50 & FABULOUS
Fifty key moments from Pine Knob’s history of music under the stars
When teen heartthrob David Cassidy sang the Partridge Family's “I Think I Love You” on June 25, 1972, to open the Pine Knob Music Theatre, he was describing the audience's feeling about the new venue.
Outdoor amphitheater concerts were nothing new in the metro area — the Meadow Brook Music Theatre had hosted some rock concerts in addition to summer performances by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra — but Pine Knob was the vanguard of a new concept, taking rock, pop, county, R&B, jazz, comedy and more out under the stars. One of the largest of its kind at the time (12,500 initially, now 15,000), Pine Knob quickly became the busiest in the country, filling dozens of summer nights (and some days) with a diverse array of entertainment.
Since Cassidy opened the place, more than 3,100 events have taken place on the stage and around the environs of Pine Knob, which was known as the DTE Energy Music Theatre from 2001-2021. The venue has won a wealth of entertainment industry awards and was named the world's top amphitheater by Pollstar as recently as 2019. Its return to the Pine Knob name this year, meanwhile, has been celebrated by both fans and performers.
The theater has generated a half-century of memories — too many, really, to chronicle comprehensively. But with Pine Knob's 50th anniversary season getting under way with AJR on Friday, May 27, it seems appropriate to spotlight 50 key events during those five decades.
• June 25, 1972 — David Cassidy, the heartthrob from TV's “Partridge Family,” opens Pine Knob with a 3 p.m. matinee performance. Tickets were $2.50-$7.
• June 27, 1972 — Andy Williams and Quincy Jones join forces for a five-night run that was considered the venue's “official” opening.
• July 24, 1972 — Bob Seger makes the first of 33 Pine Knob/ DTE appearances as part of a multi-act Good Vibes Night show.
• Aug. 15, 1972 — Chicago begins
a five-night stand, the first of what will be 81 shows at Pine Knob/DTE — the most of any act in the venue's history. No. 82 takes place July 26.
• July 13-14, 1973 — The Temptations become the first Motown act to play Pine Knob, sharing the bill with Earth, Wind & Fire. Stevie Wonder plays there 10 days later.
• Aug. 8-9, 1974 — Joni Mitchell takes a photograph in the Pine Knob pavilion that will be used as the cover for her “Miles of Aisles” live album released three months later. None of the album's tracks were recorded at the Pine Knob shows, however.
• Sept. 2, 1978 — Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen meet for the first time backstage at Pine Knob, where Seger was in the midst of a seven-show run. Springsteen played at the Masonic Temple Auditorium the night before.
• June 29, 1982 — Jimmy Buffett plays his first show at Pine Knob, beginning a frequent summer tradition that's included 33 more headlining appearances at the venue.
• Aug. 9, 1982 — Headliner Blondie was eclipsed by its opening act, Duran Duran, which had just broken through in the U.S. with its sophomore album, “Rio.”
• Aug. 26, 1982 — Though the headliner, Heart was famously upstaged by opener John Cougar (later Mellencamp), riding high on hits such as “Hurts So Good” and “Jack & Diane.”
• Sept. 1-6, 1982 — The J. Geils Band records it third live album, “Showtime!,” released two months later, during a six-show Pine Knob run.
• Sept. 25, 1982 — The Steve Miller Band records its “Live!” album at Pine Knob, which was released seven months later.
• July 27. 1983 — Bette Midler collapses onstage during a performance and was treated for exhaustion and an upset stomach at Pontiac General Hospital. She made up the show later in the summer, with the road crew creating a crime scene-style diagram chronicling the collapse backstage.
• Sept. 12, 1983 — Neil Young decides the Pine Knob crowd isn't appreciative enough of the first part of his show, so he cuts a planned
segment with his rockabilly band the Shocking Pinks, sending mystified fans home early.
• July 21, 1984 — Mitch Ryder and Detroit Wheels principles Johnny “Bee” Badanjek and Jim McCarty reunite for the first time since their days as the band Detroit during the early '70s. The show was recorded for a possible live album, but Capitol Records shelved the project.
• Aug. 17-21, 1984 — Fan complaints about an overcrowded lawn are rampant during Neil Diamond's five night stand. The venue blames excessive picnic baskets and lawn chairs, but many suspect tickets for the lawn were over-sold.
• June 29, 1985 — Phil Collins halts the final show of a threenight stand because of voice problems, causing a fan furor and a major traffic jam on I-75 southbound.
• July 4-15, 1983 — Huey Lewis & the News celebrates its “Sports” album hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with two sold-out holiday weekend shows.
• June 30, 1986 — Bob Seger joins Bob Dylan and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers on stage for an encore of “Knockin' on Heaven's Door.”
• May 20, 1989 — Eddie Money begins his reign as Pine Knob/ DTE's season opener. With one exception (1995) he played on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend every year until his death on Sept. 13, 2019. Kid Rock, playing that night, performed Money's “Shakin'” in tribute.
• Nov. 29, 1990 — Palace Sports & Entertainment (now Pistons Sports & Entertainment) purchases Pine Knob, immediately spending $8 million in renovations, including video screens in the pavilion.
• May 7, 1991 — Bill Cosby inaugurates the PS&E era on a bitter cold night, after which he's whisked to the Palace for the end of a Pistons' playoff game.
• Aug. 4, 1991 — The inaugural Lollapalooza tour, with Jane's Addiction headlining and a then-new Nine Inch Nails, is one of the summer's surprising sell-outs.
• Summer 1995 — Video screens are installed on the pavilion roof for fans on the lawn.
• June 14, 1996 — Sarah
McLachlan headlines and curates an all-female bill with Patti Smith, Lisa Loeb, Paula Cole and Aimee Mann as a prototype for the Lilith Fair tour that began the following year and was 1997's top-grossing festival package.
• July 22, 1996 — The Vans Warped Tour plays the first of two straight years at Pine Knob before heading to downtown Pontiac, the Pontiac Silverdome, Comerica Park and the Palace of Auburn Hills.
• July 10, 1998 — Sod thrown by revelers on the lawn flies deep into the pavilion, knocking out the soundboard during Jerry Cantrell's opening set for Metallica and jeopardizing the entire show. A Metallica crew member gives fans a stern lecture before the headliner goes on.
• Sept. 14, 1998 — During a day off in the middle of a two-show stand, Aerosmith films a performance of the chart-topping hit “I Don't Want to Miss a Thing” for British TV and plays a few more songs for the fans who turned up to be part of the taping.
• July 17, 1999 — Peter Frampton records and films his concert for the 2000 album and DVD “Live in Detroit.”
• Aug. 25, 2000 — Kid Rock and his Twisted Brown Trucker band plays the first of three shows that summer at Pine Knob, and the first of the group's 36 Pine Knob/ DTE appearances to date. (The group is slated to perform Sept. 16-17 this year.)
• Jan. 25, 2001 — Amidst much fan outrage, PS&E announces that the venue's name will be changed to the DTE Energy Music Theatre. The first show under the new moniker is the WDRQ Summer Heat Rave with Nelly, Jessica Simpson and more on May 25.
• July 6, 2003 — Kid Rock and Uncle Kracker are surprise guest at Kenny Chesney's final DTE Show, braving horizontal rain that even reached the stage, before Ford Field became the country star's venue of choice.
• Aug. 21, 2003 — Eminem makes his only Pine Knob/DTE appearance to date, making a guest appearance with 50 Cent during his Rock the Mic Tour stop.