Hip in Detroit's Picks for the Weekend: August 16-18

Friday, August 16th - 90's Throwback Block Party @ Tangent Gallery: Relive the '90s this Friday night at Tangent Gallery! Revolt is taking over the place for the night and transforming it into that '90s party that you've been daydreaming about. The party kicks off early, at 4 p.m. and it goes all the way until 11 p.m. Cover is only $7 at the door! 

Saturday, August 17th - Summer Days Adoption Event @ Friends of Detroit Animal Care and Control: Have you been thinking about adopting a new four-legged friend? Now is the time! Detroit Animal Care and Control has over 100 pets that need to be adopted. This Saturday, the Friends of DACC are hosting their Summer Days Adoption Event from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. And, they want to make sure that as many pets find forever homes as possible, so they are waving all adoption fees during the event! Just make sure you have a valid drivers license or state ID with you! The event takes place at 7401 Chrysler Drive in Detroit. 

Saturday, August 17th - Motor City Soul Club: August Soul Stomp @ Marble Bar: Dance the night away at this month's Soul Stomp, "featuring some of the finest dancin' music you've never heard!" Brad Hales, Erica Aytes and Dan Austin will be providing the tunes for the evening. All vinyl, all soul & funk, all night. Cover is free, doors open at 9 p.m. and the party starts at 10.

Saturday, August 17th - GLOW with Bevlove @ Deluxx Fluxx: Across town, there's another bad ass dance party going down, with Bevlove. She will be hosting her monthly party GLOW at Deluxx Fluxx. In addition to Bevlove, this month's addition will feature Sky Jetta, Sir Bleek, Actually Mae, Lansuh and Kid McFly. Cover is $5 after 10 p.m. and 21+ are welcome. 

And in case you didn't know, the Woodward Dream Cruise is happening this weekend. If that's your thing, click here for more info. If that's not your thing, avoid Woodward this weekend! 

~C

Win Tickets to See Late Bloomer at The Loving Touch

This Sunday night, Late Bloomer will hit the stage at The Loving Touch. We know many of you will be avoiding Woodward Ave. during Dream Cruise weekend, but by Sunday night, most of the cars will be at home in their garages. So you there's no excuse to not head to Ferndale to check out this show! Late Bloomer just kicked off their tour earlier this week in North Carolina. They'll be on the road for just over a week and we were lucky enough to get one of the nine dates. If you haven't heard Late Bloomer before, give them a listen by clicking play below.

Detroit's own Reuther is also playing Sunday's show along with Map the Park and Read the Sun. Tickets to see these four acts live are only $8 and can be purchased in advance here. The night of the show, cover will be $10 at the door. Thanks to our friends at The Loving Touch, we are also giving away a pair of tickets to one lucky reader. To enter to win, send your name to hipindetroit@gmail.com with #bloomer in the subject line. We will draw our winner on Sunday morning and will send them details on how to claim their prize. 

All ages are welcome to attend this show and doors are set to open at 7 p.m.

~C

Here's the Scoop on Bowlero Lanes & Lounge

A year ago, news broke that David Zainea, co-owner of the Majestic Theatre in Midtown had teamed up with a local couple named Kelly and Dean Elliott to revamp Bowlero Lanes in Royal Oak Michigan. The 1970's style bowling alley hadn't been updated in over 40 years and it was starting to show, so they closed the doors and invested around $1.5 million into renovating the space. Their goal was to create a place where you would want to go for a drink, but you could also stay for a game if you felt like it. To achieve this, they focused on the feeling and look of the bar and lounge as well as the bowling alley. We are proud to say that after attending the soft opening on Tuesday we can officially declare that they have achieved their goals. This completely renovated space is state of the art, beautiful, and exactly the kind of place that we want to hang out at, even if we were just stopping in for a drink.

Bowlero is a 16 lane ultramodern bowling alley that utilizes all of the industries latest technology. This includes giving patrons the ability to add a selfie to the screen when you bowl a round with your friends. Their bar features lots of wood, high-end spirits, and a few beers on tap. The layout of the lounge is upscale, relaxed and fun. There is a lot of color and throwback photos from the bowling leagues before us all over the walls.

