Woo hoo!!...Look at those smiles as we exit the over the top, never stop, slash and burn, rednecktastic and ghetto fabulous show.

Kid Rock tuned up the appreciative crowd with a mix of the smoking new tunes from Rock N Roll Jesus and a healthy helping of the Kid classics from the past ten years. It seemed that a certain symmetry was achieved by finally seeing the tour after beginning our Kid Rock odyssey in Atlanta. The quest was now over and another chapter in Leftcoastlove history is written. Let's get to it then, ok?

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Previously on Leftcoastlove.com - I guess we need to start with a brief recap of the what we are calling the Atlanta scrap. Stacey and I were not able to get tickets to his show in Atlanta (yeah the one before the infamous Waffle House fight). Instead we enjoyed the concert from the parking lot next to open stage door. No visuals but we did sing along and hold our lighters up amid the parked cars and gawking roadies. The next day we happened to find ourselves back in the parking lot where the buses and semis had been parked the previous night. The picture to the left is what we found. A pile of steaming debauchery. We can't even say exactly what some of the stuff might have been. Anyways this refuse was deposited as the band headed to the Waffle House. We all know what followed. More info here: Oh Atlanta

then...

Next on Leftcoastlove.com - The next chapter had Stacey and Sean annoying the neighbors with the bootleg downloaded new release and a journey into the weird and wonderful world of San Francisco institution Craigslist. Bootlegged music and scalped tickets in hands we build our fan webpage. More info here: Kid Rock

Everybody with us know? Good! The MUNI bus dropped us off right across the street and I quickly tried to finish my cigarette so that Stacey didn't have to stand on the street looking all super hot in her prison striped wife beater. We were relieved to find that our tickets actually scanned and we made our way to the floor to catch the end of the opening act. I think their name was Atmosphere or something like that. They were very loud and they were very angry. Thankfully that didn't rub off on the crowd, oh the crowd was loud but they were far from angry. They were very happy and that happiness peaked when Kid jumped out onstage and rocked all our faces off. My jaw still hurts today :)

Photo from recent NY club appearance used without permission. He wore this suit in SF.

Photo from Fillmore appearance taken without permission.

Photo from recent NY club appearance used without permission. He wore this suit in SF.

I guess I have to explain the odd collection of 2 photos taken at a different show and a blurry picture of the show. The entrance sign at the Fillmore and tickets did say no cameras so I technically I was warned. The audience was full of security and as soon as you tried to raise your arm with a camera phone they were on you. I managed to snap one before I was grabbed and warned about trying to take pictures. Of course the picture is nothing more than a blur. But it is from the show, ha ha ha ha ha (twisting moustache). As we expected the show was great. The band played loud and fast and the crowd ate up every bit of this rare opportunity to see a stadium show inside a small club. Stacey and I stayed for the entire show including the encores and we were rewarded with a limited edition poster from the show. This is a bit of a San Francisco Fillmore tradition, they commission local artists to create a poster then they hand them out free while they last at the end of the show. If you leave early or linger too long after the show; NO POSTER FOR YOU!

With our posters in hand Stacey and headed to the bus stop, it was located directly behind the tour bus we stood next to in that tainted Atlanta parking lot. The same bus that left the pile of trash before taking the long road to the Waffle House. Now this magical mystery bus was at our feet again. This time we took a picture and jumped onto our bus. Stacey waved goodbye to Kid's bus as our city bus pulled slowly away. We checked the local news today and they was no problem with Kid and his entourage leaving San Francisco. Later this week our friend the dirty tour bus will be in Oregon and then on to Washington.

Poster from the show, one free per guest while they last as you exit the Fillmore. Sweet!

The infamous Kid Rock tour bus parked for a quick get away, they bring their own cones don't cha know.

Stacey poses behind the bus with her poster from the show, that grin won't come off for days.

Our tour bus arrives for the ride back to the apartment. The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and...

