He rocked hard, he crooned softly and he joked with the crowd like a practiced comedian. Kid Rock has clearly had some practice at putting on a spectacle.

On Friday night at the Wegmans Grandstand concert venue at the Great New York State Fair, Kid Rock showed off his experience-and his mainstream likeability.

Despite his heavy beats, his long hair and his relationships with a slew of A-list female celebrities, Kid Rock is not a rock star-he’s a pop star, like it or not. Such a statement is not a detriment to his talents. Instead, it’s a compliment.

The disc jockey-turned-rocker spent years paying his dues-and finding his identity-before he hit it big with his breakthrough single ‘Bawitdaba’ in 1998. In reality, Kid Rock is actually quite talented. During his Friday night set, he moved across the stage from instrument to instrument, taking over the playing for each member in his Twisted Brown Trucker band, and doing a commendable job of it.

No matter what Kid Rock did, his minions in the crowd cheered him on. And in his minions, it could be seen just how popular Kid Rock has become; the crowd was eclectic, to say the least. For every fan wearing Harley Davidson shirts, there were those wearing Hollister. For each fan clad in a bandana and a snarl, there was one who countered with a cowboy hat and a smile. Still, there were others: tie-dye shirts, sports jerseys and even Ralph Lauren. It was not the rocker-biker crowd to whom Kid Rock originally targeted in his career. But then again, his crowd has changed with his music.

For his rock crowd, he performed ‘American Badass.’ For his country fans, there was his performance of ‘Picture,’ his duet with Sheryl Crow-though this time his drummer, Stephanie Eulinberg, filled in commendably. Interspersed throughout the set was the national anthem, Lynard Skynyrd’s ‘Freebird,’ Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You,’ and the rest of his lengthy hit list-though many were altered to include the words ‘Syracuse’ and ‘New York’ as much as possible.

Namedropping aside, it would have been tough for the show to disappoint-it was simply too visually stunning. With each rising beat and riff of the choruses, pyrotechnics and fire exploded on stage. When such explosions were not stunning the crowd, giant American and Confederate flags took their place and served as the stage’s backdrop.

The fans’ greatest expectations were realized at the show’s conclusion. Having teased his fans with ‘Bawitdaba’ throughout the show, starting at the introduction, Kid Rock finally played it to the eager crowd. It was exactly what they had needed.

Concertgoers were still in for one final surprise. As the song and concert came to an end and Kid Rock said his goodbyes to his crowd over the beat of his biggest hit, the Fair’s fireworks started on cue. The explosions in the distance made for the perfect cap to the explosive performance.

‘I’ve seen him four times,’ said Tiffany Plant of Orchard Park. ‘This was the best one. He played for longer. It was great.’

Published on September 6, 2004 at 12:00 pm