David Cassidy on the Web
Fifty key moments from Pine Knob’s history of music under the stars
May 22, 2022
By Gary Graff
www.theoaklandpress.com
When teen heartthrob David Cassidy sang the Partridge Family’s “I Think I Love You” on June 25, 1972 to open the Pine Knob Music Theatre, he was describing the audience’s feeling about the new venue.
Outdoor amphitheater concerts were nothing new in the metro area — the Meadow Brook Music Theatre had hosted some rock concerts in addition to summer performances by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra — but Pine Knob was the vanguard of a new concept, taking rock, pop, county, R&B, jazz, comedy and more out under the stars. One of the largest of its kind at the time (12,500 initially, now 15,000), Pine Knob quickly became the busiest in the country, filling dozens of summer nights (and some days) with a diverse array of entertainment.
Since Cassidy opened the place, more than 3,100 events have taken place on the stage and around the environs of Pine Knob, which was known as the DTE Energy Music Theatre from 2001-2021. The venue has won a wealth of entertainment industry awards and was named the world’s top amphitheater by Pollstar as recently as 2019. Its return to the Pine Knob name this year, meanwhile, has been celebrated by both fans and performers.
The theater has generated a half-century of memories — too many, really, to chronicle comprehensively. But with Pine Knob’s 50th anniversary season getting under way with AJR on Friday, May 27, it seems appropriate to spotlight 50 key events during those five decades.
• June 25, 1972 — David Cassidy, the heartthrob from TV’s “Partridge Family,” opens Pine Knob with a 3 p.m. matinee performance. Tickets were $2.50-$7…….
