The Palace of Auburn Hills

... CONTINUED

The Pop Top was unavailable to accompany us, as he was on his way to play poker. We figure that eventually we'll see him on ESPN2, trying to win money from the big gamblers. On this night, I can't imagine that the gambler broke even, though. Kansas City Dan called back within his allotted five minutes and said that he could probably go since the tickets were in the front row. We said meet us at the Alma park-and-ride in 20.

Quickly grabbing some money at Chemical Bank, gas at Speedway, and dinner at Wendy's (virtual product placement in case this blog gets a part in the DVD ...) we arrived back at the park-and-ride to wait for Dan and John. They arrived and we headed to the Palace at 6:30. Peter Frampton would be going on at 8 p.m. -- it didn't look like we would be seeing him. The trip was quick, the weather still lousy. Product placement, part 2: Dan drove us down to Auburn Hills in his State Police Blue Dodge Charger. We arrived and drove into the show the back way. We found a great parking spot and headed inside.

I gave the ticket lady my license and credit card and she produced the tickets. "Are these as good as I think they are?"

She smiled and said, "I think they're pretty good."

We all headed to our seats. I kind of ran ahead because I was going to stop in the restroom. However, since the lines were 50 people long at every single stop, I continued to the section. 112. Walked down. Had to show my ticket to three different ushers and I kept walking down. The sections weren't really too well marked as I got lower. I handed my ticket to the final usher and said, "One twelve, row A." He pointed. I smiled. I smiled. Truly, these had to be THE BEST SEATS in the house.

There's a short bridge that Kid Rock crosses and a platform where he performs to everyone in the crowd. This bridge is on both sides of the stage. The bridge near section 112, well it came out to Row A, Seat 1. These were like prime DVD seats. I could just imagine Kid saying, ala, Bob Seger '76, "I've got 400 cameras rolling, and I won't guarntee anything, but if you're loud and proud, you just might make into the video." He never said exactly that, but he did talk a bit about the DVD. Like when he brought famous model Jenna Jameson out onto the stage with a pole. He mentioned the DVD.

Overall, the show lasted over two hours. The band was way into the concert, as the tour wraps us tonight. Kid and the Twisted Brown Trucker Band played a bunch of great songs and kept the crowd rolling all night long. The five or six times that Kid crossed the bridge and sang within two feet of us (and slapped knuckles with us) several people would bum rush the stage and knock us almost onto the platform. It was wild, intense, and somewhat dangerous!

I cannot wait until the DVD arrives in stores for the Christmas shopping season. I'm betting it comes out the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. When we get the pictures back (used a traditional throw-away camera instead of a digital) you'lll be able to see them on my Flickr site.