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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
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The Grande Ballroom - Page Eight
The 117th weekend at The Grande Ballroom, December 26-27, 1968 featured Donnie Dope’s 26th poster for the venue, although he signed it as one of his many aliases, Harry Pumpkins. It was Fleetwood Mac’s second appearance at the Grande Ballroom, performing two shows, Thursday and Friday, December 26-27, supported by Rotary Connection, the Stooges and Wicked Religion.
This image was produced only in postcard form. No poster is known to exist for this event.
The original postcard measures approximately 4″ x 7″. This card has a picture from the television show “The Untouchables” on the back along with a schedule of upcoming shows.
Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b19PcuJsQbA
The Grande Ballroom finished off the year 1968 with a final run of shows December 28-31, 1968. On Saturday, December 28, the Rationals headlined the show, with Frost, Caste, and Target.
On Sunday, December 29, there was yet another benefit for Trans-Love’s favorite state legislator, Senator Roger Craig, with Caste, Orange Fuzz, and Target. Monday, December 30, brought the Fugs for another visit, supported by Popcorn Blizzard.
The New Year’s Eve bash on Tuesday, December 31, featured SRC, Wilson Mower Pursuit, the Stooges, UP, and Stuart Avery Assemblage.
This is the back side of Donnie Dope’s Fleetwood Mac Grande Ballroom postcard.
The first shows of the new year at the Grande Ballroom, January 3-5, 1969, featured a poster by Chad Hines, one of the fellow artists of Donnie Dope from Northville High School. The Amboy Dukes headlined two shows with support by the Pack, UP, and Dick Rabbit. On Sunday night the Stooges headlined with openers Frozen Sun.
The Amboy Dukes were arguably Michigan’s most successful rock group at this point, having released two albums on the Mainstream label, and touring extensively around the country, opening for the likes of Vanilla Fudge, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, and the Grateful Dead.
And yet, Ted Nugent continued to shuffle the band’s line-up, replacing vocalist John Drake with Rusty Day from Rusty Day & the Midnighters, a band that had been performing around Detroit since 1964 and had released a single in 1966 on the Maltese label, a subsidiary of Ed Wingate’s Golden World.
Rusty Day & the Midnighters – I Gotta Move (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4j9T-kWKvA
The rarest of all the Grande Ballroom posters is by an unknown artist for three nights by Terry Reid, January 10-12, 1969, which were cancelled. Terry Reid himself remained one of Rock’s great unknowns, he passed the invitation to join Jimmy Page’s new band over to his friend Robert Plant, he also turned down an invitation to join Deep Purple, but three tracks from his 1976 album, “Seed of Memory” were used in Rob Zombie’s “Devil’s Rejects” movie.
This clip of Terry Reid performing a rather loose interpretation of Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61” is from a 1970 episode of the Detroit Tubeworks TV show, a precursor to cable TV that was started near the end of 1969 by WABX-FM in conjunction with sister radio stations in St. Louis and Los Angeles, and was hosted by Fifth Estate founder Harvey Ovshinsky, WABX disc jockeys Dave Dixon, Dan Carlyle, Jerry Lubin and Bob Rudnick, and occasionally even John Sinclair. The show lasted until 1974 and we’ll be featuring many more clips from this ground-breaking show.
Terry Reid – Highway 61 (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu5NjVvs-lk
A newspaper ad, in the absence of any posters for these shows, for the 119th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, with a band named Genesis (not the British band), with support by Third Power, and Caste, January 10-11, 1969, with by the James Gang on the 12th.
The following weekend, January 17-19, was the Detroit debut of Jimmy Page’s new band with one of its many varieties of misspellings. Led Zeppelin headlined three nights, with support by Linn County all three nights, Lawrence Blues Band, Target, and Wind. Despite drawing only 35 people to their first Grande Ballroom show, Led Zeppelin would return two more times in 1969.
Led Zeppelin – Good Times Bad Times (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsZG7n7ries
The 121st weekend at the Grande Ballroom, January 24-26, 1969, featured another poster by Robin Sommers with a classic Leni Sinclair photo of MC and Zenta high priest, J.C. Crawford. The MC5 headlined two nights, with support by the March Brothers both nights, and with Train and Piers for one night each.
The Sunday show featured the first Michigan appearance by Taj Mahal and the last known appearance of the band named Asian Flu (seen earlier opening for Bob Seger at the Silverbell Hideout in November, 1968.
