Kid Rock knows how to make an entrance.
The Detroit rocker paddleboarded across the Detroit River today to announce his Aug. 12 concert at Comerica Park to a group of media assembled at Belle Isle. He was joined in the water by Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom and ex-Wing Chris Chelios, who paddled alongside Rock while sporting T-shirts from his Made in Detroit clothing line.
So what was the significance of Belle Isle? The plan came together Wednesday, Rock explained. Chelios had called him and asked him to go paddleboarding on the river, something Rock has wanted to do for some time. Rock also knew he had to announce the Comerica Park concert, so he decided to invite some press and make a mini-event out of it. It was that simple.
"I thought it was just a good way to showcase Detroit, Belle Isle, come out with some friends, let everyone know Comerica Park's coming, and everybody wins, right?" said Rock, dressed casually in a blue T-shirt and board shorts, a Made in Detroit hat atop his head. Later he brought out a cooler of his own Badass Beer, before paddling down the river with his friends.
Rock will be joined at the Aug. 12 concert by opening act Sammy Hagar and the Wabos, and Rock said the two plan to collaborate together at the show. Sheryl Crow, with whom Rock is touring this summer, is not scheduled to join him on the bill, but Rock said he'd try to convince her to join him at some point during the show. "Sheryl will probably have had enough of me by Detroit, but I'll see if I can talk her into making an appearance," he said.
Tickets, $30, $49.50 and $79.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. June 11 through livenation.com, tickets.com, the Comerica Park box office and select Meijer stores. VIP ticket packages also will be available, and six-packs of upper-deck tickets will go for $99.
The show will be Rock's first at the Detroit Tigers' home since he sold out two nights there in 2009. He said he also has Saturday, Aug. 13, reserved at Comerica Park, but that show will depend on how ticket sales go for the Aug. 12 concert.
Rock said he hopes the Comerica Park concert acts as "another Opening Day" for Detroit. He's planning on turning the show into a full scale, day-long party, and said there will be live music on stages outside the ballpark.
"A lot of people really want me to play at Pine Knob, DTE. Trust me, I'd love that, because I can be on my back porch with a beer before people are out of the parking lot, and it pays more," he said. "But it's not about that. It's about coming back downtown to Detroit and trying to create something. I look at the concert as the background for the event. I'm trying to create something in the city where people can just come down for the afternoon and the evening, if they can't go to the concert, they can come down and have a lot of fun with the surroundings and enjoy our city for what it is."
The concert coincides with the previously announced Aug. 14 date for Rock's Comedy Central Roast, but Rock said there have been some "shakeups" with the event and nothing is in stone yet.
"We're not sure what's going on right now" with the roast, he said, mentioning Comedy Central has discussed staging the event in Los Angeles. Rock said he'll gladly participate in the roast, but only in Detroit.
"If they come to Detroit, the roast will be on. If not, no deal," he said.
Earlier this year, Rock performed to 60,000 fans at his 40th birthday celebration at Ford Field. He joked today that maybe he's playing too much in the area.
"I should probably go away for awhile," he said. "I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm getting a little overexposed. But I'm doing the best I can."
The Detroit rocker paddleboarded across the Detroit River today to announce his Aug. 12 concert at Comerica Park to a group of media assembled at Belle Isle. He was joined in the water by Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom and ex-Wing Chris Chelios, who paddled alongside Rock while sporting T-shirts from his Made in Detroit clothing line.
So what was the significance of Belle Isle? The plan came together Wednesday, Rock explained. Chelios had called him and asked him to go paddleboarding on the river, something Rock has wanted to do for some time. Rock also knew he had to announce the Comerica Park concert, so he decided to invite some press and make a mini-event out of it. It was that simple.
"I thought it was just a good way to showcase Detroit, Belle Isle, come out with some friends, let everyone know Comerica Park's coming, and everybody wins, right?" said Rock, dressed casually in a blue T-shirt and board shorts, a Made in Detroit hat atop his head. Later he brought out a cooler of his own Badass Beer, before paddling down the river with his friends.
Rock will be joined at the Aug. 12 concert by opening act Sammy Hagar and the Wabos, and Rock said the two plan to collaborate together at the show. Sheryl Crow, with whom Rock is touring this summer, is not scheduled to join him on the bill, but Rock said he'd try to convince her to join him at some point during the show. "Sheryl will probably have had enough of me by Detroit, but I'll see if I can talk her into making an appearance," he said.
Tickets, $30, $49.50 and $79.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. June 11 through livenation.com, tickets.com, the Comerica Park box office and select Meijer stores. VIP ticket packages also will be available, and six-packs of upper-deck tickets will go for $99.
Rock said he hopes the Comerica Park concert acts as "another Opening Day" for Detroit. He's planning on turning the show into a full scale, day-long party, and said there will be live music on stages outside the ballpark.
"A lot of people really want me to play at Pine Knob, DTE. Trust me, I'd love that, because I can be on my back porch with a beer before people are out of the parking lot, and it pays more," he said. "But it's not about that. It's about coming back downtown to Detroit and trying to create something. I look at the concert as the background for the event. I'm trying to create something in the city where people can just come down for the afternoon and the evening, if they can't go to the concert, they can come down and have a lot of fun with the surroundings and enjoy our city for what it is."
The concert coincides with the previously announced Aug. 14 date for Rock's Comedy Central Roast, but Rock said there have been some "shakeups" with the event and nothing is in stone yet.
"We're not sure what's going on right now" with the roast, he said, mentioning Comedy Central has discussed staging the event in Los Angeles. Rock said he'll gladly participate in the roast, but only in Detroit.
"If they come to Detroit, the roast will be on. If not, no deal," he said.
Earlier this year, Rock performed to 60,000 fans at his 40th birthday celebration at Ford Field. He joked today that maybe he's playing too much in the area.
"I should probably go away for awhile," he said. "I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm getting a little overexposed. But I'm doing the best I can."
