There were a lot of quiet moments during Kid Rock’s appearance.
Late in the show, there was a key one.
Rock told the hometown crowd that this may be his final tour, after taking the stage alone and picking a guitar.
He said the rap-rocker is 51. He said that he has been performing for 30 years and that he wants to spend time with his two grandsons.
He said that he never knew what the future held. It would be a good bet that something will be in Michigan if we do a few events a year.
Rock said that he is taking a break.
Rock thinks we will get bored in a few years and go at it again. It has been great, if this was my last time here, I would tell them. I would like to thank all of you for an amazing life here in my hometown. You have been a big part of that. I will love you for the rest of my life.
It was a familiar sort of night with Kid Rock, who was playing the first of two shows and his first Pine Knob show in three years. The capacity crowd of 15,000-plus arrived armed with energy, and though Rock has been based in Nashville for several years now, it was clear that Detroit shows are still a destination event for hard-core fans.
He took the stage wearing a black bowler hat and a jacket that said “Detroit”. Rock gave himself a break after 20 minutes with his last two hits, “All Summer Long” and “First Kiss”.
There were lasers, smoke, mortar and concussions. Video screens lined the stage backdrop and a pair of golden eagles stood behind Rock. There were red-white-and-blue streamers and fireworks for the song “Rock n Roll Jesus”
The routines that have marked his shows for a long time were still in place. Pole dancers are on a pre recorded video. Rock bounced from turntables to guitar to talkbox to drums in the piece.
There were many familiar faces in the band, such as the keyboardists, guitarists, drummers, bassist, and guitarist.
At 51 years old, Rock is still getting to the high notes on songs such as “Born Free.” A onetime “The Voice” semifinalist who is now part of his backing trio was his duet partner.
There are four new songs in the set, two of which serve as Kid Rock’s political middle finger.
Kid Rock is heading to Pine Knob for the first time in three years.
Big Sean spoke at the premiere of a techno film.
The latter was preceded by a video introduction from Donald Trump, who said that Kid Rock fans were the true backbone of the country.
Trump wore a red hat with the slogan “Let’s make America rock again”.
Rock ended the night with a song called “Bawitdaba”
Mick Jones led Foreigner through an hour-long opening set with a Lou Gramm soundalike, serving up crowd-pleasing, note-for-note renditions of hits such as “Urgent” and “Juke”
Kid Rock has played 37 Pine shows in his career. Foreigner will be in the opening spot for another full house. The Bad Reputation Tour is about to end.
Detroit Free Press music writer Brian Mccollum can be reached at bmccollum@free press.com.