The 50-Year History of Pine Knob

Pine Knob, Aka DTE Music Theater, Aka Pine Knob, has had a long history of hosting some of the biggest bands and performers of all time. Pine Knob just recently reverted back to the moniker of Pine Knob after having changed its name to DTE Music Theater after DTE Energy bought the naming rights back in 2001. The amphitheatre's first concert was on June 25th, 1972 with teen heart throb, David Cassidy. Andy Williams followed Cassidy and Pine Knob was on a roll.

Starting with a capacity of 12,500 and then later expanding to over 15,000. The theater hosted bands and performers from a wide variety of genres. From The Temptations, KISS, Aerosmith, John Denver and Blondie just to name a very small few that have played there. There's actually a neat little website called theconcertdatabase.com that tells you exactly what concerts were at Pine Knob and when (the database goes to the year 2000 as Pine Knob and then goes to 2015 as DTE).

The Oakland Press compiled a large list of 40 significant events that occurred in Pine Knob's history (note: this list was done for Pine Knob's 40th anniversary, so they've had another ten years of events after this). Some of the events included:

“Partridge Family” heartthrob David Cassidy opens Pine Knob with a 3 p.m. matinee performance.

Andy Williams and Quincy Jones join forces for a five-night run that was considered the venue’s “official” opening.

KISS, already establishing itself in Detroit’s smaller venues, makes its first venue appearance opening for Blue Oyster Cult.

Headliners Heart is upstaged by opener John Cougar (later known by his real name, Mellencamp) in the midst of his “American Fool” success.

July 27, 1983 — Bette Midler collapsed on stage 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 diagram chronicling the collapse backstage.

Phil Collins halts the final show of a three-night stand because of voice problems, causing a fan furor and a major traffic jam on I-75 southbound.

Sarah McLachlan plays on an all-female Lilith Fair prototype show with Patti Smith, Lisa Loeb, Paula Cole and Aimee Man. Lilith’s inaugural 1997 run was the top-grossing festival tour of that year.

Sod thrown by revellers on the lawn penetrates 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 talking-to before the band goes on.

During a day-off in the middle of a two-show stand, Aerosmith films a performance of its chart-topping hit “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” for British TV and plays a few more songs for fans who turned up to be part of the taping. (The first concert I ever went to :) ). 

Amidst much fan outrage, PS&E announces that the venue’s name will be changed to the DTE Energy Music Theatre. The first DTE show is the WDRQ Summer Heat Rave with Nelly, Jessica Simpson and more on May 25.

An intense storm knocks out DTE power, delaying Toby Keith’s sold-out concert by more than two hours. Opening act Flynville Train strolls the pavilion playing acoustically, and Keith ends at curfew-busting midnight.

And in 2021, at the start of the return of concerts after Covid, WCSX and Alice Cooper returned to Pine Knob (still DTE at the moment) to promote his new album "Detroit Stories".

This year has been a wild ride. Lots of ups and downs and changes all around. But what a welcome change as DTE Energy Music changed back to Pine Knob just in time for their 50th anniversary. And just as exciting, we at WCSX, are hitting our 35th anniversary. We are going to celebrate these monumental achievements with an amazing concert planned on August 23rd with Sammy Hagar. However, we wanted to take you down the road of amazing shows both WCSX and Pine Knob (aka DTE) were a part of with some of the great photos recounting the events of the past years.

Erik Aratari

Erik Aratari