He has a radio program on WXOU out of Oakland University
Wild At Heart
As everyone now knows, I will be leaving Detroit on October 2nd to go back to Rochester, NY to help take care of my parents. It’s not my overwhelming desire to do this but it is the right thing to do considering the circumstances. I have been trying to get out and do some fun stuff before I leave which includes going out to new restaurants. Last week, I found myself at the Tokyo Buffet Lounge (tokyojapanesebuffet.com) located next to the AMC Theatre on 12 Mile Rd in Southfield which has a really nice buffet set up with a nice variety of sushi (second only to the Fuji Buffet), soups, various shrimp dishes, salad bar and ice cream bar. This might be the second best Chinese themed buffet in the area and it’s too bad I found it now before I am leaving town. For pizza buffets lovers, I tried American Pie in Warren which has a cool atmosphere for the pop culture fan. While the pizza is no better than Cici’s, I did like their salad bar better and they put out some baked potatoes with all the fixings which were very good. I also liked their bedsticks quite a bit which made the overall buffet better than most of the area competition. I only wish the actual pizza was better but it is just average. For something more upscale, you can try the Sunday Brunch at Lelli’s in Auburn Hills. At $20, it is a bit pricey, but they got some nice salads, plenty of fruit (which is always nice for digestion) and good chocolate chip cookies. They had some breakfast items like bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs but they had a very good stuffed salmon, a decent chicken dish, average scalloped potatoes and a perfectly cooked prime rib which melted in my mouth. Maybe it’s not something you’ll do every weekend, but should hit the spot every once in awhile. I’m told there dinners are very good. I hope this made you at least a bit hungry and I’m looking to try out a few more places in which I’ll talk about the best here.
There are not many stand out concerts for me this week expect for Saturday though we do have 2 big festivals with some great local and regional bands.
Tuesday 3/31 – Aerosmith and Sammy Hagar @ Palace Of Auburn Hills
Wednesday 9/01 – Luis Resto (keyboardist for was (Not Was)) @ Majestic Cafe
Friday 9/03 – Heart @ Pine Knob
Saturday 9/04 – Semi Precious Weapons opens for Lady Gaga @ Palace Of Auburn Hills, local favs Amino Acids and 10 other local bands play Hell City Records event @ Magic Stick, Zoos Of Berlin @ Pike Room, Billy Idol and Slash @ Soaring Eagle Casino, Rare Earth @ Smackwater Block at Lexington Music Theatre Company
Sunday 9/05 – Ted Nugent @ Pine Knob
Monday 9/06 – Mitch Ryder and Detroit Wheels @ Downtown Hamtramck
Along with the concerts listed above, there are two major festivals going on in the area that have some wonderful music this weekend. The recently relocated Arts, Beats and Eats which will be sorely missed in Pontiac is now in Royal Oak which means I am praying that parking in the area is going to be not too much of a problem. They have a lot of events and amusement for the little kids as well as free “Ride and Drives” of the new Ford’s for the bigger ones. Of course, there is all the art and food vendors, but I go for the music and they have a lot of good bands over the 4 days. Friday sees headliners Saving Abel, Candlebox and Sponge along with local bands Prussia, Silverghost, Howling Diablos, Annie Capp, Mydols, Robin Horlock Band, Laith Al-Saadi, Thornetta Davis, Broken Arrow Blues Band and the Swamp Sisters. Saturday continues with the Rhythm Corps and Mayer Hawthorne with local support by the Hard Lessons, Twistin’ Tarantulas, Duende!, Jessica Hernandez, October Babies (my favorite local band), the Muggs and Nadir Distorted Soul. Sunday has Stewart Francke, War and Macy Gray with local bands like the Blueflowers, Roots Vibration Band and Dirty Americans. Things end Monday with Kansas and Clint Black with back-ups Misty Lyn and the Big Beautiful, Orbitsuns, Amp Fiddler and the Jill Jack Band. Of course, there are many other bands on the line ups but these are my personal favorites and highlight the wonderful musical diversity we have in Detroit. I’m going to miss this when I move to New York because the scene there is nowhere near as diverse and exciting as it is here.
The other major event this weekend is the Detroit International Jazzfest which once again has some major talent coming through. My recommendations start with the talented Tower Of Power on Friday night. On Saturday, I’m looking at the Hot Club Of Detroit, the rockin’ Fabulous Thunderbirds and the Yellowjackets. I’m not familiar with Sunday’s line-up but Monday has the wonderful Allen Toussaint, Branford Marsalis, Manhattan Transfer, Nadir and Brubeck Institute Jazz Quartet. Always one of the best festivals in Detroit year-in, year-out and one that shouldn’t be missed.
Enjoy the weekend and make sure to get out and enjoy this nearly perfect weather we are having.