Is Trick Trick on the right road to being Detroit's next big rap star?

Considering Detroit City Council members keep scurrying to the nearest microphone to publicly vow that 'Detroit 1-8-7' producers will be booted back to L.A. if they dare portray Detroit negatively, posters hanging on Woodward Avenue downtown should probably at least raise an eyebrow or two.

Rapper Trick Trick, apparently figuring that one less than Eminem isn't too shabby, is advertising his new CD 'Straight Off 7 Mile'. Hey, if '8 Mile' worked...

Eminem even makes a guest appearance on the CD, as do other rappers with names like Dcyple, Fatt Father, Ketchphraze, and DJ Thrilla. Because we always root for the hometown, I'll be sure to hop on iTunes and give Trick Trick a listen. In the meantime, it's probably fair to question the promotional posters, which feature a guy, presumably that's Trick Trick, carrying a gun and standing behind police tape. And I haven't even touched on the track list, which I won't because this is a family-oriented publication. In any event, maybe City Council shouldn't worry so much about TV portrayals and instead focus a little more on the reality.

Fans converge on Comerica Park for Eminem, Jay-Z bash

Fans wait for the first Eminem & Jay-Z show.

Tickets were sold out. Gates weren't to open until 6:00 Thursday. But that didn't stop throngs of people from lining up outside Comerica Park in downtown Detroit early Thursday morning for the first of two Eminen & Jay-Z hip-hop blowouts.

With only a handful of hours remaining before the concert was to start, crews were still finalizing the Comerica facelift. A sound check sent loud thumps through the streets of Detroit. Getting a glimpse inside the stadium was nearly impossible, but the centerfield fountain that normally sprays whenever the Tigers hit a homerun was covered in canvas and fashioned into what looked like a huge soundboard area.

The area surrounding Comerica was engulfed in the concert wave, as trucks presumably used to haul in stage materials and sound and lighting equipment filled Comerica's neighboring lots. Across the street, Cheli's Chili Bar was prepped for what likely will be the biggest two days of the year, its parking lot covered with tents that will likely host more people than they have since last year's Kid Rock bash.

And radio stations like 95.5 (pronounced "Nah-fah-fah", if you're really cool) were parked curbside, as eagerly awaiting the show's start as were the kids sitting in tents on Comerica's brick sidewalks. It was all enough to make you wonder what Day 2 might bring. And better yet,  what's this going to be like when it hits New York?

WCSX brings rock downtown with Workforce Wednesdays lunch concerts

Banned From Earth plays Campus Martius

Live bands playing to lunchtime crowds at Campus Martius Park is pretty common stuff throughout the summer.

But typically jazz fills the air. Maybe some R&B. So it caught my attention when yesterday, still nearly two blocks away from the Quicken Loans Stage at Campus Martius, I heard the guitar grinding of Black Sabbath tunes cutting between the buildings downtown.

As part of WCSX's Workforce Wednesdays Concert Lunch Series, a Sabbath tribute group called Banned From Earth was working the stage. And unlike much of the summer, the Campus Martius lawn was fairly crowded, thanks in large part (I assume) to the new flock of Quicken Loans workers who recently transferred to office space in the nearby Compuware Building.

WCSX Workforce Wednesdays will bring more hard rock downtown when local band Fifth Way plays Sept. 1. The Roy Orbison tribute act The Orbitsuns (Sept. 8) and Rod Stewart tribute artist Danny D (Sept. 15) will wrap up the season.

Hitsville U.S.A. celebrates the life of Michael Jackson

It was quite a scene outside of Hitsville U.S.A. on Grand Boulevard this afternoon, when the folks at the Motown Museum welcomed fans of Michael Jackson to gather and celebrate the gloved one's life and music. It was pretty remarkable, really.

In the yard next to the house where the Jackson 5 originally recorded some of their early hits, speakers blared classic Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson songs through the neighborhood. There were Michael impersonators. Michael paraphernalia. Michael t-shirts. Even this huge Michael poster, which was designed by the guy standing next to it, although I didn't catch his name. The lawn in front of Hitsville was packed, so more people set up their lawn chairs in the median of Grand Boulevard. It kind of reminded me of people tailgating while they waited for a concert to start.

What was most remarkable was the enormous age range of the people celebrating. Dancing together to "A-B-C" were a young boy who I'm guessing was four and a woman who was well into her 70s. (And they could both move pretty well!) Never been a huge Michael fan, myself, but if you think he's a cult hero in the suburbs, you should see how they love him on the street where he made his name.