They have found a way to tastefully mix the old with the new. But, the best part of the space was the girl's bathroom. It is polka dot, pink and yellow and filled with the coolest vintage beauty school mirrors that we have ever seen. Plus, there is a working vintage Ms. Pac-Man game that you can play in-between your glamming, which makes it extra magical. We spent way too much of our night in the bathroom, but we think that when you see it, you will too. The many murals and wallpaper designs around the space are all insta approved, a few were even painted by one of our favorite local artists Kelly Golden (read more about her here).

The bowling alley will be continuing there soft opening this week/weekend. You can stop by from 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. this Thursday and from 4 p.m. - 2 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday before they officially open on August 20th. They do not have food services at this time, but have assured us that they will eventually be opening the kitchen. They also plan to have live music inside their space, but what that will look like and when it will happen is still up in the air. We will update you as we learn more.

Bowlero Lanes is located at 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak, MI 48073. You can keep up with them on Instagram here.

We got some pretty cool fluorescent rings out of the 25¢ machines! 

~S

Does Anyone Know What Legal Marijuana Will Look Like in 2020?

In 2008, Michiganders voted to become the 13th state to legalize medical marijuana. Ten years later, another measure was passed to make recreational marijuana legal in the State of Michigan as of 2020. Throughout the last two years, we have seen lots of medical marijuana facilities open and close around Detroit proper, but we haven't seen much happening outside of their jurisdiction. However, we suspect that when recreational becomes legal, this is going to change. Many cities have already decided that they will allow companies to grow and maybe even sell within their zip code, but nothing has been set into stone. The truth is that the new laws are open to interpretation and there is no clear picture of what recreational marijuana will look like in 2020.

(Photo from Crain's Detroit)

Instead of speculating, we decided to see if we could talk to the owners of The REEF, our favorite dispensary in the area, to find out how they are going to handle recreational when it becomes legal in just under four months. They opened their doors and took us on a quick tour and let us ask them anything we that we wanted to know. What we found was a company that is doing everything that they can to give patients the best experience possible while staying within the laws. Unfortunately, doing that is not as easy as you would think. One of the first big changes that the company had to embrace after the last vote was where they were sourcing their medicine from. Before 2018 they could get the product from a variety of sources, but now they can only buy from companies that are also licensed and there are a limited amount of places to do this, which means the supply is outpacing the demand. In fact, on the day that I visited they were temporarily out of flower while they were waiting for a shipment. It was one of the first times that they had been out of medication and it was only for a few hours, but this was a direct effect of the new laws on their business. Plus, once they got it in, they had to go through it, and label it before they could get it out, which also cuts into their business and ability to serve their patients. All of their medication has to be tracked and accounted for before it can go on the shelves. This tracking system also means that everything that they sell can be traced back to the seed and the grower who grew it so, just like other medications if there was a flaw with the product they would be able to take it off the shelf and warn anyone who bought it. This is very time consuming for the business but as a consumer, I think that it's cool to know that you can find out exactly where your medicine came from and exactly what is inside of it. 

Another interesting part of the new law is that the recreational and medical products must be kept and sold separately. Which means that The REEF will actually have to redesign their space to service two different types of clients. This also means that yes, medical marijuana and recreational marijuana will be different. Patients will still have access to better products than recreational buyers. So, if you need medication, make sure you see a doctor, don't want for 2020 to take care of yourself. We also found out that some cities are granting growing and dispensing licenses to people that plan to do both things in the suburbs once the law lets them, but they were unwilling to share when and where that would be happening. Basically, we found out that no one really knows that 2020 will look like, but some of the long-time legit dispensaries like The REEF are setting themselves up to be able to serve everyone when the time comes. So for now, we wait and we see what the future has to hold.

~S

Win Tickets to See The Bouncing Souls with The Bronx, Swingin' Utters and The Bar Stool Preachers

The Bouncing Souls got their start in 1989 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Over the past three decades, the band has released 10 studio albums, and earlier this year they released a new EP in celebration of their 30th anniversary. The EP is called Crucial Moments and there's a book documenting the bands history to go along with it. Give the title track off of the EP a listen below.

The Bouncing Souls are currently out on tour celebrating 30 years of music. The band will make a stop here in Detroit this Wednesday, August 14th at St. Andrew's Hall. Joining them on tour are The Bar Stool Preachers, Swingin' Utters and The Bronx. This is going to be an awesome show that you don't want to miss! Tickets to see this lineup live are $25 and can be purchased in advance here.  Thanks to our friends at Live Nation Detroit and Black Iris Booking, we are also giving one lucky reader a pair of tickets to this show. To enter to win, send your name to hipindetroit@gmail.com with #30years in the subject line. We will draw our winner on Wednesday morning and will send them details on how to claim their prize. 

