Happening on the very day itself, the Halloween Concert a 40+ years long Umich tradition features graduate conducting students who lead more than 125 costumed (Yes costumed!) musicians for a fun-filled, spooktacular concert.
I have heard about the Halloween concert for the last 2 years and I am overjoyed to finally attend it. It will have music for everyone to enjoy whether you are an orchestra nerd or a newcomer to classical music. If you don’t like attending orchestra concerts because of how formal they seem with their tuxedos and bow ties then seeing musicians dressed all goofy and silly will take the edge off. It is the only SMTD ticketed production that is open to kids of all ages so you know it’s an all-age favorite.
You can also dress up to your heart’s desire for this event so you can take this as an opportunity to show off your Halloween spirit. In previous years the concert had funny skits to introduce musical pieces so you won’t only get to enjoy music, play dress up, see others in funny costumes but also see a funny skit or two. Doesn’t that sound like the best version of an orchestra concert?
Word on the grapevine is that the concert’s tickets are running out quickly! So grab you and your friends a good seat before it’s too late at: https://tickets.smtd.umich.edu/5200
The highlight of my fall break was definitely seeing Princess Nokia perform at the Majestic Theater in Detroit. Going to Detroit is always a treat, especially to see a show in one of America’s oldest independent theaters. It opened in 1915 as a movie theater, but now operates mostly as an event space. One fun feature about the Majestic is the bowling alley accessible from the deck, which the artist herself passed some time at shortly before the concert. Before Princess Nokia graced the stage, the Majestic hosted many other up-and-comers like the Black Keys, the Fleet Foxes, Drake, and Post Malone as well as favorites like Patti Smith and Sonic Youth.
Opening up for Princess Nokia was newcomer Dounia, a body-positive model turned performer who joined the tour a couple months ago. 24 year old Dounia is NYC born and raised, like Nokia herself. Before touring with Princess Nokia, she previously released a single with Kehlani. Monday night, she sang a few tracks off her 2019 album The Studio. Her dreamy tracks were a nice prelude to the evening and ramping up the anticipation for the high-energy performance that Nokia would deliver. Lyrically, “Smoke and Slow Dance” and “Lavendar” left something to be desired but as a young artist, she claims her space on the stage with an admirable confidence.
Dounia, promotional
Some time Dounia finished her set, the lights shifted and we heard the ambient beats filter as Princess Nokia and her dancers stormed the stage, ripping into “Crazy House”. The stage was truly blooming, festooned with large glowing paper blossoms and inflatable mushrooms. The audience got more and more hyped up as she moved through Everything is Beautiful and launched into one of her all time greatest singles “Tomboy”.
Her backup dancers accompanied her in colorful costumes and orange lifejackets, while she stayed in her recognizable plaid mini-skirt, anime tank, and knee highs. Princess Nokia has never shied away from camp or looks that might, at first glance, seem cliché. Rather, she chooses to embody many ideas: goth, witch, Boricua, weeb, and rave kid. By wearing pieces like the schoolgirl skirt, she also pays homage to her positionality as a sex worker. (Nokia started creating content through OnlyFans in 2019).
She took us by surprise by performing “Brujas”, her anthem celebrating witchcraft and her Afro-Indigenous spirituality. This high energy track got us in the Halloween spirit and many people were dressed up for the concert, if not in costume, then at least to impress. She slowed things down by performing “Green Eggs and Ham” and everyone in the theater joined in to her cry of “Fuck these cops, fuck these cops!”. From the Coachella stage in 2018 to the Bloom World Tour, Princess Nokia has earned her hype. She is a seasoned performer from her own teenage years in the clubs of NYC. But she connects with people everywhere because she celebrates that which is creative, subversive, feminine, and fun. She pays homage to her roots with her vintage style and influences while also being firmly concerned with shaping the future. This is Princess Nokia in her Saturn Return* and it’s a glorious thing. She sees no limits and makes no apologies.
*in astrology, one’s Saturn returns to the same position it was during birth around age 27-31. This a time marked by decisions and changes in perspective related to one’s future and one’s responsibility, career, and role in society.
If you’re looking for some kitschy fun, look no further that Ypsilanti’s Holy Bones Festival. The Halloween Spirit was out in full force as local artists and performers showcased their spookiest wares and performances. I commend the talented drag and burlesque performers for doing their routines on a chilly evening!
During one memorable number, Johnny Rocket, dressed as a mummy did a striptease unraveling their bandages. Local drag queen Zooey Gaychanel, I first saw perform at the Spectrum Center’s Fair in September was also headlining.
Johnny Rocket strikes a pose
The Halloween Market featured everything from antiques to enamel pins to bath bombs and indie comics. I particularly enjoyed talking with Detroit-based Bad Love Design who sells cheeky, high-quality affordable prints inspired by retro cartoon an 60s pin-up aesthetic. Bad Love is working on a forthcoming tarot deck, so keep your eyes peeled! I also stopped to talk to the owner of Conjure Goddess, a new hoodoo shop opening up in Ypsilanti. They stock everything a witch could need from incense to Tarot cards to conjure oil. I was really impressed by the diversity of magic shops and businesses in Ypsi as well as the amount of queer-owned and women-owned businesses at the fair.
