Celebrated rock 'n' roll photographer Robert Matheu died unexpectedly in Los Angeles on Sept. 21 at the age of 63.

Matheu was born on Detroit's northwest side in 1955, the youngest of four children. He began his photo career as a teenager during the high-energy Motor City scene of the late 1960s. His early photos of the Stooges and the MC5 showcased a raw talent that, once honed, would make him an in-demand shooter.

"His work reflects the essence of Detroit and mirrors the raw and gritty music that comes from our city," says mega-producer and fellow Detroiter Don Was. "He was never an airbrush kind of guy and he never needed darkroom hocus pocus to enable his photos to stand on their own. He had the eye and the mastery of his tools to quickly determine the nitty gritty of the situation and capture it squarely in his lens. That's why his archives contain so many iconic images."

Once in a while, a concert gives off such strange electric energy that its reverberations can be felt across the ages.

Alice Cooper’s June 21, 1972 show at the Holland Civic Center is definitely one of those. I was a mere baby when it happened. But as a youth in Holland, Michigan, I heard whispered tales of how that night shook the town’s churchy sensibilities to its core, leaving legions of terrified squares in its wake.