Doors are set to open at 6 p.m. for this one and all ages are welcome. 

~C

Hip in Detroit's Picks for the Weekend: August 9-11

Wednesday, August 7th thru Saturday, August 10th - Detroit Improv Festival: The Detroit Improv Festival kicked off this Wednesday and is making you laugh all the way through Saturday night. The festival is bringing comedy and improv to several venues around town, including Go! Comedy, The Ringwald, The Loving Touch, and Ant Hall. You can see all of the remaining shows that they have lined up for the weekend here. Ticket prices for the shows vary and range from $10-$25.

Friday, August 9th - Outdoor Movie Night with "Do The Right Thing" @ Scripps Park: The weather has been basically perfect lately, so get outside and soak it up while it lasts. Friday night, you can enjoy a movie under the stars at Scripps Park, where they will be showing Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing. Admission is free and the movie starts at sundown.


Saturday, August 10th - The Great Ferndale Water Gun Fight: Grab your water gun and hit the streets for The Great Ferndale Water Gun Fight! The fight kicks off at noon at PORT and New Way Bar with teams assembling at both locations. The fight goes from noon until 2 p.m., throughout the streets of Ferndale, with Imperial acting as neutral ground. To see how you can be a part of  the fight and to check out the official rules, click here.






Sunday, August 11th - Cherubs @ Small's w/ Child Bite, Hidebehind and West Grand: This Sunday night, Small's will welcome Cherubs to the stage along with Detroit's own Child Bite, Hidebehind and West Grand. This is West Grand's first show and they just released their first EP. You can give it a listen here. Cover will be $13 at the door, 16+ are welcome, and doors will open at 7:30 p.m. Make sure you come hungry because Renegade Kitchen will be doing a pop-up too!

~C

Shop Slow at The Eastern Market Vintage Fashion Market Three Times a Month.

Fast fashion is dead. The idea that you should run-up to the store to buy something cheap that you might only wear once is gross. Being wasteful is so 2000 and late and it's time to let it go. Reducing your buying, reusing great pieces, and recycling aka selling, giving away or trading your old duds is a whole lot sexier than exhausting more resources to create something cheap that no one needs. So, instead of searching for more fast fashion, start searching for great pieces that will last you forever.

One of the best ways to do this is to shop vintage. You might not be able to find something every time that you look around, but when you do it's really special. The key to this kind of shopping is to know all the places to go to. We love stopping into Lost and Found Vintage, Hips Resale Boutique, and Regeneration whenever we get the chance, but our bread and butter is to find a good pop-up sale because those tend to be the best way to find the good stuff. During the summer, one of the best places to find vintage is at the Eastern Market. They are currently hosting a vintage market that features @deadringerdetroit 3 times a month, on the second and 4th Saturday from 12-4 and the third Thursday from 5-9. The pop up features a curated collection of vintage items and has a purpose. They not only make slow fashion fun and accessible, but they also give a portion of the vendor fees (there are about 15 vendors) to different local charities, including MI Humane Society, Ruth Ellis Center, Green Living Science, and Planned Parenthood. So, when you shop with them you not only help save the plant and promote slow fashion, you give back to local charities that matter. It's a win-win for EVERYONE! You can find their stuff by The Eastern Market Brewing Company on Riopelle behind all the sheds. 

~S 

The Third Annual Punk Rock BBQ Takes Over Kelly's

This Saturday, one of the most bad ass barbecues around will return to Kelly's! The Third Annual Punk Rock BBQ will take place from 2 p.m. until 2 a.m. on Saturday, August 10th. The event will feature a dozen bands playing on two stages, one inside the bar and one outside. There will also be a pop-up by Flint Vintage and some great food, because what's a BBQ with out food? There will be burgers and vegan burgers available, in addition to some other tasty options. So make sure you come hungry!

