Death of a Palace
 
During my trip to Michigan as part of the Michigan Notable Books event, I also checked out the state of two of Detroit’s most significant rock’n’roll venues, namely The Grande Ballroom and the Michigan Palace. Both are in a sad state - as is, sadly, most of the city: even the casino, which was supposed to help revive downtown Detroit, was in the process of filing for bankruptcy during my visit.
 
The Michigan Theater ( it was renamed ‘The Palace just as it started its final descent into decay in the 70s)   was one of the most luxurious cinemas in the USA when it opened in 1926. It is also the site where Henry Ford built his first ‘Quadricycle’. The once-proud Renaissance Revival interior has been effectively gutted, turned into a multi-storey carpark once demolition proved too complicated. The interior also appears in a sequence of Eminem’s 8 Mile: in its pomp, the Palace, also played host to cutting edge acts like Benny Goodman, who hired the country’s most cutting-edge guitarist, Charlie Christian, plus movie icons like the Marx Brothers and Bob Hope.
 
Thanks to all who turned up for my talks in Ann Arbor and Detroit - it was a blast! It was wonderful to see old friends like Don Swickerath - bassist of The Iguanas, Ivan and Cindy Kral and Scott Morgan. Photos soon... Thanks also Ken Raynor at Ann Arbor library, Conrad  Welsing at Detroit library, and Gale Henderson at the Edison Library. Gale prevented an audience invasion, fueled by illicit substances, at the latter!
 
 
 
Thursday, 1 May 2008
The remains of the Michigan Palace, site of The Stooges’ last stand. Click the image to see more photos of the remains of The Palace, and The Grande Ballroom.