DETROIT, MI – A bold move by Kid Rock and Live Nation to offer $20 tickets in all sections – at all venues – for his summer tour could still end up being a big money maker for both parties.
Pollstar editor Gary BonGiovanni told Yahoo! this week the 27-city tour might lose money on ticket sales (he describes the pricing plan as a “heck of a deal”) but will likely get plenty of cash from beer sales.

DETROIT, MI – A bold move by Kid Rock and Live Nation to offer $20 tickets in all sections – at all venues – for his summer tour could still end up being a big money maker for both parties.

Pollstar editor Gary BonGiovanni told Yahoo! this week the 27-city tour might lose money on ticket sales (he describes the pricing plan as a “heck of a deal”) but will likely get plenty of cash from beer sales.

“I imagine they’re gonna need to back up the beer trucks to the amphitheaters since the beers are $4,” BonGiovanni told the website.

Kid Rock will perform Aug. 9-11 at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkson. Fans are certainly impressed with his industry-defying move to offer $20 tickets in all sections.

A statement from Kid Rock explaining the move:

“Everyone knows the economy is still hurting people across the country, but I didn’t want that to be a reason why everyone couldn’t get out and enjoy themselves on a summer night. So we’re going to throw the biggest and best party ever, with prices across the board that are reasonable and transparent.

No hidden fees, no gimmicks. We’re not sparing any expense on this tour, we’re going over the top as always, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to ask the fans to pay more. If this works we’re going to play to packed houses of fans who appreciate what we’re doing. If it doesn’t… might be a long summer. But someone has to go out there and fight these high prices out there and change things up, and I’m lucky enough that I can afford to take a pay cut. $20. Best night ever.”

ZZ Top is the opening act for all three of those Metro Detroit shows; tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

DTE Energy Music Theatre released Wednesday the following information about Saturday’s ticket sale on its Facebook page:

Kid Rock fans, quick update on tickets for his August 9, 10 and 11 shows that go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m.. First, in addition to The Palace Ticket Store, the DTE Energy Music Theatre and Meadow Brook Music Festival box offices will also be open Saturday only from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Palace box office is recommended.

Tickets in all sections will be $20 plus a $3 parking fee (if you buy at a Ticketmaster location, there may be other applicable fees). There is a ticket limit of 6 pavilion and 20 lawn per show and if you buy tickets at The Palace, DTE or Meadow Brook, you can only purchase one show per transaction (trip to the window). Give our box office a call at 248-377-0100 if you have questions.

DETROIT, MI – Kid Rock apparently has Justin Bieber’s back.
Rock is part of a humorous video aimed at getting Bieber’s pet monkey back in the United States; the monkey is in Germany and could reportedly spend several months in quarantine.

DETROIT, MI – Kid Rock apparently has Justin Bieber’s back.

Rock is part of a humorous video aimed at getting Bieber’s pet monkey back in the United States; the monkey is in Germany and could reportedly spend several months in quarantine.

Watch a message from Rock and his pal Jimmy Kimmel in the video below. Rock mentions (all in good fun) that actor and musician David Hasselhof – big in German – could be in danger if Bieber’s pet isn’t returned.

Bieber’s pet monkey is named Mally and was reportedly confiscated by customs officials in Munich, Germany as Bieber flew in from Los Angeles to perform several concerts.

Some insight about the Bieber monkey situation from The Daily Mail:

Mally also spends his time repeatedly calling out in the hope of finding other members of his family group – something which animal shelter boss Karl Heinz Joachim, 64, described as ‘heartbreaking’.

He said: ‘Justin Bieber has won an extension because the four week limit on confiscated animals only applies if the owner does not get in touch.

DETROIT, MI – Kid Rock is living up to his rebel reputation.
The Romeo, Mich. native’s tour announced Monday he’s offering $20 seats in every section for his upcoming summer tour that includes shows Aug. 9-11 at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston.

[View the story "Kid Rock offers $20 tickets for shows; fans impressed with industry-defying move" on Storify]DETROIT, MI – Kid Rock is living up to his rebel reputation.

The Romeo, Mich. native’s tour announced Monday he’s offering $20 seats in every section for his upcoming summer tour that includes shows Aug. 9-11 at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston.

ZZ Top is the opening act for all three of those Metro Detroit shows; tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. Check my previous post for more information.

You can check out the reaction from fans in the slideshow above.

Will you check out Kid Rock at DTE? What do you think about him offering these cheap tickets? Let us know what you think about his move in our comments section.

A statement from Kid Rock explaining the move:

“Everyone knows the economy is still hurting people across the country, but I didn’t want that to be a reason why everyone couldn’t get out and enjoy themselves on a summer night. So we’re going to throw the biggest and best party ever, with prices across the board that are reasonable and transparent.

