Mr. As Good As It Gets then tore into his most political and vitriolic tune, 2022’s “We the People,” during which photos of President Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci and, for a local touch, Gov. Tim Walz appeared on the giant screens as Kid Rock railed, in song, about COVID-19 protocols, the Biden administration, mainstream media and Black Lives Matter.
At song’s end, a MAGA banner unfolded where the American flag had been earlier, and a photo of MAGA potentates Trump and Elon Musk along with MMA honcho Dana White appeared on the screen to a rambunctious reaction. All that was missing was Mike Lindell, a star of Trump’s rally at this same Target Center in 2019.
Enough about the politics. Let’s talk about the show. It was a slick, energetic and bombastic two-hour display of crowd-invigorating rap ‘n’ rock with a taste of country. There were lasers, confetti, fireworks, fog blasters, flamethrowers, red carpeting on the stage and five different hats for Kid Rock (mostly a black leather fedora but also a purple ball cap with Prince’s glyph).
The showboatingly versatile Kid Rock — who played guitar, piano, drums and turntables — was accompanied by eight musicians, three backup singers (including Twin Cities residents Shannon Curfman and Kat Perkins) and two female dancers, who, at one point, utilized poles displaying American flags as props for their shimmying and shaking.
In his first Twin Cities appearance since 2022 in front of an audience half its usual size here, Kid Rock, 54, seemed more pro forma than passionate. Some of his raps like 1998’s “Devil without a Cause” and 2001’s “Cocky” (“I got more money than Matchbox Twenty”) sounded outdated, but then it’s all about the braggadocio, especially 2002’s galvanizing “You Never Met a [Expletive] Quite Like Me.”
“First Kiss,” from 2015, was such a blatant attempt at a pop radio hit that it felt forced and too PG for Kid Rock. The 2002 hit country duet “Picture,” delivered Saturday with Perkins (wearing a Prince T shirt), showed Kid Rock at his songwriting best. However, the ensuing cover of the Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton classic “Islands in the Stream” (with singing drummer Stefanie Eulinberg) as well as a later solo acoustic guitar rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” demonstrated the shortcomings of Kid Rock’s raspy singing voice.