Suki Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 For Ann Arbor or Greater Detroit fans -- Nels will be appearing at The Ark on June 5, performing with the Nels Cline Singers. The Ark is a great place to see music -- it's a non-profit, artist-friendly, 400 seat venue in downtown Ann Arbor. Tickets go on sale Saturday morning. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lamradio Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 I wish they would play in the South. What a wonderful, strange, evening that would be. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 Huh. I'd love to see this, but I'm not sure I'll be able to. We get on a plane the next day for a week in San Francisco and I'll probably be packing and freaking out about all the stuff I'm going to forget. Not the best time to chuck everything and go see a show. It'll be a great venue for them, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 I'm headed out to Chicago to see them June 3 and am going to hop another train to Ann Arbor the next day. I figured if I'm going all the way out to the midwest, I might as well catch them twice. I'm glad to hear it's a really small venue. It should be a good time. I'd appreciate suggestions of things to do in Ann Arbor for the two days I'm there. I've never been there, so I'm sure I'll find plenty to keep me busy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 I wish they would play in the South. What a wonderful, strange, evening that would be. They did after the first album. I saw them in Atlanta. They had a pretty decent sized crowd. Maybe they'll come back again now that Nels has more name recognition. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lamradio Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 They did after the first album. I saw them in Atlanta. They had a pretty decent sized crowd. Maybe they'll come back again now that Nels has more name recognition. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 I'd appreciate suggestions of things to do in Ann Arbor for the two days I'm there. I've never been there, so I'm sure I'll find plenty to keep me busy.I'm not the best one to give advice on stuff to do around town (I'm the kind of person who stays home a lot) but I could offer some restaurant ideas. What do you like? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 For Ann Arbor or Greater Detroit fans -- Nels will be appearing at The Ark on June 5, performing with the Nels Cline Singers. The Ark is a great place to see music -- it's a non-profit, artist-friendly, 400 seat venue in downtown Ann Arbor. Tickets go on sale Saturday morning. My favorite venue ever! I love The Ark. And I've never seen Nels Cline Singers, so this is fantastic news. Thank you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Suki Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share Posted April 11, 2008 I'm headed out to Chicago to see them June 3 and am going to hop another train to Ann Arbor the next day. I figured if I'm going all the way out to the midwest, I might as well catch them twice. I'm glad to hear it's a really small venue. It should be a good time. I'd appreciate suggestions of things to do in Ann Arbor for the two days I'm there. I've never been there, so I'm sure I'll find plenty to keep me busy. Ann Arbor is a great place -- it's basically a college town. If you like the outdoors and the weather is good, either Gallup Park (goes along the Huron River) or The Arboretum are good places to go walking or jogging. For museums, the University of Michigan Art Museum is very well regarded and there is a museum called the "Hands-on Museum" that is geared to kids but fun for everyone. For shopping there is a quirky little area called Kerrytown which has lots of nice little shops that are primarily local. And it's near Zingerman's which is an extremely popular deli that would be a good place for lunch or breakfast. Main Street (downtown Ann Arbor which is the street where The Ark is located) has a lot of art galleries. If you want to venture out a little farther, a "must-see" for out-of-towners who visit the area is Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum. That's located in Dearborn, about 30 miles from Ann Arbor. I hope you enjoy our town!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kalle Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 The Ark and Ann Arbor are both awesome places if I wasn't trying to get Radiohead tickets tomorrow I would be all over this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 Don't worry, I highly doubt it'll sell out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VenusStopsTrain2 Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 I'm headed out to Chicago to see them June 3 and am going to hop another train to Ann Arbor the next day. I figured if I'm going all the way out to the midwest, I might as well catch them twice. I'm glad to hear it's a really small venue. It should be a good time. I'd appreciate suggestions of things to do in Ann Arbor for the two days I'm there. I've never been there, so I'm sure I'll find plenty to keep me busy. If you like books you could go to Borders there...its the flagship store (where the corporate office is and they host a lot of famous writers/artists there and video them for the website. I think they also test out new ideas in that stores location. (this comes from a former