Detroit — Hometown rapper Eminem closed the Michigan Central Station concert Thursday night, putting the musical exclamation point on a celebration of the rebirth of the previously shuttered train station, an iconic landmark that spent decades as a symbol of the city's decline.
The free concert that drew up to 20,000 attendees ended with Eminem, the pride of Warren, doing a four song set backed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra that included "Welcome 2 Detroit" with Trick Trick, "Sing for the Moment" and his current release, "Houdini," which samples a Steve Miller 1982 hit song, "Abracadrabra."
Eminem, who helped to produce the entire event, closed the show with "Not Afraid." While the crowd was energized by a variety of performances throughout the night, the rapper's appearance was anticipated and electrified the audience.
Eminem left the crowd just before the end of his last song with a short message.
"Detroit we up. We love you," he said. "Our city’s up. Let's f------ go!”
Fan reactions
Fans came from all over the state — and even from other countries — to see the once-in-a-lifetime show. After the show was over and Ford Motor Co. blue was projected on the Ford-owned building, fans were just happy they got to experience it.
Michael and Evie Moorer didn’t expect to be at the station Thursday night for the concert. They were in Toronto earlier in the day before finding out they won concert tickets in a Ford employee raffle.“It was great. There was every kind of music possible," Michael Moorer said. "I wish the screen was a bit higher. We couldn’t see much of anything, but I never thought I’d see Diana Ross, Jelly Roll and Eminem in concert. It’s unbelievable."
Detroiter Trolisie Fletcher, 48, brought her friend Tiffany Powell, 50, from Ann Arbor to the concert. Fletcher remembered how her parents used to take the train to and from Michigan Central and said just being there was amazing.
"It's been an eyesore for most of my life," Fletcher said. "I'm so glad that they did not (tear it down), and they restored it."
Bettina Beck, 56, said the concert was absolutely awesome. She came to Detroit for the event with Janay McCall, 20, from Redford Township.
The pair toured the station before Ford began restoration efforts and thought it looked beautiful on Thursday. McCall said she'd even consider it as a potential wedding venue in the future.
"Detroit is back," Beck said.
A medley of genres
Eminem's performance followed Detroit area garage rocker Jack White, who at one point said he was playing songs that were made just a short distance from the Michigan Central Station.
Actor and comedian Sam Richardson and Frank Solis introduced Jack White, a native of southwest Detroit, who blazed the stage with his guitar solos.
“I hope it’s OK to perform a few songs that were written a few blocks from here,” he said.
He performed “Hear My Train a Comin,” “Hotel Yorba” and “Seven Nation Army.”
The crowd especially shouted along to "Seven Nation Army."
His performance and others were a tribute to all of Detroit’s musical genres across multiple generations, showcasing pop, gospel, rock, soul, techno, hip hop and rap.
The Detroit gospel group The Clark Sisters performed one of Thursday night's most electric performances, highlighting the musical diversity that rapper and producer Eminem is bring to the Michigan Central Station concert.
People of all races and backgrounds were dancing and singing with the Clark Sisters, who were born and raised in Detroit. The act is considered another pioneering group that has spread gospel music to the mainstream.
The gospel act followed rocker Melissa Etheridge, soul singer Fantasia and country singer Jelly Roll, who did a tribute to Michigan's rock and roll legend Bob Seger.
Etheridge covered Seger's 1977 hit, "Main Street," playing along on her guitar. Fantasia followed by singing Seger's 1987 hit "Shaketown," a song that was played over the opening credits of "Beverly Hills Cop II," the 1987 Eddie Murphy movie in which he plays a Detroit cop who helps to solve a crime in Los Angeles.
Then Jelly-Roll covered Seger's 1973 song "Turn the Page."
Fantasia, Jelly Roll and Etheridge finished the set by combining to bring the crowd into a sing along of “Old Time Rock and Roll.”
During his set, Big Sean greeted the crowd with “what up doe?” before performing a new song for the concert.
He got the crowd waving their hands.
“For most of my life it was just a big eyesore,” Big Sean said, referring to the train station. “What’s cool about the train station is it’s been through every era of Detroit.”
“It really is a diamond that came out of the rough.”
Big Sean followed Hall of Fame Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders, who address the crowd along with Lions quarterback Jared Goff.
“I think the building behind me is the greatest symbol of how far we’ve come,” Sanders said.
