Saturday was my birthday, and as the saying goes I’m another day older and deeper in debt. That didn’t stop me from taking 27 out and bringing 28 in with a bang Friday night…
The evening began with some pre-drinking over at the Brooklyn lofts by old Tiger Stadium. By 11:30 or so we finally made it to Esko (Detroit’s newest nightclub downtown) for a Paxahau show featuring Marc Houle. We had been there once before about 3 weeks ago, and I made the comment that if it could last a year in it’s location it would probably find itself in the new hipster center of the city due to it’s close proximity (across the street) from the old Book-Cadillac Hotel which is being gutted & renovated to make room for mullion dollar condos. On our way in we caught the building next door*** to the Book-Cadillac coming down (top-left in pictures below). Both buildings have been empty for years, and while the one with the most Detroit cultural significance will stay, it’s still sad to see another Detroit skyscraper come down.
We stayed at Esko until about 1:30 Saturday morning when Marc Houle finished, headed back to Jane’s loft to regroup, and then continued on to the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID) for funk night. The place was unbelievably packed. We tried snapping some crowd shots but the lighting wasn’t very good so it’s hard to really show how busy the place was. I did some adjusting to one picture (bottom-right in pictures below) and it turned out pretty cool. We endured the crowd and a few minutes of technical issues (ie. blown circuits no one could find) and stayed at the CAID for a few more hours dancing to the funk, before heading back to Ferndale around 6am.
It was a really nice evening full of friends, dancing, and drinks. And while I may be 28 now, I’m happy to feel 22 while I still can.
***Update: The building next door to the Book-Cadillac was the People’s Outfitting Company building built in 1916 and it is being demolished to make way for the new Book-Cadillac parking deck. More history & photos can be found at the detroitblog.
