Hello, Pine Knob

The official 2026 season preview for the largest entertainment amphitheater in the country. We'll be joined by some frequent visitors, including Carlos Santana, Foreigner, Godsmack, Motley Crue, Salt-N-Pepa, Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band, Barenaked Ladies, and others to help get you ready for the next four-months-plus of music under the stars.

Welcome to our final episode of the 2025 Pine Knob season — 41 shows starting in June with Halsey and wrapping up October 2nd with Alice Cooper and Judas Priest. With acts from just about every genre playing during the past four months, there's been something for every music fan and certainly another season of shows that we'll be talking about for years to come.

It's officially fall, but things are not falling off at Pine Knob as it heads to the close of its 53rd year. We'll start with a favorite Pine Knob photo of the J. Geils Band. The B-52s will be bringing its 12-date Cosmic De-Evolution Tour with Devo to town on Thursday, September 25th. The next night, Friday, Sept. 26th, country star Lainey Wilson brings her Whirlwind Tour to Pine Knob for her firs...

We welcome one of the venue's regular photographers, who chose a fiery image of Slayer guitarist Kerry King as one of his favorites from over the years. Back on August 4th, the Doobie Brothers, one of Pine Knob's most frequent visitors, opened its latest North American tour there. Also in town recently was Jerry Cantrell, guitarist with the band Alice in Chains, who also tours and records as a sol...

We start with Chris Schwegler and the story of the final photograph from Bob Seger's final hometown concert on June 21st, 2019. In the more recent past, we caught up with Halestorm, who played at Pine Knob for a sixth time on August 19th. In the realm of coming attractions, we have Billy Idol hitting Pine Knob on Thursday, August 28th. Two nights later, on Aug. 30, it's 99.5 WYCD's Hoedown, this t...

We kick things off with photographer feature Scott Legato. Scott picks a 2013 shot of the late Ozzy Osbourne, taken during a performance by Black Sabbath as part of its reunion tour. Toto, Men at Work and Christopher Cross are playing Monday, August 11. Five days later, on August 16th, fans of classic rock will be treated to the Brotherhood of Rock Tour 2025, which features Styx, the Kevin Cronin...

Things are really heating up at Pine Knob, with a busy August and September ahead, into the early days of October. We're starting with some recent visitors who hit stages in the metro area, but took time to share their thoughts about playing at Pine Knob. In upcoming attractions, Cyndi Lauper, who performed last fall at the Fox Theatre, is bringing her "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" Farewell Tour to...

We kick off episode four with a new segment spotlighting the concert photographers who work regularly at Pine Knob, and their work. Our first comes from Ken Settle, recalling when Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band were joined by a special appearance from former drummer Charlie Martin, who had been paralyzed from the waist down after an automobile accident in 1977. I Prevail was formed in Oaklan...

In this third episode of our fourth season, we`re shooting wide and brining you memories from some of the performers who have played at Pine Knob over the years. Our first guest, however, is playing there on July 2nd, his first show at Pine Knob in eight years. Moving on, we had the chance to talk with Chan Kinchla from the band Blues Traveler, which is performing July 11 at the Meadow Brook Amphi...

The summer season got off to a later than usual start this year, but things are up to speed with three consecutive nights of shows ahead — a Friday night visit by the Outlaw Music Festival's 10th Anniversary Tour, headlined by Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan, a Saturday date with Simple Minds and a Sunday finish with country start Keith Urban.

Welcome to Hello Pine Knob and our fourth season of talking about Michigan’s oldest and largest amphitheater. The 2025 season gets underway on Wednesday, June 11, with a concert by Grammy-nominated singer Halsey, making her Pine Knob debut and her first Metro area appearance since 2017. That will be the first of 39 shows announced so far, which will take us into early October. To get us ready for...

Pine Knob finishes its 2024 season with a pair of shows on Friday and Saturday, October 4 and 5, by Michigan's own Billy Strings -- a Grammy Award-winning guitarist and Americana star who's celebrating both the arrival of a brand new album, "Highway Prayers," and the arrival his first son. Then, with Pine Knob about to close, we thought we'd offer listeners a look inside some of the backstage oper...

