Wednesday • 24
Oslo's Reopening
Hipsters rejoice!
Let's see if they have the chops(ticks) to hack it a second time around: The much-loved sushi bar, art gallery and underground (literally) music venue is reopening under the new ownership. Former waitress Katalia Lemos and her husband, Roberto (DJ Bet) are taking the helm, attempting to resuscitate the once-glorious scenester hot spot.. A $10 cover for the launch, which begins at 10 p.m. at Oslo, 1456 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Don't bother calling ahead (there's no number to be reached yet, anyway) - there's loud enough buzz downtown to fill you in. DJ Minx, D. Wynn and Kevin Saunderson to spin the old school techno and deep house we've all come to expect of Oslo.
Thursday • 25
PostSecret
What we do is startling
"As a child on my aunt and uncle's farm, I fed a chicken nugget to a chicken — I still feel guilty about it." Ick. Living with the truth that you facilitated avian cannibalism is quite a cross to bear. Thankfully, the popular PostSecret blog allows anonymous confessions to be shared with the world — contributors mail in handmade postcards with phrases like, "I wished on a dandelion for my husband to die," or "I know it didn't sound like it, but trust me, I faked it!" Frank Warren, facilitator of the PostSecret Web site, is promoting A Lifetime of Secrets, his fourth compilation of these postcards. Several will be on display, and Warren will sign books beginning at 6 p.m. in the Epstein Gallery of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit, 6600 W. Maple Rd., West Bloomfield. Call 248-661-1000 for more info. And to get a taste of these wacky, disturbing, heartfelt cards, visit postsecret.blogspot.com.
Thursday • 25
Surfin' Dead
All souls Dance
The spooky, reverb-drenched sounds of surfy instrumental music have always been a natural for the Halloween season. But when local surf heroes the Volcanos top the bill — as they do at the First Annual Surfin' Dead bash — the combination couldn't be more, um, dead on. Having also brought us the ghoul-rockin' 3-D Invisibles, the beat-heavy Meltdowns and the spaghetti Western-themed Hellbenders, dueling Volcanos guitarists "Creepy" Rick Mills and Chris Flanagan are the real deal, ya see. And if their albums, Finish Line Fever and Krakatoa Surfquake, leave any doubt in your head, take note: The duo formed its first surf combo, the now-legendary Zombie Surfers, a good decade before Quentin Tarantino popularized "Misirlou" and "Surf Rider" via Pulp Fiction. We can, in fact, see 'em blasting their staccato-picked guitars at the old pearly gates. Man the hearse and head on down. Cover's $7 for the 10 p.m. show. With the Concussions, the Breakers and DJs Professor Schmiddy and Del Villareal at the Berkley Front, 3087 12 Mile Rd., Berkley; 248-547-3331.
Thursday • 25
Tyler Green
Shooting from the hip
He's the Bill Maher of the art world, a watchdog and soothsayer who offers all around comic relief on his blog www.artsjournal.com/man. Tyler Green has been labeled as one of the most influential critics covering visual arts from his home computer in Washington, D.C.. Come hear this blogger mouth off at College for Creative Studies, as part of the Woodward Lecture Series, at 7:30 p.m. at CCS' Anderson Auditorium, inside the Walter B. Ford Building on the CCS campus. The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, call CCS' Center Galleries at 313-664-7800.
Thursday-Saturday • 25-27
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Windy City softshoe
Marking its 30th anniversary this year, modern dance troupe Hubbard Street Dance Chicago makes its way to A2. A company known for both exquisite technique and eccentric movement, dancers are classically trained but deviate slightly from the poise and decorum required in ballet; instead, moves are informed with wit, jubilance, and sexuality. Of note, Emmy- and Tony-winning Twyla Tharp's jazz ballet "Baker's Dozen" will be performed by the dancers. Originally choreographed in 1979, the piece is set to music from Willie "The Lion" Smith. Tickets are $20-$48, with performances held at 8 p.m. at the Power Center, 121 Fletcher St., Ann Arbor; 734-763-3333 for more info.
Thursday-Sunday • 25-28
Dr. Seward's Dracula
Old Fangs Get Newfangled
If you've been there, done that, here's something brand-new to do: The world premiere of Dr. Seward's Dracula, by award-winning Michigan playwright Joseph Zettelmaier. Directed by Shannon Ferrante, this vampire thriller puts a minor character in Bram Stoker's Dracula front and center. The doctor learned the details of a mysterious murder spree from his patient, lunatic and Dracula stooge Renfield. The uncannily accurate details are so macabre, they even bring the writer Stoker himself to London. As Stoker interviews the doctor for his next novel, the murders start again. Expect a fresh twist on an old tale. At 8 p.m., (Sundays at 2 p.m.), with a special Halloween performance Oct. 31; $15, $10 students and seniors with ID. At Planet Ant Theatre, 2357 Caniff, Hamtramck; 313-365-4948.
Thursday-Sunday • 25-28
World's Greatest Magic Show
Don't blink!
Be nice, Metro Times. The gimmicky name is a side effect of this show's long Vegas run — a "step right up!" appeal to vice-addled tourists. Poking fun at that is just too damn easy and lazy, so we'll give it to you straight: Ten of the greatest magicians and most magic-est illusionists from around the world will show off spectacular ruses. Death-defying illusions, sleight of hand, comedy and — huzzah! —Vegas showgirls will guarantee, undoubtedly, the Greatest time of your life. Great! At the Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit; 313-872-1000 for info.
Friday • 26
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
You want scary?
