Deluxx Fluxx

Behind an unmarked door under a few neon Xs on The Belt sits one of the strangest, most wonderful rooms in Detroit. Deluxx Fluxx began in 2010 as a traveling art installation by Brooklyn artist duo FAILE and artist BÄST — it toured the world, including the Brooklyn Museum — before putting down permanent roots in this basement in 2018. The result is three zones of joyful sensory overload: an arcade of custom, Detroit-themed games built by the artists themselves, a black-and-white dance floor pouring signature cocktails from taps, and the famous blacklight room with glow-in-the-dark foosball. The games alone are worth the trip — custom-built, Detroit-themed cabinets riffing on RoboCop, Zug Island, and Michigan Central Station — and most event nights keep the cover charge in pocket-change territory. It’s a live music venue, a nightclub, and an art piece having an identity crisis in the best way.

We clocked the mysterious door on our stroll and have been thinking about it since — it’s on our list for the next night that calls for something genuinely unlike anywhere else, ideally after a warm-up at Standby. Adults only, and gloriously so.