Executive chef Phil Fahrenbruch builds a menu showcasing the products of Michigan’s farms, fisheries and wineries May 17 at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth.

View full sizeAmy Zehnder Grossi is the general manager of the Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn, 713 S. Main in Frankenmuth. The inn is hosting a Pure Michigan Dinner on May 17.

FRANKENMUTH, MI – Every day, says Bill Zehnder, the Bavarian Inn prides itself on tapping into Michigan providers for its food supplies.

“We annually go through 80 tons of blue Hubbard squash and another 60 tons of potatoes, all from local growers,” said the restaurant’s president, whose mother Dorothy at 91 still oversees the kitchens. “About the only thing we bring in from the southern states is the chicken because no one around here raises it in the bulk we need.

“It seems that chickens don’t like our cold winters.”

Still, he said, working with executive chef Phil Fahrenbruch, he found plenty more to celebrate Friday, May 17, in the restaurant’s annual Purely Michigan Dinner.

“Did you know Michigan has the second largest diversity of crops, next to California?” Zehnder asked.

“I think that we might be the largest supplier of asparagus in the nation. We should do this in the fall, when everything is in full supply, but that’s OK.

“We still have a great dinner planned.”

Fahrenbruch opens with a pulled pork bocadillo pintxo, layered with peaches and pickled red onions and served on a Bavarian Inn pretzel roll, which translates to a tapa-sized sandwich served on bread sliced lengthwise.

“It’s a really good pulled pork slider,” said Zehnder, who sampled the chef’s selections before preparing the night’s menu.

Details such as serving the creamy roasted onion soup in onion cups will delight even the most sophisticated palate, he promised.

But the bottom line for the farms, fisheries and wineries showcased at the Purely Michigan Dinner is letting people know the importance of buying Michigan.

Joining Zehnder and Fahrenbruch in addressing diners are Norm Tanis from Willow Row Farm in Imlay City and Ray VanDriessche from Bay City’s Michigan Sugar Company. And the crispy Michigan bluegill served over arugula with a hard cider and stone-ground mustard vinaigrette and turkey schnitzel with morel mushroom sauce rather eloquently prove the point.

“The first time I had hard cider was 30 years ago, on my first trip to Germany,” Zehnder remembered. “They took us to Frankfurt and I wasn’t expecting it. I wanted to taste some real German beer.

“But I like what Phil did with it here. It’s really very nice.”

The morel mushrooms are at their peak, he said, bringing a truly Michigan flavor to the turkey schnitzel. And rhubarb is another ripe for the picking.

“We draw from the same crowd that enjoys our wine dinners,” Zehnder said. “But local farmers come out in support of each other, and we have businesses like Star of the West bringing some of their good customers around.

“It’s a different kind of food, especially when you have a creative guy like Phil building the menu. My mother’s in there, too; after 62 years in the kitchen, she has a more traditional palate but she and Phil complement each other well.”

And they’re united in their commitment to supporting Michigan businesses. Even the restaurant’s gift shops focus on Michigan-made goods.

“It keeps the state’s residents earning and spending and our business thriving,” Zehnder said. “It makes sense.”

Purely Michigan Dinner at Bavarian Inn

HOW TO FIND IT: 713 S. Main in Frankenmuth

MENU: The six-course meal includes pulled pork bocadillo pintxo layered with peaches and pickled red onions and served on a Bavarian Inn pretzel roll, creamy roasted onion soup served in an onion cup, crispy Michigan bluegill served over arugula with a hard cider and stone-ground mustard vinaigrette, served with Totally Roasted Spiced Hard Cider, containing cinnamon roasted pecans, from Vander Mill Winery I Spring Lake; sorbet du jour; turkey schnitzel with morel mushroom sauce, served with vegetable du jour and Semi-Dry Riesling 2011 from Chateau Grand Traverse in Traverse City, and homegrown rhubarb-cherry kuchen with vanilla bean ice cream, served with Cherry Chipotle Mean from B. Nektar Meadery in Ferndale.

TIME AND DATE: 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 17

PRICE: $55, including tax, gratuity and featured beverages

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED: 989-652-9941 or 800-BAVARIA

Listen for some dark horses and a revised classic when he brings his “50 Years on the Carefree Highway” tour May 5 to The Dow Event Center in Saginaw.

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Gordon Lightfoot, shown here at DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, promises to bring some old favorites May 5 to The Dow Event Center in Saginaw.