Some of the bands playing this year's event includes Dear Darkness, SpaceSkull, and The Idiot Kids. Check out the full schedule and set times below:

OUTDOORS3:30-4:00 Womb Worm
4:15-4:45 The Whoremones
5-5:30 Pet Psychic
5:45-6:15 Bourbon Squirrel
6:30-7 Dear Darkness (Obsidian Ensemble)
7:15-7:45 The Sunburns
INDOORS
8-8:30 Jimmy Ohio and the Ultimate Lovers
8:45-9:15 The Fairmount Girls (Cincinnati)
9:30-10 The Hand
10:30-11 Idiot Kids
11:15-11:45 Sros Lords
12AM-whenever! SpaceSkull

Cover for the Punk Rock BBQ is only $7 and 21+ are welcome. For more info and to stay in the loop the day of the show, click here. 

Serpentina Serves Up a Deadly Good Time

Recently, an out-of-towner asked me an interesting question, "Why does Detroit have so many pop-ups?". I stopped for a second and said why not? Pop-ups give culinary up and comers the chance to bring new foods, tastes, and dining experiences to the people before they are ready to open a brick and mortar space. They give them a chance to figure out "how to do it right" and they give a few lucky people who attend the event a chance to sample something before everyone else has access. These culinary experiences also give chefs the chance to test their skills and try something new. They are not limited to a set menu, which means that the chefs can play around with the foods that they make and the places and ways that they serve them. We have seen a lot of people do some really cool things with food (shout out to Khana for making a delightfully delicious burrito for me at Marble Bar last weekend), but we have never seen someone create an experience quite like the one that Serpentina staged for us to enjoy last week.

Last Wednesday evening, we headed up the Jam Handy on a warm summer night for a 7-course meal that celebrated all things dark and macabre. The evening was billed as an early century sideshow experience and it delivered from every angle. The 30 person table that was located in the middle of the room was decorated with red roses, black vases, and little gold mirrors that were used to serve us the first course of the night, vanity. While we ate, we enjoyed ring and fire dancing performances and drinks that were bubbling over with dry ice. The chef created 7 different courses to pay tribute to the 7 deadly sins of vanity, lust, greed, gluttony, wrath, sloth and envy. They also offered vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options so that everyone who wanted to indulge could do so. The food was excellent, the portions were fair and the service was excellent. It was hard to believe that this was the first time that they pulled this off, but it a good sign of things to come. They do not have another pop up on the books yet and the opening date for the brick and mortar space is still TBD, but you can follow Serpentina here to make sure that the second that they announce something you can get tickets to experience this one for yourself.

Vegan Envy

Vegan Gluttony

Vegan Lust

~S

Win Tickets to See Matthew Dear, Shigeto and Dretraxx at Deluxx Fluxx

This Friday, Deluxx Fluxx is bringing Matthew Dear to the stage to do a live set. Shigeto will be joining him to do a DJ set and Dretraxx will be rounding out the night. This is a rare opportunity to catch Matthew doing a live set in a space that was made for dancing to live music. The sound system and the lights were made to celebrate a great live set and Matthew Dear will deliver. 

Tickets to attend the show are $20 and they can be purchased here. We also have one pair of tickets to give away to the show courtesy of Party Store Productions. If you would like to enter to win a pair of passes to get in for free on Friday, please email your full email to hipindetroit@gmail.com. We will draw one lucky person Friday morning and they will get in with a friend for free.

~S 

24 Hour Ticket Giveaway: The Faint @ El Club

Earlier this year, The Faint released a new full length album, Egowerk, on Saddle Creek. This is the first album in about 5 years for the band, but the tenth full length in their catalog. Out of all of their releases though, their most popular came out in 2001 with the release of Danse Macabre. The album was so great that Saddle Creek even released a remastered deluxe edition in 2012.

This Wednesday night, you have a chance to see some of those songs performed live, along with songs off The Faint's new album, and everything in their collection in between those two releases. The band will be performing live at El Club along with Closeness (also from Omaha) and Detroit's own Ritual Howls. Tickets to see this lineup live are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. You can also enter to win a pair of tickets to this show by sending your name to hipindetroit@gmail.com with #faint in the subject line. We will draw one lucky winner on Wednesday morning and will send them details on how to claim their prize.

Doors are set to open at 7 p.m. for this one and all ages are welcome.

