My dear friend Jen is obsessed with Kid Rock and Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. Don't know why, but whatever. Her new husband didn't want to go to the show, Aerosmith, Kid Rock and Run-DMC, so she recruited me to be her "date." I've seen the old guys before and I'm a quasi-fan of Kid Rock (not to mention I loved Run-DMC in junior high), so I was up for it.
She got 15th row tickets from a broker, and that was a serious hook up. I'd say we were not more than 20 yards from the stage at Blossom Music Center, between Cleveland and Akron.
The show time on the ticket was 7 p.m., and seeing as how no show I've ever been to actually started at the indicated time, we didn't hurry getting there. Well, wouldn't you know it, they apparently started on time. As we were walking (from the grass lots) to the venue, Kid Rock started performing. By the time we got inside, he had already done two or three songs. In the process, we missed Run-DMC entirely. I was kind of pissed about that.
Anyway, the K-I-D had pole dancers, a huge American flag and his name in lights. The dude was intense, and had a very capable band. He took some time to do some "trailer trash" rock covers before breaking into his finale. The dude is the real thing, and it's obvious that he loves what he's doing.
Funny thing is, I ran into the guy twice toward the end of the 1999 season at Cedar Point, I believe it was. Stephanie and I had lunch at TGI Friday's in the Breakers hotel and he was at the next table. At the time, I didn't think much of him, and theorized that he might just fade into obscurity. A few weeks later, I saw him again, and actually rode Iron Dragon in the same train with him. He had done the MTV Movie Awards about a week before, and at that point I figured he was going places. Indeed he has.
Aerosmith I got to see in 1993 ("Get a Grip"), when a bunch of seats opened up near the stage the day of the show. Nothing else to do that summer at school, a friend and I went. Good show, so I expected the same.
They didn't disappoint. It's funny too because all of the cheesy rock star shit they do isn't really that cheesy, seeing as how they invented it in the first palce. They had a "B" stage out near the lawn where they did four or five songs after being moved there by an army of security. Kind of neat for the people in the cheap seats (or should I say grass).
The last encore was exactly what I think everyone was hoping for... Walk This Way with Run-DMC and Kid Rock on stage. It was the kind of rock-n-roll moment you generally only see on TV award shows. The crowd went absolutely nuts.
Jen had a good time too, and I'm glad she got to see "her" men up close.
What and odd series of concerts I've been to this year... Garbage, KMFDM, Jewel and now this one. Variety is the spice of life I suppose!
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