here is this week's blog post - Bill
Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University
Wild At Heart
I hope things are going well for all you readers and I must admit this is a good day to be reading since I got a couple of giveaways this week. First is a Stephanie Schneiderman who will be playing the Pike Room in Pontiac on May 5th. Her new album, “Dangerous Fruit”, contains 11 songs that combine her folk sensibilities and beautiful songwriting with producer Keith Schreiner’s electronic/trip hop background. Stephanie got her start at the 1999 Lilith Fair and has opened for such acts as Hall & Oates and Chicago as well as work in film (Men of Honor with DeNiro) and stage (The Full Monty). To see Stephanie, send me an email to doramu13@yahoo.com and the first 2 emails will get a pair of tickets to see her.
If that wasn’t enough, I also got a pair of tickets for 1 lucky winner for the AP Tour @ the Royal Oak Music Theatre on May 7th. Now this is a sold out show and your last chance to get tickets for this event. The bands on the line up are the electronic band 3Oh3! Who is best known for their hit “Don’t Trust Me”, Christian crunk band Family Force 5 who puts on a great live show, The Maine, Hit The Lights and A Rocket To The Moon. Once again, the first person to send me an email to doramu13@yahoo.com will get hooked up with a pair of tickets.
For movie fans, we got the new movie “Is Anyone There?” which might be a surprise hit if it can find an audience. The movie itself is unassuming in traditional British indie style. The movie is set in 1980s seaside England and tells the story of Edward (Bill Milner who you might remember from “Son of Rambow”), a quirky ten year old boy growing up in an old people's home run by his parents and obsessed with ghosts and the afterlife. His parents are having issues as his mom is struggling to keep the business afloat and his father deals with a midlife crisis by coming on to one of the female employees. Things start to change as he meets Clarence (a brilliant performance by Michael Caine), a retired magician who is dealing with the death of his wife and loss of his faculties. Clarence tries to pull Edward more into the real world and gets him to live in the moment as Clearance works to deal with his past. This is a touching movie that seems
more like a fall release than a summer movie so hopefully it will find it’s audience. My grade is a B+.
Had the opportunity to interview mayor Cockrel last week concerning the upcoming music festival season and was impressed by his musical knowledge as he mentioned his favorite local rock band is the Dirtbombs and he is a friend of Derrick May who will be headline the upcoming Movement Festival. Paxahau announced a new international partnership between Movement Detroit and Movement Torino designed to expand the visibility of Detroit and its growing electronic music community. Paxahau president Jason Huvaere is excited because it gives our festival 6 months of press overseas where electronic music is a lot more popular (every year I go to the festival, I always meet international fans from places as far away as Germany, Spain and Japan who seem to know more about the history of the Detroit scene better than we do). The Prodigy will get the Movement 2009 Weekend started with a performance on Friday, May 22 at The Fillmore and the festival itself will
see performances by Bassnector, Carl Cox, Loco Dice vs. Luciano and Z-Trip among others. You can go to www.paxahau.com for more info on line-ups and after parties. Cockrel pointed out that these festivals bring a lot of money to Downtown Detroit but more importantly, they provide a positive image for the city of Detroit. I also saw the major at the Jazzfest press conference that morning at the Guardian building. While the conference was fun with some wonderful catering, the true highlight here was seeing the beautiful architecture of what I consider the most beautiful interior of any building in the Detroit area. The Guardian Building is designated as a National Historic Landmark and was built in 1928. Originally called the Union Trust Building, it is a bold example of Art Deco architecture that has to be seen. The main frame of the skyscraper rises 36 stories, capped by two asymmetric spires, one extending for four additional stories. The roof
height is of the building is 496 ft, the top floor is 489 feet, and the spire reaches 632 ft. The exterior blends brickwork with tile, limestone, and terra cotta. The building's interior is lavishly decorated with mosaic and Pewabic and Rookwood tile. If you get downtown with time to spare, check out this building and you’ll be glad you did.