4th Fridays in Campus Martius beefed up for 2010

I caught a bit of the lunchtime live music earlier this week at Campus Martius Park, but that was just a prelude to what "Summer in the Park" planners have cooked up for their 4th Fridays series this summer downtown.

The first of the three all-day events is today, with live music playing at lunch, a Happy Hour show running from 4-6, and a four-band show playing from 6-9:45. The evening will feature The Brothers Groove, Thornetta Davis, Jill Jack, and the Howling Diablos, who, incidentally, should not be confused with blues legend Howlin' Wolf, who, by the way, should not be confused with local blues band Howlin' Mercy, who, it turns out, is fronted by recent Times consumer Andrew Johnson, whose band I once painfully mis-labeled in the local rag as Howlin' Mercy, which immediately ignited my love of Internet-based publications like this one, because now, when you (bleep) something up, you can just go fix it. Nevermind that there wasn't an Internet back then. A short while later, Al Gore and I invented it.

Anyway, back to Campus Martius. Following the evening-long music, the Detroit/Windsor International Film Festival will showcase the work of a pair of local film makers whose films were recently honored. If you're able to make it downtown for the show, the film festival portion will take you to 11 o'clock, at which point I'm going to recommend you walk a half block up Woodward toward the river to the Grand Trunk Pub, order a glass of Full Circle, and raise a toast to the finer things in life, like summer, music and weekends. And the Internet.

Remembering Detroit's Paradise Valley

You've probably heard of the Harmonie Park district in Detroit. It occupies part of a larger area that long ago was known as Paradise Valley, home to the bulk of Detroit's black population. City officials, it seems, are pushing to re-tag the area with its original Paradise Valley name lately; you see it more and more on signage these days in the area near Broadway not far from Comerica Park and Ford Field.

Paradise Valley, back in the day, was nationally known as a great place to catch some of the biggest names in jazz and blues. I learned all of this, and more, after seeing these photos that hang at Coaches Corner last week. Read about a few other things I learned by checking out the entry I made on Examiner.com.

"Sweet Home" on the Detroit RiverWalk

Coming off a two-week stretch that saw way too many bullets fly in Detroit, this is what we needed. A reminder that, at its best, Detroit is tough to beat.

During a sunny lunch hour on the river as kids scurried through The Fountain at GM Plaza, I heard the sweet tunes from this guy. Seated just across the sidewalk from the river, he was playing a bluesy-acoustic version of "Sweet Home, Chicago". He ad-libbed the lyrics and tapped his toe on a tambourine pedal. It wasn't easy to get myself back on the bike and return to work, but it was therapeutic all the same.

Detroit's Mariners' Church: Preserved in a classic song

As perhaps one of Detroit's best examples of old-meets-new (and there are a bunch of them), the Mariners' Church stands in the shadows of the RenCen; most of us have driven past it countless times. Here's why sometimes, it's better to walk rather than drive.

The Mariners' Church, according to the National Register of HIstoric Places marker out front, tells the story of how the church was built in 1849 at Woodward and Woodbridge, just a block or two away. The church was originally built to "serve the spiritual needs of Great Lakes seamen." More than a hundred years later, the 3,000-ton limestone building was dragged 880 feet on steel rails to its current location, a project that blocked Woodward Avenue for 21 days. The church was moved to make room for the creation of the Civic Center.

Interesting as all that is, the sign goes on to tell how the church was immortalized in 1975 when Gordon Lightfoot wrote his classic song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". Anybody who's ever heard the song probably remembers the line, "The church bell chimed 'til it rang 29 times..." It turns out, the "cathedral" to which Lightfoot was referring was none other than this old church sitting at the mouth of the Windsor Tunnel.

Hitsville USA: the small home with a huge story

Not that we've run out of stuff downtown Detroit to see, visit and scribble about, but today the Kage stretches its boundaries a little bit and ventures out to the New Center area, for a couple of reasons. One, I had a small legal matter to tend to out that way. And two, I've always wanted to see Hitsville USA up close. It's kind of hard to believe that I hadn't at least driven past it. Until today.

Hitsville USA, for those unaware, is the founding site of Motown music, the house where Berry Gordy, Jr., lived and built a recording studio, where people like Stevie Wonder and the Jackson 5 recorded some of their biggest hits. I didn't stop in for the official tour, but it's definitely on my to-do list now. (Check out www.motownmuseum.com for details.)

