DIA on Sunday and runs through April 5, 2026.
DJ Stingray brought the Echogenesis Tour to Lincoln Factory
DJ Stingray 313 played Lincoln Factory on September 27, 2025, as part of his Echogenesis Tour. Akua and 1morning were on the bill.
Foxglove ended its 2025 season at Dreamtroit with Juan Atkins and a family-friendly day party
Foxglove closed its 2025 season on September 20 by leaving the garden. The garden, the Leicester Court yard that has been Foxglove's home in the North End since 2023, only holds a few hundred people.
Dally in the alley returns for its 46th year, still without sponsors
Dally in the Alley filled the streets between Forest, Hancock, Second, and Third on Saturday, September 6, 2025, for its 46th year. Magazine Free admission.
Tec-Troit went off in August
Tec-Troit ran August 15 to 17, 2025, at The Container Globe. Free, three days, a lineup that leaned hard into Detroit's own catalog.
Charivari stopped being one festival and became five
Charivari Detroit ran August 14 to 17, 2025, across multiple venues instead of one. The festival dropped its single-site Fort Wayne model.
Tacos Wuey opens on Vernor with a family birria recipe
Eddie Vargas grew up around Vernor Highway. He spent the past several years cooking other people's restaurants for them.
Richie Hawtin made a short film about Detroit in 1995
NOWNESS released Kids Like Us on July 5, 2025. The 35mm short runs nine minutes and was executive produced by Richie Hawtin.
Juan Atkins brought Cybotron to Glastonbury
Cybotron played Glastonbury on June 27, 2025, inside the Block9 IICON structure.
The Underground Stage at Movement 2025: where the deepest sets lived
The Underground Stage at Movement 2025 sits in the amphitheater bowl Noguchi cut into the slope. The 2025 booking confirmed it as the festival's harder, more architecturally precise corner.
After Movement 2025: where the parties went after Hart Plaza closed
The Movement 2025 afterparty circuit ran from Friday May 23 through Tuesday May 27. Hart Plaza closed at midnight three nights running. The afterparties did not.
The Pyramid and Waterfront stages at Movement 2025
The Pyramid and Waterfront stages at Movement 2025 sit on opposite ends of Hart Plaza. The two stages are the festival's middle tier, and the bookings reflect that.
Monday at Movement 2025: closing day under the Detroit sky
Movement 2025 closed Monday night, May 26, 2025, under a clear Detroit sky and a crowd that had thinned only slightly from Sunday's peak.
Underground Music Academy took the stage at Movement
Underground Music Academy took over the Detroit Stage at Movement 2025 on Sunday. It was UMA's first festival showcase.
The three godfathers played Hart Plaza together
Carl Craig went back to back with Moodymann on the Stargate stage on Saturday night of Movement 2025. Mike Banks was in the booth with them.
Theo Parrish and Moodymann played Lincoln Factory for 12 hours
The Nothing Is Strange party at Lincoln Factory on Sunday of Movement weekend 2025 had one lineup: Theo Parrish and Moodymann.
No Way Back turned 30 and nobody left before dawn
Interdimensional Transmissions ran No Way Back 2025 on Sunday night at Tangent Gallery, billed as a 14-hour Techno Thanksgiving.
Sunday at Movement 2025: Day Two delivered the deepest sets
Sunday, May 25, 2025, was the second day of Movement 2025. The crowd at Hart Plaza ran heavier than Saturday by 6 p.m. and the deepest Detroit programming was concentrated in the afternoon.
Soul Clap's House of EFUNK turned 11
Soul Clap's House of EFUNK ran its 11th edition at TV Lounge over Movement weekend 2025. Two nights. Deep lineup.
Saturday at Movement 2025: opening day at Hart Plaza
Movement 2025 opened on Hart Plaza at noon on Saturday, May 24, 2025. The 25th anniversary edition ran a full slate across all six stages from the first hour.
The Carl Craig documentary finally played in Detroit
Desire: The Carl Craig Story had its Detroit premiere at Newlab at Michigan Central Station on May 22, 2025. The room was full.
Flower Day brings 80 growers and a full Sunday of plant-hauling to Eastern Market
The 58th annual Flower Day ran from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at Eastern Market. Mix 92.3 Free.
