David Cassidy on the Web
Pine Knob's greatest hits: 10 classic shows in 50 years of concerts
Pine Knob has hosted too many great shows to list over its 50 years as the area's top amphitheater, but here are 10 that stand out.
May 20, 2022
By Adam Graham
www.detroitnews.com/
Happy birthday to Pine Knob, which turns 50 this year (the old hill doesn't look a day over 30!), and begins to blow the candles out on its cake on Friday with a season-opening concert from pop-rock trio AJR.
It's the kickoff to a packed summer season that sees the venue playing host to plenty of veterans (Chicago will play its venue-leading 82nd show on July 26, the Doobie Brothers will ring in July 4th with the group's 60th Pine Knob show) as well as a handful of newbies (Halsey plays their first show there on May 29, and it's also AJR's first time at the Clarkston amphitheater).
Of the thousands of concerts staged at the venue over the years, many stand out, and all have stories to tell. Some are personal — everyone remembers their first show at the Knob — and others are shared, but all involve that sacred Michigan summertime ritual of concerts in the open air. (As long as they end before 11 p.m., because after that, the fines start to accrue to the tune of $1,000 per minute.)
We can't tell all of Pine Knob's stories or talk about all its concerts, but here are 10 shows that stand out among the crowd. And if you have some of your own stories to share about the venue, drop it in an email to the address listed at the bottom of this article, and maybe we'll use it in a future story.
David Cassidy, June 25, 1972
Pine Knob's opening concert was a 3 p.m. Sunday engagement with teen idol David Cassidy, age 22 at the time, who played for a crowd of 6,000 excited worshippers; tickets were $7 and $5 for pavilion and $2.50 for lawn. Crews were still putting the finishing touches on the venue right up until showtime, after working triple shifts in the week leading up to the show. Cassidy hit the stage an hour late, due to a delayed flight out of Newark, but that didn't bother the throngs of fans, who "came stampeding down the aisles, trampling fellow fanatics and security guards, to get a better look and ultimately touch" the "Partridge Family" star, The News wrote at the time. Fans are fans, then and now; swap out the instamatic cameras of yesterday for Instagram today, and not much has changed.
Crowds cheer on David Cassidy during Pine Knob's inaugural concert on June 25, 1972.
DETROIT NEWS PHOTO ARCHIVE