 

SAGINAW, MI — The last time Gordon Lightfoot called me, he heard my grandson Ethan in the background, jumping up and down on the couch while singing “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” at the top of his lungs.

“Please tell him it wasn’t really the hatch,” Lightfoot said back then. “I’d hate to mislead him.”

The desire to set the record straight is the reason Lightfoot, the Canadian singer-songwriter, will sing a revised version of his ode to Michigan’s most famous shipwreck when his “50 years on the Carefree Highway” tour comes Sunday, May 5, to The Dow Event Center in Saginaw?

The National Geographic Channel’s “Dive Detectives” discovered three rogue waves sunk the Great Lakes freighter in 1975, Lightfoot said, and that brought relief to the mother and daughter of crew members in charge of manning the hatches.

“With the mystery resolved, I made the women very happy. The new line takes the onus off the deckhands,” Lightfoot said, breaking into song with “At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said, ‘Fellas, it’s been good t’ know ya!’”

Oh, and “been good t’ know ya,” credit that one to Woody Guthrie, he added.

Lightfoot had something more to clear up. About this “50 Years on the Carefree Highway,” “that’s something the marketing team dreamed up,” he said, though Saginaw fans will see of side of him seldom shown.

“We’re constantly working on our show,” he said. “A while ago, I started researching the dark horse tunes, the ones that should have had more exposure, but we never had the time to play them.

“It’s very interesting, this business. When you put something in, you have to take something out, and that’s frightening.”

He’ll sing the songs audiences won’t let him forget: “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Carefree Highway,” “Sundown” and, of course, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Then he’ll throw in a rotating collection of the forgotten tunes, maybe “Circle of Steel,” a song about poverty at Christmastime once too sensitive to handle on stage, or “Race Among the Ruins” or “Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” which he’s always surprised to see American audiences embrace.

“We play something different every night because if we did them all, we’d be there for three and a half hours,” he said. “One reason I’m still out here doing this after 50 years is because I’m always prepared for what comes next.”

Unless, say, Jimmy Buffett or Kiefer Sutherland show up in the crowd.

“Those moments are really precious,” he said. “We really love what we’re doing, and it’s a relief to pour all of our emotion into our music.

“I put my heart out there, and I feel the response back every night. I’m loving every minute of it.”

Lightfoot performs at 7 p.m. May 5 at The Dow, 303 Johnson in Saginaw. Tickets, available at the box office and through Ticketmaster, cost $52.50, $42.50 and $32.50.

From the pie case to Johnny’s famous rice pudding, owner Elaine Tambouridis carries reminders of her parents’ many ventures into her popular diner.

SAGINAW, MI – Peggy Bistolarides stopped by her sister’s restaurant the other day, but rather than sampling the day’s special, she headed into the kitchen and added homemade lemon-rice soup to the menu.

Elaine Tambouridis’ siblings feel at home when they visit Fuzzy’s Restaurant for good reason.

While she’s the only one of John and Eva Zestos’ five children to continue in the restaurant business, her diner at Court and Bay is filled with mementos from the couple’s many ventures.

And the sisters are quick to tell you they grew up in the kitchens of Johnny’s Bonanza, Howard Johnson’s Zestos’ Family Restaurant and, if your memory goes back far enough, Chick-Inn.

For diners, that legacy means more than seeing the homemade pies in Howard Johnson’s display case or Zestos’ stained glass windows hanging in Fuzzy’s large dining room. It translates into warm sundae cups of Johnny’s famous rice pudding, loaves of homemade cinnamon bread that even Vice President Joe Biden couldn’t resist and a menu that’s a constant work in progress as Tambouridis works her Greek heritage into the mix.

“We have Greek night about every three months, and there are lines out the door,” she said. “I don’t even advertise. Maria, who had Mario’s in Thomas Township, comes in, along with Peggy, and we make everything homemade. We even pick the grape leaves ourselves.”

That same attention goes into the daily menu, she said, whether she’s boiling chicken for the dumpling soup or baking the bread to order for the popular folded sandwiches. And that cinnamon bread? It makes a mean plate of French toast for breakfast diners.

With warm weather finally coming around, Fuzzy’s will soon see waves of families coming in for its 32 flavors of Mooney’s ice cream, “though we have people ordering ice cream in the middle of a snowstorm,” Tambouridis said. “I’d put this ice cream up against Ben and Jerry’s. People around here know it’s good.”

If she can pull it off soon, her customers will soon sample another treat popular in Royal Oak: Greek tart yogurt. Using a soft-serve machine, she’ll make the sugar-free, gluten-free concoction, tasty as is, she said, or served with a topping.