60th Cinco de Mayo parade walks West Vernor with three women leading
The 60th annual Cinco de Mayo Parade ran 2.4 miles down West Vernor Highway on Sunday, May 4, 2025. Organizers put the turnout around 8,000.
Marche du Nain Rouge marches the red dwarf out of Detroit again
About 10,000 people showed up in Cass Corridor on Sunday, March 23, 2025, for the annual Marche du Nain Rouge CBS News, the costume parade that exists to chase a small red imp out of Detroit.
Hamtramck Blowout 2025 expanded to 220 acts and 25 venues, but the wristband price went up
The 2024 Blowout reboot had 17 venues, 150 bands, and a twenty-dollar wristband.
Dirty Shake opened on 313 Day with a wraparound patio, boozy slushies, and a hummer
Sandy Levine and Doug Hewitt opened Dirty Shake at Forest and Second on March 13, 2025. They picked the date for the obvious reason.
Hamtramck Labor Day festival closes its 44th year with a Jack White surprise
The 44th annual Hamtramck Labor Day Festival ran August 31 through September 2, 2024. Joseph Campau Avenue from Caniff to Carpenter. Free admission.
Detroit Jazz Festival opens with Alice Coltrane's harp on stage
The 45th annual Detroit Jazz Festival ran Labor Day weekend, August 30 to September 2, 2024. Hart Plaza, Campus Martius, and the new Gretchen C.
Concert of Colors fills Midtown for its 33rd year, free as ever
Concert of Colors ran for the 33rd time from July 16 to 21, 2024, with most stages at the Detroit Institute of Arts and additional programming across the Detroit Historical Museum, the Charles H.
African World festival returns to Hart Plaza for its 41st year
The 41st annual African World Festival ran July 12 to 14, 2024, at Hart Plaza. The Wright Three days of music, vendors, food, dance, and panels organized by the Charles H.
Mighty real/queer Detroit's second biennial hits 11 galleries
The second Mighty Real/Queer Detroit biennial opened tonight and runs through June 30.
After Movement 2024: where Detroit went next
Movement closes at midnight. The afterparty circuit runs to noon. Across three nights and four full days of programming, the rooms that ran the festival's actual late hours were TV Lounge, Marble Bar, the Tangent Gallery, Spot Lite, and Lincoln Factory.
Monday at Movement 2024: Memorial Day closes hard
Movement 2024 closed Memorial Day, May 27, with the day-three lineup that runs Detroit harder than the rest of the weekend. DJ Stingray, Robert Hood, Octave One, and the Carl Craig closing set.
Sunday at Movement 2024: a night the crowd didn't leave
Day two of Movement 2024 was the day the festival had been arguing about for three months. Skrillex closed the Movement Stage. The crowd that showed up for him stayed.
Saturday at Movement 2024: the festival came back full
Movement 2024 opened Saturday, May 25, with a Hart Plaza crowd that was the largest on a festival opening day since the pre-pandemic editions.
Leña fires up Spain in Brush Park
The hearth is the room. Walk into Leña, look left, and the kitchen opens out around a wood-fire hearth burning Michigan oak, cherry, and applewood.
Tiff Massey takes four galleries at the DIA
Tiff Massey opened her solo show at the DIA tonight. Four galleries in the contemporary wing. The most ambitious installation by a Detroit artist the museum has ever staged.
The 2024 NFL Draft pulled 775,000 people to downtown Detroit
The 2024 NFL Draft ran in downtown Detroit from April 25 to 27 and pulled an estimated 775,000 people across three days, the largest crowd in the history of the event.
Vecino bets a roofless Cass Corridor building on heirloom corn
Vecino opened on a Friday in April after a long buildout. The 1926 corner at 4100 Third had sat empty for fifty years before Adriana Jimenez and Lukasz Wietrzynski talked themselves into it.
The Hamtramck Blowout returned in 2024 with new organizers and the same scrappy energy
Nine years after Metro Times stopped producing it, the Hamtramck Blowout came back.
Black opens at the Carr Center
The Carr Center's BLACK group exhibition opened Friday and runs through February 29. The full title is BLACK: A Built Language Across Culture and Knowledge.
Bonobo at Movement 2023: a quieter Detroit night
Simon Green closed the Movement Stage Sunday night under the name he has been using for twenty-five years. The set was the quietest Memorial Day Sunday closer Movement has booked in recent memory.
