Tear Down the Wall, Detroit!
Roger Waters/The Wall Live was one hell of a concert – from the stage setup to the lighting to the overall performance. In the two-hour performance of the album in its entirety, we saw a full children's choir perform "Another Brick in the Wall," real videos of war scenes on the backdrop, the collapse of "The Wall," (as the audience cheered "TEAR DOWN THE WALL!"), fountain fireworks, a giant flying pig that circled the interior and even bigger inflatable creatures that swayed back and forth over the sides of the stage. The performance was so moving that we got a little teary-eyed during "Comfortably Numb." (No shame here.)

Eight Arms to Hold You
A wonderful (and long overdue) sequel to the Beatles' 1964 appearance at Olympia Stadium, the Scarab Club's Octopus' Garden Party on Friday was fab and bigger than Jacques Cousteau from start to finish! After enjoying an array of delicacies from the Caucus Club, guests stepped out to the foliage and proceeded to applaud and rattle their jewelry at Toppermost, four moptops from Farmington Hills who really know how to belt out a Mersey beat. Glimpsed amidst the botanical beauties were Patricia Izzo, Jo Jo Smedo, Erika Campbell, VATO, Bridgett Davenport, Jerry Vile, Lushes LaMoan and Sharon Layne. Yoko was a no-show.

Dressing Up for Good Causes
It's really rare for us to dress up much beyond a pair of jeans and some nice shoes, but every so often we clean up nice. This weekend brought two events for which we left the t-shirts at home and wore some snappy clothes. BravoBravo!: Color the Night took place Friday night at the Detroit Opera House. Folks were dressed to the nines as they strolled around the grounds indoors and out, enjoying scrumptious food and lovely libations. As the night progressed, people were, um, having more fun, especially near the end of the night, when DJ Captn20 took the stage and took us home with his signature pop-laden club music.

And We Ate Well ALL Weekend
Sunday's event was much less raucous–a more refined event, if you will. The Garden Party happens once a year to benefit multiple local charities. This year's event took place at the Meadow Brook mansion and featured food from close to 30 area restaurants including 220, Bella Piatti, Trattoria Stella, and Andiamo. Strolling from table to table and from wine to food and back to wine again, we sampled dishes that tantalized our senses, including the fantastic cornmeal-encrusted beef brisket from the Detroit Athletic Club and the molecular, gastronomically exciting "frozen" popcorn from Ocean Prime.

Arbor Brewing Beer Dinner
Foran's decided not to have a beer dinner in May. We're not sure why exactly, but we're sure as hell glad they had one in June, especially since it was with Arbor Brewing. The Ypsi-based brewing company brought some fascinating rare beers to pair with four courses. The food was prepared by Foran's with help from guest chefs from Woodbridge Pub. Although everything tasted great and the beers were perfectly paired, our favorite course had to be Wild Game Three Ways, paired with Flamboyant Wild Red. The sourness of the Red accentuated the bleu cheese-encrusted venison, herb-rubbed bison rib, and pulled BBQ pheasant very well. We just wish these dinners were every week instead once a month. Oh, and next month's is a little different – it'll feature Faygo pop. Yup, you read that correctly, they'll be pairing food and Faygo.

The Shins
It's been a long time since the Shins toured, which also means it's been a long time since they've been to Detroit. Promoting their latest album, Port of Morrow, the Shins hit the stage with a bang opening with "Caring is Creepy." The set continued for at least 90 minutes, moving from mellow to upbeat and back again. Their acoustic rendition of "New Slang" had the crowd swaying with delight. And let's not forget the Antlers. Somewhere between Bon Iver and Sigur Ros, The Antlers played a truly epic set that filled the Fillmore with robust melodies. Their unique style of music was a superb complement to the Shins.

Sweet Harvest
Someone suggested that the RIC's Funhouse Gallery should now be called the Cider House – especially in light of the large crowd that arrived Saturday evening to see the polished results of Diane Irby's Poisoned Apples exhibit. An expansive, colorful, serious and funny mosaic based on the legend of Snow White (talk about great timing!), the event also provided music, dancing, and great food. Among the guests bobbing for a better view here and there were Kristine Diven, Todd Parnell, Leela Gupta, Jerry Shirts, A. Owen Layne, Lindsey Harnish, DVS, Satori Circus, MonkeyTeeth and the titular princess herself, who was kind enough to let the press enjoy a few extra jello shots for free. | RDW