Roger Daltrey remembers the Grande

The Free Press' Martin BanDyke interviews the Who's Roger Daltrey prior to their show in Auburn Hills Oct 21st:

Q: And how about those legendary shows at the Grande Ballroom?

A: Yeah, I remember the Grande! I can still see it now: Joe Cocker was often our support act, and it was a really good place to play. I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I still remember the Grande. U.S. audiences generally take music a whole lot more seriously than in the U.K. and the rest of Europe. It's more an ingrained part of life than in England, where it's much more throwaway.

Complete interview

Rock all Souls

All,

Friends of the Grande member and impresario Tom Lubinski invites you to a celebration of All Souls Day Saturday November 1.
Tom has created the "Motor City Music Factory" space within the cavernous TWH Metals building on E McNichols. It features a huge stage with 28,000 watts of sound and light.
Former SRC guitarist Gary Quackenbush will appear as well as young guitar prodigy Cetan Clawson. The packed bill also features former members of Detroit and Destroy all Monsters. Special guests include Michigan Basements and Whig the Beast. Doors and show promptly at 7:00.

See ya there !!

Leo

Dig the handbill by Grande Artist Carl Lundgren:

Alice Cooper reflects on the Grande

Alice gets his facts blurred a little bit..
In this article from Canada's Globe and mail, I am certain when Alice talks about going to the movies at the Grande Ballroom he is referencing experiences from the Grande Riviera. Alice also may have been old enough to have gone to the Riviera Annex theatre which was on the same block as the Grande. The Annex was razed c. 1958.

Otherwise, Tony D'Annunzio's Grande documentary gets a national mention in the second paragraph, way to go eh !

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081011.COOPER11/TPStory/Entertainment

Gary Quackenbush at PJ's Lager House

"Announcing SRC Thursdays with Gary Quackenbush at PJ's Lager House!!!

PJ's Lager House (1254 Michigan Ave, Corktown, Detroit) is pleased announce SRC Thursdays with Gary Quackenbush throughout the month of September!

Quackenbush is a true Detroit rock legend. He is perhaps best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of SRC, a locally based rock band from the late 1960s. SRC began as the joining of two infamous Detroit/Birmingham bands: The Fugitives with brothers Glenn and Gary Quackenbush and The Chosen Few with Scott Richardson.

From 1965 to 1970, the group was a staple at many of Detroit's most legendary rock venues, including The Grande Ballroom and eventually signed with Motown's Rare Earth label.In 1966, the group approached then-Rationals manager Jeep Holland and their first few gigs were played with Richardson to finish the Fugitives' booking commitments.

The first true SRC show was at the Fenton Community Center in early 1967 and they never looked back!Following their debut full-length release on Capitol Records in 1968, SRC began to headline area stages and venues across the Midwest, sharing the stage with practically every regional band of note at the time, including Bob Seger, the Rationals, the MC5 and many others. SRC achieved great popularity in the UK as well as the Midwestern US.

Today, Quackenbush is the owner of SRC Records, and will be performing live at PJ's Lager House every Thursday in September to promote GQ In A Shade of Blue, Quackenbush's first solo record ever. The live show is not to be missed!

GQ will be playing all the SRC hits including "I'm So Glad, "Black Sheep," "Bolero" and many more. Longtime hits such as "Red House," "Summertime," "Thrill Is Gone" and "I'd Rather Go Blind" will be featured, among others. Lots of standards and lots of blues! GQ is a true guitar powerhouse and professional performer—these are Thurdays not to be missed if you care anything for Detroit rock history!"

MC5 - Guitar Heros

Love it or hate it, the video game Guitar Hero is arguably turning a lot of young kids on to the guitar and, as it turns out, the MC5 !

Jeff Beck Group's Mickey Waller Passes

Belated, sad news from England.
Mickey Waller, drummer for the Jeff Beck group (amongst many others) passed April 29,2008.
Mickey's playing was a cornerstone of the modern British blues rock movement. Waller had played with a virtual who's who of '60's rock royalty including Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix.
The Jeff Beck groups visits to the Grande Ballroom were legendary. Photos and audio of Mick are included in our special feature link below.

Obituary:
http://music.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2282435,00.html

Grande Legendary Gig:
http://www.thegrandeballroom.com/JBG.html

Motor City's Burning

Hi All,

I have arranged for this excellent BBC film to be shown at MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art and Design) in Detroit on Saturday June 14th. The film has some great footage of our visit to the Grande in 2007 and interviews of John Sinclair, the MC5 and Iggy Pop.
Admission is free and the show starts at 7:00 P.M. See you there !


