Travelog: Seeing Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in Detroit, MI - "The Motor City"

Lobby of The Siren hotel

I've been there a couple times, but stayed mostly on the outskirts. This time I spent the entirety of my brief sojourn there in the downtown area, which is actually quite nice, although expensive. I was expecting to see more urban blight and abandoned buildings, and it wasn't prevalent in any of the areas I visited. I did see a lot of amazing vintage architecture and many old buildings that were restored and revitalized. For example, I stayed in a boutique hotel known as The Siren, which resides in the Wurlitzer building, and was once in danger of demolition, but it has been renovated into a beautiful and charming hotel in the heart of downtown Detroit.

The Wurlitzer building

One of the highlights of my there was my experience at The Candy Bar cocktail lounge on the first floor next to the lobby. This place requires a reservation, and I thought it curious. Afterwards, I totally understood why. It's a small cozy space, and each cocktail is mixed to perfection by hand. I was not disappointed. It's the perfect place to go on a late-night romantic date.

Potato chips in a silver goblet

The "Double" Negroni - a liquid Negroni on the bottom with a frothy version floated on the top

 

I had another delightful experience at one of the other hotel bars - Sid Gold's Request Room - a speakeasy with the entrance in the alley behind the building. A reservation is not required to sit at the bar near the entrance, but you do need to reserve a seat for the piano karaoke bar. I put my name on the waiting list and had a nice chat with the bartender while I sipped a French 75, but did not get into the piano bar. Oh well, maybe next time.

One thing that I particularly liked about staying downtown was access to multiple forms of free public transportation. The Detroit People Mover is an elevated train loop that runs around the downtown area, connecting various points of interest, such as the sports arenas and music venues with parking garages.

People Mover route

I witnessed this system in action first hand when I went out in search of a restaurant for dinner. A baseball game was happening that evening and I saw people who were wearing team colors, boarding from different locations and then disembarking at Grand Circus Park for the game. I also used the Qline - a streetcar line - to get from downtown to the Detroit Institute of Arts museum and the Masonic Temple. 

Map of the Qline

All of the above modes of transport were completely free, ran on a regular schedule, and were reasonably easy to use. 

Speaking of art, the museum was impressive. It has some very famous paintings that I was surprised to see there, such as:

Portrait of a Noblewoman (1620)
by Rodrigo Villandrando

The Wedding Dance (1566)
by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Eleonora of Toledo and Her Son (!545-50)
by Agnolo Bronzino and his workshop

Self-Portrait with Straw Hat (1887)
by Vincent Van Gogh

The Three Skulls (1898)
by Paul Cezanne

However, I did not get to see everything, so I must return someday. The primary reason I was in Detroit was for a concert at the Masonic Temple, to see Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds on The Wild God Tour (North America 2025), and here is the video:

Honorable mention: Right next door to The Siren is a record store that also happens to be a bar - Paramita Sound. The records for sale looked mostly like a curated selection of new, high-quality pressings, and they have "open deck" hours where you can play DJ. The bar has a reasonable selection of beer, wine, and canned cocktails, along with non-alcoholic beverages. The vibe was very chill.