24 Hours in Detroit

If you like getting into crazy shit, you need to check out Detroit, Michigan. During the day the city’s hidden by the shadows of deserted factories, but at night the streets light up. The Hopps Crew was flown in to skate the Roosevelt Park Fundraiser, where we quickly found ourselves wrapped up in the madness of an industrial wasteland.

Since properties are cheap and abundant, skaters and artists can buy large spaces that once housed assembly lines and convert them into adult playgrounds with few regulations or supervision. A group of bike racers dug out and restored an abandoned velodrome in less than a month. We hit up the Thunderdrome! for a mini-bike race and some fowling (a riff on bowling where you throw at football at pins instead of rolling a ball).

Next, we were transported to a mock-beach party held in a burned out warehouse. Bonfires burned and free booze flowed, as hot chicks cooked S’mores. At this point we were mentally prepared for a goth raver party with a secret drug dungeon. Slow dancing to blasting techno is popular with these Lords of Acid.

We also skated Northwestern High School—the best school ever. But with two sprained ankles I couldn’t rip like I wanted to. Tired, crazed, and hungry as fuck, we ventured to Slows Bar BBQ for the best brisket on the planet—you’ll feel like you partied naked after one bite. Oh, and we found Bill Danforth’s flask too.

Photos by Joel Meinholz and Vic Sorvino