1st look: Rock venue UFO Bar to open in shuttered UFO Factory space in Detroit

A shuttered, iconic Corktown music venue will reopen with a fresh face-lift and lineup this weekend.

In June, the Free Press reported that UFO Factory would close mid-month and be taken over by new owner Roula David, owner of Detroit’s popular Spot Lite, to be redone and reopened as UFO Bar later this summer.

More: UFO Factory, popular Detroit music venue, not closing; new owner gives details

That time has come, and on Friday, Aug. 16, UFO Bar will open to the public with a packed weekend of events and a future both new and familiar at 2110 Trumbull St.

“We’re so excited to finally be able to announce our opening,” said David. “We had to wait and get all the permits and licenses and everything transferred over, so it took a little bit longer than we anticipated. But it’s all done, and we were able to announce that we could open this weekend.”

Sheefy McFly residency

Opening night will highlight a new residency by revered musical artist Sheefy McFly, who’ll be hosting Third Friday parties called “Ghettotechtopia,” a ghettotech night with jit dancers. Saturday will also feature a new residency, this time in partnership with Hamtramck record studio Portage Garage, led by brothers Shigeto and Kenjiro and showcasing artists from their label.

Arabic hardcore punk

“For this particular (Saturday) party,” David said, “we’re opening it up with a hardcore punk band called Prostitute. It is a young, Arab-led punk group out of Dearborn.

"We did some research, and we realized that this is the only punk rock bar owned by an Arab in the entire world, let alone an Arab woman. So to open up with an Arabic hardcore punk band, we’re really excited to be able to do that, and the guys at Portage Garage were very thoughtful to curate this event for us.”

Sunday night will herald the return of weekly karaoke to the UFO space.

“ ’Jennyoke’ was a staple at the bar for years, and it left to go to other venues,” said David, “and we talked to Jen David to bring it back. Starting this weekend, we’ll be having karaoke every Sunday night at UFO starting at 8 p.m.”

Limited hours this weekend

This weekend, the bar will be open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. as a trial. Starting Tuesday, Aug. 20, regular hours of 4 p.m to 2 a.m. will take effect.

David's leadership team includes general manager Sean O'Meara, beverage director Julian Spradlin and chef Jessica Kindle.

“All the (former UFO Factory) staff is coming back, along with some new faces,” David said. “Gladys Nite, which is our food truck at Spot Lite, is opening a second location at UFO Bar, as well, and we’re excited to showcase some old favorites and some new, really great stuff on the menu from Chef Jessica Kindle.

“All of everyone’s favorite residencies that existed prior to the closing are coming back; we have coordinated with all the collectives and groups and DJs that had parties there before, when it was UFO Factory. They’ll all be back, and then obviously we’ll be adding some new stuff to the programming. We’ll definitely be doing a lot more programming on the rooftop deck, as well, and we’re so excited to show everybody what we’ve done up there. It looks really nice.”

David said all the paperwork, changes and renovations were done in just three weeks since signing and closing on the business.

“Deep cleaning, upgrading on some of the equipment, doing a little painting, a little sprucing up, changing the menus, changing the liquor offerings,” she said. “We just got the keys on July 20. I mean, the fact that we got it done in less than a month — our health permit, our liquor license, all of that stuff needed to get transferred — I think it just shows how tenacious we were about getting this done.”

Keep up with UFO Bar's happenings on Instagram.

Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rock venue UFO Bar to open in shuttered UFO Factory space in Corktown