Duke Ellington
Ella Fitzgerald
From Frank Sinatra to The Who, from 2Pac to the Go-Go’s, the Flint area has hosted many of the biggest music acts of the last 100 years. Along the way, the region welcomed epic concerts at historic venues, both large and small.
The entertainers were legendary — and so were the shows. Below are some of the most iconic performances held at the Industrial Mutual Association Auditorium (IMA), which became the region’s premier venue for top-tier concerts.
The shows really began gaining momentum in the 1940s, featuring jazz megastars Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Ella Fitzgerald. It’s also said that the Glenn Miller Band and Frank Sinatra performed a private side gig at the Woodlawn Park mansion of the Stewart family for a daughter’s Sweet Sixteen party.
Frank Sinatra
The entertainers were legendary — and so were the shows.
Johnny Cash
By the 1950s, the IMA lineup was an eclectic mix. “The Chairman of the Board” Frank Sinatra returned to Flint, joined by blues pioneer John Lee Hooker, country-western star Gene Autry, jazz great Benny Carter — and then came early rock and roll. The biggest rock show in the world at the time rolled right through Flint, starring Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers, and Danny and The Juniors, known for one of rock’s greatest early hits, “At the Hop.”
The 1960s brought transition and cultural change, reflected in the music Flint audiences embraced. The IMA featured rhythm and blues from Ray Charles, top-tier pop and surf rock from the Beach Boys at their peak with “I Get Around” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” folk from Peter, Paul and Mary riding high with “Puff the Magic Dragon,” Motown magic from Diana Ross and The Supremes, country from “The Man in Black” Johnny Cash, and blistering rock from none other than Jimi Hendrix.
The Beach Boys
The 1970s ushered in an explosion of major acts at the IMA. Highlights included Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five in 1971, Aerosmith, Earth, Wind & Fire, Blue Öyster Cult, The J. Geils Band, Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra, Lionel Richie and The Commodores, Rush, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Santana, KISS, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Alice Cooper. As the decade progressed, Squeeze, REO Speedwagon, Styx, James Brown, Ted Nugent, Tom Jones, and Mötley Crüe also took the stage.
Historic Atwood Stadium hosted several major shows as well. The Who played their first American gig there in 1967, opening for Herman’s Hermits. That night, drummer Keith Moon supposedly celebrated his 21st birthday at the Bristol Road Holiday Inn, starting a food fight and reportedly knocking out a front tooth. The more infamous tale: that Moon somehow drove a limo — or a Cadillac, or a Lincoln, depending on who tells it — into the hotel pool. Former Flint DJ and radio legend Peter “Peter C” Cavanagh swore it happened; former Flint DJ Pete “Fat Cat” Flanders claimed it didn’t. Peter C is no longer here to argue, but it’s certainly more fun to believe the story.
Golden Leaf Club
Historic Atwood Stadium hosted several major shows as well. The Who played their first American gig there in 1967, opening for Herman’s Hermits.
The Who
In 1980, Atwood hosted one of Flint’s largest concerts ever: Journey, Pat Benatar, and Eddie Money. The show sold out despite steady rain and remains the biggest concert in Flint history. In 1985, Deep Purple challenged that record with an equally massive — and undoubtedly the loudest — show. Later, Flint’s own Ready for the World performed at Atwood after topping the charts with “Oh Sheila,” and Grand Funk Railroad’s Mark Farner also took the stage, though without his GFR bandmates.
Other venues have deep roots in Flint’s musical heritage. Chief among them is the Golden Leaf Club on the city’s south side. In its early days, “The Leaf” was a predominantly Black music venue where many performers who played the IMA would stop by to hang out and jam late into the night. It remains active today, featuring outstanding music and a diverse, loyal audience.
The Capitol Theatre in downtown Flint has also hosted dozens of top acts. AC/DC performed there in 1977, followed by artists like Black Sabbath, The Romantics, the Go-Go’s, 2Pac Shakur, and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (featuring a young Mark Wahlberg). Later shows included Buddy Guy, Mark Farner, Styx, Don McLean, Boz Scaggs, and Morrissey. Promoter Joel Rash also helped transform the Capitol into a key venue for Flint’s punk movement.
RUN DMC
Rollettes Arena, a former roller rink on the north side, was the site of RUN DMC’s first Flint show in 1982 — with the author of this article serving as the DJ. The show had to be cut short when gunfire erupted, but producer Russell Simmons still remembered the chaotic night decades later. The Armory on Lewis Street (now Chavez Drive) hosted regular Motown Revues, featuring the Temptations, Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Marvelettes, and Flint’s own Velvelettes.
Flint also produced national rap acts like the Dayton Family, Top Authority, and MC Breed, who headlined numerous successful shows in the city. On the opposite end of the musical spectrum, Dusty Owens brought a cavalcade of country and western stars to Flint in the mid–20th century — enough that the city earned the nickname “Nashville North.”
Ultimately, it’s easier to list the top acts that never performed in Flint over the past 80 years: The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Elvis, and the Eagles. But the sheer number of legendary artists who did take the stage here is astounding — and that’s a pretty strong note to end on.
