Russ Gibb

Russ Gibb

Rock and roll war in the Motor City. Russ Gibb - you all know who he is - and Aaron Russo - originator/owner of Chicago’s Kinetic Playground - have squared off in a Battle of the Ballrooms that unlike most wars, can only .benefit the people. Russo has come to town to join forces with Bob Bageris, who originally started the Eastown operation. With Russo’s booking leverage and new capitol, the Eastown has reopened with a series of really impressive shows.. Meanwhile, Gibb has moved the Grande around the comer to the palatial Riviera Theater. The promoters think they ’re in for a fight to the death, but Detroit may be able to accomodate more rock and roll than they think.

CREEM: Is the Grande moving?

RUSS GIBB: Yes . . . to the Grande-Riviera . . . that’s around the corner.

C: Large capacity?

G: Largest in town.

C: Is it going to be a ballroom, meaning will it have a dance license? G: We will have all three, a dance license, a concert license and a theater license.

C: Are you going to be showing films? G: Yeah. It’s gonna open on a Friday night, not this week, but next week. Two Michigan groups, the SRC and the Amboy Dukes, will be leading off. And Alice Cooper. Then, the next night, it’s the Who and Alice Cooper. The following Sunday, it’s the Who and the Frost.

C: What’s your opinion on whether the city can support two ballrooms? G: I’m not sure that it can. I think that the only ones that’re benefitting from the individuals coming in are the groups, particularly the outside groups. I think prices have been raised. I think that Aaron Russo had to come here or somewhere else because there are two other big operations that moved into Chicago and he needs the bookings.

C: The leverage of offering more than one date?

G: Yeah, right. And so, needless to say, if I go to Chicago, I go to Chicago. Frank Fried bought the Aragon, and it’s so much larger than the Playground.

C: Bemg in the Detroit scene from the beginning, do you see any problem with Russo and his booking policy in relationship to local groups?

G: Yeah. I’ve seen it already and I think he’s gonna have to change it; I’ve noticed he’s kept his price down, lower than he does in Chicago, which I would assume, if I were in Chicago, I would be taking cognizance of that fact ... I think he has. It is my understanding that he has a five buck thing on. However, you’ll remember that he has a situation here where he has a partner in Begaris. I think you have a situation here where the capacity will tell out.

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C: What’s his legal capacity?

G: Seventeen hundred, I would imagine. That’s what I was told was posted upstairs. Our legal capacity if 28 or 2700.

C: What’s gonna happen to the old ballroom?

G: We’re gonna keep that for various things. We’ve got some plans to do some community things. There are certain shows that will go better there.

C: What’s happening on the national level? With bookings? Is the money going up?Have you made alliances to increase your leverage?

G: Of course,

C: What are those?I’ve heard rumors that you and Quatro are now involved in some joint ventures, like the Black Arts Festival.

G: Yeah, we have that.

C: Is this a one shot, or is this going to be a continuing relationship?

G: No, we have a continuing relationship. For four concerts and nationally. We also have a relationship in the sense of booking the ballroom, but it was predicated on the fact that Jeep Holland had started with it and that under no conditions was the Ballroom to be given exclusively over to Mike Quatro for booking. Anymore than it’s exclusively to Jeep Holland or anybody else. It’s who can do the best job for us and get the acts that we want at any given time. We are also with Mike on things outside the city. 1 also have made alliances with some other people who I’m not at liberty to state at this time.

C: You don’t think the city can support two ballrooms?

G: Not if they’re predicated on big acts. The only ones that ’ll benefit are the acts. I can’t conceive of it happening. They didn’t do it in San Francisco, and it’s having a rough time in New York. Particularly in New York, and it’s a larger city.

C: Now I’m gonna borrow a quote

from Russo, yesterday, and I want your reaction to it. “I never would’ve been able to come to Detroit if Russ had done things right here and taken care of the people and* the talent in a proper way, cause there would’ve been no room for me.” Do you have any reaction to that, or do you know specifically what he’s talking about? G: I don’t think we have bad vibes with the bands. I think you have — first of all, Aaron is passing through Detroit, and that’s why he refuses to say what his arrangement is. I don’t

know Aaron Russo, except that.

C: He did bring up some specifics about the condition of the Ballroom. Everyboody talks about the bathrooms.

G: Recently that’s been one of their 4oodads, and we’ll see how well the Eastown bathrooms are after three -years of operation.

C: He was asking why money had never been put back in.

G: Money has been put back in, on many occasions. I'll be glad to show anybody the bills. The only thing is, nothing has been done in three months while we've been negotiating on this other thing, frankly. Even though they have been called in twice and that’s a matter of record if you just check with Bill (Robbins, Grande manager). It so happens that the fixtures in that particular room are old fashioned, and they they’re out of date. They’d have to be put on but there have been people called in. And I think that’s one of his little schticks. I have the feeling that when ABX can put on a concert without any bathrooms that bathrooms are a funny thing that Aaron would be concerned about. But seeing that that’s what he likes to play around with, and you can quote me on this, he seems to have a great concern about things that go down in bathrooms and maybe that’s where his head’s at.

C: What do you think is gonna happen?

G: I think there’s just a little bit of carpetbagging going on; 1 notice the Flock is in town playing. 1 think Detroiters are clever enough to take care of their own and 1 think these are people just trying to move in. The Chicago scene, in my estimation, is two years behind the Detroit scene. Musically and otherwise. We’ll see when capacity counts. And I have the feeling that that’s the name of the game.

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C: But are you gonna have any problem booking people that you want?

G: No, I don’t think we’re having any now. The only acts that were flipped out on us were when he opened and had a capacity of seven hundred more than us. And we noticed that there were some that fled right where the money things are. He ran around behind the scenes for about a month preparing; we’ll let him have a few of his things. My dates will be planned out...

C: Well are your booking procedures going to change to compete with him on the same level or . . . meaning, are you going to eliminate local groups? G: No, unnh-unnh. Period. I think Aaron’s gonna learn a little bit about music. And he may wanta take some of our groups to Chicago; in fact, he’ll probably have to if he wants to exist in this town. Anything that the Eastown has, I guarantee you that the Grande/Riviera has in abundance.

C: People will say that it took him moving into town to move you out of the Grande.

G: Not necessarily so because I will be glad to show you the plans that were drawn up with the date of the architecture last December.

C: Then you were contemplating this move long before any competition?

G: A long, long time ago; in fact, the first negotiation came about the time that Bill Graham went into the thing (The Village Theatre)(Fillmore East). It was with the Michigan Theatre people and we can document that.