In Detroit, you kind of have to expect the unexpected. It's part of what makes the city so special. Like the pool table in a men's bathroom, the French café in an old daycare, the community garden in the middle of decay, the bustling market at 3 AM, the jazz bar with the keyboard bar top or the pheasant that frequents a side street. So much of its beauty is tough to predict.

On a sunny Winter Sunday, the patrons of Lafayette Coney Island fell victim to yet another one of these unexpected delights at the hands of a group called Single Barrel Detroit. Everyone sat in the restaurant mostly curious and grinning, definitely unsure of what was actually going to happen.

Ahmed, Lafayette Coney Island's oldest employee, said he was excited. "Rock 'n roll music with Coney-- perfect combination," he said. He had been working at Lafayette for 33 years and this was something he had never seen at his restaurant. George, another employee of only three years, who enjoys Michael Jackson and country music, agreed. "We now have live music concert with Coney. This is nice."

The band Wildcatting steadily assembled their arsenal of pedals and cables off to the side of the restaurant while people looked on curiously. They worked with the efficiency of complex machinery and said very little to one another in the process of preparing for what was looking more and more like a truly rare experience. Computer monitors, sound equipment and guitars collided with kosher dogs, fried potatoes and chili.

One family sat in the audience looking on with steady amazement as rows of audio cable practically criss-crossed their chili cheese fries. A family of six, they were spending Sunday afternoon at Lafayette and American Coney Islands conducting a tasting competition after such an act was made popular on a cable television show. Each child would consume a coney with fries at each restaurant and declare a winner before day's end. The kids were pleased with the experience thus far, and visually appeared to be downright ecstatic given the addition of a rock band to the afternoon's activities.

Wildcatting plays music that is mostly like nothing you've heard before. And as the band plowed in to their live set inside Lafayette Coney Island, the audience looked on seemingly intoxicated as a result-- both curious about the content of their wildly erratic song structure while wondering how the events came together to begin with. An archaic assault of guitars with scattered organization continued, while chest-shaking thuds erupted if you stood close enough to the speakers. Their blend of schizophrenic rock had people nodding their heads and slapping their knees while simultaneously making them ache to know what was really coming next.

Meanwhile, a mostly empty American Coney Island was experiencing business as usual next door. A family talked about a newborn baby. A moustached hipster drank fountain Coke. They all, short of maybe the hipster, had no idea that the guitar sounds they occasionally heard next door were going to also be in front of them within a half hour.

As Wildcatting finished their set next door, a Wayne County police officer stood in the back clapping longer than anyone else in the audience. Ahmed was scooping chili on to a hotdog as the last guitar chord was heard, and George smiled looking on from the back of the room. The place was packed, everyone aiming to take up the least amount of space as possible while the waiters squeezed by and moved with a particular seriousness. They were feverishly committed to delivering the lightning-speed service they have come to be known for.

Bars of Gold, consisting mostly of guys from Wildcatting, packed up their gear and migrated next door to American to begin setup for a second set. The character change was aided by the fact that the majority of the band was now donning the iconic American Coney Island hats. The sun started showing its face through the windows and faces began to curiously turn as the band brought in speaker boxes and guitar cases, pedals and drum kits. Bars of Gold play a shout-and-fistpump blend of rock 'n roll, noted particularly for vocalist Marc Paffi's powerful voice and intense Ultimate Warrior-like antics on stage. The guy sings and the floor shakes a little. He really means it.

The taste-testing family migrated from Lafayette to American after Wildcatting was packed up, shaking off the cold as they entered the door. All four kids looked like they had the energy to run a full marathon, wearing their Crocs nonetheless. They were clearly ready for another round of kosher dogs and rock. The father looked at one of his sons with admiration as he courageously barreled in to another chili dog, and clearly missed ¼ of the chili intake as it sat on his upper lip. However sloppy, they each seemed fully aware of the fact that something special was happening.

Bars of Gold burst in to their mini-set playing at the rear of the restaurant. They played to a backdrop of downtown Detroit and Campus Martius, as seen through the rear window view. Each cymbal crash came with a certain ferociousness, reminding everyone that nobody was taking this experience more seriously than the bands themselves. Every guitar chord traveled with a bang in such a small space. The wait staff still moved with a particular finesse, passing out free Coney dogs to people curiously watching. A group of passersby stood outside, eyes pressed to the window, smiling. Marc Paffi intensely moved about in the rear of the restaurant, and even managed to step outside for a smoke break during the set.

Nobody expected a rock 'n roll band with their cheese fries, and nobody expected both to be good-- together nonetheless. As the songs came to a close, applause roared. The windows were steamed up. Children clapped, parents whistled. The conversations continued. The family tallied their results and determined Lafayette Coney Island was the winner. The kids left skipping through the doors and singing songs about kangaroos. The bands packed up their gear and high-fived one another. The employees were excitedly smiling with admiration.

Everyone, moving in their separate directions, continued onward, glowing slightly. Many of them became seemingly aware of the fact that they too had just cut to the core of Detroit's unexpected beauty.

- Philip Lauri
114 & 118 W Lafayette Blvd

One of the nation's oldest and most passionate food rivalries resides on a triangle parcel on the corner West Lafayette and Michigan Avenue near the heart of downtown. This Detroit success story began in 1917 with an inventive and enterprising Greek immigrant named Constantine "Gust" Keros. Gust opened his American Coney Island restaurant with instant success serving his coney island hot dogs, then just a nickel per. A brilliantly simple formula: a natural casing hot dog, hearty chili sauce, mustard, and chopped onions in a steamed bun, turned quickly from local necessity to food icon. American's success prompted Gust's brother William to gobble up the neighboring storefront and open his competing restaurant, Lafayette Coney Island. As quickly as you could order "one of each on two heavy chili light onion," the rivalry was born.

The two restaurants have remained symbiotically side by side for nearly a century and are still owned by third and fourth generation family members. The competition remains friendly, yet fierce, with loyalties for each more akin to religious devotion.

Our shoot celebrated this rivalry through performances by two largely local 5 piece bands that share 4 members – a fun play on the coney co-existence. We invited friends, fans and the public at large out to the shoot to have a coney on us and experience a unique twist on this quintessential Detroit experience.
Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Bars of Gold at American Coney Island · by Kenny Corbin Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni Wildcatting at Lafayette Coney Island · by Marvin Shaouni
Bars of Gold - Blue Lightning

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Wildcatting - Lipping

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Bars of Gold - Tree Forts

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Bars of Gold - Heaven Has a Heater

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