Palace Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Detroit Pistons, purchased the amphitheater in 1990. 313 Presents promotes and produces concerts at the venue. Annually, Pine Knob ranks among the top-selling outdoor concert venues in the world and has won dozens of awards in the industry, including Pollstar's Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue (2000), Billboard's Top Amphitheater for attendance (2011) and Pollstar's Top Amphitheater Venue Worldwide for total tickets sold (2011, 2019, 2022).
The amphitheater held its grand opening on June 25, 1972, with a matinee performance by teen idol David Cassidy. Andy Williams performed the first evening concert two nights later. At the time of its opening, Pine Knob was the largest amphitheater in the United States with a capacity of 12,500.
One of the features of the first years of Pine Knob was the entrance way to the amphitheater. Long cement retaining walls that cut through the hill/lawn were professionally hand-painted with the logos of every artist or group that had performed there. The walls were filled in and replaced by stairs and more lawn seating during the early 1980s, thus increasing the amphitheater's capacity to more than 15,000. The original sound system was novel in its day, a huge theatrical performance system designed for an outdoor theater with a custom console and large-array distributed speaker system.
On November 29, 1990, Palace Sports & Entertainment purchased Pine Knob and spent $8 million on renovations. Included in the upgrades were video screens in the pavilion. In 1995, additional video screens were installed in the pavilion's roof for spectators to see from the lawn.
On January 25, 2001, Palace Sports & Entertainment entered a 20-year branding partnership with Detroit energy company, DTE Energy. For the next two decades, Pine Knob would become DTE Energy Music Theatre.
Before the 2012 season, the amphitheater received a new audio system – the Meyer MILO Line Array sound system. The amphitheater was also redesigned with forest green colors, new signage, expanded food options and a new open-air beer garden called The Pine Tap.
Many musicians have performed at the Knob. For more than 20 years (with the exception of 1995) beginning in 1989, Eddie Money opened the concert season each May. Through 2014, Chicago has appeared at the venue 82 times, more than any other act. Linda Ronstadt also performed there nearly every summer throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Bob Seger has played more than 33 sold-out shows at the amphitheater, including eight in 1977, a record for most performances in one season that was matched by Kid Rock in 2013, then surpassed by Kid Rock again in 2015, with ten consecutive sold-out shows. Bob Dylan played Pine Knob nine times between 1981 and 2000. Detroit's own Diana Ross often made it her hometown stop during her summer schedules. Dave Matthews Band has played Pine Knob 17 times since 2006, on their yearly summer tour.
Pine Knob is the usual Detroit-area stop for some of the biggest tours of the summer concert season, including The Area:One and Area2 Festival, Crüe Fest, Ozzfest, Curiosa, Projekt Revolution, The Gigantour, Reggae Sunsplash and The Family Values Tour. Lilith Fair made a stop at the venue in every year it toured in the 1990s (1997–1999) and also during its revival tour in 2010. It was the Detroit-area stop for Warped Tour in 1996 and 1997, and also for the Lollapalooza tour in every year of its existence but one before the tour signed an exclusive deal with the city of Chicago. The venue also hosts the Lake Orion High School and Clarkston High School graduation ceremonies, typically held at the end of May or beginning of June. It also briefly hosted the Berkley High School graduation in 2021 due to being moved from Meadowbrook Amphitheatre due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The address of the amphitheater was officially changed in June 2019 from 7774 Sashabaw Road to 33 Bob Seger Drive, to honor the 33 shows he has done at the venue. He played his final show there on June 21, 2019.
In June 2021, 313 Presents announced a five-year agreement with Lume Cannabis Co. at DTE Energy Music Theatre. The agreement included renovation of the Pine Tap to become the "Tree House Lounge" located inside DTE Energy Music Theatre's West Entrance. The 6000 square-foot Tree House includes an indoor lounge area where guests can purchase Lume-branded merchandise and learn about the company's retail offerings. Cannabis consumption and purchase is not permitted on-premises.
On January 14, 2022, the name was changed from DTE Energy Music Theatre back to its original name, Pine Knob Music Theatre.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.