The MC5 – Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa) (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll5kKCzHii0
A newspaper ad for the January 24 through February 1, 1969 run of shows at the Grande Ballroom featured a cool, new “lightning bulb” logo, by Ann Arbor Argus cartoonist Dave Baker, that would get repeat usage throughout the year.
It lists the January 24-26, 1969 shows by MC5 and Taj Mahal along with a show by Sweetwater at the Grande Ballroom on January 31, 1969, and a show the next day by Spirit and Sweetwater.
We have finally found a poster, by an unknown artist, for the “2nd Annual Tribal Stomp” and “Benefit for Legal Self Defense” show at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan on February 4, 1969. This may be the back cover of a magazine or newspaper, and does not list the Stooges, who also performed with the MC5 and UP, but it is a very cool find, even as only an online image, our heart would skip a beat if it turned up while flipping through a pile of old papers!
The only known image, found in King’s book, of a sweet poster/flyer by an unknown artist for a Legal Self Defense Fund benefit show at the Grande Ballroom on Tuesday, February 4, 1969, with MC5, Stooges, and UP. Printed in purple ink on lavender paper, it also has an image on the back side.
A newspaper ad for the 123rd weekend at the Grande Ballroom, February 7-9, 1969, with three shows by Savoy Brown with Mother Earth. Fleetwood Mac appeared for a rare Wednesday night show on February 12th.
An ad for the 124th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, February 14-16, 1969, and for the weekend following that, featuring the “lightning bulb” logo by Dave Baker. Procol Harum and the Flying Burrito Brothers performed two nights, with opening band Dharma. The Flying Burrito Brothers stuck around for the Sunday night show, with opening band Frost.
The ad also has the 125th weekend, with two shows by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Van Morrison, February 21-22, 1969, with support by Tea and the Attack. Butterfield stuck around for a Sunday show on February 23rd, supported by the bands Ball and Sky.
An events calendar in a Detroit newspaper, along with an ad for the Butterfield Blues Band and Van Morrison at the Grande Ballroom, February 21-23, 1969.
An ad for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit with Butterfield Blues Band and Van Morrison, February 21-23, 1969, also extending out to the following weekend with Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night and MC5.
An ad for the Grande Ballroom in the student newspaper at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Van Morrison, February 21-23, 1969. There is also an adjacent ad for Parliament Funkadelic at the university on March 8th, one of the few big-name Michigan bands that never performed at the Grande Ballroom, a short list that also includes Alice Cooper and Bob Seger.
The 126th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, February 28 –March 2, 1969, featured the only known poster by an artist named “Melkus”, likely an alias for Donnie Dope. It was the first poster for the Grande for the entire month of February. Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night performed two shows, supported by Frut of the Loom and the Mr. Stress Blues Band. Three Dog Night stuck around for the Sunday show, with MC5 and the James Gang.
This image was produced only as a 4” x 7.5” postcard.
The MC5 are listed as appearing on Sunday night, on Friday they had been in Buffalo, New York, performing at the conclusion of the New Worlds Drug Symposium and a video from that performance is here:
MC5 – Come Together (Live in Buffalo, New York 2/28/69)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQUCpMhLM-4
The back side of the Donnie Dope postcard with the schedule of upcoming shows at the Grande Ballroom through March 16, 1969.
Newspaper ad promoting record sales for artists appearing at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, February 28 – March 2, 1969, featuring Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night (sic).
An events calendar in a Detroit newspaper with Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night at the Grande Ballroom, February 28 –March 2, 1969.
An ad for the Grande Ballroom by the artist Linz in the premier issue of CREEM magazine, March 1969.
A newspaper ad for the 127th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, March 7-9, 1969, a mixed bag with Procol Harum, Dorian Coste, and Wilson Mower Pursuit on the first night, followed by Jeff Beck, Thomas Blood, and Caste on the second night, and Teegarden & Van Winkle with Third Power on the third night.
An events calendar in a Detroit newspaper for the 127th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, March 7-9, 1969.
A newspaper ad for a “Killer Show” on the 128th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, March 14-16, 1969, with John Mayall and Savoy Brown performing the first two nights, along with Third Power both nights, with Wicked Religion on the first night, and Phenomenon on the second night. Frost and Train appeared on the Sunday night, March 16th.
An events calendar in a Detroit newspaper for the 128th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, March 14-16, 1969.
