Ground-breaking for The Palace of Auburn Hills began in 1986, it opened in 1988, and was demolished in 2020. Originally built by the Detroit Pistons basketball franchise, it was intended as a multi-purpose arena. Unlike many stadiums, it was not built with public money and never sold naming rights to corporate sponsors. The final Pistons basketball game was played in 2017.

Many concerts were held at The Palace, among them: Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead (8 times), Aerosmith (14 times), Led Zepplin, Phish (4 times).

And semi-hometown favorites, Grand Funk Railroad, Madonna, and Bob Seger.

The Palace is only about 2 miles from where Madonna went to high school. At one concert in Detroit, she called out to her former science teacher and said: "See, I didn't need science after all".

Bob Seger played the final concert at The Palace in 2017. This was roughly 1 mile from where I first saw Bob Seger's Last Heard (East Side Story, Persecution Smith, Heavy Music) and System (Ramblin Gamblin Man, 2+2=? - with Glenn Frey) play at the Silverbell Village Ski Resort 50 years earlier when he played (with other bands) for a $3 cover charge in the mid/late 60s. Peppy on the oil drum bass drums ...

Pink Floyd played the Silverbell once as a backup band for Fleetwood Mac - '67 or '68 (info on this is spotty and hazy but it fits my memory). This would have been more or less the same time they both played the Grande Ballroom (a different story). None of these bands were then what they would become a few years later. I still kick myself for skipping that Pink Floyd concert - "They'll be back" I thought to myself ... (I missed them one other time when they played in Royal Oak about a year later) but I sure enjoyed Seger's concerts (and other local bands of the time).

Nothing now remains of either venue; even the ski hill has been removed from Silverbell; only the Palace parking lot remains (last time I was by there). Last time I passed by, the parking lot was filled with surplus new automobiles from the nearby GM Orion plant (Or-E-en, not O-rye-on).

More to my memory though ... way back in distant time, one of my closest friends lived on Harmon Road, immediately to the north of the Palace location. In those days, the massive development that has occurred in the area since was only in the future planning stage - this was "the sticks" - and the area was heavily wooded. We used to shoot 50 caliber, black powder buffalo rifles into trees located in what became The Palace parking lot. Like granny gear, the bullets didn't move fast ... and they didn't stop easily either.

Shoot one of those with full charge and if you missed the bear, at least the recoil would knock you back out of the bear's range.

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