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Historic place

Pine Knob Music Theatre

33 Bob Seger Drive, Clarkston, MI

When it opened in 1972 it was billed as the largest amphitheater in the country, and decades later the road out front was renamed after the man who sold it out 33 times.

📅 1972–present🏛️ TheaterStill hereBuilt 1972
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Pine Knob Music Theatre, 33 Bob Seger Drive, Clarkston, MI
Pine Knob (then DTE Energy Music Theatre) entrance signage, 2013 · MitchDoner, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The story

Pine Knob Music Theatre opened on June 25, 1972, with a matinee by teen idol David Cassidy. It was developed by the Nederlander Organization, set into a wooded hillside next to the existing Pine Knob Ski Resort northwest of Detroit. The design paired a covered pavilion with an open grass lawn that sloped down toward the stage, a layout that let it pack in far more people than a conventional indoor hall while keeping the front rows under a roof.

The Nederlanders ran it until late 1990, when Palace Sports and Entertainment bought the venue; today its concerts are promoted by 313 Presents. Capacity grew to roughly 15,040, split between about 6,900 covered pavilion seats and around 8,000 on the lawn. For half a century it has been one of the busiest summer concert sheds in the Midwest.

No performer is more tied to the place than Bob Seger, a Michigan native who racked up 33 sold-out shows there over his career. In June 2019 the venue's address was changed from 7774 Sashabaw Road to 33 Bob Seger Drive in his honor. The marquee changed too: it was Pine Knob until 2001, became the DTE Energy Music Theatre under a naming-rights deal, then reverted to Pine Knob Music Theatre in 2022 for its 50th anniversary.

What's There Now

Still operating as Pine Knob Music Theatre, a seasonal outdoor concert amphitheater run by 313 Presents.

Everything that was here

Did you know?

The street address number, 33, was chosen to match Bob Seger's 33 sold-out shows at the venue.
It opened with a David Cassidy matinee, not a rock act, on June 25, 1972.
Seger's record of eight shows in a single season (1977) was later broken by Kid Rock, who played ten consecutive sold-out nights in 2015.
The amphitheater carried the corporate name DTE Energy Music Theatre for 21 years (2001 to 2022) before going back to "Pine Knob."
It sits directly beside the Pine Knob Ski Resort, sharing the same hillside that gives the venue its sloped lawn.

Connected places

Michigan Theatre

Detroit, MI
Bob Seger

Explore the full web of connections on the map.

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