Kid Rock Rules

Kid Rock rules at raucous Rodeo concert with badass rock 'n' roll, turntable and flames

Kid Rock, you crazy rock 'n' roll animal. You won me over with a turntable and flames. I knew this was going to happen the second you blindfolded your lead guitar player while he was tearing into the solo of “All Summer Long,” and that was only a song and a half in. You were grinning in that fedora that you like to flip the brim up like you belonged in Run-D.M.C.

I was afraid that you were going to play a lot of those newer songs you’ve taken to writing lately. You know, the ones that sound a little too country for an American Badass like yourself? You opened up with “First Kiss,” and to be perfectly honest, the years of Jim Beam and cigars have not been kind to your vocal chords.

After that first song, I thought for sure the night was going in the wrong direction and that the closest we would get to seeing the Kid Rock of old would maybe be the obligatory run through “Cowboy” sprinkled in with a string of new songs that lacked the requisite bravado that we all came for.

Boy howdy was I wrong.

You and your crowded band full of backup singers, saxophonists, interpretive dancers, and other musicians took the audience — and by proxy America — to heights previously only navigated by bald eagles.

I wanted to leave my seat and grab a beer, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage for fear of missing some of the fun. I thought I saw an opening in the set list after you performed “Picture,” a riveting duet you recorded with Sheryl Crow and Allison Moorer. I could not have been more wrong. A song I didn’t recognize on the set list called “Three Sheets To The Wind” ended up being the high point of the entire night!

“Three Sheets” introduced his alter ego Bobby Shazam to the NRG stadium crowd of 66,540, a DJ who specializes in expertly chopping up what else but Kid Rock records on the turntable. I didn’t realize that Bobby Shazam was you until he took a giant slug from a glass of Jim Beam, but when that happened and the crowd lost it, I really wish I’d had a beer in my hand to toast your showmanship.

Of course, you had much more in store during that song. You play drums too? You own one of those talk boxes for your guitar? I hoped the song would go on for the rest of the night. Kid Rock, you really know how to own the moment.

I’m glad the show moved on, though. Less time showcasing your multi-instrumentalist chops means more time getting to the real meat of your career. “Cowboy,” “Only God Knows Why,” “Rock and Roll Jesus,” “Born Free.” These are the stuff fireworks are made of, and you brought plenty of that too.

The amped up way you tore into “Only God Knows Why” was much different than the steely ballad on 1998's Devil Without a Cause, but Tuesday night’s performance absolutely called for it.

Even after glittery bursts of pyrotechnics punctuated most of your set, I was still taken by absolute surprise when the perimeter of the stage went to full on flame throwing mode for your set list closer, “Bawitdaba.” Those fireballs were so big, so powerful, that I could feel the heat on my face from my seat in section 549. I couldn’t look away. As you brought the house down with that deliciously ridiculous blend of rap and metal that made you famous, it looked like a nuclear war zone on the field.

Why oh why did you get a Tuesday night billing at RodeoHouston this year? You sent too many rowdy fans out of the stadium and back into the middle of their work week instead of the great American wild of a Spring Break weekend. Was it because this was the second time you lit a cigar on stage? I promise I won’t tell anyone about that if it means you get to play on a Friday the next time you visit NRG Stadium.

Set List:

First Kiss

All Summer Long

Wasting Time

Johnny Cash

Cowboy

Picture

Three Sheets To The Wind

Rock and Roll Jesus

Only God Knows Why

Born Free

Bawitdaba

There were a lot of fireworks at the Kid Rock concert Tuesday night.

There were a lot of fireworks at the Kid Rock concert Tuesday night.

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Movie Review

Summer camp drama The Plague proves middle school is still pure horror

Photo courtesy of IFC

Everett Blunck in The Plague.

Anybody who’s attended elementary school in the last 100 years knows the concept of “cooties,” a fictional affliction that is typically caught when touched by a member of the opposite sex. A more updated version of the same idea is featured in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, this time called the “Cheese Touch,” making anyone who touches a moldy piece of cheese on the school’s basketball court an outcast.

A much more menacing version of this “disease” is on display in The Plague, which takes place at a summer water polo camp for tweens. The film focuses on Ben (Everett Blunck), a slightly awkward boy who struggles to fit in with the “cool” crowd led by Jake (Kayo Martin). That group has no problems making fun of others that they deem to be different, especially Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), who has been ostracized because of a rash he has that the kids call “the plague.”

Ben wants to be part of the main group, but his natural empathy leads him to reach out to Eli on more than one occasion despite Eli engaging in some uncomfortable behavior. With the camp’s coach (Joel Edgerton) not much help when it comes to the bullying tactics by Jake and others, especially those that take place at night, Ben is left to fend for himself. His vacillations between wanting to be accepted and wanting to do what’s right continue until his hand is forced.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Charlie Polinger, the film has all the feel of a horror movie without actually being a horror. The staging used by Polinger gives the film a claustrophobic feel as Ben can’t seem to escape the psychological torture inflicted by Jake and others no matter where he goes. He also employs a jarring score by Johan Lenox to great effect, one that’s designed to keep viewers on edge even when nothing bad is happening.

No matter how far removed you are from middle school, the film will likely bring up feelings you thought you had left behind. Much like with Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, Polinger finds a way to tap into something universal in his depiction of tweens, an age when everyone is still discovering who they really are. Some go along to get along, others don’t even attempt to fit in, but no one truly feels settled.

Whether the plague is real or not in the world of the film is up for debate. While most of the time it comes off as something made up to underscore the feeling of otherness felt by Ben, Polinger does literalize it to a degree. He even tiptoes up to the line of body horror before wisely retreating, although what he does show will still make some viewers squeamish. However, because he seems to be leaning one way before pulling back, there’s the possibility that some will be disappointed by the tease of something more intense.

The film’s biggest success is in its casting. Finding good child actors is notoriously tough, and yet Polinger and casting director Rebecca Dealy found a bunch who sell the story for all it’s worth. Blunck, Martin, and Rasmussen get the most play, but everyone else complements them well. Edgerton is the only well-known actor in the film, but he’s used sparingly and isn’t asked to do much, leaving the kids to carry the story on their shoulders.

Fitting in as a tween is hard enough without others actively trying to find ways to cast someone out. The Plague is an effective demonstration of the dynamics that can play out in a competitive environment that also includes a group that has yet to develop into fully-rounded people. It features discomfort on multiple levels, marking an auspicious debut for Polinger.

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The Plague is now playing in theaters.

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