[3][4][5] In 1966 the Grande was acquired by Dearborn, Michigan, high school teacher and local radio DJ Russ Gibb.

Gibb was inspired by visiting San Francisco's Fillmore Theater, and envisioned a similar venue in Detroit for the new psychedelic music and a resource for local teenagers.

Gibb worked closely with Detroit counterculture figure John Sinclair and Hugh "JEEP" Holland (agent, producer/manager of many local bands) in bringing in bands from San Francisco, Europe and the neighbouring States and the top level of local/regional rock bands, including the Amboy Dukes (with Ted Nugent), Rationals, MC5 (who recorded their debut live album there), The Jagged Edge (aka Stoney & The Jagged Edge), Psychedelic Stooges (aka The Stooges), SRC (aka Scot Richard Case), The Frost (with Dick Wagner), Frijid Pink, The Third Power, Savage Grace, Alice Cooper Group, Catfish, The Ashmollyan Quintet, Our Mothers Children, Wilson Mower Pursuit, Sky, All the Lonely people, Teegarden and Vanwinkle, Iron Horse Exchange, and many others who were gathering around Detroit's Plum Street community as well as the suburbs, as far afield as Ann Arbor.

With managers Tom Wright, Bill Robbins and others (including, periodically Jeep and Sinclair) and local character Dave Miller, the club booked and presented many national and international acts – as well as future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers – of this period including Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Jeff Beck, Procol Harum, Cream and The Who.

[2] Louder Than Love: The Grande Ballroom Story, a 2012 documentary film about the venue and its influence on rock music, was awarded an Emmy by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences of Michigan in 2016.