Pine Knob Music Theatre

• 33 Bob Seger Drive
• Clarkston, MI 48348
• (313) 471-7000
• Website

Growing up in the ’80’s, my dad and I didn’t listen to the same music. The stuff he listened to from the 50’s and 60’s seemed ancient to me even though it was only 20 or so years old. Music changed so much over three decades that it was just inconceivable that I could listen to the same thing my parents listened to now.

Maybe it’s just because things are reversed now and I’m the ancient one but it seems like music lasts a little longer now. I still listen to a lot of pop music and I actually listen to a lot of music my kids listen to.

It’s true, they’re not the biggest Bon Jovi fans like they’re old man, but there is enough music out there that we do agree on. I have no problem going to a concert with my kids because chances are, I like the music too.

One of the artists that has surprised me is Kesha. My daughter chose a Kesha song (Praying) for her figure skating free dance this year and along the way, has become a pretty big fan.

I used to listen to Kesha all the time…15 years ago when Animal came out. Haven’t really listened to anything since Warrior but I’d always sing along when those early songs popped in to my playlist.

We knew Kesha was going to be on tour this summer but it’s been a busy and expensive summer with travel for figure skating. We didn’t make any promises that we’d go see her and we didn’t buy tickets in advance.

Friday afternoon, J hopped on StubHub and found seats below face value for the Saturday night show at Pine Knob. I got a couple sad puppy dog Snapchats asking if we could go. I hate being the bad guy and I’ve never seen a show at Pine Knob so I told her to go ahead and get them.

Pine Knob Music Theatre is about forty miles northwest of Detroit in the Village of Clarkston. The massive outdoor amphitheater is off Sashabaw Road north of the I-75 Interchange. The address for the theater is actually 33 Bob Seger Way which is in honor of the 33 sold out shows the Detroit native played there. There a couple of ways to get in to the property by the main entrance is at the marquee on the corner of Sashabaw and Seger Way. There are massive parking lots right on the property that are included with the price of the ticket so you’re not paying any more once you get in to the venue. There are grass lots off to the left when you pull in and paved lots off to the right. We got there around 5:45 for a 7:00 and ran in to no traffic on the way in. We were pointed towards the paved lot towards the west entrance and we just kind of found an empty spot on our own.

We waited in the car until about 6:30 for a couple of reasons. One, we weren’t sure if it was going to rain or not. We could see a big line on the radar coming towards us but it was kind of breaking up. We just decided to hang in the car to see if that was going to hit or not.

Two, we weren’t super interested in the opening acts anyway so we weren’t missing much if we waited out a rain storm in the car.

When we felt we were good to go in without getting wet, we headed towards the West Entrance. Bags were checked ahead of the walk through mags. I was kind of surprised by just how much you can bring in to Pine Knob. J’s bag didn’t even come close to the stated 4×6 but it was a clear, see through bag. They just kind of looked through it and waved her through. Blankets, chairs and even umbrellas are allowed to go through the gates. They even let you bring in one sealed bottle of water although no one actually checked to make sure it was sealed. We each just had a bottle in our hands as we walked through.

I had no idea what to expect of this venue and it still blew me away. My experiences without outdoor amphitheaters like this are limited to what was originally called The World Music Theatre in Tinley Park, IL near Chicago. It now goes by the name of Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre and it’s just kind of a concrete jungle. There’s really not much in the way of design to the space. Pine Knob is the complete opposite.

You enter in to the space behind the hill that makes up the lawn seating. There are wide, long walkways that run around to either side of the actual amphitheater.

We headed towards the East Entrance which is the VIP entrance. There’s a bit of a courtyard there when you walk in and a merch stand. Most people were getting in line for merch here but there are other stands throughout the property. We found one later in our tour of the place where the line was much, much shorter.

From this courtyard, there is a set of stairs that go up to a concessions area before you start heading towards the seats. There are a lot of drink stands throughout the property including this great Grab & Go Meijer area. These have been added to most venues over the last few years and it makes things go quicker if you’re just grabbing something simple

We walked around to the left side of the hill and found more concession stands including this one that rents out seats if you’re sitting on the lawn. They also sell blankets and I think they even had tarps. J tells me a story all the time about the time she went to see a show at The World Music Theatre and her dad told her to bring a tarp….best move they made that day as it rained through much of the show.

You have two choices getting to the lawn seats. You can either walk around to the front of the hill and climb through the grass or you can take these kind of steep stairs to the top and walk down. Either way, I’m way to old for lawn seats so I’m glad J got us actual seats.

Around the corner is the actual amphitheater. Opened in 1971 the venue has a total seating capacity of just over 15,000. About 7,000 of those seats are located under the pavilion

The other 8,000 are on the lawn. You bring your own blanket or chair or just sit in the grass. Or stand. It’s kind of a free-for-all but in a good way.

Our seats were all the way to the right side of the pavilion not too far off the last aisle near the concrete wall. There was a bit of an obstruction from the speaker column but it wasn’t too bad. We were under the pavilion, out of the sun and possible rain and we had a good view of 95% of the stage for under $100 a ticket. I can’t complain about that.