Here are our final thoughts and memories some that will tickle and some that will haunt. You guess which is which?

The couple dressed as Rock N Roll Jesus and Female Tramp Satan. FTS had a tiny bra and an enormous circus sized chest. Her version of dancing was jumping up and down and yelling at the guys passing nearby. "Take a good look and keep moving please!", she asked over and over again.

There was also a couple that was comprised of a guy in wheel chair on oxygen and Large Marge. She picked him up and tossed him like a rag doll as they danced, when they kissed Marge had to hold the oxygen tubes to the side so they didn't get in the way.

Oh and who could forget the Hell's Angels and their dates? I guess I did because I was afraid to get caught looking at them. No not caught by the bikers but caught by Stacey. In the end it was the bikers who got caught by their dates trying to get a look at Stacey, I win again ;)

There you have it all in a neat little package complete with a happy ending. Give the Kid a second chance and don't forget that sometimes it's okay to have fun for funs sake. Kid Rock isn't trying to save the world but he'll help you put a dent in it.

The reviews are coming in
We aren't alone in thinking the time has come for Kid Rock to get the respect he deserves

Concert review: Kid Rock proves self as worthy entertainer

By Shay Quillen
Mercury News

Long before Bob Ritchie was making national news with his Waffle House fisticuffs, the kid knew how to rock a crowd. That's why they call him Kid Rock.

Playing a rare club show Sunday at a jam-packed Fillmore, Rock proved himself a worthy bandleader and showman. He and his road-tested band scattered crowd-pleasing hits throughout the set, covered musical bases from honky-tonk to hip-hop and smothered the whole mess with the unbridled confidence that prompted him to name his new album "Rock 'n' Roll Jesus."

Rock's 10-piece Twisted Brown Trucker band took the stage promptly at 9 p.m. and established a hard-rocking groove, with the man himself emerging a few minutes later wearing a white-on-black suit and his trademark fedora and singing the self-aggrandizing title track of the new record, which debuted last week at No. 1.

The next five songs were familiar exercises in braggadocio, from the straight-up hip-hop of "Welcome 2 the Party" to the pile-driving rock-rap of "American Bad Ass," in which he sums up his musical scope by announcing "I like Johnny Cash and Grandmaster Flash."

But Rock eventually left the tried-and-true behind and slowed things down to perform new tracks such as "Amen," a gospel-infused look at society's ills from the vantage point of the Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp, as he is also known.

Rock has been trying to broaden his musical horizons since the get-go, a process accelerated by the crossover country success of his 2001 duet with Sheryl Crow, "Picture." To his credit, he kept the audience with him on "Amen" and the other more thoughtful (a relative term, to be sure, at a Kid Rock concert) and melodic numbers. But he couldn't hide a barely passable singing voice, one that will never rival that of his hometown idol Bob Seger, or even his "rebel father" in Nashville, Hank Williams Jr.

Other new tunes included "All Summer Long," a nostalgia anthem that cops from both "Werewolves of London" and "Sweet Home Alabama"; and 'Roll On," a pleasant, soulful number that is, like nearly all of his songs, about Kid Rock.

Rock donned a cowboy hat for old hit "Cowboy," which he ended with a bit of David Allan Coe's "perfect country and western song": "You Never Even Called Me by My Name." He returned to the twang later for a spiteful but amusing original honky-tonk composition addressed to ex-wife Pamela Anderson called "Half Your Age."

Rock showed his versatility late in the show by jumping behind the turntables (flashy and impressive), grabbing one of his guitarist's axes to crank out some classic rock riffs (just OK) and taking over the drum kit (don't give up your day job). Fortunately for him, he's got an air-tight band, grounded by longtime drummer Stefanie Eulinberg, that kept up with every musical twist and turn.

and another..

Kid Rock preaches to the party faithful

By Jim Harrington
STAFF WRITER

Forget Bruce Springsteen and the Bridge School Benefit the weekend's hottest ticket was Kid Rock at the Fillmore in San Francisco on Sunday night.