“This was the City Dairy way back when,” she said, touching on still another Saginaw icon, a popular soda bar in its day. “It’s been around forever.”

A single mother of four, Tambouridis bought Fuzzy’s in 1999 and soon enlarged the dining areas, added bathrooms and created a street-café décor complimented with family pictures. Right inside the main entrance hangs a picture of her parents, painted in 1950 in honor of their engagement.

The menu has grown, too. You can order burgers, a half-pound of Angus beef, and Coney dogs, Koegels of course, or a Greek salad, served with grilled chicken for an extra $1.49.

But the customer favorites are still the homemade soups, the towering meringue pies and the folded sandwiches, a combination of meats, cheeses and vegetables tucked into a freshly baked flatbread.

“Our customers are everyday people,” Tambouridis said. “For myself, I’ll make something Greek, like what we eat at home, and for the most part, fish on Fridays, especially with our (Greek Orthodox) Easter coming up on May 5.

“But even when we had Zestos, with the Greek dishes on the menu, we drew more people from Midland than anywhere else. People like what they know.”

It’s a tough business to be in, she admitted, but as with her siblings, she knew well what she was getting into. And that could explain why she’s the only one of five to do it.

“My mother, she tells me I’m crazy to do it,” she said, laughing. “But it’s in my blood. I love it; there’s no way you could do this if you didn’t have that passion.”

Fuzzy’s Restaurant

HOW TO FIND IT: 1924 Court, at Bay, in Saginaw

PRICES: Soup costs $2.49 for a cup and $2.79 for a bowl; chili, $2.99 and $3.79. Salads run from $2.59 to $6.39. Hamburgers range from $4.89 to $5.49. Sandwiches run from $3.59 to $5.29. Hot dogs cost $1.69; Coney dogs cost $1.99. Folded sandwiches cost $4.89. Strombolis cost $6.59. Pizza ranges from $4.99 to $8.99. Sides and finger foods run from $1.99 to $5.29. Breakfast, dessert and children’s menus are available, as well as Mooney’s ice cream.

HOURS: Fuzzy’s Restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: 989-790-1719 or fuzzys.biz

Sushi chef Jehong “Jay” Cho delivers an assortment of raw and cooked selections that are almost too beautiful to eat in Thomas Township’s new eatery.

THOMAS TOWNSHIP, MI — The first thing to strike you after stepping into Sushi ‘N’ is how pristine everything is, a good sign when you’re in the mood for raw fish.

But even if your tastes aren’t quite that adventurous, Thomas Township’s latest eatery has much more on the menu, including cooked and vegetarian selections. And it arrives almost too beautiful to eat, with sushi master Jehong “Jay” Cho’s artistry feeding the soul before you take a single bite.

Watching Cho at work in the restaurant he and his wife Jinyoung opened in January feels more as if you’ve stepped into an artist’s studio, the paper-thin slices of seafood and vegetables the pigment on his white-rice canvas.

“I’m here at 8 a.m. so we’re all ready by the time we open,” he said, with Erica Berez preparing a fresh cut of raw tuna.

With razor-sharp knives, he deftly tucks slivers of the fish, arranging each in a series of ceramic trays, with nearby tubs holding the avocado, sprouts and other vegetable embellishments. Then comes what has earned him an audience with American sushi fans, an array of sauces that give his works the fusion style diners enjoy.

“Here, people don’t like the natural taste of the fish,” said Cho, who grew up in Seoul, South Korea. “They don’t like a ‘fishy’ taste.”

Working in Georgia and then California for several years before joining the staff at Saginaw Township’s Hello Sushi three years ago, he developed a sauce built around Japanese lemon juice that fuses with his nigiri and sashimi cuts without a perceptible taste.

Leave that to the other sauces he trails like a delicate lattice over the finished rolls. And wasabi lovers will laugh when they see the huge pastry tube he fills with the Japanese horseradish paste, decorating the plates with a fanciful dollop next to a hill of sliced ginger.

The biggest challenge since opening Sushi ‘N’ is letting people know it’s there, Cho admitted. And once they do come in, he added, they often return.

Most popular are the rolls, layers of different tapes rolled in a layer of steamed rice. You can Rock ‘n Roll with eel and avocado or check out the Lion King, a California roll topped with salmon and lightly baked. Other favorites include the Bruce Lee with tempura shrimp, cream cheese, cucumber, avocado and salmon, and the Caterpillar, with unagi and cucumber, topped with avocado.

