Concert Review: Kid Rock and Rev Run

It’s Evansville concert correspondent (and my brother), Cody Williams, sent in a review of last weekend’s Kid Rock & Rev Run concert.

If you were any kind of music fan, you would have been at the Kid Rock concert last Friday. The self-proclaimed Bad Boy From Romeo, Michigan was at Robert stadium performing in front of a sold out crowd.
This was Rock’s first show on his Rock and Roll Revival tour. He arrived in town Monday night to prepare for the nationwide tour and was not afraid to mingle with this city. He was seen out at many local hot spots including Show Me’s, Icon and his favorite spot, Scores. I think this is what got this town pumped up for the show. Ticket sales were low as of two weeks ago, but ended up filling up the night of the concert

Being the music lover I am, I got my tickets two weeks before they were available to the public. When my date and I arrived to the concert we were greeted by the tour manager and immediately upgraded to the VIP pit in the middle of the stage. He must have known I was there for the world-renowned Its Evansville (Editor: That must be it.). They weren’t offering any VIP pass tickets at our show, but according to the kidrock.com those tickets will be available for all other shows at $99.00 a piece.

This show was not your normal concert in that there was no opening act. The show was dual billing Kid Rock with Rev Run from Run DMC.

As lights dimmed and the crowed went crazy, Kid Rock kicked off the show with his new hit Rock and Roll Jesus. The crowed was up on there feet from here on out. You couldn’t tell this was his first show. They played like they had been doing this for months.

A surprise guest at the show was Peter Wolf from the J. Geils band. He came out and did a couple of hits including, Love Stinks. I had no idea who he was, but I did recognize this song from the motion picture, The Wedding Singer.

The stage was setup like a church almost with long flowing drapes backing the DJ, and candles lit all around the stage. Rock accompanied by his trucker band played for a long list of hits including, American Badass, Cowboy, and Only God Knows Why before the MC of the night came out to announce an intermission. This is the first concert I have seen structured this way. At this point I was thinking that Run was a no-show.

After intermission Rock in a Run Athletics sweat suit. If you know anything about Kid Rock, you know that he is a man of many genres, Rap, Southern Rock, Gospel, and even Country. Rock did one song and then Rev Run finally took the stage. I was expecting some hits off runs latest alum, Distortion. The only song I recognized from Run’s set was Run DMC’s remix of Aerosmith’s Walk This Way. The Reverend seemed like he was struggling to stay into the music. It was a bit disappointing. Luckily, Kid Rock made up for it.

Kid Rock and Rev Run ended up playing for almost 3 and half hours before ending the show with the gospel hit,
“This Little Light of Mine.”

Overall, it was a fun night and worth the price of admission. If you want to see the show, Rock and Run will be in Louisville,Ky on March 15.