DTE Energy Music Theatre
Encyclopedia
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". The amphitheater is currently owned by Palace Sports and Entertainment
, owner of the Detroit Pistons
, The Palace Of Auburn Hills
and the Meadow Brook Music Festival. Annually, the music theater has consistently ranked among the top-selling outdoor concert venues in the nation.
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 with a custom console and large-array distributed speaker system.
Since those concerts, many of the biggest 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. Bob Dylan
played Pine Knob nine times between 1981 and 2000. In May 2006, Eddie Money sang the U.S. national anthem in front of 22,076 fans at a Detroit Pistons
playoff game at The Palace Of Auburn Hills. This was widely believed to be a cross-promotion for his show the following day at DTE.
DTE is the usual Detroit-area stop for some of the biggest tours of the summer concert season, including The Area:One
and Area2 Festival
, Crüe Fest
, Ozzfest
, Curiosa
, Projekt Revolution
, The Gigantour
, Lilith Fair
, 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. The venue also hosts the Clarkston High School graduation ceremony, typically held at the end of May or beginning of June.
Members of Canadian band Rush
have said they regard DTE as one of their favorite venues to play in the U.S. as does American trop-rock musician, Jimmy Buffett
.
One of the iconic features of the first years of Pine Knob was the dramatic entrance way to the amphitheater. Long cement retaining walls (that cut through the hill/lawn) were professionally hand-painted with the logos of every band that had played there. The walls were removed and filled in during the mid-1980's to provide more lawn seating area and stairs replaced that amazing walkway, sometimes known as 'the tunnel.'
(the local unit of government where the theatre is located) has had an ordinance in effect forbidding concerts or events to be played past 11:00 pm there due to noise complaints from nearby residents. The bands playing there are subject to a $5000 fine for going over the 11:00 pm time limit and are then charged $10,000 per minute fines for every minute past 11:10 pm they play. Some concert events have had to be moved up from original posted times because of this, although a fair number of bands choose to play anyway (typically Aerosmith
, for example), with the fine money given as a deposit.
As an amphitheatre in Michigan, the location is a suitable venue primarily in the summer months. In 2008, the amphitheatre had its earliest concert ever, the Michigan stop for Gigantour, on May 3. In 2006, the amphitheatre hosted its latest show ever, with Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe
, on October 11. This was almost two weeks after the usual end to the concert season, which is usually a country music
show in September.
' Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan
. During the set, vocalist Steven Page asks how the "Pine Knobbers" are feeling, after which a large cheer fills the amphitheatre. 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-TV and heard simultaneously on FM 98.7 WLLZ. This concert was a timely promotion for Miller's single, "Abracadabra," and featured an unseasonably cold and wet audience which weathered the event with excitement. 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 a live CD titled Lines On My Face featuring a July 17, 1999, Pine Knob appearance. 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
.
As an additional note, Genesis
drummer and frontman Phil Collins is clearly seen wearing a Pine Knob logo golf shirt in the music video for the studio version of the song "No Reply." Alternate live versions of the song from the Three Sides Live
recordings are not the same.
In photography, Jackson Browne
used a photograph of himself and 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.
The front cover of Joni Mitchell
's 1974 live album "Miles of Aisles
" features the interior of the pavilion as it appeared at the time, although the tracks on the album were recorded at venues in California
Green Day's new album will include a song called J.A.R. from Aug. 23 2010 concert.
Nederlander Organization
The Nederlander Organization, founded in 1912 by David T. Nederlander and based in Detroit, Michigan, is one of the largest operators of legitimate theatres and music venuesin the United States. Its first acquisition was a lease on the Detroit Opera House in 1912. The building was demolished in...
in the early 1970s, the DTE Energy Music Theatre is a 15,274-seat amphitheater located in Clarkston, Michigan
Clarkston, Michigan
Clarkston, known officially by the name City of the Village of Clarkston, is a small city located within Independence Charter Township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 882 at the 2010 census.-Overview:...