A newspaper events calendar with the 129th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, March 21-23, 1969. The Jeff Beck Group, Sweetwater, and Dick Rabbit performed on the first two nights, with Sweetwater and the Red, White & Blues Band on the third night.
A nice grouping of ads in the Ann Arbor Argus newspaper with shows at the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Iron Butterfly in Toledo, Ohio, and Dave Baker’s “lightning bulb” Grande Ballroom ad, with shows beginning with The Nice and Sweetwater on March 28, 1969. (Apparently, The Nice cancelled, but they did make it for the three shows at the end of the listing, opening for the Velvet Underground, April 11-13.)
The “lightning bulb” ad by Dave Baker for shows at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan starting with the 130th weekend, March 28-30, 1969. It appears there were some schedule changes after the ad was printed, going by other ads and posters, The Nice did not show up for the March 28-30 shows, leaving Sweetwater as the headliner for three nights. Wicked Religion replaced Frost on the first night, Ebony Tusk and the Flower Company opened the next two nights.
In other changes for upcoming shows, the MC5 were replaced by the James Gang on March 30, and Jethro Tull and Savoy Brown switched places, with Tull, April 7-8, and Savoy Brown, April 9-10. The Nice made their Michigan debut opening for the Velvet Underground, April 11-13.
The 131st weekend for the Grande Ballroom, April 4-6, 1969 featured the return of Gary Grimshaw with his 58th poster for the venue, his first poster for the Grande in nine months (and one of his best). It was also the return of the MC5, in their first show back from their West Coast tour.
This image was originally produced only as a 4” x 7” postcard.
The MC5 headlined the first two nights, with Pacific Gas & Electric both nights, and Wicked Religion and the Maxx for one night each. Pacific Gas & Electric stuck around for the Sunday night show, opening for the James Gang.
The MC5 – Motor City is Burning (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y871cCYOyU
The back side of the Gary Grimshaw postcard for the 131st weekend for the Grande Ballroom, April 4-6, 1969, with a schedule of events through April 13, 1969.
Newspaper version of the Gary Grimshaw poster for April 4-6, 1969 at the Grande Ballroom, showing that black-and-white can be quite striking. One of the opening bands, The Maxx, originated in Lansing, Michigan, we’ve seen them in three of the Freak Out parties in East Lansing so far, but they had re-located to Detroit, where they released this single.
The Maxx – 200 Years (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztgLPXQerA0
A second newspaper version of the Gary Grimshaw poster for April 4-6, 1969 at the Grande Ballroom, with the extended schedule.
An entertainment column in a Detroit newspaper with a show at the Grande Ballroom every night of the week, April 4 – 10, 1969.
In April 1969, Detroit’s first underground comic “Tales from the Ozone” was published, the result of the efforts of Carl Lundgren and his out-of-town guest R. Crumb.
The back cover of the comic book “Tales From The Ozone” #1 was full-page ad by Carl Lundgren for shows at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan. Here is a panel-by-panel breakdown:
The first panel has Russ Gibb, “Uncle Russ” announcing that he has snuck into this book to tell you what’s happening at the Grande. The second panel has the MC5, April 4-6, 1969, and the two smaller panels next to that are for the opening bands, Pacific Gas & Electric on the top with James Gang under that.
The first panel in the second row is for Jethro Tull, April 7-8. The middle panel has Savoy Brown, “from England, weighing in at 26,000 lbs (not including fans)” on the 9th and 10th.
The third panel in the second row has the Velvet Underground, April 11-13, “with”, (the next two panels), Nice and Earth Opera.
The third panel in the third row has “Then” Chuck Berry “with”, (the next panel), Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger & the Trinity, April 18-19. A mouse at the bottom of the panel says, “Wow! Look at her!”
The first panel in the last row is for a screening of the Beatles’ movie “Magical Mystery Tour” on April 20th. A white circle joining the first panel to the next one has “Open City” (a benefit for) with the MC5 and Red, White, Blues, April 23 inside the circle.
The conjoined panel has Family and Canned Heat, April 25-26, and the final panel has a clown with the Stooges, April 27, a May 1 Argus newspaper (benefit, that may not have happened), and a bible that proclaims “Creedence Clearwater Revival”, May 2-3 written on the spine.
