Kid Rock A Concert Review	February 2, 2001 The Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL A Review by The Dude on the Left Photos by The Dude on the Right

The opening acts both did a decent job. Buckcherry played about a half hour set to about a half full house most of who were jockeying for position on the floor or trying to scam a seat. This is where I come in. As I mentioned, we were running a little late. I got to my seat about 10 minutes into Buckcherry’s set to find both my and The Dude on the Right’s seats taken. After some whining and crying a group of about eight kids got up and wandered off into someone else’s seats. The crowd was a strange mix of bikers, hip-hop kids with baggy pants and bad haircuts, and metal chicks with short skirts and big… heels. Buckcherry ended their set with "Lit Up," which was about the only song that really aroused any interest from the crowd. Fuel played about a 45 minute set that ending with their hit "Hemorrhage." Both bands provided a good show and background music for the crowd before Kid Rock would hit the stage.

For this show, rather than your standard set-change, the Q101 morning DJ and his wacky zoo crew did a little song and dance between each of the sets. He came out with his sidekicks and a group of strippers and midgets (No, Howard Stern was in LA this week so don’t think it was him). He also trotted out a disturbing array of "freaks." One guy, "T2," had only one eye and proceeded to pour beer into his eye socket and spit it out his mouth. He also put a flashlight in his mouth and you could see the light shining out the eye socket. Another guy put a long needle into a woman’s neck and licked the blood from said neck. For me the one entertaining point of this whole thing was the guy juggling flaming bowling balls. I guess that’s just me.

Finally it was time for the Kid.

Kid Rock puts on just the kind of show I expected. It started with Kid rising from below the stage; all decked out in his pimp-daddy, full-length, white mink coat and hat, and started the night off with "American Bad Ass." Some of my high points of the show were his version of "Jumpin’ Jack Flash" and then "Devil Without a Cause" where a giant banner of Joe C. dropped behind the stage. It made me want to pour out some of my 4 0 for the fallen homey. Kid Rock paid a little homage to the source of some of his beats with the Fleetwood Mac intro into "Wasting Time," while the coolest song I think he did was a little blues solo called "If I was President." I think if the people of Florida heard this song we’d have another recount because some of Kid’s campaign promises included:

• He’d turn all the churches into strip clubs and watch the whole country pray
• He’d give the State of the Union Address smoking a joint a mile high in Air Force One.
• And he’d put cameras in the Lincoln bedroom so everyone could watch him get down.

Kid gave his long time friend and DJ, Uncle Kracker, the spotlight for a while during the show too. Kracker did a song from his new album (which just happens to be on Kid Rock’s Top Dog Label) called "Heaven," the chorus of which goes something like: "If heaven ain’t a lot like Detroit, I don’t wanna go… Just send me to hell or Salt Lake City, It would be about the same to me," and then Kid brought out one of his musical influences, David Allan Coe, who helped out Kid during "You Never Even Called Me By My Name." Now as much as this got the older biker guys in my section up and singing, all you youngins who cheer for Mr. Coe here’s a little hint - the line he’s asking you to sing towards the end of the song goes "She got runned over by a damned old train." That should be close enough in a concert setting.

The set ended with "Only God Knows Why" and a change of tempo version of "Cowboy," and then Kid Rock emerged for an encore of "Bawitdaba," riding a Harley and wearing a sequined Uncle Sam getup.

My guess is none of these bands will ever be asked to play at a DARE event because one of the major themes of the night was, well, drugs. You had references to pot, acid, ecstasy, mescaline, and cocaine made by all three bands. 

Even so, Kid Rock’s stage show alone gets TWO "KID ROCK FOR PRESIDENT" THUMBS UP from me. The stage was impressive, backed by a giant, American flag, a couple of Budweiser neon lights, and Detroit Tiger’s logos. There were lots of fireworks, explosions, confetti and big jets of fire (FIRE, FIRE, FIRE…). Kid does a nice job of changing up his songs and really playing them live so you don’t get the feeling you’re just listening to him go through the songs exactly as they were recorded. And finally, of course, the best parts of the show, aside from the songs, were the hot go-go dancers grinding away in cages on both sides of the stage. They get ONE BIG APPENDAGE UP.

‘Till next time I’m The Dude on the Left. Hang Loose.