Kid Rock’s second Thanksgiving Day halftime show in three years paid tribute to Motown heroes and served as a glitzy commercial for his new album. But is the scruffy rapper-turned-rocker also now the face of Michigan?
Kid Rock used Thursday’s halftime show to tout his new album, “Rebel Soul.”
The over-the-top flash. The silly silver jumpsuits. The schmaltzy tribute to Detroit’s music icons.
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Kid Rock’s brief but glitzy Ford Field halftime show during the nationally televised Thanksgiving Day game on Thursday wasn’t enough to ward off the evil spirits – and wretched refereeing – that once again, in truly unfathomable fashion, torpedoed the Detroit Lions’ quest to actually win another game this season.
But give Detroit’s reinvented favorite son credit: Bob Ritchie is a Michigan boy through and through, and has emerged as the unlikely, scruffy, flawed-yet-somehow-lovable heir apparent to Bob Seger as the Great Lakes State’s most enthusiastic rock ‘n’ roll ambassador.
Actually, the ties to his buddy Seger were everywhere on Thursday: Seger’s longtime Silver Bullet Band sidekick Alto Reed performed a powerfully sweet rendition of the National Anthem on saxophone prior to kickoff, and Seger’s name popped up in Kid Rock’s halftime performance of “Detroit, Michigan” from his brand new album, “Rebel Soul,” along with references to Aretha Franklin, Motown’s Hitsville U.S.A., Rosa Parks and Henry Ford as images of Detroit’s musical past appeared behind the band. (Funkmaster George Clinton also made a cameo appearance.)
Ultimately, the song is little more than a bubblegum-pop-like recitation of names and places.
But it was Kid Rock’s second Thankgiving Day halftime appearance in three years, cementing his role as a high-profile Motor City emissary while attempting to erase the after-taste of 2011’s appearance at Ford Field by the much-maligned Nickelback.
It was also a seven-minute, you-can’t-pay-enough-for-this-kind-of-exposure TV commercial for Kid Rock’s “Rebel Soul,” released earlier this week. (You can read more about why stars like Kid Rock and Kenny Chesney play these halftime shows for free in this Forbes article here.)
Along with being a deeply personal, autobiographical affair (while also tipping a hat to the American military), the country- and Southern rock-flavored “Rebel Soul” – just like his Lions silver-and-Honolulu-blue-bedecked halftime showaffair – is mostly a Kid Rock nostalgia trip.
Pedestrian lyrics aside, it’s an inventory of his musical, political and sports influences that still pays homage to his rap-rock past with “Cucci Galore” and his trailer-trash reputation with “Redneck Paradise,” while even delving into odd, AutoTune-drenched balladry with “The Mirror.”
Mostly, it solidifies the one-time rapper’s transformation over the past several years into Michigan’s version of rock’s Lynyrd Skynyrd (even if many might question his conservative political leanings and overt campaigning, perhaps taking a cue from former Michigander/Madman Ted Nugent).
Like it or not, for millions tuned into Thursday’s football game, Kid Rock has become the face of Detroit. And while he might not be suitable as a Pure Michigan campaign spokesperson yet, he’s as loyal a defender of his home state as any celebrity we’ve got.
All Thanksgiving and Super Bowl halftime shows are really pretty much the same: contrived, showy excuses to fill time by trotting out stars and bombast.
But as a Kid Rock – and Motor City – marketing tool, Thursday’s affair might have been priceless.
Email: jsinkevics@gmail.com
