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 know.

Rock has been trying to broaden his musical horizons since the get-go, a process accelerated by the crossover country success of his
Advertisement
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.

After 95 minutes of mindless, often foul-mouthed fun, Rock closed the show, stripped to the waist, with "Bawitdaba." As the crowd went nuts, the Fillmore felt like a million miles from hip, jaded San Francisco.