“There are not a lot of hot meals but a lot of things are already cooked,” Cho said. “I would put new rolls on the menu if I had the time. We keep everything very fresh and we will make anything the customer wants.”

Take a seat at the sushi bar and you can watch it all come together; it’s something to watch if you’ve never had the opportunity before.

“A lot of people still aren’t familiar with sushi,” Cho said. “I usually recommend starting with something cooked, spicy or not spicy, according to their tastes.”

From there, he said, they can experiment with the milder fish.

“I steer them away from mackerel,” he said, breaking into a smile as he packed another round for rice, fish and avocados on to his bamboo mat. “It’s heavily salty, vinegary with a fishy taste.”

Or you can try an order of edamame, or boiled soybean; miso soup or avocado salad.

By opening in Thomas Township, the Chos hope to serve western Saginaw County, and while business began slow, it’s building. Many stop by for take-out, Cho said, though the dining room is very tranquil in its décor, with accents of fern green, soft art and potted plants.

And there’s a private room available for larger groups, he added.

“If people come once, they come back,” he said, a slight smile flickering across his face. “It is growing.”

Sushi ‘N’

HOW TO FIND IT: 7395 Gratiot, at Lutzke in Thomas Township

PRICES: Starters such as edamame or Wakame, a seasoned seaweed salad, range from $3.50 to $12.95. Side dishes such as avocado salad and miso soup, range from $1.95 to $3.50. Maki sushi rolls run from $4 to $7.50. Special rolls, such as the Caterpillar and Chuck Norris, range from $9.95 to $13.95. Nigiri sushi runs from $2.50 to $3.50. Combinations range from $12.95 to $24.95. Cooked and vegetarian selections are available.

HOURS: Sushi ‘N’ is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30 to 10 p.m. Friday, and noon to 3 p.m. and 4:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: 989-401-7557 or sushinsaginaw.com.

Hard rockin’ band will be joined on stage at Veterans Memorial Park by Blue Oyster Cult and April Wine.

BAY CITY, MI — Eighties rockers Night Ranger headline the 2013 Bay City River
Roar concert set for Friday, June 21, at Bay City’s Veterans Memorial Park.

They’ll be joined by special guests Blue Oyster Cult and April Wine.

“Very cool lineup, all three bands are bringing the guys that matter,” said Stan Parman, program director for Wheelz 104.5.

The concert lineup was announced this morning along with other details about this year’s River Roar.

Thirty years ago, Night Ranger songs such as “Sister Christian,” “Don’t
Tell Me You Love Me” and “(You Can Still) Rock in America” hit the radio waves
off the band’s multi-platinum “Midnight Madness” album. They were instant
hits.

Today, those songs are still loved by many. In 2012, Night
Ranger released live recordings of their best songs in “24 Strings & a
Drummer.”

The band’s music has been heard on popular movies such as “Boogie
Nights,” and TV shows such as “American Dad” and “Glee.”

Night Ranger has been on tour with three of the five
original members. The current lineup is Jack Blades, Kelly Keagy, Brad Gillis, Joel
Hoekstra and Eric Levy.

“We are all fans,” said Elaine Rico, Bay City River Roar president. “It takes us back.” 

Gates open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m.

Tickets go on sale Saturday, May 4. General admission
tickets cost $25 and VIP cost $35.

A special sale featuring $20 general admission tickets takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, at three locations: Graff Chevrolet, 3636 E. Wilder Road in Bay
City; Prime Bros. Furniture, 1500 S. Euclid Avenue in Monitor Township; and Rico’s Authentic Mexican Take Out, 2720 Bay Road in Saginaw Township.

More information is available at www.riverroar.com.

If you missed the April 9 episode, “Chasing Ghosts,” catch it online at CBS.com or on cable television through Charter’s On Demand.

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Saginaw native Sophina Brown, left, shown here with Cote de Pablo, made a guest appearance April 9 on “NCIS.”

 

SAGINAW, MI – Did you catch a familiar face on CBS’ “NCIS” last night?

If not, you can go online to CBS.com or your cable provider’s On Demand channel for a second look at the “Chasing Ghosts” episode, starring Saginaw native Sophina Brown.

On the series starring Mark Harmon as leader of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service unit, she portrays Callie Daniels, an officer who returns home to find her husband missing, her living room torn apart and blood soaking the sofa.

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Brown co-starred with James Woods, above, on “Shark” and later joined the cast of “NUMB3RS.”