The Pine Knob season is nearing the end of its 2024 season, and the next to last weekend of the year will be a loud one. On Friday, September 27th, Korn, Spiritbox and Gojira play at 6:30 p.m. The next night, Saturday, September 28th, is the annual Riff Fest, which will feature Godsmack, Seether, Asking Alexandria and others. Jane's Addiction had to abandon the reunion tour of its original lineup...

Hard rockers Staind will be back at Pine Knob on Wednesday, September 11, for a second show there in just over a year. It will be the heavy rock quartet's seventh show at Pine Knob, and guitarist Mike Mushok tells us why Pine Knob is one of his favorite places to play. Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top are continuing their Shaper Dressed Simple Man tour, which the two classic rock acts launched last year...

We're nearing the end of August, but there's still plenty of music coming to Pine Knob -- nearly a dozen shows, in fact, making for one of the busiest post-Labor Day weekend seasons ever. Coming this Friday, Aug. 30, is Alice Cooper, the Detroit-born, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shock rocker on his tour with Rob Zombie. We can expect more of the same joyfully macabre entertainment his time, too --...

On this week's episode, we talk to a trio of Pine Knob mainstays.  The Doobie Brothers share why they believe their music has endured so long, Bret Michaels explains why Parti Gras will not only sound good, but smell good, and Incubus tells tales of past Pine Knob performances. 

The season is speeding by, and July is turning into August with a couple of notable shows from some of our favorite rockers.  Creed is in the midst of its first concert tour in 12 years, which, among other things, is marking the 25th anniversary of its multi-platinum sophomore album Human Clay. Creed performs with 3 Doors Down and Finger Eleven on Wednesday, July 31. Sammy Hagar brings his The Bes...

For this episode, we've connected with some of Pine Knob's upcoming acts -- I Prevail, Train, REO Speedwagon and Chicago -- as well as another frequent visitor, to share their memories about playing the venue and to let us know what we can expect for their appearances this year.

First up is Carlos Santana discussing what to expect at his 2024 performance at Pine Knob this Tuesday. This year Santana's show also coincides with the 55th anniversary of the Woodstock festival, where the group made its name.  Next, we talk with 99.5 WYCD to prepare for their annual Hoedown concert. The 99.5 WYCD Hoedown has been around since 1983 and has been held at Pine Knob since 2016. The t...

Styx and Foreigner return to Pine Knob, on Saturday, June 15. The two classic bands are out on tour, with John Waite, marking it the first time in a decade they've hit the road together. During the mid and late 70s, Andy Freeberg and Darryl Pitt served as Pine Knob's official photographers, spending night after night at the theater chronicling performances by just about every act that played there...

It is summertime in Michigan and that means the 2024 Pine Knob season is upon us! 47 shows highlight the 52nd season of the iconic venue. Host Gary Graff sits down with 313 Presents President Howard Handler, along with Kat Sutherland — the winner of the College for Creative Studies Pine Knob poster contest, to look ahead to a big 2024 slate of shows.

Willie Nelson turned 90 earlier this year and instead of slowing down, he's gone on a birthday tour. In advance of Willie's Outlaw Tour stop at Pine Knob on September 22, host Gary Graff talks to Oak Park native Don Was from Wolf Bros and The String Cheese Incident's Kyle Hollingsworth. Also in this episode, a conversation with Eric Vanlerberghe from I Prevail, a band formed in Southfield.

The music world was shocked when Jimmy Buffet passed away on September 1, 2023. And while Jimmy's music reflected life in the islands, he always felt right at home at Pine Knob. On this episode of Hello Pine Knob, we revisit at 2021 conversation between host Gary Graff and Jimmy Buffett.

Alice Cooper's 10th time on stage at Pine Knob this August, it'll be in support of his 29th album, "Road". And in this episode of 'Hello Pine Knob', host Gary Graff sits down with the Detroit-born Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famer to talk about rocking into his golden years. Also in this episode, Graff chats with Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins and Brent Smith from Shinedown.

Foreigner has played Pine Knob 36 times, but their 37th show on August 30 might be their last. In this episode of Hello Pine Knob, host Gary Graff chats with the members of Foreigner for a look back at their illustrious career. Also joining Graff in this episode is Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan and Scott Hoying from Pentatonix.