Jalylah Burrell

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Seattle-bred, Brooklyn-based cultural critic Jalylah Burrell riffs on anything and everything.

Kid Rock at the Fillmore East at Irving Plaza

Posted 10/16/2007 at 9:25 PM | Comment?

Kid Rock

Kid Rock at the Fillmore East at Irving Plaza (10.9.07)

As white trash as Kid Rock appears, it came as some surprise to learn here that he grew up upper middle class. That said, the greasy haired rap-rocker's October 9th New York city performance was at moments trailer park with chubby scantily clad bottle blondes hoisted from male fans' shoulders intermittently throughout the evening. The recent Rolling Stone coverboy entertained a sold out crowd of spirited white people of all stripes the night of his new record's release, including RS's Jann Wenner and actor/comedian Robin Williams. I spotted one ink spot in the crowd from my purview and a few in the VIP, including writers Kandia Crazy Horse (Crazy Horse reviewed Rock in the Village Voice) and Kelefa Sanneh (Sanneh reviewed the show for the New York Times.) It was slavery hot in the venue thanks to both the balmy autumn weather and Kid Rock's on-point miscegenated band. Of Rock's two model pretty back-up singers, one was a negress and so was his drummer, an impressive vocalist in her own right, Stefanie Eulinberg (Check this interview for more info. on Eulinberg). It seems the entire crew had been together for some time and they played like it. Having never seen Rock live or listened to any of his many records, I must say I was impressed; he puts on a tight and energetic show and it's not often that you see fans as keyed up as those assembled at Irving Plaza. Some amped shirtless dudes moshed extra hard on the floor during the encore of the concert after beckoning Rock back to the stage with chants of "Fuck Tommy Lee." There was even a dude in the balcony dressed like Rock circa Devil Without a Clause. Had he dressed up like Rock here, I would have fell out, for sure. Rock, who got his start as Dj, proved to be still pretty nasty on the turntables and just about every other instrument and he rounded the stage doing his thing on most of his bandmates' instruments. He recently shared his favorite songs with ABC's Nightline, its a predictable list but offers a few surprises.