Pine Knob unveils official concert poster for summer season

A 1970s psychedelia-inspired poster was unveiled on Thursday at Pine Knob, the amphitheater's official poster for its upcoming summer season.

It features a longhaired guitarist in mid-solo, seen from below and playing hard against a swirling yellow and orange background. A green circle swoops across the image, spelling out the list of artists booked to play Pine Knob this summer, grouped underneath bubble letters that spell out 2023.

The poster was designed by Alison Slackta, a 21-year-old from Byron, which is about 15 miles north of Howell. She's a student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and her design was chosen from a group of finalists as part of a partnership between Pine Knob venue operator 313Presents and CCS to design a poster for the summer season.

The poster will be given away at several concerts this summer, including the opening show, 99.5 WYCD's Tim McGraw-led Hoedown on May 20. It will be available at other concerts at merch booths while supplies last, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting CCS.

McGraw kicks off a summer season that so far includes 43 concerts, including shows by The Cure (June 13), Billy Strings (June 16), Eric Church (June 23), Anita Baker (July 2), Snoop Dogg (July 23), Arctic Monkeys (Aug. 29) and more.

Last year for its 50th anniversary season, Pine Knob topped Pollstar's list of the world's Top 100 Amphitheaters, grossing a reported $36.9 million in overall gross ticket sales.

313Presents president Howard Handler was on hand Thursday, touting the upcoming season and some of the amphitheater's new amenities, including new dessert (custard nachos, a delectable concoction from Sterling Heights' the Frozen Spoon) and drink options.

"We are constantly trying to amp up the hospitality experience for our guests," Handler said.

Slackta — an avid "Lord of the Rings" fan whose first Pine Knob concert was a Florence + the Machine show in 2019, back when the Clarkston amphitheater was known as DTE Energy Music Theatre — had several ideas for the poster but stuck to her initial gut feeling of what the image should be.

"I am somebody who gets very stubborn about your first idea," Slackta said Thursday. "I really wanted something that captured movement in the moment, and makes you really feel like they're rocking out."

The guitarist isn't based on anyone in particular, she said. "I didn't really want people to fixate too much on if he was supposed to resemble a certain artist. I want him to look like a vague stand-in for many of the artists you might see here," she said.

The rocker doesn't even have a name. When pressed, however, Slackta said, "he feels like a Jerry to me."

agraham@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @grahamorama