Two things surprised me about the seating at Pine Knob. The first was that the seats were actually fairly comfortable. They were plastic stadium seats but they were a little wider than the typical stadium seat and they had a padded leather seat cushion on both the back and the seat itself.

The other thing that surprised me is that there were no cup holders in the seats. Either on the arm rest or the back of the seat in front of us. We had to just put stuff on the ground which is fine for J and I but B tends to kick things over. Luckily, he didn’t kick over the Starry we got him before the show started.

I guess, technically, this is a food blog, so I should say something about food.

There are a lot of options at Pine Knob. Off to the right of the amphitheater, there is a place called The Block. It’s an open air beer garden with tables and stands selling BBQ and craft drinks. The area is sponsored by Jars Cannabis but they don’t sell weed and you can’t smoke it on site anyway…well…you’re not supposed to but that didn’t stop people.

There’s also the Bud Light Hilltop Deck (open to season ticket holders) at the top of the lawn hill and The Trinity Health Ivy Lawn (also only open to season ticket holders). There’s also The Fed which is inside the Ally East Village near the East entrance. This is an extension of The Fed Community which is about four miles east of the theatre.

And of course, there’s concession stands and that’s where we ate.

J and L went to a concession stand near our seats because J wanted a frozen drink. L wanted pizza though and that was on the other side of the amphitheater. I offered to walk over there and get her a slice of pizza. Pine Knob is operated by 313 Presents which is joint venture between Olympia Entertainment (the Illitch family) and Palace Sports and Entertainment (Pistons owners) which actually owns the property. It’s Detroit and the Illitch family is involved so you know the pizza option is going to be Little Caesars.

I got L a slice of pepperoni pizza and B a Starry. The cost was about $16. The pizza slices are pretty much two squares of Little Caesars Deep Dish pizza that hasn’t been cut in half. This isn’t usually either of the kids’ favorite pizza type but both were hungry and both ate it. I say both because right before Kesha went on, I had to go back and get a slice for B. He just got the cheese slice. The cost for just the slice of pizza was right under $10.

While I was in the area with B, I noticed a craft beer stand. I figured I might as well get one beer. I knew it was going to be expensive so today was going to be a one beer night.

I got a Two Hearted IPA..my go-to. It was a the bigger 19.2 fl oz. can and it cost $17. Honestly, not the most I’ve paid for beer at an event but it still hurts every time I do it. Tasted good in the heat and in that environment though.

On to the show. There were two opening acts and we weren’t super interested in either of them. The first was Rose Gray. I had never heard of her. She was more of an EDM act and was pretty good. We weren’t totally paying attention but the music felt good.

The second act is actually billed as a Co-Headliner. The group is the Scissor Sisters. We had seen a lot of videos on Tik Tok about this group not being appropriate for kids…but what do you expect from a concert…and a group called the Scissors Sisters….on a tour billed as the “Tits Out Tour?” No, it wasn’t really appropriate but so what? Most of the innuendo went over my 9 year old’s head anyway. There were parental complaints about giant inflatable boobs being part of the show but again, you’re at a live concert…if you’re worried about appropriateness, stay home. The set was fun but the music isn’t really my thing. I didn’t hate it but I wouldn’t buy a ticket to see just them.

About 9:15 Kesha took the stage to a packed Pine Knob Music Theatre. I had seen some early reviews of the tour that called it boring. I guess we’ll just have to chalk up those reviews being for a show in Utah?

The show was not boring in any way. It started with Tik Tok which got the crowd right in to it. We always tell B he can swear at concerts if he’s singing along but it can’t be repeated anywhere else. The original opening line to the song *was* “Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy.” Obviously, that lyric hasn’t aged well. The lyric is now “Wake up in the morning like FUCK P. Diddy.” B was waiting for it…as was the rest of the crowd.

The kids loved the show. B spent the whole 90+ minutes jumping, dancing and singing. L did the same. I know about half a dozen songs but even the songs I didn’t know were bangers and it was easy to stay engaged. The night ended with a three song encore that include L’s free dance song, Praying and the night was capped off with We R Who We R.

We stayed through the encore then headed back to the car. As I mentioned in the beginning, my experience with outdoor amphitheaters is in Tinley Park and that place is a nightmare before and after a show. I was expecting to be waiting in the parking lot for at least another hour but we got to the car, got in to a steady moving line of traffic and were out and back on I-75 in less than 15 minutes. I was shocked at how easy it was for us to get in and out of that place for a sold out show.

We’ve lived in Michigan for 17 years now and this was our first Pine Knob experience. What a great venue. I never felt claustrophobic from the crush of people. I never felt anxiety from trying to move around the venue. In and out were super easy and I didn’t even think we were there really early.

We don’t do concerts much anymore. The price is too much and we’re just so darn busy. I’m glad the kids and J sent me those sad puppy dog face snapchats. This was a really fun night out.