CultureShift Events Guide: Woodbridge Porch Concerts, Detroit Harvest Fest and more

This week, we’re celebrating some legendary music careers, from London rock to Detroit Techno, as well as some budding neighborhood talent.

Plus, food trucks, a poetry slam and a can’t-miss Halloween show. Read on to learn more.

Musical legacies

• Saturday, Oct. 7, Spot Lite Detroit is hosting a Life & Birthday Celebration for Techno legend Delano Smith with performances by Sillygirlcarmen and Tony Foster. Smith spoke with CultureShift’s Tia Graham earlier this year about the outpouring of support he’s received from Detroit’s dance scene since his cancer diagnosis in 2022, and this celebration is sure to add to that sense of community. The show starts at 9 p.m. and is 21+. Tickets are $21.95 and are available online. For more information, visit their website.
• Sunday, Oct. 8, legendary rockstar and founder of The Police, Stewart Copeland, will perform with the DSO for a high-energy orchestral celebration of his four-decade career. With Copeland on drums, three singers and a guest guitarist, the DSO will perform The Police’s biggest hits including “Roxanne,” “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and “Message in a Bottle” in a one-night-only event. The performance will take place at Orchestra Hall at 7 p.m., and tickets start at $59. For more information, visit their website.

Woodbridge welcome

• Saturday, Oct. 7 is the 3rd Annual Woodbridge Porch Concerts, featuring performances by neighborhood musicians from their historic covered porches. Performances start at noon and go through 6 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. To see the lineup and learn more, visit their website.
• After the Woodbridge Porch Concerts, stick around for the 4th Annual Woodbridge Co-Hop Beer Tapping, featuring beer made with hops grown in the neighborhood. There will be more music, food and limited-edition beer at Lexington Bar starting at 6 p.m.. All beer sales benefit minor home repair grants for low-income Woodbridge residents. For more information, visit their Facebook event page.

Spoken slams

• Thursday, Oct. 5 is the next Moth StorySLAM, and the theme is “adulting.” Prepare your best five-minute story about the highs and lows of coming of age, and the trials and tribulations of getting there. Doors open at the Marble Bar at 6:30 p.m., stories start at 7:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit our events page. 
• Sunday, Oct. 8 is the All-City Poetry Slam Semifinals hosted by Spirit of Detroit Award winner Joel Fluent Greene. Poets can register to perform up to four original poems in the slam, and the winner will get $500 and a chance to win the championship later this month. Poet registration is $20, general admission is $30 and the slam starts at 7 p.m. For more information, visit their Facebook event page.

Healthy harvests

• Thursday, Oct. 5, Detroit sustainability advocates will celebrate urban farmers and local culinary talent with Bowties & Overalls at Rescue MI Nature Now. The free celebration will include a plant-forward communal feast, cooking and farming demonstrations, special awards and an introduction to the GREEN restaurant placard pilot project by the Detroit Health Department. Guests are encouraged to wear their best bowties and overalls. For more information, visit their Eventbrite page.
• Saturday, Oct. 7 through Sunday. Oct. 8 is the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy’s Detroit Harvest Fest and Food Truck Rally featuring live music, a pumpkin patch, trick-or-treating and over 50 food trucks. Festivities go from 11 a.m. through 8 p.m. all weekend along the Dequindre Cut Greenway. Admission is $5 per person or free for children under 3, seniors over 65, active-duty military and veterans. For more information, visit their website.

Multimedia exhibitions

• Friday, Oct. 6, Detroit artist Joe Horner is opening a solo exhibition titled “Oh Lord” at Xhibition Detroit. The exhibition explores the physical and emotional impressions that physical objects leave well after they’re gone, featuring abstracted action paintings and a multimedia interpretation of Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz.” The show runs through Oct. 29 and is presented by PLEASURES and Pabst Blue Ribbon. For more information, visit Joe Horner on Instagram.

Halloween on the horizon

• This year, Jon Moshier’s annual Modern Music Halloween Special will crawl out of the grave and onto the stage! Join us at Cadieux Cafe on Oct. 27 for a Rock & Roll Horror Show, featuring performances by garage rock royalty The Hentchmen and The 3-D Invisibles, a costume contest, and limited-edition merchandise. Tickets are $20 and directly support WDET. This event is 21+. For more information, visit our events page.