~C

Win Tickets to See Common Live at The Fillmore

Hip in Detroit was born out of a love of music.  We (Sadie and Christie) have always loved music, especially watching live music.  It was the foundation of our friendship and this blog.  And while Detroit has grown and changed a lot while we have been writing about it, our first love has never strayed, we still love going out and watching live music as often as we can.  We have also enjoyed giving more of you the opportunity to go out to see live music for yourselves.  We have worked really hard to build a relationship with as many of the local booking companies as we could so that we could give away tickets to as many of their shows as possible. We are proud to work with Crofoot Productions, Party Store Productions, Black Iris Booking, The Loving Touch, El Club, The Magic Stick, AEG, and Live Nation Detroit.

We are proud to announce that we recently revamped our giveaway list and added hundreds of shows throughout the end of the year. Some of those shows, like the one that we are posting about today, are really special. We are honored to say that Live Nation has given us seats to many of the biggest shows that they are bringing through town! This includes a pair of tickets to see Common at The Fillmore in Detroit this Thursday, August 8th. This multi-talented artist has a rich catalog of music that includes 12 full-length albums, including a new one called Let Love that is being released on August 30th.  Tickets to attend the show starts around $40 a piece and go up from there.  You can purchase them online here.  You can also enter to win a pair of tickets to the show by emailing your full name to hipindetroit@gmail.com with #Common in the subject. We will draw one lucky reader the morning of the show and they will get to see Common perform this Thursday with a friend of their choosing.

We are happy to say that this is only the beginning of a lot of awesome giveaways that we have coming up this August, so keep your eyes out!

~S

Hip in Detroit's Picks for the Weekend: August 2 - 4

We already told you about Kimball with Handgrenades, Deluxx Fluxx's 1 Year Anniversary, and the Not Going Back fundraiser for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. Well, here are some other awesome things going on this weekend! 

Saturday, August 3rd - Midas @ Outer Limits Lounge: If you haven't seen Detroit's own Midas play live yet, this Saturday is your chance! This band is still newer to the scene, but features members of Bison Machine and Wild Savages. The guys just got back from tour and are ready to play Hamtramck along with Astral Hand (MKE) and SLO. Heavy & Beyond will be DJing throughout the night as well. Cover is $5 and doors open at 8 p.m.

Saturday, August 3rd - Detroit Oddities & Curiosities Expo: Are you into things that are a bit odd? Then this expo is for you! The Detroit Oddities and Curiosities Expo will be taking over the Suburban Collection Showplace for one day only! At this expo, you will find everything from taxidermy to artwork to "creepy, strange and bizarre items". Tickets are $20 and the show takes place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday, August 4th - Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! Record Show #4 @ The Sanctuary: The best record show around returns to The Sanctuary this Sunday afternoon! The Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! Record show is put on by some of the biggest music enthusiasts in Metro Detroit. The show will feature over 30 vendors selling vinyl, cassettes, music, VHS, vintage shirts, posters, and so much more. Cover is free, but bring money for shopping and also to grab a drink or a $2 slice of pizza from the bar. The show goes from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Sunday, August 4th - Detroit Hustles Harder 12 Year Anniversary Summer BBQ: It's hard to believe that it has been 12 years since the words "Detroit Hustles Harder" first hit shirts. It seems like it really is Detroit's official slogan now-a-days. This Sunday, the brand will be taking over TV Lounge to celebrate their anniversary with food and great DJs, including Erno, Sheefy McFly, Gary Chandler, and more. Cover is $10 at the door, 21+ are welcome, and doors open at 4 p.m.

~C

Happy 1 Year Anniversary, Deluxx Fluxx!

It's hard to believe that it has only been a year since Deluxx Fluxx opened its doors. In 12 short months, the artsy bar and venue has become a staple in Detroit. Party Store Productions and the team at Deluxx Fluxx have brought some awesome shows to their stage, and great DJs too! Plus, it seems like most of Metro Detroit has taken a selfie in their black light room at this point. It's an awesome space, unlike any other in Detroit and a great addition to the city.

This Saturday night, Deluxx Fluxx wants you to come celebrate their 1 Year Anniversary with them! Cover is free as long as you get there before midnight. So don't show up too late! Sounds for the evening will be provided by DJ Ladylike and the bar will be serving up new cocktails. So, stop by for a drink or two, or dance the night away!

Hit play below to take a trip down memory lane and check out our preview of Deluxx Fluxx before they opened up shop last year! Happy Anniversary Deluxx Fluxx! Cheers to many more!

~C