Eastown Theatre

01 / The story of this place

Make time for these

The 2,500-seat Eastown opened as a movie palace on October 1, 1931 and closed as a cinema in 1967; it reopened as a rock hall on May 29, 1969 with SRC headlining, and for $3–5 tickets fans saw The Who, the Kinks, Yes, Fleetwood Mac, the Faces, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Alice Cooper, Captain Beefheart, King Crimson and Rush. It became one of Detroit's most notorious halls: its legal capacity was 1,727, but some nights drew 3,000, and it racked up drug arrests and fire-code violations. The city forced it to shut in 1973 for failing health and safety codes; the building later housed an adult theater, a performing arts center, unlicensed late-1990s raves and a church.

1. Movie palace opened in 1931
2. Rock hall 1969–1973
3. The Who and Pink Floyd for $3–5