No hidden fees, no gimmicks. We’re not sparing any expense on this tour, we’re going over the top as always, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to ask the fans to pay more. If this works we’re going to play to packed houses of fans who appreciate what we’re doing. If it doesn’t… might be a long summer. But someone has to go out there and fight these high prices out there and change things up, and I’m lucky enough that I can afford to take a pay cut. $20. Best night ever.”

[View the story "Kid Rock offers $20 tickets for shows; fans impressed with industry-defying move" on Storify]

DETROIT, MI – Kid Rock’s tour dates for Metro Detroit shows this summer have reportedly surfaced and include an innovative ticket pricing plan.

DETROIT, MI – Kid Rock’s tour dates for Metro Detroit shows this summer have reportedly surfaced and include an innovative ticket pricing plan.

The Detroit Free Press reported Monday that Monday that Rock will play Aug. 9-11 at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston and offer $20 tickets in every section.

Tickets, according to the Free Press, will go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday and a $5 service charge and $3 parking free. The newspaper mentions that other stops will also including the ticket pricing plan – part of a 27-city tour to begin June 28 in Bristow, Va.

Rock’s website, as of 7:45 a.m. Monday, had not made such an announcement. But a blog entry that appears from him mentions a “big announcement Monday” that is probably going to “piss off a lot of industry folks but make fans very happy.”

Fortunately, with Twisted Brown Trucker beside him, Kid Rock handles it all with style, from hip-hop to rock and country, as fans will find out at the April 6 concert.

SAGINAW, MI - Friday began like a carnival at The Dow Event Center, Elf Khurafeh Shriners hawking copies of Kid Rock’s “Rebel Soul” CD to raise money for the Shriners hospitals, old friends getting reacquainted while making the same slow crawl up the midway, the air turning electric with anticipation of the thrill ride waiting just a few steps away.

There was even a Kid Rock look-alike, Weslie Tigner of Burt, leaving concertgoers wondering, though others said they heard the real thing was catching the Detroit Tigers in their home opener before Friday’s show.

But what followed in Saginaw was more like a romp through the fun house, a different Kid Rock jumping out at every corner. Opening with a voice-over prayer, he asked in Jesus’ name to make it a night that wouldn’t disappoint the hard-working fans filling Wendler Arena to the rafters.

Then, within a few numbers of emerging from a trap door in a blaze of glory, he reminded Saginaw fans that they would never meet another (expletive deleted) quite like him, a hip-hop favorite from “Cocky.”

That’s certainly the truth in the best sense of the word for those of us who have long recognized his musical prowess in any style he pursues. Even at the close of the Rebel Soul tour – it ends tonight, April 6, in Saginaw, with more tickets now available for the previously sold out show – he’s got the voice, the stamina and a rock-solid band in Twisted Brown Trucker.

Give me David McMurray’s sax over a towering stage set any day!

What grounded the entire show was captured in Kid Rock’s expression as he watched back-up singer Shannon Curfman in “Picture.” He has a passion for good music and it infuses everything he takes on, even in working the turntables as DJ Bobby Shazam.

Throw in, well, I could go on and on, but “All Summer Long” for one, the bluesy take on “Cowboy Intro” for another and the creative twist on “Wasting Time” that segued in a Justin Bieber dance routine with back-up singers Jessica Wagner and Herschel Boone and the Southern comfort of “Redneck Paradise.” .

Friday’s show offered the vestiges of past stage productions, but the pyros and flames and showering confetti punctuated the night rather than defined it. The focus was firmly planted on the music, and judging from the enthusiastic call-and-response that spontaneously erupted through the night between Kid Rock and the sold-out arena, that was the ticket.

“I’m the real McCoy,” he sang at one point, long before his take of John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” and that was the truth.

And that’s a different animal from the one who showed up in the explosive finale, with band members in gold lame’ dinner jackets, launching the pyros, the streaming flames, the confetti and balloons during “Happy New Year.”

What can tonight’s audience expect? For starters, come early if you want to catch Hellbound Glory, a great band still hungry enough to infuse their set with raw energy. On Friday, they finished around the time the concert was supposed to begin.

Check out Buckcherry, too, who’ve found a nice balance between its heavy rock and melodic undertones.

As for Kid Rock, with a totally different show coming here from the one he put in Grand Rapids earlier this week, who can say for sure. But the musician also known as Bob Ritchie has always had a heart for Saginaw and it showed Friday, especially when he told us, “It sure is nice to be home.”

Come back any time.

Kid Rock overwhelmed the crowd for his sold-out show at The Dow Event Center in Saginaw on Friday, April 5.

SAGINAW, MI —  Kid Rock overwhelmed the crowd for his sold-out show at The Dow Event Center in Saginaw on Friday, April 5.