Starting this Tuesday is the opening of the musical ‘Annie’ at the Fisher Theatre. I have never been a huge fan of the musical though I realize that is very popular and it is a play that audiences can relate to during these hard times. It is the story of 11 year old orphan Annie who decides to escape to find her parents, running into a friendly dog (Sandy) and the people made homeless because of the Great Depression. Daddy Warbucks comes to adopt her though she still holds on to the dream her parents will return. After a radio show announcement, 2 schemers pretend to be her parents but they are eventually found out which cements the bond between Warbucks and Annie. Go to www.nederlanderdetroit.com for more info. I had the honor of having animal trainer Bill Berloni on my show last Saturday who got a job training the original dog who played Sandy 30 years ago and has made it his career ever since branching out into commercials, TV and other
theatrical productions such as the current Wizard Of Oz and Legally Blonde. He holds the distinction of being the man who made live animals in stage productions a reality with no real training but just the luck of being at the right place at the right time. He only works with domesticated animals and you can learn more about his career at www.theatricalanimals.com. He also has a new book out entitled “Broadway Tails: Heartfelt Stories of Rescued Dogs Who Became Showbiz Superstars” of which the sales benefit the Humane Society. Also, on Thursday May 7th, you can get a chance to get free tickets to see Annie. To celebrate the 80th anniversary of The Children's Center of Wayne County’s commitment and dedication to the metropolitan Detroit area youth, a commemorative tree planting and dedication ceremony with members of the national touring cast of “Annie” will occur on Thursday, May 7, 2009 between the hours of 12:00pm and 6:00pm at 100
Alexandrine. In collaboration with Carbon Credit Environmental Services (CCES) the first 100 people who bring a minimum of 20 cans/bottles will receive one voucher good for two free tickets to select performances of “Annie”, the classic musical about never giving up hope, at the Fisher Theatre.
Don’t forget Mother’s Day is coming next Sunday 10th so don’t forget. Early "Mother's Day" in the late 180’s were mostly marked by women's peace groups of which a common activity was the meeting of groups of mothers whose sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War. The modern version of Mother’s Day was started by Anna Jarvis on May 12, 1907. Two years after her mother's death, she held a memorial to her mother and thereafter embarked upon a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday of which she succeeded in making happen in 1914. By the 1920’s Anna had become soured by the commercialization of the holiday she had started. She and her sister Ellsinore spent their family inheritance campaigning against the holiday and as a result, they both died in poverty. Jarvis, says her New York Times obituary, became embittered because too many people sent their mothers a printed greeting card. As she said, "A
printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment!". Despite that, you can treat your mother to a nice brunch at the Magic Stick between 11-3:30PM which includes Baked Ham, Tortilla Crusted Tilapia and a pancake station. And make sure to call if you can’t be together for the holiday.
Here are some upcoming shows you might want to catch. Toad the Wet Sprocket, the indie rock band which brought such catchy tunes as “All I Want” and “Good Intentions” is playing 2 nights at the Ark in Ann Arbor on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th. Wednesday 6th will see performances by Scottish rock band Mogwai @ the Crofoot or Swedish new wave band The Sounds at St Andrews. We mentioned the AP Tour for Thursday 7th but you can also catch the all-girls indie pop band Vivian Girls in the Pike Room or go to Caesar’s Windsor to catch legend Joe Cocker (every time I see him I still think of the great Jim Belushi Saturday Night Live parody). Friday 8th will see the indie rock band The Kills @ the Magic Stick. Local rock guitar legend Rodriquez will take on the Magic Stick on Saturday the 9th or you can go to local ska band Mustard Plug @ Small’s, Canadian song-writer supreme Leonard Cohen @ The Fox Theatre, metal giants Queensryche @ the Emerald
or local favs The Electric Six @ The Bind Pig.
There is a call out for actors who would like to perform in the Who Wants Cake? opening show of its 2009/2010 season which is Tony/Pulitzer prize winning musical, Rent. Auditions will be held on Saturday, May 16 from 9AM-5PM at The Ringwald Theatre. Jonathan Larson's rock musical is based loosely on Puccini's opera “La Bohème”. It follows a year in the lives of seven friends living the disappearing Bohemian lifestyle in New York's East Village. AIDS and both its physical and emotional complications pervade the lives of all the characters. If you want to sign up for an audition spot, please do so www.WhoWantsCakeTheatre.com. Auditioners are asked to prepare 16 bars of a musical theatre song in the style of Rent (rock/pop) that shows not only your range, but also your ability to act a song. Good luck to all you aspiring actors.
I hope you all have a good week and Happy Cinco de Mayo, the holiday which commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely defeat of French forces (which hadn’t seen defeat in over 50 years) at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. 3 musicians with songs entitled Cinco de Mayo include War, Herb Albert and Liz Phair and the Ween song "Buenas Tardes Amigo" refers to the holiday.
I would also like to thank my friends from Live Nation, 93.9 The River and Amy from motorcityblog for being supportive of me at the great Franz Ferdinand show last night. I was a little depressed about my job situation and it was showing but my friends really showed me the one reason I really don’t want to leave the area which might happen if I don’t get work soon. Luckily I do have a job interview tomorrow and I’ll see how it goes. I know no matter what happens, I will be alright but I rather be alright here in Detroit which I have grown to love. I also wish anyone else going through a similar situation the best of luck getting through these hard times.
Also Star Trek comes out next week and I can’t wait to talk about it. Tune into Wild At Heart Saturday morning between 8-10AM and you will have a chance to win tickets to see Sonic Youth. Peace Out!!
"MCB IS DETROIT"
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