Stef Chura plays her first Detroit show since 2020 at Third Man

Two weeks from tonight, the Detroit songwriter brings Dancing Alone on the Concrete, her first album in seven years, to Third Man Records Cass Corridor for $10.

Stef Chura's last Detroit show was May 15, 2020, at The Loving Touch. Her next one is two weeks from tonight: Friday, Nov. 20, at Third Man Records Cass Corridor, at 7:30 p.m., with Easy Action opening. Tickets are $10 on DICE.

Ten dollars, a 300-capacity room, and a hometown songwriter with her first record in seven years. That's about as good a Friday as Detroit gets in November.

The record is Dancing Alone on the Concrete, on Saddle Creek, and it has a guest list that turned heads when it was announced. Lead single "Danny" features Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M., as Stereogum and The Line of Best Fit reported, and Stereogum's headline also counted members of Sugar and the Elephant 6 crowd among the contributors. SPIN covered the R.E.M. connection in July. In August she followed with two more songs, "Lovesick" and "Thunder and Lightning," which Stereogum described as two more sides of what was shaping up to be an eclectic album.

It's been a long road to this one. Her previous album, Midnight, came out in 2019 and was made with Car Seat Headrest's Will Toledo. WXPN called it commanding and unapologetic. Then came seven years and a pandemic that started two months before her last Detroit date on the books. The gap between Midnight and this record is longer than the gap between her first two.

Ten dollars, a 300-capacity room, and a hometown songwriter with her first record in seven years.

So November 20 is the first chance for Detroit to hear the new songs in a room built for exactly this kind of show. Third Man's Cass Corridor space is a record store with a stage, which suits a record release-style night better than a bar would. Get there for Easy Action too; a local bill like this is the point.

Chura has always been tied up with this city. She's referred to everywhere as a Detroit singer-songwriter, and she's coming home with a record made with heroes from far outside it. Hearing the R.E.M. song in a Cass Corridor record store is the kind of thing you'll want to say you saw.

The listing is on JamBase, and you can read more about her on Wikipedia. At $10, the only real risk is waiting too long. Get the ticket now and give the record a few spins before the 20th.

Sources: Stereogum: Stef Chura announces new album Dancing Alone on the Concrete (stereogum.com); The Line of Best Fit: Peter Buck and Mike Mills feature on new Stef Chura album (thelineofbestfit.com); SPIN: Stef Chura R.E.M. members (spinmagazine.com); Stereogum: Stef Chura - Lovesick / Thunder and Lightning (stereogum.com); WXPN: Stef Chura's Midnight is commanding and unapologetic (xpn.org); Stef Chura - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); DICE tickets (link.dice.fm); JamBase listing (jambase.com)