employee) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 If you like books you could go to Borders there...its the flagship store (where the corporate office is and they host a lot of famous writers/artists there and video them for the website. I think they also test out new ideas in that stores location. (this comes from a former employee)The corporate office is in an office park south of town. No retail there. The downtown location, which I guess could be called the flagship store, is no longer in its original location (which was just around the corner on State Street), but it is pretty large and well-stocked -- perhaps more so than other locations. As for testing out new ideas ... the new location on Lohr Road near the Meijer store is pretty different, in that they have these digital kiosks where you can burn your own CDs, etc. It just opened in February, and I was all excited to have a location nearby that I could park at, but truthfully, I don't like it much. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm a writing professor, so I definitely like books and college towns! I won't have a car, but it sounds like I should be able to find plenty to do in town. In terms of restaurants, whenever I travel, I like to try the local favorites. I'm not a huge fan of steakhouses, since I don't eat a lot of beef, and I don't want to go somewhere really pricey, but other than that, I'm not too picky. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IATTBYB Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 since I don't eat a lot of beef, and I don't want to go somewhere really pricey, but other than that, I'm not too picky.Well, I was going to suggest Crazy Jim's Blimpyburger, but if your not a beef eater, that may not be the type of place you would want to go to. You can get a year's worth of cholesterol and grease in just one visit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Suki Posted April 12, 2008 Author Share Posted April 12, 2008 Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm a writing professor, so I definitely like books and college towns! I won't have a car, but it sounds like I should be able to find plenty to do in town. In terms of restaurants, whenever I travel, I like to try the local favorites. I'm not a huge fan of steakhouses, since I don't eat a lot of beef, and I don't want to go somewhere really pricey, but other than that, I'm not too picky. Ann Arbor has a lot of bookstores (including used/antique etc). I'm not the best for restaurant recommendations because I'm vegetarian, but there are a ton of restaurants in Ann Arbor. For Chinese I would suggest Middle Kingdom, for seafood most people like The Real Seafood Company (both on Main Street), for vegetarian go to Seva (good value, you can get drinks there as well), for Indian I'd suggest Raja Rani. Just about any of the places on and around Main Street are good -- some are kind of pricey, so look at the menus in the window before you go in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Seva is a good, but not necessarily healthy, vegetarian restaurant with vegan options. My girlfriend is vegetarian and I often eat that way, so it's a place we go when we want a treat. (On Liberty between the downtown strip on Main and the campus strip on State.) Raja Rani was suggested for Indian, and there's nothing wrong with it (it's many people's favorite) but I also like Shalimar on Main, and Madras Masala, which is on Maynard around the corner from the big Borders. I haven't heard much about Chennai Vilas (on North Main) since it changed its name, but its predecessor in the same space was really good. For Middle Eastern downtown, you can't beat Jerusalem Garden (of 5th Avenue). It's among the cheapest eats in town, and even with some recent bumps to their prices it's still very reasonable. Arbor Brewing Company is on East Washington (just east of Main), makes some great brews, and serves pretty decent food. A good place to hang out and kill time, and they have darts and shuffleboard. If you like to play pool, try the Monkey Bar on Main. The Fleetwood Diner at Ashley and Liberty (a block west of Main) is cheap and good. There's another new place right near there (a door or two south) that I've been meaning to check out but now I can't even remember its name. Kitty-corner from the Fleetwood is the Old Town, which is the only bar I ever spend much time at, and it has surprisingly good food. I haven't been to Middle Kingdom in ages (like, twenty years or so), so I'll have to defer to Suki's suggestion on that one (it's also on Main). My favorite Chinese places are a bit further afield. There's a Thai place at Main and William called Marnee Thai. I go to its sister restaurant (same owners) called Lotus Thai pretty often, and it's very good. Haven't been to Marnee yet but I would assume that the quality is similar. Not too expensive but also won't be your cheapest option. There's a decent sub shop on 4th Avenue called Sottini's -- but it's real no-frills. Good subs but not great. I like it because it makes 'em the way I remember subs as a kid (which weren't necessarily the best but were different from what you get at Subway). If you get over to the campus and wander down to the South University Avenue area, you open up some more possibilities, but I've been to very few of them over there. On East University there's a place called Red Hot Lovers