| Coordinates | 42°44′44″N 83°22′21.60″W / 42.74556°N 83.372667°W |
|---|---|
| Type | Outdoor amphitheater |
| Built | 1972 |
| Opened | June 1972 |
| Location | 7774 Sashabaw Road Clarkston, Michigan 48348  United States |
| Owner | Palace Sports and Entertainment |
| Former name(s) | Pine Knob Music Theatre (1972 - 2001) |
| Capacity | 15,274 |
| Website | DTE Energy Music Theatre web site |
Originally built by the Nederlander Organization in the early 1970s, the DTE Energy Music Theatre is a 15,274-seat amphitheater located in Clarkston, Michigan. It was originally known as the Pine Knob Music Theatre, due to its proximity to the nearby Pine Knob ski area and golf course. The name was changed in 2002 when DTE Energy (the parent company of Detroit Edison) purchased the naming rights to the amphitheater in a ten-year, $10 million deal. Despite this change, many people still continue to call the venue "Pine Knob", "The Knob", or "The Hill". It is owned by Palace Sports & Entertainment which also controls The Palace Of Auburn Hills as well as Meadow Brook.
The amphitheater held its grand opening in June 1972 with an Andy Williams concert. However, on June 25, 1972 (a few days before Williams' appearance), there was a "pre-opening" concert featuring teen idol David Cassidy. The original sound system was novel in its day, a huge theatrical performance system designed for an outdoor theater by David Klepper of Klepper, Marshall, King Associates(now Marshall/KMK Acoustics, Ltd). The system consisted of a custom console, and large array distributed speaker system. The system was built to plans drawn up by Klepper, Marshall, King, and installed by Peter Walsh and Scott D. Smith while employed at Audio Equipment Company of Dearborn. Mr. Walsh also worked as Chief Engineer of Motown and later Chief Engineer of Artie Fields Productions, a TV film commercial maker. Mr. Smith went on to a career as sound mixer, and received awards for his work on the movie The Fugitive. Mr. Walsh went on to found and own several communication enterprises including a long distance telephone company. After selling those enterprises, he worked in corporate mergers and acquisitions activities, and finally as a consultant conducting corporate turnarounds in the Telephone industry. Mr. Walsh is retired and living in Palm Springs, CA.
Since those concerts, many of the greatest stars in music have performed there. Chicago has appeared at this venue almost every year since 1972, and Eddie Money typically opens the concert season each spring. Linda Ronstadt also performed there nearly every summer throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In May 2006, Eddie Money was asked and did the national anthem in front of 22,076 fans at a Detroit Pistons playoff game. This was widely believed to be a cross promotion for his show the following day at DTE. Annually, the music theater has consistently ranked among the top-selling outdoor concert venues in the nation.
The amphitheater is currently owned by Palace Sports and Entertainment. Its is not uncommon for the employees to work a Detroit Shock game at the Palace of Auburn Hills in the early afternoon and then drive out and do a double shift at DTE. DTE Energy Music Theatre also hosts the Clarkston High School graduation ceremony, typically held at the end of May or beginning of June.
DTE is the usual Detroit area stop for some of the biggest tours of the summer concert season, including Crue Fest, Ozzfest, Gigantour, Reggae Sunsplash and the Family Values Tour, and was the Detroit area stop for Lollapalooza (in all years it played there but one) before that tour signed an exclusive deal with the city of Chicago.
Canadian Power-Trio Rush have regarded DTE as one of their favorite venues to play in the U.S.A.
For many years, Independence Township (local unit of government where the theatre is located) has had an ordinance in effect forbidding concerts or events to be played past 11:00PM there due to complaints from nearby residents of the noise. The band(s) playing there are subject to a $5000 fine for going over the 11:00PM time limit and are then charged $10000 per minute fine for every minute past 11:10PM they are playing. Some concert events have had to be moved up from original posted times due to this, although a fair amount of bands choose to play anyway (typically Aerosmith) with the fine money given as a deposit.
In 2006, the amphitheatre experienced its latest show ever, Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe, on October 11th. This was almost 2 weeks after the usual end to the concert season, which is usually a country show in September.
A variety of concerts from the venue have been videotaped and recorded through the years. One of the latest works, being a DVD release of The Barenaked Ladies' "Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan."[1] During the set, vocalist Steven Page asks how the "Pine Knobbers" are feeling, after which a large cheer fills the ampitheatre. As one of the first modern FM/Broadcast Television "Simulcasts," in the summer of 1983, The Steve Miller Band was shown on Detroit broadcast station WKBD and heard simultaneously on FM 98.7 (then with the call letters) WLLZ. This concert was a timely promotion for Miller's single, "Abracadabra," and featured an unseasonably cold and wet audience who weathered the event with excitement.[2] Late in the afternoon, prior to the evening concert, tickets were made available at local record stores so Pine Knob could ensure a full venue, even with bad weather approaching.
Classic rock performer Peter Frampton released at live CD titled "Lines On My Face" featuring a July 17, 1999 Pine Knob appearance.[3] On the black market, many bootleg recordings from the Pine Knob soundboard exist, as well as freely traded concerts like those of the Grateful Dead.[4]
As an additional note, Genesis drummer and front man Phil Collins is clearly seen wearing a Pine Knob logo golf shirt in the studio version, music video for the song "No Reply."[5] Alternate live versions of the song from the "3 Sides Live" recordings are not the same.
In photography, Jackson Browne used a photograph of he and his future wife Lynne Sweeney standing in the Pine Knob loading dock door for his "Running On Empty" LP. The photo was taken in August, 1977 by photographer Joel Bernstein.
In 2008, the amphitheatre had its earliest concert ever, the Michigan stop for Gigantour, on May 3rd.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Talk-Hand-Michigan-Barenaked-Ladies/dp/B000W1V5U6/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1250441073&sr=8-6 Available Online
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Miller-Band-Live-Detroit/dp/B0001FVFDU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1250440891&sr=8-3 Available Online
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004T0F3/ref=dm_dp_cdp?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1250440945&sr=8-39 Available Online
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026P06CO/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1250440945&sr=8-33 Available Online
- ^ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1zzau_genesis-no-reply-at-all_music See It Online
External links
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