Milwaukee Junction
A neighborhood in Detroit
Milwaukee Junction carries real music weight for a neighborhood this size. The North End's musical legacy runs from blues and jazz on Hastings Street to being the birthplace of techno. Early venues here hosted then-unknown acts like John Lee Hooker, and the Phelps Lounge drew Parliament, the Temptations, and Bettye LaVette early in their careers. The two live-music anchors today sit just blocks apart on East Milwaukee Avenue. Tangent Gallery, at 715 E. Milwaukee Ave., is an underground arts space and live-music venue that can accommodate up to 2,000. It divides into two main sections: a white room with main gallery and mezzanine, and a dark room ballroom, each a raw industrial space. The venue is open to any medium: fine art, performance art, music, and DJs. Its Garden Groove Series brings local DJs and live music every Saturday. Techno names like DJ Bone and Eddie Fowlkes have appeared on its bills. Kiesling, a cocktail bar at 449 E. Milwaukee Ave., occupies a building that started life as a grocery store in the 1890s. It hosts events and live music, though its primary identity is cocktails. It has been nominated twice for the Spirited Awards' Top 30 Cocktail Bars in the USA.
Venues2
- Kiesling449 E Milwaukee Ave, Detroit
- Tangent Gallery715 E Milwaukee Ave, Detroit