Owners of the Conjure GoddessBad Love Design
Last but not least, the food options were few but notable. Fork in Nigeria was definitely the stand-out, with various kinds of fufu and jollof. There was also a more economical taco truck option. Both had vegetarian choices. There was also a lot of hot cider going around! I ducked out before the festivities ended but I did get to hear some of the mellow tones of London Beck before I left. The fun, lighthearted atmosphere nearly allows you to forget how hard the performers and artists work to put events like these together. All in all, I think the Holy Bones festival is a great choice for families and for students and young adults.
The holy bones festival was a Halloween themed festival-carnival of sorts with enough novelties to satisfy any occult appetite. Held near downtown Ypsilanti, you could see a lot of Ypsi spirit and pride. From 3D-printed Ypsi structures to local artists, the city’s art scene was reflected pretty well. The festival lasted an ample 7+ plus hours and had exciting events like drag shows. Even though the festival featured 40+ artisans, the fair could be explored in an hour or so. The art ranged from stickers, t-shirts, crystals, jewelry to novelty items like skull wall decorations, a mini horror-themed room, haunted dolls, and much more. There was also a tarot card reader who had a really cozy tent set up.
There were also some decorated skulls on display with backstories of their own.
The events really came alive (or dead since it was horror-themed) in the night after the carnival lights were turned on. I watched the drag/costumed show where people lip-synched to songs and gave interactive performances to the audience and went to see the Ypsi downtown and returned again after sundown. There was live music throughout the event and had up-and-coming artists perform some of whom had released albums with the support of Ypsi artist funding.
For food, there were 2 food trucks and one stall. One could pick their choice of Nigerian food, tacos, or sliders. All of these had lines throughout the duration of the event so you know the food was good.
There was also an improv show for which you had to buy tickets separately. It was held in a nearby church. The church had LED lights inside with spooky music that really upped the ante and gave a gothic vibe to the event. The performers were unfortunately not very good and not worth the price of a ticket. Their jokes or the storyline was not that funny but the performers did perform very enthusiastically. Sadly many members of the audience left during the intermission.
All and all the holy bones festival would be a nice one-hour event to go to if you want to see spooky things on display. It has only been a thing since 2019 and considering that all the ticket proceeds go to the restoration of the Ypsi art scene, we can expect this festival to gain major traction in the coming years and be on the level of a full-blown paradise for all things evil and occult Halloween carnival!
I first picked up Peter Wohlleben’s book The Hidden Life of Trees over the summer of 2019 looking for something different to add to my summer reading selection. The book is a well-written exploration of the surprisingly complex social life of trees and forests and I couldn’t put it down. Even as someone who has spent a lot of time around trees, the notion of trees being able to “talk” to each other with such detail and depth and the concept of each forest acting as a community was surprising to me. Wohlleben did an excellent job conveying the majesty and scale of forests through the written word, but I think the big screen might be an even better medium to convey the awe they deserve.
Peter Wohlleben’s 2015 nonfiction masterpiece The Hidden Life of Trees has arrived for the big screen and will be showing this Tuesday (10/19) at 5pm at the Michigan Theater. This is currently the only showing scheduled in Ann Arbor, so grab your tickets now if you’re interested!
Genre-crossing Bronx based rapper Princess Nokia is ascending to new heights on her Bloom tour, coming to the Majestic Theater in Detroit this Monday the 18th. Bloom is her first world tour and she will be performing songs from her two new full-length albums released during quarantine, Everything Sucks and Everything Is Beautiful. These two albums truly showcase her range as an artist and her influences from 90s hip hop and the various New York subcultures that nurtured her career.
In Everything Sucks, we meet her more emo persona, a bitter and braggadocious young woman who seeks success to spite her enemies and her critics. Everything Sucks explores more fully the themes she rapped and sung about on A Girl Cried Red, her 2018 mixtape, which contained candid lyrics about her hurt and anger at past traumas of being a foster child and having a loving but inconsistent relationship to her birth family. This Nokia is all about control; she needs no approval from others and the men in her life are plentiful and disposable. Singles from this album include “I Like Him” and “It’s Not My Fault”.
Princess Nokia, real name Destiny Frasqueri, celebrates her duality as a gemini with these two albums. In Everything Is Beautiful, we see the Nokia who embraces and celebrates her loved ones. This Nokia found peace and sings a lot about her chosen family, forgiveness, and transcending the ego. She also celebrates her Puerto Rican heritage and her connection to the strong women in her life who keep her grounded. In tracks like “Soul Food y Adobo”, she layers Spanglish lyrics over brass instrumentals evoking 60s Soul. At age 29, Nokia has taken up the mantle of adulthood and all that entails. She no longer looks to her past as something holding her down but rather the platform on which she has built her success. The Bloom tour is a triumphant celebration of her fully realized self.
