Comerica Parks in Detroit Gets Transformed into a Concert Venue
Get ready for a weekend of lots of live music in the Motor City. Comerica Park will host three consecutive nights of concerts, including one rock show that we’ve waited a long time to experience.
Country artist Chris Stapleton (Friday), rocker Billy Joel (Saturday) and ’80s rock co-headliners Motley Crue and Def Leppard (Sunday) will perform at the venue all weekend. The Detroit Tigers’ home will likely house roughly 100,000 music fans over the three nights.
Tickets are available for all three concerts. Check out some exclusive footage and photos from the big transformation of the Tigers’ home into a concert venue below! Also, at the bottom of the gallery, check out an interview that WCSX’s Joel Morgan did with Elmer Straub, vice president of entertainment and production for 313 Presents!
Interview with Elmer Straub, VP of entertainment and production for 313 Presents:
Joel Morgan (WCSX): You are throwing the biggest party of rock ‘n’ roll in Detroit this weekend. Are you ready?
Elmer Straub (Vice President of Entertainment and Production, 313 Presents): We’re ready.
J: The Motley Crue/Def Leppard show, how long has it been since we were supposed to have it?
E: It’s been a minute. We’re excited to have three of the biggest artists here coming up this weekend. Couldn’t be more proud to have Billy Joel, Chris Stapleton, and the Def Leppard and Motley Crue package.
J: Is there a specific act that you’re looking forward to a little bit more than another one?
E: You know, I’ve always been a Motley Crue fan, but love Billy Joel, love those guys and worked with a lot of these bands over the years. All of our team at 313 [Presents] is really excited for all of it.
J: Well they are the consummate concert promoter professionals in the Motor City.
E: Well, you know, I can tell you, we’re excited to be back. We went through a transformation with Pine Knob, with the rebranding earlier. So that made us feel like we were back with concerts, after a couple years of a little uncertainty. But this really solidifies the feeling that we’re back. We’re proud to be working with Live Nation, and we’re proud to be working with the Tigers to pull this off.
J: How long does it take for Billy Joel’s stuff to get out of here and Motley Crue and Def Leppard’s stuff to come in?
E: It’ll be a transformation. It’ll be a conversion for sure.
J: ‘Round the clock?
E: ‘Round the clock. And ’round the clock started with yesterday. […] All the flooring went down first starting at 6:00 last night, and then that continued through the night. The stage came in, the roof came in, and now we’re ready to accept the bands, and we’ll start loading in tomorrow morning 6 A.M. for Chris Stapleton.
J: Do you have any advice for the people coming downtown to Comerica Park over the weekend? Is there anything they need to know?
E: I would say enjoy. I would say get your tickets. […] Tickets are still available. And I would just plan it out, have a great time, and come on down and enjoy some of the great artists.
J: I have one last question for you, and I understand if you can’t answer it. Has any of the bands made any cool, outrageous demands on their tour rider?
E: The whole “brown M&Ms in the riders”, that type of thing? We always find interesting stuff, but nothing yet.
J: There are some interesting details to be known, but we’re not gonna find them out here tonight.
E: I’ll tell you after.
