Concert review: Between songs, Kid Rock takes shots at ex-wife

A woman down front wearing a skimpy bikini top waved a T-shirt that said it all: "[Forget] Pam."

Kid Rock himself pretty well summed up his concert Thursday night at Myth nightclub in Maplewood: "Payback is a [rhymes with 'stitch']."

You can probably fill in those blanks, just as anyone who's ever seen a '90s gangsta rapper, an '80s hair-band and a '70s outlaw country singer on stage before could have filled in the formula that made Kid Rock a star. Against many odds, though, the guy born Bob Ritchie -- but better known as the former Mr. Pamela Anderson -- has turned into the Comeback Kid.

Tickets to the Detroit rocker's concert sold out quickly on the heels of the No. 1 debut by his new album, "Rock 'n' Roll Jesus," which followed conspicuously close to his reemergence in the tabloids for punching Anderson's other ex, Tommy Lee, at the MTV Music Video Awards. His chest-beating 90-minute set Thursday seemed like yet another hard swing at his public nemeses.

Having easily packed a venue that Lee's now-defunct Mötley Crüe also sold out two years ago -- and what a perfect spot it was for Mr. Rock's urban-cowboy working man's blues -- he played up his tabloid persona like it was a part of his song repertoire. The swipes at Anderson went over best.

After the payback comment (clearly meant for his ex), he launched into the Pamela-bashing new song "Half Your Age," with the one-two chorus, "She's half your age and twice as hot." He referenced another recent tabloid dust-up in "Only God Knows," his blatant rewrite of Bon Jovi's "Wanted: Dead or Alive," when he inserted the new line, "It's hard to hang out at the Waffle House" (about another scuffle in a restaurant).

Laden with as many low necklines as backward ball-caps -- this is one rock star whom women dig as much as men -- the crowd ate up the bad-boy shtick from start to finish. They even cheered when he declared his love for "big, fat Midwestern ho's" during his outdated rap/rock opus "Cocky."

The concert itself became possible fodder for the tabloids in the encore. As he got ready to deliver "Picture" and "Bawitdaba," the singer explained how the gig almost got canceled.

"Before the show, we found a hidden camera in the dressing room that was broadcasting over the Internet," he claimed. "You see some [messed-up stuff] in these clubs."

Myth's management denied Rock's allegations, saying the camera was one of 52 surveillance cameras in the club seen by security staff only. Said a statement from the club, "In today's troubled times, Myth prides itself in being one of the safest venues in the country."

Whatever the case, the star's angry tirade could have been seen as just another part of that night's title bout: The Kid vs. The World.

See a set list and fan comments at www.startribune.com/music.

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658

Chris Riemenschneider • chrisr@startribune.com