Country rap rocker Kid Rock may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially in light of his vocal political opinions as of late.

But the ballpark 20,000 in attendance Saturday night at the Pavilion at Star Lake for his Freedom 250 tour were drinking it up, much like the 24-ounce beers prevalent throughout the audience.

The covered pavilion appeared mostly full, although a pair of dead-center, front-row seats at $5,000 a pop were still available Saturday afternoon. The lawn looked jam-packed, leaving those trying to use the choked sidewalk path to move at a snail’s pace.

“I don’t know if you catch any of this troll (expletive), this media (expletive). They just boom boom, they just (expletive) with me every day,” he said Saturday. “I don’t give a (expletive). But the big news before this tour started, since I was going to do a Freedom 250 tour to celebrate America, I kept getting emails and alerts that said, ‘Kid Rock can’t sell any tickets to his shows.’”

He paused, absorbing the crowd size, before finishing: “Bull(expletive)! Whatever. I don’t care. I really don’t.”

Kid Rock’s Freedom 250 tour, which closed last night in Burgettstown, served as a concert as well as a patriotic gathering — with several “U.S.A.” chants — ahead of America’s 250th birthday. There were countless U.S. flag outfits, from shirts to overalls to hats, not to mention a few people sporting the Confederate flag. The stage featured eight American flags, a replica of the Liberty Bell and a pair of cannons.

The pre-show intro featured AI images from American history, culminating with President Donald Trump pumping his fist after the assassination attempt in Butler, as well as a video with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

It is curious how some in the right elite have embraced the singer whose lyrics celebrate booze, escort services, sodomy and distrust of the police — and that’s just in “Cowboy.” Nevertheless, the singer who once leaned into a trailer park pimp image still showed glimpses of his past, while equally celebrating the country.

Kid Rock opened with the party anthem “Celebrate,” launching from beneath the stage with fireworks and flames featured early on, before a funky “Devil Without a Cause.” That song featured a small tag of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” a sign of things to come as the band and songs frequently interpolated other bands’ hits. That included a rocking “American Bad Ass,” based on Metallica’s “Sad But True” and “All Summer Long,” with an intro built on Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves in London” and a chorus on top of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.”

“You Never Met a Mother(expletive) Quite Like Me” saw Kid Rock change Michigan to Pennsylvania in the lyrics, with “Cocky” getting a Pittsburgh mention, too.

Kid Rock strolled and bounced around the stage, working up a prodigious sweat while poking fun at Justin Bieber’s dancing during a countrified “Wasting Time.”

On one foray, he noticed a child holding a sign asking for a guitar. “Your parents brought you to a Kid Rock concert?” he jokingly asked. Instead of a guitar, the child received Kid Rock’s saxophone, which he had played on “Bad Reputation” which had started as a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It.)”

Besides the sax, Kid Rock also played the guitar on several songs and took turns at the DJ booth, on a talk box and behind the drums in a medley covering too many songs to mention. One of the songs — Tupac Shakur’s “California Love” — transformed to “Pennsylvania Love.” During the aforementioned medley, he also managed to light and smoke a cigar with one hand while working the turntable before opening a bottle of Jim Beam bourbon.

“Hell, this is the last night of the Freedom 250 tour,” he said before taking a swig. “Don’t get grandpa drunk up here.”

On “Picture,” a duet made famous with Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock asked for audience help with the low notes because of a sinus infection he’d been battling. He dueted with a backup vocalist on that one and a cover of the Bee Gees’ “Islands in the Stream.”

The patriotic “Born Free” closed his regular set, as red, white and blue streamers fell from the rafters, an avalanche of confetti launched and the cannons fired.

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“Happy birthday, America!” he shouted.

For the encore, Kid Rock strapped on an acoustic guitar for a cover of Cody Johnson’s “‘Til You Can’t,” with a new verse. There were two false starts before playing it in full.

“Hey, at least you know it’s not on tape,” Kid Rock said, possibly alluding to his ill-fated Turning Point USA halftime show.

The extended closer of “Bawitdaba” ended with the ringing of the Liberty Bell replica before he descended into the hole behind the drums where he had started the night.

Jon Pardi

Modern country singer Joe Pardi opened the show, packing 16 songs into his polished, hour-long show.

Pardi has hit No. 1 on the country charts four times, with all of those songs making the cut Saturday. The first of those to make to make Saturday’s set, appropriately, was “Mr. Saturday Night.”

Just last week, the California native released an expanded edition of “California Sunrise,” his 2016 triple-platinum album, to mark its 10th anniversary, with six songs from that album played.

Pardi may have started the night, but it didn’t feel like an opening set, with pyro, fireworks, smoke machines and the use of a T-shirt gun mid-song. His set was equal parts country (“Heartache Medication”), honky tonk (“Boots Off”) and rock (“Hard Knocks.”) He closed with probably his most well-known song, a shuffling “Head Over Boots.”

The merch: Kid Rock’s wide variety of merchandise seemed among the most reasonably priced for arena/stadium-sized shows In recent years. T-shirts, tank tops and trucker hats started at $35, with other items including a basketball jersey ($60), a football jersey ($70) and a satin jacket ($130). Oddly, the T-shirts for the opener Pardi were $40.

Missing: Of his past singles that charted, omissions included 1999’s “Only God Knows Why,” 2015’s “First Kiss” and 2001’s “Lonely Road of Faith,” as well as 1998’s “I Am the Bullgod,” which probably makes sense to skip considering his new target audience.

Last time here: Kid Rock’s most recent Pittsburgh appearance came on Aug. 6, 2022, when his Bad Reputation tour visited the Pavilion at Star Lake.

What’s up next: Kid Rock’s next show comes on June 27 at the Rock the Country festival at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls, S.D. That touring festival drew headlines earlier this year after artists like Shinedown, Morgan Wade, Ludacris and Carter Faith dropped off the lineup.

 

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