 

But you might also remember the 1994 Center for the Arts and Sciences grad as cast member Raina Troy from 2006 to 2008 on “Shark,” also starring James Woods, and from 2008 to 2010 as Nikki Betancourt on “NUMB3RS.”

Now 36 and married to “Shark” costar Henry Simmons, Brown has said it was auditioning for the sixth grade theater class at Handley Elementary School in Saginaw that put her firmly on the path. And she credited Steve Weaver, who taught theater at the school now known as the Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy who gave her the confidence to pursue it as a career.

“It was in my blood,” she said in 2006. “I don’t remember wanting to do anything else.”

The Carmonas serve “a home-cooked meal like we’d serve our family,” says Isaac Carmona, the third generation in the Mexican restaurant legacy.

BAY CITY, MI – When Conrad Carmona made the move a little more than a year ago from Bay City’s Midland Street district to North Henry, he looked for a name that would better reflect what people would find there.

“This is what authentic really is,” said his son Isaac, describing the Carmona’s Cocina menu.

“Cocina means kitchen, and that’s where I learned to cook these foods, watching my mother in the kitchen at home,” Conrad said.

“It’s like a family get-together,” Isaac added. “We’re bringing people into our restaurant for a home-cooked meal like we’d serve our family.”

Housed in a modest block-building, it looks more like a home than a glitzy eatery inside. A refrigerator in the corner of the room holds trays filled with capped salsa cubs. Pictures of the grandchildren dot the dining room walls, along with brightly colored sombreros, blankets and flags.

And they greet most customers by name, the diners quick to sing the praises of the family they’ve followed throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region.

“They treat us like family,” Isaac said. “We love our customers and they continue to bless us.”

The restaurant tradition runs deep with three generations of the Carmona family carrying on the legacy. Long before Conrad opened his first Touch of Mexico in Linwood in 1986, his parents operated El Zaz at South Washington and Hess in Saginaw in the 1960s and several others, including the Cisco Taco across from St. Laurent Brothers in Bay City.

“That’s how I became known as the Cisco kid,” Conrad said, grinning. His own career led him to Saginaw Road in Midland and Saginaw Street in Bay City before he moved to the Midland Street restaurant in 1997.

“I helped at the restaurants but I picked up the nice flavors, the whole thing, at home,” he said.

He cooks well, said his mother Connie, who likes the cheese-and-onion enchilada. “But I tell Conrad, he doesn’t put enough red chilis in the enchilada sauce. It should be darker. He puts in the spices but he likes to make it milder for his customers and let them make it hotter if they want it.”

Isaac and his brother Gabriel grew up in the business, too, and now Isaac is the one tweaking the family recipes. If you stop by when he’s the one preparing the day’s fresh salsa, you’ll see that he likes to turn up the heat.

“Everything is cooked from scratch,” he said. “We make our own tortilla chips, we cook our own beans and rice, and it’s not from those pre-mix boxes.”

Conrad is especially proud of the diced meat, slow-cooked beef served in the popular wet burrito.

“That’s the one our customers like best,” he said. “And nachos. People really like our nachos.”

Diners who’ve followed the Carmona family through the years have made a few suggestions along the way, they added, and a couple turned up on the menu. The deep-fried Super taco, for example, is a nod to Jesse Carmona Jr., whose nickname was Super.

And the Wa taco, served with enchilada sauce, cheese and onion, is named after Terry Watson, who custom-made the concoction.

Isaac admitted he eats about everything they offer.

“We’re always here, all the time,” he said. “Luckily, I love it all.”

Carmona’s Cocina

HOW TO FIND IT: 1406 N. Henry, near Wilder in Bay City

PRICES: Nachos range from $6.25 to $8.50. Quesadillas cost $4.50; chicken wings cost $4.75. Salads run from $2.75 to $7.95. Available in the winter months, menudo costs $4 and chili costs $2.50. Side dishes range from $1.50 to $2.75. Tacos run from $1.65 to $6; tostadas, $2.25 to $6.25, and enchiladas, $2 to $5.50. Dinners range from $8.95 to $10.25. Lunch specials, served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, cost $5.95. Nightly dinner specials, ranging from $7.95 to $8.95, include tacos on Monday, burritos on Tuesday, enchiladas on Wednesday, Texas tacos on Thursday, wet burritos on Friday and a combination platter on Saturday. Each order includes complimentary homemade chips and salsa. A children’s menu and desserts are available.

HOURS: Carmona’s Cocina is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: 989-684-0097 and on Facebook.com

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.