The show was about to begin, and the stage was dark. A forest appeared on a giant LCD display and soon an eagle soared across the screen as Kid Rock’s voice came through the speakers.

Kid Rock spoke about being American and prayed to not disappoint the crowd. Beams of lights danced across the stage. 

Finally, fireworks burst and Kid Rock jumped up onto the stage.

“It’s good to be home,” he said to the raging crowd.

The Detroit rocker performed to a sold-out crowd.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – For a few minutes Wednesday night, Kid Rock stepped out of the glitzy shtick of his big rock show to tell a story.

He sat on a stool with an acoustic guitar and told a sold-out Van Andel Arena about performing with his “rock ‘n’ roll hero” and fellow Detroiter Bob Seger, for two shows in Fargo and St. Paul in March. Kid said he had jumped on stage with Seger before – one of those times, at Van Andel, exactly two years ago to the day – but they hadn’t collaborated like this.

Buzzing from the gigs, Kid picked up a guitar and wrote a song called “The Best Night Ever,” which he introduced Wednesday as “one of those real deal, 100 percent true-to-the-bone songs.” He performed the song solo with an acoustic guitar, and with so much on-the-nose sincerity, it featured most every word in the English language that rhymes with “Seger.” Kid followed it with a cover of Seger’s “Rock and Roll Never Forgets,” his backing group, The Twisted Brown Trucker Band, jamming it straight and true.

Less than a month ago, Seger himself performed to a sold-out Van Andel crowd, and for those of us who saw both shows from these beloved Michiganders, it’s hard not to see a direct ancestral line. Sure, Kid Rock mashes up rock, country and hip-hop like only a 21st-century artist can. But Kid’s presentation, with big backing bands, a hard-working aesthetic and lots of love for the Mitten State, is obviously influenced by Seger’s performances with the Silver Bullet Band.

When Rock – real name: Bob Ritchie – set aside his trademark genre-blending for straightforward anthems such as “Only God Knows Why” and “Wasting Time,” his reedy, raspy voice was eerily reminiscent of The Other Bob. And “What I Learned Out on the Road” feels like it could have been written by Seger – it’s a thematic cousin of the elder Bob’s “Turn the Page.”

Although that influence is becoming increasingly transparent, Kid Rock is still his own entity – he wouldn’t be himself without consistent flashes of his ego, for raucous crowd-rousing rave-ups “You Never Met a (blankety-blank) Like Me,” “American Badass” or rap-metal number “Bawitdaba,” the latter coming during the encore, adorned with scorching pyrotechnic flames. He also displayed a bit of mischievous humor, as he and several of his band members aped Justin Bieber’s choreographed dance moves during “Wasting Time.”

Rock’s show was bookended with corny videos featuring various and clichéd rah-rah American iconography. The opening presentation featured a Rock voiceover that was his version of saying Grace prior to rocking. The second video aired prior to the encore, and mixed blue-collar sentiment with blatant references to the tour sponsors, a brand-name liquor and prominent motorcycle manufacturer. It felt a little distasteful to pay what appeared to be sincere tribute to the American worker while simultaneously trying to sell products.

Rock also precluded “Chickens in the Pen” with a political rant where he called the U.S. government “a huge jackass,” reminding us how he supported Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 Presidential election. (Wouldn’t we rather he remind us of the loveable Seger than loudmouthed Detroiter Ted Nugent?) He was much more effective musically, whether presenting his trademark hybrid jive during “Cowboy” and “Redneck Paradise,” or taking a turn scratching records at the turntable (as he wore a hat featuring the logo of a third tour sponsor, a ubiquitous chain of submarine-sandwich shops).

For the second encore, Rock quoted John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” before leading the band on an extended cover of John Eddie’s “Happy New Year.” Although it ended the show on an upbeat note, it was anticlimactic after the explosive performance of “Bawitdaba.” He’d be well-advised to end with a big-rock bang instead of a nod to classical Motown revue. But to his credit, Rock’s show was more earnest than explosive, which likely makes his hero Seger proud.

Opening the show were veteran gutter-rockers Buckcherry and newcomer crap-kickers Hellbound Glory. Buckcherry performed an hour-long set of sleazy, grimy Sunset Strip rock about porn stars, drugs and general hedonism; vocalist Josh Todd delivered their hits, “Sorry,” “Lit Up” and “Crazy (expletive),” with equal parts swaggering enthusiasm and detached cool. Hellbound Glory delivered 30 minutes’ worth of bluesy Southern rock that wouldn’t be out of place in the jukebox of a Kentucky dive bar.

Email: jserba@mlive.com or follow John Serba on Twitter

The Detroit rocker performed to a sold-out crowd.