. It was originally known as the Pine Knob Music Theatre, due to its proximity to the nearby Pine Knob
Pine Knob
Pine Knob is a downhill ski area in Clarkston, Michigan. It is best known for its snow-making and marquee run, "The Wall." Pine Knob is the home mountain to a number of local high school ski racing teams, including Clarkston, Detroit Country Day School, Rochester Adams High School, Cranbrook...
ski area and golf course. The name was changed in 2002 when DTE Energy
DTE Energy
DTE Energy Co. is a Detroit, Michigan-based utility incorporated in 1995 involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide....
(the parent company of Detroit Edison
Detroit Edison
The Detroit Edison Company, founded in 1903, is an investor-owned electric utility which serves most of Southeast Michigan. Its parent company, DTE Energy , provides energy services to a variety of clients beyond Detroit Edison's service area.- History :...
) purchased the naming rights
Naming rights
In the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
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". The amphitheater is currently owned by Palace Sports and Entertainment
Palace Sports and Entertainment
Palace Sports & Entertainment ' is a sports and entertainment company owned by Tom Gores.The company owns the Detroit Pistons of the NBA...
, owner of the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
, The Palace Of Auburn Hills
The Palace of Auburn Hills
The Palace of Auburn Hills, often referred to simply as The Palace, is a sports and entertainment venue in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb on the northern outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1988, it is the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association...
and the Meadow Brook Music Festival. Annually, the music theater has consistently ranked among the top-selling outdoor concert venues in the nation.
History
The amphitheater held its grand opening in June 1972 with an Andy WilliamsAndy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
concert. However, on June 25, 1972, a few days before Williams' appearance, there was a "pre-opening" concert featuring teen idol David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
. The original sound system was novel in its day, a huge theatrical performance system designed for an outdoor theater with a custom console and large-array distributed speaker system.
Since those concerts, many of the biggest stars in music have performed there. Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
has appeared at this venue almost every year since 1972, and Eddie Money
Eddie Money
Eddie Money is an American rock guitarist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums...
typically opens the concert season each spring. Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
also performed there nearly every summer throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
played Pine Knob nine times between 1981 and 2000. In May 2006, Eddie Money sang the U.S. national anthem in front of 22,076 fans at a Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
playoff game at The Palace Of Auburn Hills. This was widely believed to be a cross-promotion for his show the following day at DTE.
DTE is the usual Detroit-area stop for some of the biggest tours of the summer concert season, including The Area:One
Area Festival
The Area Festival was a music festival founded by popular electronic musician Moby, who asserted that he was "in large part, inspired by the ethos of Lollapalooza", and wished to create a similarly "genuinely eclectic, interesting, alternative music festival". Moby organized the first such...
and Area2 Festival
Area Festival
The Area Festival was a music festival founded by popular electronic musician Moby, who asserted that he was "in large part, inspired by the ethos of Lollapalooza", and wished to create a similarly "genuinely eclectic, interesting, alternative music festival". Moby organized the first such...
, Crüe Fest
Crüe Fest
Crüe Fest was a summer 2008 tour by Mötley Crüe, which commenced on July 1, 2008 and concluded on August 31, 2008. It featured Mötley Crüe themselves, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Sixx:A.M., and Trapt. Crüe Fest was said to be "the Loudest Show on Earth"...
, Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
, Curiosa
Curiosa
Curiosa is the name of a 2004 concert tour in the United States and Toronto , organized by Robert Smith of The Cure. It began with a concert in West Palm Beach, Florida on July 24 and ended in Sacramento, California on August 29....
, Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution is a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage...
, The Gigantour
Gigantour
Gigantour is the name of a sporadically organised traveling heavy metal music festival organized by Megadeth's Dave Mustaine. The tour was founded in 2005 with dates across North America, and the 2006 and 2007 line-ups also traveled to Australia...
, Lilith Fair
Lilith Fair
Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 to 1999, and was revived in the summer of 2010. It...
