The New Mother Nature

I checked out Detroit's Renaissance Center last night and a free Riverfront concert put on by the latest incarnation of Canadian rock group The Guess Who.

The interior of the Center is bizarro, right out of Things to Come or some other science fiction move. Very disorienting, with giant turbine-like towers, lots of glass and a labyrinth of eerie possibilities. There's also the glitzy Seldom Blues "Supper Club," featuring a snazzy view of the Detroit River and outrageous after-dinner drinks like Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac -- $150 per glass! Can you imagine?

On the Riverfront -- now accessible to anyone who can get there -- thousands of people showed up for The Guess Who. I've rarely seen Metro Detroiters look so happy. The weather was perfect, a nice breeze, coolish and low humidity. People danced, whooped and jiggled around. The band sounded pitch-perfect. And they played a lot of priceless songs. "Undun" (or "She's Come Undone" sounds a lot like Fleetwood Mac's/Santana's "Black Magic Woman," especially live); "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature," "(Don't Give Me No) Hand Me Down World," and the crescendo finale, "American Woman." Loved it! A bunch of boaters anchored off shore and danced their asses off up top, honking in lieu of cheering and clapping. The Guess Who cycle was complete: born during the Vietnam War, alive and kicking during the Iraq War. "I don't need your war machine," indeed.


This woman, on the other hand, sparkled everyone else's eyes at Vicente's Cuban Cuisine, 1250 Library Street, Detroit, after the concert.


According to Marshall McLuhan, "the medium is the message." Also, "the medium is the massage." Fellow global villagers, are you ready for the next big thing?

Birthdays: Hart Crane, Ernest Hemingway, Marshall McLuhan, Don Knotts, Norman Jewison, Garry Trudeau.

Hasta luego!