Sanders followed Motown legend Diana Ross, who kicked off the concert at 8:31 p.m. with her 1980 hit song, "I'm Coming Out."
Attendees started shaking and dancing as Ross sang “I’m Coming Out” before she even headed on the stage in a bright orange dress with a feathered coat.
The 80-year-old sing then got the crowd dancing, calling on them to move, clap, and sing with her during her 1980 hit, "Upside Down."
“I love you, Detroit,” she said.
She ended her set with the monster 1970 hit, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
“I love you, so good to be home,” Ross said as she left the stage.
The concert began as ticket-holders were still entering the venue for Thursday night's free concert, celebrating Michigan Central Station's reopening and that is headed by a star-filled line-up that will include some of music's biggest names including Diana Ross, Jack White, Fantasia and Jelly-Roll.
By early evening, crowds were descending on Michigan Avenue. But when the venue opened, progress was slow for patrons to get inside.
By 7:20 p.m., people filled nearly every part of the first 50 yards in front of the concert stage. Some brought blankets and towels to sit on. An EMS crew was staked in one part of the lawn in case of emergencies.
There were odes to Detroit were everywhere — on Corktown shirts, Detroit Lions jerseys and Michigan Central T-shirts.
Alcohol is not allowed at the concert. But multiple beer bottles were stuffed in barriers as people waited to file into the concert area.
Some people celebrated and jumped when they were finally able to enter the area near Roosevelt Park where the concert is being held. Approximately 20,000 tickets were given out for the free concert.
Bill Ford Jr speaks
Bill Ford Jr, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., called Thursday night "a dream come true."
"I want to say thank you to the 3,100 workers who worked on the station, to the community members in Corktown and Southwest, to Mayor Duggan, the city council and their teams who never wavered," he said. "Six years ago, we gathered here and imagined what was possible."
He said he wanted the future of transportation to be "where it was invented in the first place."
Detroit can change the world, he said, and it can be changed at Michigan Central Station.
"There were many doubters who didn't believe our mission was possible," he continued. "We all are proud of this, and this city is where the American dream was born. This station was the gateway for opportunity for many generations."
Different music genres performed
The main stage splits out into three circle ledges.
The Gavin Family performed Irish music as a tribute to Corktown’s history as the oldest neighborhood in Detroit on one ledge.
On another edge of the stage welcomed a mariachi band as a tribute to the stations “two front doors,” one leading toward Mexicantown and another to Corktown.
Leaders greet crowd
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took the stage around 8 p.m. and said the train station's reopening as a mobility hub is a testament to Detroit’s grit, “and the best thing about Detroit is Detroiters.” She was greeted with a mixture of cheers and boos.
Mayor Mike Duggan, who took office following the city’s historic bankruptcy in 2013, said he was a kid who remembers the station.
“My parents and grandparents generation was a gateway to a beautiful city…, but then became a source of pain. … I have the honor of introducing the person most responsible for this building,” Duggan said, introducing Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr.
'A good celebration of the city'
The immensity of the reopening was not lost on those attending Thursday's concert.
"The city has changed so much but seeing it come up and being a part of it, this is another kicking off to basically the world seeing how great the city is," attendee Natalie Munro said. "It's just a good celebration of the city, thepeople in it, and people coming together."
She told her friends the concert would be a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She and her friend Jaida Uphaus, with whom she was attending, were excited to see celebrities such as Jared Goff and Diana Ross.
"I don't care if I have to go to work at 7 a.m. tomorrow," Uphaus said. "I will be here to not miss this."
But beyond just the concert, people were celebrating the revival of the station as well. Judy Meszaros, of Detroit, has years of memories at Michigan Central Station.
"My mom worked here on the 18th floor for New York Central Railroad," Meszaros said. "She saw Lucille Ball get off the train once there."
She visited herself with her mom after reading in the newspaper that there was going to be a fashion show at the station after it closed.
"The diner in the back looked like a time capsule," she said. "There were still plates and equipment, like on somebody's last shift they just shut the doors."
Prime seats staked out
Scott Dunsmore of Sterling Heights got a primo standing spot center stage behind rows of VIP seating to view the concert.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s different,” he said of the outdoor concert scene. “Hopefully Eminem shows up.”