, Reggae Sunsplash
Reggae Sunsplash
Reggae Sunsplash is a reggae music festival first staged in 1978 in the northern part of Jamaica. In 1985 it expanded with the addition of an international touring festival...
and The Family Values Tour
Family Values Tour
The Family Values Tour was created by the band Korn in 1998 to be an annual rock & rap tour.The tour began in 1998 and would take the year off in 2000, due to heavy competition from other tours, such as the Anger Management Tour and the Summer Sanitarium Tour. After a four year hiatus, the Family...
and was the Detroit area stop for Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
(in all years it played there but one) before that tour signed an exclusive deal with the city of Chicago. The venue also hosts the Clarkston High School graduation ceremony, typically held at the end of May or beginning of June.
Members of Canadian band Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
have said they regard DTE as one of their favorite venues to play in the U.S. as does American trop-rock musician, Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
.
One of the iconic features of the first years of Pine Knob was the dramatic entrance way to the amphitheater. Long cement retaining walls (that cut through the hill/lawn) were professionally hand-painted with the logos of every band that had played there. The walls were removed and filled in during the mid-1980's to provide more lawn seating area and stairs replaced that amazing walkway, sometimes known as 'the tunnel.'
Time restrictions
For many years, Independence TownshipIndependence Township, Michigan
Independence Charter Township is a charter township of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 34,681 at the 2010 census. The township was named by one of its earliest settlers, Joseph Van Sycle, who came to the area in 1834 from Independence, New Jersey.- History :John W...
(the local unit of government where the theatre is located) has had an ordinance in effect forbidding concerts or events to be played past 11:00 pm there due to noise complaints from nearby residents. The bands playing there are subject to a $5000 fine for going over the 11:00 pm time limit and are then charged $10,000 per minute fines for every minute past 11:10 pm they play. Some concert events have had to be moved up from original posted times because of this, although a fair number of bands choose to play anyway (typically Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, for example), with the fine money given as a deposit.
As an amphitheatre in Michigan, the location is a suitable venue primarily in the summer months. In 2008, the amphitheatre had its earliest concert ever, the Michigan stop for Gigantour, on May 3. In 2006, the amphitheatre hosted its latest show ever, with Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
, on October 11. This was almost two weeks after the usual end to the concert season, which is usually a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
show in September.
Video, audio, photographic appearances
A variety of concerts from the venue have been videotaped and recorded through the years. One of the latest works is a DVD release of Barenaked LadiesBarenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
' Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan
Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan
Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan is a live album and DVD concert video release from Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, produced by Morningstar Entertainment, Groovepix, and Desperation Records. The DVD is their third DVD-video release, and their first feature-length concert video offered for sale...
. During the set, vocalist Steven Page asks how the "Pine Knobbers" are feeling, after which a large cheer fills the amphitheatre. As one of the first modern FM/broadcast television "simulcasts," in the summer of 1983, the Steve Miller Band
Steve Miller Band
The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California. The band is managed by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals, and is known for a string of mid-1970s hit singles that are staples of the classic rock radio format.-History:In 1965, Steve Miller and...
was shown on Detroit broadcast station WKBD-TV and heard simultaneously on FM 98.7 WLLZ. This concert was a timely promotion for Miller's single, "Abracadabra," and featured an unseasonably cold and wet audience which weathered the event with excitement. 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
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
released a live CD titled Lines On My Face featuring a July 17, 1999, Pine Knob appearance. 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
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
.
As an additional note, Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
drummer and frontman Phil Collins is clearly seen wearing a Pine Knob logo golf shirt in the music video for the studio version of the song "No Reply." Alternate live versions of the song from the Three Sides Live
Three Sides Live
Three Sides Live is the third live album by British Progressive Rock band Genesis, released in 1982.-History:The title for this album comes from the original world release, which contained three sides of live material from the band's 1981-82 tour, and a fourth side of studio tracks, three of which...
recordings are not the same.
In photography, Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
used a photograph of himself and 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.
The front cover of Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
's 1974 live album "Miles of Aisles
Miles of Aisles
Miles of Aisles is a 1974 double live album by Joni Mitchell backed by the L.A. Express, recorded on the Court and Spark tour. It reached #2 on the charts and became one of her biggest-selling records....
" features the interior of the pavilion as it appeared at the time, although the tracks on the album were recorded at venues in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Green Day's new album will include a song called J.A.R. from Aug. 23 2010 concert.