Friday, August 24, 2012

WDET's Travis Wright joins Craig to talk about some of the best events happening in and around Detroit this weekend.

Red Bull House of Art’s Second Ever Exhibition Red Bull House of Art will be celebrating its second gallery opening with a multi-disciplinary exhibition that is the culmination of a collaborative art project of rampant yet mainly undiscovered artists. One of the Red Bull House of Art Detroit’s missions is to provide up and coming artists with just the right environment to develop work.

Among the artists featured in the exhibition are make-up artist Allison Vince, print-maker Bryan baker,, noted spray-paint artist, Kobi Solomon will present mixed media work, while Michelle Tanguay works with oils. Eight artists from the Metro Detroit area were tapped by the gallery’s curator, Matt Eaton. Gallery Hours are every Saturday from 10am-3pm. 1551 Winder St. in Eastern Market.

Nashville’s Honey Locusts play Free Show @ Gardenbowl Best excuse to check out Garden Bowl’s new lanes: Nashville’s Honey Locusts contemporary Americana is as sweet as their name suggests, with accordions, mandolins, banjos and all, it’s just the right mesh of old and new. Match by Match, a more melancholic and straightforward take on modern singer-songwriter music, opens. 18 and up. Free!

And to make up a flub from last weekend: Triple Header @ Magic Stick. I thought it was last weekend but I jumped the gun and for that, I do apologize. Again, it’s Will Sessions, The High Strung and Passalacqua: Three of Detroit's most exciting live acts from three completely different genres. $10 at the door.

SATURDAY Best Burger 2012 @ fairway Packing, Eastern Market Fairway Packing Co. and Eastern Market Corp. are bringing us something perfect for a Saturday at Eastern market. It’s first Detroit Burger Brawl. Some of the participating restaurants include Beau Jack's, Cafe Via, Detroit Prime (Matt Prentices latest restaurant), Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, and Townhouse Bistro. I was reading Crain’s, and they said that the judges will be seated on a dramatic circular stage. The judges include Bacco Ristorante owner Luciano Del Signore, Detroit Red Wings' Zamboni driver and self-described barbecue master Al Sobotka and Jack Aronson, founder of Ferndale’s Garden Fresh Gourmet. Fairway Packing Co. is providing all the meat for the competition. Evidently, the people at Fairway say competitors are coming as far away as Chicago, and St. Louis. You can find out who has the Best Burger of 2012 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1313 Erskine in Eastern Market.

Detroit Luvs Robots @ District VII On August 25th 2012 District VII Detroit delivers a family-friendly robot emporium. It’s all about toy hacking, homemade synths, 8 bit chiptune music, 80s, punkrock-nerd/geek fashion, a costume contest, as well as robot sculpture, robot films, , an art robot creation station, a robot photo booth, robot knife fights, and more. They suggest bringing costumes, toys, electronic parts, boxes, retro devices and, if you happen to have ‘em, robots. Admission is $7 at door.

Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine @ Small’s w/ Against The Grain & Golden Torso
Ramona from Black Iris Booking knows her punk rock. She knows that Small’s in Hamtramck is the perfect venue for Jello Biafra, a spoken word artist more famously known for fronting the hardcore punk band Dead Kennedy’s. Ramona says his new band retains some of the the spy-music-on-meth chaos of the Dead Kennedy’s while adding a healthy dose of Detroit style proto-punk mixed with layers of sonic guitar noise, industrial excursions with metal percussion. 8PM $15 Kronk Gym Benefit @ Joe Louis

"Kronk Fight Night" is a fundraiser to help re-open Detroti’s legendary Kronk Gym. The event, promoted by Kronk founder Emmaneul Steward, is expected to include bouts involving at least eight fighters with local or state ties. Steward has trained several well-known fighters at Kronk over the years including Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns. The Kronk, inside the city's Kronk Recreation Center, closed in 2006 after city officials evicted Steward from the building. The recreation center closed around that time as well. There’s been some talk that Steward wants to open a gym in the suburbs. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $20 for general admission, $35 for preferred seating and $100 ringside. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling (800) 745-3000.

SUNDAY Last Cass Collective of the Summer @ Cass Café With psych-freak rockers Reverend, progressive rap duo Smash Television, Justin Walker and the Crossgaurds bringing up the Detroit garage and soul side of things and multi-instrumentalist music machine Deastro on hand, , the Cass Café mixes it up with a handful of Detroit bands and musicians from various genres on a single bill. It’s a celebration of community, of music, and mainly, I think, of having a decent excuse to extend the weekend.

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