A corpulent matron in a lei and carnelian sweatsuit wielding a cartoonish dead fish decorates the film's poster, along with the words "Hungarian revolutionaries, Christian nudists, pop stars, land sharks, hard drinkers, empty cities, failed resort towns, tons of dead fish, a dying café, and a man who built a mountain." Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea skips the typical doc milieu — no cinematic pans of oil-slicked otters here — but all the same, it's a devastating account of the destruction of a West Coast ecological utopia. Narrated by the ever-irreverent John Waters, the award-winning doc details the Salton Sea, a salt mine-turned-lake, turned failed-resort town (all because of an irrigational mishap years ago). Saltier than the ocean, swimming with selenium and a nesting ground for the nastiest of bacteria, the Salton Sea is but one example of manmade environmental horror. Director Jeff Springer will be available for a post-screening Q&A session. Tickets are $5 at the Detroit Film Center, 1227 Washington Blvd., Detroit; call 313-961-9936 for more info.
Friday • 26
The Vizitors/The Blackman Benefit
Way out, 2 ways
Last time we caught the Vizitors, we were blown away by their balance of intensity and forms (funk to dirges), which is much of what the jazz avant-garde is all about. But we went expecting to hear something more than the powerful instrumentals of the group, which is anchored by pianist Kenny Green and Chicago drummer Dushun Mosely (of the group Eight Bold Souls), and includes ex-Griot Galaxy saxophonist Anthony Holland. Unfortunately, vocalist Teresa Mora (how many others around here put voice to this kind of music?) was a last-minute no show. As if to make up for that, the group's Boho House return is to include both Mora and dancers. Admission is $5-$10 for 8 p.m. show at Bohemian National Home, 3009 Tillman (22nd), Detroit; 313-737-6606. A midnight funk benefit for the family of The Blackman follows. The DJ recently lost his son in an auto accident.
Friday • 26
Night Gallery
WOW and MORE for Dancing
What does dance culture have in store as Halloween approaches? Our Subterraneans columnist Walter Wasacz has a suggestion: Begin at Finite on Friday, Oct. 26, when crews from Bang Tech, Breakloose, Detroit Techno Militia, Women on Wax and others combine to present Night Gallery. Appearing at the decks: Dilemma, DJ Seoul, G. Major, Mizz Chavez, T. Linder, the Vandal and Minx, the latter who's been producing, performing and growing in her music since 1998. (Scour the web for fellow Detroiter Pirahnahead's "headjob" remix of her "Fuzzy Navel" track out now on the Japanese Pony Canyon label.) Fi-Nite Gallery is at 1370 Plum St., Detroit; $10 before midnight, $15 after. With costume, it's $5 off all night. Look for Walter in the Rod Serling death mask! Walter has a plenty of other suggestions in Subterraneans at metrotimes.com.
Friday, Saturday, Tuesday • 26, 27, 30
The Rocky Horror Show
A Jump to the left
The movie that attracted rowdy live audiences to midnight showings, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, 20th Century Fox), was originally Richard O'Brien's London stage musical The Rocky Horror Show. So any stage production of Rocky Horror represents a return to roots, and the Actors' Company has brought the campy classic to the stage in Ferndale, fishnets, stilettos, beefcake and all. Though fans are encouraged to dress up as their favorite Rocky Horror characters, bringing in props (rice, toast, flashlights, etc.) is prohibited. On the other hand, they will sell Rocky Horror Show prop participation bags for $10 a pop. At the Ringwald Theatre, 22742 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; for information or tickets, call 248-988-7032, Ext. 2; $25.
Friday & Saturday • 26 & 27
Night of the Living Dead: The Musical
A step to the right
Written by Thomas Hoagland and Chad Kushuba, this song-and-dance zombie stage play has been dispensing gross-outs and giggles for six years. Zombie-themed entertainment tends to run to the politically subversive, and this work's no exception. The script makes fun of an America where hysteria takes over, people stop thinking for themselves and start destroying anybody who does have a brain. You don't need CliffsNotes to figure this one out, kids. At the Majestic Theatre, 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit; for more information call 718-744-5686 or see theabreact.com; all shows 8 p.m.; $15.
Saturday • 27
Umm Kulthoum Egyptian Orchestra
Remember the 'Star of the East'
There's no single American figure who parallels Egypt's Umm Kulthoum — although you could try cobbling together some approximation from the art and impact of Mahalia Jackson, Betsy Ross and Elvis Presley. From the 1920s until her death in 1975 — marked with a mile-long funeral procession — she was the voice of the Arab world, a nationalist and Muslim icon. Time magazine reported her to be the richest woman in the Middle East in the 1960s for her command of ballads that unfurl "verse upon verse ... for over an hour." Her music lives on, alongside other Egyptian classics, in the Umm Kulthoum Egyptian Orchestra. The occasion is the fourth annual gala of the Arab American National Museum. At the Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway, Detroit; call 313-624-0200 or Ticketmaster for tickets, which start at $25.
Sunday • 28
Kelly Clarkson
Pop-chart hipsway
The American Idol alum is striving to reach a more mature audience — but will it keep the bubblegum-hued lip-gloss set from mouthing along? Maybe. Such lyrics as "Can you feel how cold I am? Do you cry as I do? Are you lonely up there all by yourself?" litter her latest album, My December. It seems that, typical in the progression of artist-turned-artiste, Clarkson has gone all navel-gaze-y and is spouting some painful cliché. Still, she's got a powerful set of pipes and charisma. Let's hope she sticks with infectious pop fare like "Miss Independent" and "Since U Been Gone" — so we can all bop up and down and then deny we ever indulged. Or not. At the Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-961-5450.
