The Northeast Blackout That Canceled A Huge Concert

The 20th anniversary of The Northeast Blackout That Canceled A Huge Rock Concert at Comerica is coming up.  A little after 4 pm on a Thursday on August 14th. A widespread power outage hit parts of the Northeast, Midwest United States, and parts of Canada (Ontario.) For the most part, it took 7 hours to get the power back on. For some people, it took 4 days. The outage affected more than 55 million people and 8 States. 6 million people in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs were affected. The problem was traced down to a software bug in Ohio.

Local News coverage of the Blackout memories can be seen Here:

The mood around the neighborhood was pretty calm as neighbors took to their front yards and kind of had an impromptu party with fireworks as well as every neighbor started to cook out on the grill. I still had to go to work at the radio station as we had backup generators. The ride to and from work was so strange with no lights anywhere.

The Blackout also ruined one of the biggest concerts of the summer. Comerica Park was host to a SOLD OUT show of Aerosmith, Kiss, Ted Nugent, and special guest Saliva. KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons wrote on his website, "My apologies to all of you if the recent power blackout has inconvenienced you." "KISS and AEROSMITH had a packed STADIUM full of fans waiting for the Detroit concert — unfortunately, no power, so we canceled. Likewise, I had to cancel my Detroit book signing. I promise to come back. So will KISS and AEROSMITH.".

Pine Knob Music Theatre is an outdoor amphitheater with a Clarkston, Michigan mailing address. Built in the early 1970s, and got its name from the nearby Pine Knob ski area and golf course. Ranks as one of the top concert venues in the world.

The grand opening was back on June 25th, 1972 with its first show with a teen idol from the tv show, The Partridge Family. David Cassidy. David drew crowds of screaming teens all over the country as a solo artist. the seating compacity to start was 12,500.

One feature they had a pathway going right in the middle of the lawn section cutting it in half to a left and right side. Long cement retaining walls that cut through the hill were the logos of every artist or group that had performed there. In the 1980's the wall was filled in to make more seating on the lawn and total seating to 15,000 fans.

Many musicians played Pine Knob for more than 20 years Eddie Money opened the concert season each May. Chicago appeared +80, more than any other act. Bob Seger has played more than 33 sold-out shows, including eight in a row in 1977. Kid Rock with ten consecutive sold-out shows.

One thing artists find out is when it's 11 pm. Pine Knob has a time curfew. If an artist plays past 11 pm they face a $1,000 fine for every minute they play over. The J.Geils band break that curfew many times.

Here are some of the bands that you may remember or not remember or surprised they Pine Knob Music Theater.

The amphitheater held its grand opening on June 25, 1972, with a matinee performance by teen idol David Cassidy. Andy Williams performed the first evening concert two nights later.

Cheech and Chong did their stand-up antics live on stage. The funny thing is the strange smell in the pavilion and the record sales of nachos sold that night. Folk artist David Bromberg was the opening act. How tough was that? To play before Cheech & Chong?

1972-73  Sonny & Cher Tour went all around the United States. In fact to look at one of the official tour books you could buy at the concert check out by clicking here:

No footage of the Monkees at Pine Knob that I have searched for all over social media. From the live albums in my collection and a live release from Rhino Records. They were pretty good in concert. Did find this live footage from one of their tours.

Spinal Tap played in from of a huge sold-out crowd playing all their hits from the movie. The crowd sang along with every song. What made it even more incredible was a hard-core Detroit band ALYZE was also on the bill to open up.