MOCAD

MAP

Motor City's Burning

2007 Grande Tour


Cheers,

Leo

Tom Wright Exhibition N.Y.C.

Grande manager and Rock Photographer Tom Wright will be exhibiting in NYC starting this June. Read the story from Tom's Roadwork co-author Susan Van Hecke:

http://susanvanhecke.blogspot.com/

Tom Wright at the Morrison Hotel Gallery

http://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/

Spring Inspection Tour

Wednesday April 30th FOG members Tom Gaff, Tom Lubinski and Leo Early
Accompanied CHMBC Deacons Fells, Cook and Johnson on a spring inspection tour of the Grande building.
The winter, having been particularly harsh, has been hard on the building. Water and thaw- freeze cycling has caused two 6-8 foot limestone cornices or "capstones" to fall to the street and onto a neighboring building. A third section is threatening to do the same.
Plaster debris was shoveled off the stairway to the roof. The framing of the doorway to the roof
is failing so this exterior door had to be gently pried open to allow access. The Grande actually has two roofs, an exterior "upper roof" and a lower "ballroom ceiling". Photographs were taken of the upper roof and corner Spanish tile "peaks". The roof membrane has failed in several sections and water finds easy drainage through these holes. Elbow shaped ventilator shafts have lost their caps to scrappers. It was calculated that this 17000 square foot roof drains 177 gallons during a one inch rain. Detroit averages 2.6 inches of rain per month.

The rear fire escape door was chained (to some degree of success) to limit unauthorized access. A proper job of this will need to be performed in the future.
Also, this trip the basement of the building was visited and found to be surprisingly dry!

Folks please do not attempt , unauthorized access of the building is illegal and extremely dangerous for the uninformed. The building has borne the brunt of scrappers and souvenir hunters for far too long. If you have a habit to feed, or think you can save the building one brick at a time, please resist the urge to gain access. We are placing our faith in the CHMBC and their ability to stabilize the building. They are really great people that deserve this opportunity.

Please view our Flickr photo pool for snaps and videos of the tour here.

Gary Quackenbush (SRC) - 60th Birthday Jam

The legendary Gary Quackenbush's (SRC) 60th Birthday Jam will be hosted
Saturday April 26th at 8 P.M. at:

TWH Metals Corporation
6450 E. McNichols
Detroit, MI 48212

Located two buildings to the east of the intersection of McNichols and
Mt. Elliot on the south side of the street. The sign on the roof is twice the
size of a highway billboard and can be seen from Mound to the west and
Van Dyke to the east.
Secure outdoor parking provided.

The TWH Metals factory will be converted into an open concert space for this engagement.
Please bring an instrument if you wish to join in on the "Open Mike" format.
Special surprise guests are expected.

Google Map

If you get lost: dial 313-897-6604 extension 1


View Larger Map

The SRC were one of Detroit's seminal rock bands and appeared frequently at the Grande Ballroom.

All music guide: The SRC

SRC- "Black Sheep"

Save The Grande Concert Series

If you made it to the Grande 40th Anniversary concert in 2006 you may have met Mr.Tom Gaff.
Tom was a partner with Old Stoner Productions that put on the concert. Today, in the light of Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church's desire to salvage the Grande building, Tom has come up with an ambitious idea and has asked The Grandeballroom.com to pass the following information along.

Leo Early
Webmaster
www.thegrandeballroom.com

===================================================================

From the desk of Tom Gaff:

Dave Miller and I are planning a “Save The Grande” concert series at the Royal Oak Music Theater with the blessings of Uncle Russ. The profits raised from these concerts will be donated to the Chapel Hill Church to help restore the Grande Ballroom. Chapel Hill Ministries will be using the restored Grande for church functions. Dr. Smith has discussed with me possible uses such as concerts, dancing, recording studio and even a restaurant among others.

One show will feature Joe Walsh. We have talked to Joe and he is willing to play to help raise money for the Grande Ballroom restoration project. Joe will let us know when he is available after the Eagles concert tour schedule is complete. We are also contacting other Grande era musicians to see if they would be willing to play at these benefit shows.

If you would like to get involved or have a contact with any musician from the Grande era please contact me at savethegrande@sbcglobal.net or 586-215-7214.

Tom Gaff

Motor City's Burning

You may remember Ben Whalley and his BBC crew were allowed access last fall to the Grande to shoot this film. It debuts in the U.K. this evening and as yet has no plans to air in the U.S. You can, however, check out clips etc. at this BBC web site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/detroit/

Cheers,

Leo