Steppenwolf took the Stage at about 9:00 and the audience went ballistic. John Kay, the legendary singer, began with Sookie Sookie Sue and ended at about 10:20 or so with The Pusher. In between these two songs were amazing hits from this iconic band's long career. This year is, in fact, the 50th Anniversary of Steppenwolf. It seems impossible, but it is.

A shocker was that John Kay announced that this is the last time Steppenwolf will be performing in Detroit; he said 50 years was long enough. He thanked his fans for their years of support and told everyone that he would spend his time working to support our biosphere and the numerous endangered and threatened species that mankind is driving to extinction. He and his wife have a foundation for this cause, The Maue Kay Foundation (https://mauekay.org). The mission statement is, "The Maue Kay Foundation is a non profit 501(c) (3) charitable foundation formed in 2004 by John Kay and Jutta Maue Kay which supports individuals and organizations engaged in the protection of WILDLIFE, THE ENVIRONMENT and HUMAN RIGHTS."

The concert was awesome, the crowd was fired up, and the evening was a lot of fun. John Kay's voice hasn't lost anything; he still sounds like he did in 1968, possibly better. It was a good time and we strongly recommend that you get down to Detroit for the next three Friday nights and see the remaining concerts (listed above). In addition to the concert, there is a lot of great food and drink in the area to make your evening even more enjoyable.

Each year on the Monday of media access to the North American International Auto Show, Hyundai sponsors an invited media dinner at Slows Bar-B-Q on Michigan Avenue, Corktown area, Detroit. Having been the recipients of this hospitality for several years, we at Detroit Metro Mashup want to take this opportunity to thank Hyundai for providing us food and beverages after a long day of walking the show floor aand for creating a circumstance where we can interact with our peers from other organizations.

This is a much more relaxed atmosphere than the hospitality areas at Cobo Hall, nice though they are, and the food is always top-notch; probably the best BBQ you can find in Michigan, and we have some good BBQ here. Servers work the crowd with trays of wine and beer, but you are free to order whatever you want to drink from the bar, including any of their wide selection of beers on tap. 

We got there early this year and the valets were just getting set up but were totally cool with us being there too soon. They wanted me to take their photo and here it is, below. Someone let them know, OK? 

We pretty much had our choice of seats when we got inside, so Michele ordered her usual Coke while I opted for a Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale. Alas, their seasonal flagship IPA, Hopslam, was not available yet but I consoled myself quite adequately with their regular Ale. While waiting for the food to be announced I cured my boredom by lining up the BBQ sauce bottles and Hyundai tchotchkes and taking a photo, which I later decided to over-process. Michele decided to take a couple of photos of me. Here is the least horrible one.

More people began arriving and, usually, headed straight for the bar while the food was being prepped. 

Finally the food was ready and we lined up to fill our plates. Brisket, pulled pork, two types of ribs, chicken, potato salad, etc., and so on, and so forth. I think pretty much everything on the Slows menu was on that viking-sized serving table; with some of the variety on Michele’s plate in our photo (I forgot to take a picture of mine or the serving line, too busy eating). Pretty much everyone buckled down to the task at hand: eating to excess!

Finally we waddled out to the valets, got the Fiat (500L Lounge, a super comfortable car), and headed home. On the way we were surprised to see the glowing LuminoCity displays along Woodward. I managed to shoot a few photos of them from the window of the car.

Again, Hyundai, thank you for another great night out!