Around the side of stage, fans could get a bit closer, and clamored to snag a square of grass or space on the walkway for a good sight line. Rea Maci and Chiyellow Onuigvo, both of Detroit, were soaking in the sun there as streams of concertgoers still funneled in from Michigan Avenue.
“It’s energetic! It’s so full of love,” said Maci.
Both women said they were excited to see Diana Ross and Big Sean, but we’re really impressed by the whole line-up.
“We actually both worked on projects with Michigan Central Station like for the past year,” said Onuigvo. “To see it coming to fruition now is really interesting.”
Merchandise tables swamped
Crowds immediately swamped the merchandise tables where T-shirts sold for $25-$34, with slogans like “Detroit Drives the Future” and “Detroit Put the World On Wheels."
There are lines at all of the food trucks.
Attendees are dressed in Lions and Detroit City FC jerseys, as well as Eminem and Diana Ross tour shirts. People are talking and speculating about who the special unannounced guests will be at the concert.
A chance to 'celebrate Detroit'
Milford resident Beth Chuba was one of the early arrivals for the concert and said she toured the station when it was in total disrepair and has followed its revitalization closely. She was ready to go when the ticket sales went live the first time.
"Any opportunity to celebrate Detroit and come down and see Detroit we're going to take advantage of," said Chuba, 56 "It's so great to revive this part of Detroit too. … Everyone's going to know about it now."
She came downtown with Rich Benoit, 62, from Milford. They're staying at a downtown hotel Thursday night and took a shuttle to Corktown. They plan to tour the inside of the station next week after public tours begin Friday.
Chris LeMaster recently moved back to Michigan where he grew up and now lives in Ann Arbor. He said he wanted to take in the historic day for Detroit.
"I'm a huge music fan, so Jack White, Diana Ross, hopefully Eminem (will perform)," LeMaster, 44, said of the concert lineup. "Hopefully I'll discover an artist or two I don't know."
A scalper tries to cash in
While the concert is free, at least one individual is trying to cash in.
An unidentified scalper was offering to sell a concert ticket Thursday evening for $75.
Bucket list items in one show
Behind the station, at a pop-up bar on Bagley, Melissa Close from Woodhaven rattled off the hits she hoped to hear during Thursday's show: Eminem's "Lose Yourself," Diana Ross' "Aint No Mountain High Enough" and Jack White's "Seven Nation Army."
She was proud that she grabbed the tickets before the Michigan Central website crashed the first time. And she was most excited about celebration of the station's restoration.
"We wanted the tickets before we knew who the acts were. I’m excited to see what type of part that DSO plays a role in this," said Close, 47.
She said, "I feel like I’m checking off a bunch of bucket list items with this one event. Eminem is a no brainer. I hope he performs because I saw him at the (former) Palace (of Auburn Hills) with Dr. Dre a long time ago and his passion for Detroit with the Lions has made this all the more exciting."
Mother-daughter trip to Detroit for MCS
Lori Pierce and Alexa Groth, a mother and daughter from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were the first people in line for the Michigan Central concert Thursday. They arrived near the entrance of the event between 9:30 and 10 a.m., Pierce said.
They drove 11 hours to get to Detroit.
Attendees are expected to be able to enter the event at 6 p.m. Pierce and Groth said they are having a “blast” and listening to music as they wait.
“People are saying hi to us, which never happens where we’re from,” said Groth, a 33-year-old resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Only three people were in line for the event as of 12:45 p.m. Pierce, a 57-year-old resident of Mount Vernon, Iowa, said she and her daughter thought the time they were arriving wasn’t early enough, but they ended up being the first ones in line. They often go to concerts together, and they like to get there early so they don’t miss any of the action, Groth said.
She said she has been “obsessed” with Detroit since she was 11 or 12. She learned about the history and became a fan of music by Detroit artists. She and her mom visited Detroit for the first time last September to go to a 50 Cent concert.
“We’re from Portland, Oregon, originally, so we’ve been in big cities and been a part of that before, but this city is so special,” Pierce said. “This city has people like we’ve never met before, who just talk to you on the street, and people are just like so kind and nice here. It truly feels like a magical wonderland to us, you know.”
“It’s my Disneyland,” Groth chipped in.
Road Closures
Because of the concert, Michigan Avenue is blocked off starting at Rosa Parks Boulevard. There are also road closures on some of the other nearby streets.
There are 20,000 tickets that were reserved in advance of the free event.
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