The Grande Ballroom

Detroit, MI

The Grande Ballroom is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and originally served as a multi-purpose building, hosting retail business on the first floor and a large dance hall upstairs. During this period the Grande was renowned for its outstanding hardwood dance floor which took up most of the second floor.

In 1966 the Grande was acquired by Dearborn, Michigan, high school teacher and local radio DJ Russ Gibb. Gibb was inspired by visiting San Francisco's Fillmore Theater, and envisioned a similar venue in Detroit for the new psychedelic music and a resource for local teenagers. Gibb worked closely with Detroit counterculture figure John Sinclair in bringing in bands, both from San Francisco and harder-edged psychedelic rock bands gathering around Detroit's Plum Street community like the MC5. National and international acts - as well as future Rock & Roll Hall Of Famers - of this period included Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Jeff Beck, Cream and The Who. The MC5, The Thyme, and The Stooges served as house bands, assuring weekly performances. The Grande also featured the avant garde jazz of John Coltrane and Sun Ra.

Performances of this period were frequently advertised by the distinctive psychedelic handbills of Gary Grimshaw and Carl Lundgren. The Grande's rock and roll counter-cultural experience was extensively documented by Detroit photographer Leni Sinclair.

Since Gibb closed the Grande as a rock venue in 1972, the building has rarely been used and has fallen into a state of disrepair. As of 2010 it remained vacant and open to redevelopment.

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