which is a great college town grease joint (burgers, fries, etc. -- they even have a tempeh sandwich if I recall correctly). I love that place. A few doors closer to South University is an Italian place whose name is escaping me at the moment -- it may be a chain. You mark checkboxes to tell them what you want on your pasta/sandwich/pizza/salad and turn it in to the cashier and they make it up for you following your instructions. I like it. I've skipped a lot of stuff (including all of the places on State Street), but wander around and you're sure to find something to your liking. For dessert, go to Stucci's for ice cream. There's one on State (next door to a Ben & Jerry's) and another on South University. For music shopping, try Wazoo Records on State near William (look for the yellow canopy). It's been there forever and it's fantastic. Also Encore Recordings on Liberty (not far from State). If you wander a bit south of town on State to the State/Packard/Hill triangle, you'll find PJ's, which is smaller but interesting (last time I was there they still devoted most of their cramped floorspace to vinyl). Have fun! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VenusStopsTrain2 Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 The corporate office is in an office park south of town. No retail there. The downtown location, which I guess could be called the flagship store, is no longer in its original location (which was just around the corner on State Street), but it is pretty large and well-stocked -- perhaps more so than other locations. As for testing out new ideas ... the new location on Lohr Road near the Meijer store is pretty different, in that they have these digital kiosks where you can burn your own CDs, etc. It just opened in February, and I was all excited to have a location nearby that I could park at, but truthfully, I don't like it much. Oh, thanks! I haven't been up there. I just know that they have 'Borders Live at 01' ..and I thought for some reason corp was with the actual store...like right next to each other. Sorry for the bad info. Yeah I knew about the new format...and to be totally realistic after working at Borders for 2 years and having a LOT of issues with the listening stations alone, I'm not sure how long they really think those computers will last, that are supposed to allow you to burn cd's, as well as the scrapbooking/photo stations. Plus it's going to be a pain since everyone would have to be trained to answer all the questions that go along with the systems working. The 'model' of how it looks is on the Borders website. I'm also not sure how they really think the new table set up's will work either. They have started rolling out how they want the books set up on tables without actually having the new tables and it takes three times as long to locate a title now that they are sideways and not facing out for you to read. Sorry about the weird blurb. Can you tell me why you don't like it? As someone who hasn't actually been IN the new store with all the new features it would be interesting to hear about it from a customer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Can you tell me why you don't like it? As someone who hasn't actually been IN the new store with all the new features it would be interesting to hear about it from a customer. Mostly because they drastically scaled back their stock of CDs to open up floorspace for the kiosks. The kiosks don't interest me in the slightest -- I want a place that will offer me a varied and deep stock of CDs. Also, I just didn't like the overall layout of the new location. I suppose I'll get used to it eventually, but it didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me on my first visit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VenusStopsTrain2 Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Unfortunately because they are a bunch of goons..they have scaled back on their music in most places. I wonder if it would change if customers called in and did the survey and said they miss the music, etc. In fact I highly push you to tell them what you think. Do that here or email them at ccare@bordersstores.com. Heck if everyone on here emails them they'd hopefully get it that people want more music! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poppydawn Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Damn. I wish my Detroit/Ann Arbor trip was two weeks earlier; I'd love to catch that show. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VenusStopsTrain2 Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Damn. I wish my Detroit/Ann Arbor trip was two weeks earlier; I'd love to catch that show. You are beginning to be a real competitor for what I refer to as 'Is Mel ever at home.....or is she on yet another road trip' Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Alan Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 i'm excited to catch this show. the ark is one of the best venues in the area. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Isn't there a Zappa live album from The Ark? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Isn't there a Zappa live album from The Ark?I doubt it. He does not appear on their list of who's played there over the years (which is impressive nonetheless). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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