Under the bible, there are the Who with Joe Cocker, (May) 9-10-11. Finally, Uncle Russ is on his motorcycle, signing off with “So, bring your friends and have a grand time at the…at the…er? Um…you know.”
The fine print along the bottom lists more of the support acts with their dates, Wicked Religion, Maxx, Sky, Caste, Third Power, and Commander Cody.
Along the edge, it says, Advertisement – 1969 Russ Gibb Productions, and Carl Lundgren – “Whew!”
This may be the best quality image of this classic that you’re likely to see online, so blow it up to really appreciate Lundgren’s art.
A poster for a string of mid-week shows at the Grande Ballroom, April 7-10, 1969 became Gary Grimshaw’s 59th poster for the venue. Jethro Tull headlined the Monday and Tuesday night shows, with support by Sky both nights and by Caste on the second night. Savoy Brown headlined on Wednesday and Thursday nights, with support by Commander Cody & His Swing Band and Third Power on both nights.
The image was produced as a two-sided postcard approximately 4″ x 7″, with the next week’s upcoming shows on the other side.
And we have a recording from the April 9 show.
Third Power – I’m so Glad (live at Grande Ballroom 4-9-69)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuxzq0DRs2E
The 132nd weekend at the Grande Ballroom, April 11-13, 1969, featured Gary Grimshaw’s 60th poster for the venue. The Velvet Underground headlined all three shows.
This image was produced as the other side of the two-sided postcard shown before.
An interesting selection of opening acts for all three nights, The Nice with Keith Emerson from England, and Earth Opera from Boston, featuring David Grisman, Peter Rowan and Billy Mundi. Both groups followed up their Grande Ballroom shows with an appearance at a local area club, The Nice played the Clawson Hideout, and Earth Opera went out to the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor.
The Nice – America (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLVEIGsG1Og
The 133rd weekend at the Grande Ballroom, April 18-19, 1969, featured Matt Radofsky’s third poster for the venue. Chuck Berry headlined both shows with support by Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger & Trinity and Rare Earth both nights.
This image was produced only as a 4” x 6” postcard.
In an interesting case of timing, Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger & Trinity had, just four days before, effectively put an end to the career of The Monkees.
On April 14, 1969, NBC had televised what was to be the first of three prime-time Monkees specials, but it would be the first and the last. An over-the-top plotline that had Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger trap the Monkees in giant test tubes to brainwash them to brainwash the masses through commercial exploitation, with a confusing nod to Darwin and a capsule history of rock and roll, and yeah, it was kind of a mess.
The Monkees thought the plot was too silly, Davey Jones complained that Driscoll and Auger had more screen time than the band, and for Peter Tork, it was the last straw, he quit the band at the end of the production.
The Monkees – 33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee (NBC TV 1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYSssfG7Gy8
A newsprint version of Matt Radofsky’s postcard for the Grande Ballroom, April 18-19, 1969.
Poster/flyer with the Grande Ballroom Lightning Bulb ad by Dave Baker for a long list of upcoming shows at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, starting with Chuck Berry on April 18-19, 1969 and the following half-dozen shows through to May 1st.
Dave Baker’s ad for the Grande Ballroom in the Ann Arbor Argus newspaper.
A poster/handbill by Matthew Radofsky (aka Matt Rock) for a benefit show for the Open City community collective at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit on April 23, 1969, featuring MC5, the Rationals, and the Red, White & Blues Band.
A newspaper ad, with photo by Leni Sinclair, for the benefit show for the Open City community collective at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit on April 23, 1969, featuring MC5, the Rationals, and the Red, White & Blues Band.
A newspaper ad for the “Rites of Spring” benefit concert for Open City at the Grande Ballroom on April 23, 1969.
The 134th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, April 25-27, 1969, featured a poster credited to Leni Sinclair, with the first usage of one of her more famous Iggy shots. Canned Heat and Family headlined the first two nights, with support by Caste and the Red, White & Blues Band. The Stooges headlined the Sunday night show, with All The Lonely People and Third Power.
A full-page Reprise Records ad for the second album by the British group Family and tour dates for their first US tour which includes two shows at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, April 25-26, 1969. The concert database indicates that the band made their Michigan debut at the Hideout in Clawson a week earlier, with support by Teegarden & Van Winkle on April 18th.
The tour did not go so well, as bassist Ric Grech left the group after just the first show of the tour to join Blind Faith.
The Grande Ballroom Posters - continues - HERE
