Kid Rock Puts His Versatility on Display in High-Energy Show

Kid Rock was backed by a five-man band at the Roxy on Wednesday, but about 20 minutes into his electrifying, 75-minute set, the rocker-rapper almost made the group seem unnecessary.

The Detroit native took over the turntables and displayed some deejay wizardry, played some guitar riffs from Run-DMC’s “Walk This Way” and other sources, delivered a spirited keyboard performance and pounded out an impressive drum solo. With his long hair flailing and his head bobbing furiously, he was clearly enjoying his hot-potato with his band’s instruments as much as the capacity crowd was.

At a moment like that, it was easy to see why Kid Rock is gathering a lot of momentum these days, largely on the strength of his rock-rap “Bawitdaba” single and his “Devil Without a Cause” album. He’s no overnight success though--he’s been releasing records for a decade, and it was clear at the Roxy that his years of touring with Ice Cube and other hard-core acts has helped him develop a solid stage show. Even when he was interrupted in mid-song by comedian Pauly Shore--who did a striptease, stage-dived and pulled a female dance companion on stage--Kid Rock didn’t stop rocking.