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I got to Hitsville, but I guess because nearly everything that counts as a tourist attraction these days is huge, I was picturing something bigger. Instead, I turned on to West Grand Boulevard from the Lodge and drove past a row of old homes that could easily have been mistaken for a block in Wyandotte. And there it was. Hitsville USA. I almost passed it. It's just a house. No elaborate entryway. No marble statues. Not even a parking lot. Aside from the "Hitsville USA" letters stretched across the front, it's just a house, which really is one of the reasons it's so cool. What have you ever made in your home? An omelet? The bed? In this house, Marvin Gaye made "Can I Get A Witness?"

Michigan Theater tells an amazing history of Detroit

Down on Bagley Street and Grand River, a mammoth old building is standing there looking (like many of the buildings downtown) particularly under-used. It’s called the Michigan Building, one-time home of the Michigan Theater, which by itself has a remarkable history.

Back in the 1950s, the theater was a 4,000-seat place that showed now-classic films. In the 1960s, it was used to show closed-circuit television events, in particular, simulcast Red Wings games for people who couldn’t get in to Olympia. And in the 1970s, it was a concert venue for rock bands.

What few people realize – Kage readers no longer included – is that before the Michigan Theater closed in the late 1970s, the name was changed to the Michigan Palace. I hope the photo I took of a poster comes through clearly enough for you to read, because it’s unbelievable to see the names of the some of the bands who played there. (To give you an idea, the marquee in the poster reads “The Doors”.)

Sadly, sometime after the theater closed, it was converted into a parking garage, which is what that part of the building remains today. Interestingly, parts of the theater are reportedly still visible in the garage, and the place has been used recently during the filming of movies, including “Eight Mile”.

Street music in Detroit is alive and well

Who said all the good music winds up at the Palace or Pine Knob? This guy was out recently with his six-string in front of the Central United Methodist Church in downtown Detroit, just down the street from Comerica Park.  He's no dummy. He picked a day to set up shop when 40,000 Tigers fans were filing into the stadium for the series-finale with the Twins. His guitar case looked pretty ripe with change and bills, I noticed as I tossed in a few coins.

And in case you're wondering, as I hurried past (only to see Bobby Seay give up a bases-loaded double that gave the Twins a 7-1 lead) he was playing a pretty cool version of "Imagine" by John Lennon. 

The Fillmore keeping Detroit music-rich history alive

These days, the bulk of the live-music buzz downtown centers around Kiss and their return to Cobo Arena, the house they made famous more than three decades ago. True music aficionados, though, are keeping a closer eye on The Fillmore Detroit, which until recently was called the State Theater, and which prior to that was called the Palms Theater, and which has always been an integral part in the Detroit entertainment scene. 

The Palms/State/Fillmore has hosted many big-name acts over the years, and the tradition continues this October when (are you ready for this?) Detroit will be treated to (don’t wet yourself!) a visit from none other than – Hanson! I’m no expert on the Hanson collection, but I have to believe their set will consist of more than a 90-minute version of “MmmBop!” Which, by the way, wouldn’t that be awesome!?!

Incidentally, the concert date is Oct. 10, I think. Lemme know how it goes.

(Kage Note: I plan on learning more about The Fillmore Detroit in the near future. Truthfully, since the casinos have failed on promises to bring big-name music downtown, the Fillmore has been – aside from the huge arena places - Detroit’s top venue for great live music. The Hanson date notwithstanding.)

Detroit Jazz Festival is one, uh, tasty happenin’

The white guy with the gray ponytail was sweet. Earlier today, he was lounging under a tent next to a stage in Campus Martius Park, getting ready for this weekend’s Jazz Festival.

“Be sure to check out the Chase stage tonight, too,” he said, pointing toward a second stage a half-block away. “There’ll be some tasty jazz happenin’ tonight.”

Jazz people are great.

Of the many of Detroit’s annual events, the Jazz Festival, I’ve been told, is probably the coolest one I’ve never been to. In addition to those two stages at Campus Martius, there are three others down along the river, and a weekend lineup of music that has jazz people slobbering.

In seeing it during set-up today, though, I realized that the Jazz Festival is not just an event for the jazz aficionado, music types. Woodward Avenue, from Campus Martius nearly all the way to Jefferson, looks like the main strip at a carnival, lined with vendors selling elephant ears, cotton candy and all that other healthy stuff.

Many of the streets are blocked to traffic, and people on foot were settling in four hours before the music was scheduled to start. If you’re looking for a non-sports reason to make it downtown before summer ends, this might be the perfect time. The weather is supposed to be beautiful. The two areas of downtown hosting the festival are renovated and ready. And the music, by all reports, will be tasty.