The Giant Panther

So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star? Then listen now hear what I say. Knowing full well The Giant Panther is going to find this post cringe worthy, I wanted to tell you how much fun I had at the Kid Rock show last night. As most of you know, rock & roll is about attitude nine times out of ten. There is no shortage of attitude in Kid Rock's world. There are plenty of acts out there that are potentially better than Robert James Ritchie in all aspects of musicianship, but Kid Rock is an entertainer. He's An American Bad Ass. He is having fun up on that stage and the packed house at the Mansfield, MA venue formerly known as Great Woods was all over it. They can sense his humor and energy. They got what they came for and they loved it. It's hard not to get caught up in his schtick.

I would not have been there, having witnessed AC/DC and Steely Dan perform over the past four days, but my friends Mark & Melanie suggested I tag along with them and I'm glad I did. My back to back concert going skills have eroded over the past decade or so. There was a time when I could do four or five live shows in a week and be no worse for the wear. No more. After six hours of celebrating amongst the 46,000 who saw AC/DC perform at Gillette Stadium the day before, I didn't have much gas left in the tank. We showed up four hours before the concert for fun and games two days ago, but last night we did a mere 45 minutes of tailgating prior to the Black Stone Cherry, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock triple bill. I haven't seen three bands perform on the same day in years so Black Stone Cherry, hailing from Edmonton, KY, had no chance of being witnessed by us as the evening's first act. Don't take it personally men. Next time. It was pretty painful for me to watch what is left of Lynyrd Skynyrd run off their no surprises set list as Kid Rock's fluffers though. They only have one original member remaining plus Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother Johnny on the vocals. It's not the musicianship that makes it painful for me though; it's the overdone hamming it up for the crowd and the time honored mentioning of the local city and state to get a rise out the audience. It feels so staged to me. Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the greatest and most important bands of the 70's. They are a top three all time southern rock act. You want An American Bad Ass? Try Ronnie Van Zant. There was a Whiskey Rock A Roller and a Street Fightin' Man...

The band we watched on stage last night felt like a souped up cover band. I don't mean to offend anyone here, but it's how I felt. My favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd songs are nowhere to be found when I see this version play. No Saturday Night Special, No On The Hunt, No I Ain't The One, No Ballad of Curtis Loew, No Poison Whiskey, No Searchin', No Cry For The Bad Man, No Every Mother's Son, No Things Goin' On and No I Never Dreamed. I understand they have to play the hits and they are now a warm up band at best with a finite hour long set list, but it seems a shame to carry on in a way. They did do a nice tribute to everyone who has ever played with them, both dead and alive, during their encore (please don't make me tell you what song) which was touching, but I'm kind of hoping I never have to see them play again and I mean that in the nicest possible way. The original lineup were true legends, but this lineup kind of reminds me of Willie Mays circa 1973 and I really hate myself for saying as much. I truly loved this band and I respect their right to make a living.

As for Kid Rock, I would identify myself as a casual fan. I did buy Devil Without a Cause back in 1998, but mostly it was because I was buying everything in sight and the buzz on Kid Rock was pretty strong in those days. Bawitdaba seemed like more of the same rap-rock-metal I wasn't very fond of in the early 90's so that was not the song that got me to buy the CD. That had to be Cowboy. My local bar played it every time I was there back then and after being literally bludgeoned over the head by it 300 times or more I finally decided I liked it. Again, the humor involved was the big draw for me. Kid Rock is the David Lee Roth of this generation. Both of these devil may care rockers represent excess in rock & women and they thrive on your characterization of them as such. They are both caricatures of an ideal and persona that may or may not even really exist. Both are maligned and derided for any number of things, but neither one of them ever cared. That stuff was our problem, not theirs. Kid Rock seems like a very nice man having a blast to me. He was seen at a local club called Wally's Cafe on Massachusetts Ave in Boston's South End the night before the show. Wally's is a no nonsense color blind jazz club that has been there for what seems like 100 years. There are absolutely no frills and it's a neighborhood bar to boot. As it happens, Monday night Peter Wolf was in the bar, ostensibly to meet up with Kid or vice versa, and they apparently hobnobbed with the locals. The club's capacity MIGHT be 100 if the Fire Marshall is appropriately greased so it's a tiny venue. I wasn't there, but a friend of mine was and got a picture of himself with Kid Rock as a keepsake. Pretty cool.

The Peter Wolf thing was curious to us (Mark, Melanie & I that is) because our friend said The J. Geils Band was rehearsing there. We figured it was Magic Dick or J. Geils minus Peter Wolf or something and kind of dismissed it. It stood to reason our friend was a bit confused not knowing the music of either act. He was more than likely stopping by to take in some jazz on a typical Monday night. Then, about halfway through the Kid Rock show last night, our skepticism was eradicated. Out strolled Peter Wolf to sing Centerfold with Kid Rock (I immediately thought it was a perfect opportunity for them to play Detroit Breakdown seeing as Kid is from there and The J. Geils Band's second home was absolutely Detroit, but sometimes I outsmart myself). Centerfold will never be my favorite J. Geils cut, but it was a cool thing to have witnessed and I'm glad I did.

Kid Rock's catalogue could be considered to be a bit thin to some, but I like an artist that isn't afraid to do covers. Last Night's show included The Rolling Stones' Tumbling Dice, Sly & The Family Stone's Everyday People and The Georgia Satellites' Keep Your Hands To Yourself. We got a couple of bars of another Detroit icon in Ted Nugent's Cat Scratch Fever as well. One of the highlights for me was Kid taking over the turntables from his DJ Uncle Kracker (I'm assuming that was him, but don't quote me) and doing some quality scratching while a full bottle of Jim Beam and a glass rotated on the second turntable. Naturally he poured himself a monster belt and the crowd roared. Tremendously charismatic, Kid Rock can't stop smiling as he soaks in the crowd's adulation. Everyone had a blast and I don't care who thinks this guy is White Trash (all due respect to Edgar Winter). There had to be close to 15,000 people there that were thinking the very same thing. Women love him and men want to be like him. The very definition of rock star no? Whine away if you don't like his music, his musical ability, his voice or Pamela Anderson, but give this guy his due; he has a huge following.