Eastown Theatre was a 2,500-seat

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located at 8041 Harper on the east side of

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. Opening in 1931, it operated as a movie theater until being converted into a rock

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in 1967. Performers included

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, Steppenwolf,

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and

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said in 1997 that the Eastown was "the best audience in the world. And I'm not saying that just because you're writing it down. Any other city, people went home from work to put on their Levis and black leather jackets for a concert. In Detroit they came from work like that. The Eastown — those were pure rock 'n' roll times." In the late 1990s the building became a site for

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

s, before being taken over by a church group. It also was an adult movie theatre. The theater was put up for sale in 2004, reduced in price in 2009, and later abandoned. A fire in 2010 destroyed most of the building, and an emergency demolition order was put on the building in 2015. It was eventually demolished in November 2015.

References

Theatres in Detroit Demolished buildings and structures in Detroit Buildings and structures demolished in 2015 {{Detroit-struct-stub