That, of course, begs one significant question: How the heck did that happen?

The man born Robert James Ritchie, but known to the world as Kid Rock, is in the midst of one of the most unlikely and convincing comeback stories in recent pop history. Just a few months ago, the rap-rock star seemed pretty much washed up. It had been four years since his last offering, 2003's mostly mediocre eponymous affair that will remembered for an awful cover of Bad Company's ``Feel Like Makin' Love.''

In the interim, Rock had become the worst kind of celebrity one that is famous for being famous. He remained in the public eye by marrying, and then quickly splitting up with, top-heavy rock groupie Pamela Anderson. More recently, he's made news by getting into fights with Pamela's other ex-husband, Tommy Lee, and some customer at how white trash is this? a Waffle House in Atlanta.

Yet, a funny thing happened on the way to the land of has-been town. Kid Rock releases a new album, ``Rock N Roll Jesus,'' and it debuts at the top of the charts, marking the vocalist's first-ever No. 1 record. All of sudden, the Kid is everywhere, including on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine's ``2007 Hot Issue.'' That's an appropriate place for him because, right now, the Kid is scorching. More to the point, he showed no signs of cooling off during his sold-out show at the Fillmore.

Who were all these people? The crowd bared absolutely no resemblance to the regular Fillmore brigade of hipster San Franciscans. I didn't see a single soul dressed in all black, nor one pair of fake eyeglasses, and I'd bet that these people don't even own any Guided By Voices CDs. Instead, it was a hard-drinking, hard-partying group, complete with several Hell's Angels in attendance. Many of these people acted like the last concert they saw was Van Halen in 1984.

Rock provided the perfect soundtrack for this edition of ``Fans Gone Wild'' as he appeared onstage, in front of his nine-piece Twisted Brown Trucker band, and started belting out the party anthems. Beginning with the new album's rowdy title track, the 36-year-old Michigan native carried out his mission which apparently is to create a new breed of classic rock in big pimpin' fashion.

Say what you want about Rock, but the guy is an entertainer and he'll do whatever it takes to make sure the crowd has a good time. Of course, the busy Fillmore bartenders were greatly aiding his cause.

The best-received numbers all hailed from ``Devil Without a Cause,'' the 1998 offering that made Rock a star. An early double-shot of ``Welcome 2 the Party'' and that album's title track had the devil-fist-waving crowd members eating out of the singer's palm.

From there, Rock tightened his grip on his fans as he jammed through ``You Never Met a Mother----- Quite Like Me'' and ``American Bad Ass.'' He slowed it down a bit for the new album's ``Amen,'' which, despite what he told Rolling Stone, is not the best song Rock has ever written. Indeed, that song came across as such a John Cougar Mellencamp rip-off that one almost expected to hear him sing about ``Pink Houses.''

One of the evening's best moments came when Rock put on a 10-gallon hat and launched into the ``Devil'' track ``Cowboy.'' In the middle of the tune, he even included a bit of country star David Allen Coe's ``You Never Even Called Me By My Name,'' which, as those familiar with the song will tell you, is ``the perfect country and western song.''

He also performed his own new honky-tonker ``Half Your Age,'' a hilarious rebuttal to his ex-wife's less-than-flattering comments about him to the media, and then took a turn on the turntables for some impressive slicing and dicing. Before closing the show with the great ``Devil'' anthem ``Bawitdaba,'' Rock had touched upon Bob Seger-style classic rock, b-boy hip-hop, authentic country and adrenaline-fueled metal.

That truly impressive range is one of the reasons why Rock's show was the weekend's most sought-after ticket. He shouldn't get too cocky, however, since even this Kid can't move tickets like the other kid Hannah Montana.

Peace,
Sean

The reviews are coming in We aren't alone in thinking the time has come for Kid Rock to get the respect he deserves

The reviews are coming in
We aren't alone in thinking the time has come for Kid Rock to get the respect he deserves