Shadows of the Once-Great Grande Ballroom, Detroit

Mention the Grande Ballroom to any true classic rocker past the age of 70 (yeah, you read right...70), and you may see them give a sigh of remembrance of a time long gone.

The once-great Grande (pronounced ‘grandee’) Ballroom in Detroit was where Michigan Rock’n Roll reigned. The MC5 were considered the house band, considering the tons of times they performed concerts there. It was host to – literally - the greatest of the great 60s bands & performers. Dig some of the names that appeared at the Grande: Cream, Grateful Dead, Chambers Brothers, Tim Buckley, James Gang, Fugs, Moby Grape, Vanilla Fudge, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy Blues Band, Canned Heat, The Byrds, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Blood Sweat & Tears, Electric Prunes, The Who, Youngbloods, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Sly & The Family Stone, Troggs, Mothers of Invention (Frank Zappa), Traffic, Yardbirds, Procol Harum, Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Love, Blue Cheer, Jeff Beck Group, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Spirit, Steve Miller Blues Band, Country Joe & The Fish, Albert King, Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, Spooky Tooth, The McCoys, Ten Years After, John Mayall, Pacific Gas & Electric, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moody Blues, Jefferson Airplane, Deep Purple, Lee Michaels, Iron Butterfly, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Savoy Brown, Three Dog Night, Steppenwolf, Van Morrison, Commander Cody, Velvet Underground, Chuck Berry, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joe Cocker, Rush, Golden Earring, Dr. John, Bo Diddley, Johnny Winter, The Turtles, T-Rex, The Kinks, Elton John, J. Geils Band, King Crimson, Blue Oyster Cult and many others.

Not only did the biggest rock names IN THE WORLD play here but it was also a place where we could go and catch Michigan’s top performers as well: Brownsville Station, Frijid Pink, Rare Earth, Amboy Dukes, The Frost, Woolies, Rationals, SRC, Stooges, The Up, Bob Seger & The Last Heard, Terry Knight & The Pack, Unrelated Segments, Tidal Waves, and many, many more.

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The Grande was originally a jazz dance hall in the 1920s, a dance club in the 1950s, a skating rink, and a storage facility for mattresses.....but the Grande’s legendary status rose to great heights in the 1960s when it became THE rock venue in the Detroit & Mid-Michigan area, opening in 1966.

It was during the late 60s/early 70s when draft dodgers were moving to Canada and the others who stayed behind – hippies, protesters, and high school grads – were being drafted and sent to Vietnam. This disappearance of young males helped deplete the crowds who visited the Grande on a regular basis; without them, the business disappeared.

The Grande Ballroom ended up closing for good in 1972. The empty venue was too enticing to intruders, who entered and stole many fixtures, wall autographs, and anything they could easily get into their pockets and backpacks.

It’s not just the Grande that suffered, but he surrounding neighborhood as well, becoming just as neglected and run down as the ballroom. Scroll down and check out the image gallery below. Located at: 8952 Grand River, Detroit (corner of Grand River & Beverly). Be respectful.