Detroit as seen from Belle Island
Local guitar-and-bass trio Silo Halo is on an eight-day tour of the Midwest. We’ve asked them to send us thoughts and photos from the road.
Christin Durham writes:
After trying unsuccessfully to lure Mel and Ryan’s cat Porkchop out of hiding with treats, we said goodbye to Garbage Cat, Twiggy, Winnie and Toledo’s breathtaking Old West End. First stop: Mexicantown on the south side of Detroit. Since it was the day after Cinco de Mayo, things were still plenty festive in this little gem of a neighborhood. There were people dressed up on horses (who were also dressed up). We found a restaurant with lard-free beans and had some $2 margaritas while waiting for our carry-out. We stuffed our faces in the lovely weather, snapped some photos of Hotel Yorba, and headed to Belle Isle Park for a lovely scenic drive with amazing views of the city. We’re told that Belle Isle used to be an attraction for upper class folks, but now it’s been commandeered for the people to relax and have family picnics.
Detroit looks exactly how people have told me it does: like a former warzone. Houses, hotels, office buildings and factories have been abandoned or burned down with visible broken windows patched with plywood, exposed beams and scattered piles of rubble and human belongings. It’s spread throughout the city amid the still functional homes and businesses. “You can see straight through that huge building!” Chris said. It was indeed remarkable and yes, quite sad, but we were soon inspired by our visit to the 3600 block of Heidelberg Street. The Heidelberg Project has transformed abandoned properties in an east Detroit neighborhood into colorful and provocative works of art that are more than a little disturbing. The crucified stuffed animals were particularly creepy, but overall, the block felt invigorated and positive, and it was nice to see some of the residents hanging out and playing happily while tourists like us walked around and snapped photos.
A house on the 3600 block of Heidelberg Street in Detroit
To our dismay, the Motown Museum is closed on Sundays, but dinner was waiting for us at Asim’s house in Ferndale: daal, brown rice and salad. Asim = Awesome. He fed us several times, housed us, made tea for us, set up the show and became my new favorite person. The show was at a place called The Loving Touch, which used to be a massage parlor and still has the original (suggestive?) flashing signs above the stage area (which I’m told usually houses a foosball table). It also has a green corner with a glass ceiling and wall plants. There are about ten pool tables and a bar with half-price drinks for bands that amounted to next to nothing compared to D.C. prices. We drank many WAB Raspberry Blonde ales that are brewed on that same block.
Pewter Cub opened the show and were really great. I covet Reagan’s little 210 Ampeg bass stack. She also has a lovely voice. We played second to an enthusiastic crowd and got some really great compliments. A woman told me we reminded her somewhat of Dead Can Dance, and I can basically die happy now. Oblisk blew my mind. I am not even exaggerating. Their songs are beautiful and soulful, and they have all the ambience and sonic power without being too loud. The feeling of their arrangements is just huge; these feelings pulled at my heartstrings and caused tears to well in my eyes. The show sounded and felt great, and Asim made sure we were taken care of. The night ended with more food courtesy of Asim’s kitchen; his bandmates remarked that we should come to town all the time so they can come over and eat all the food with us.
Now it’s off to Milwaukee via rainy Chicago traffic in the newly named Mother Whale. Woo!
Obilisk at the Loving Touch
