CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Child Rock is aware of his viewers, but when Friday evening’s live performance at Blossom Music Heart is actually what it wished, then 20,000 folks could be unsuitable.
The person pandered his manner by way of an almost two-hour set. Sure, that included photographs of Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an image of a face masks with a center finger superimposed on it and main a chant within the track “We the Individuals” of “let’s go Brandon,” a thinly veiled insult of the present president.
A few of these have been to be anticipated, although maybe not the looks by the forty fifth president himself, who implored the near-capacity crowd in a prerecorded video to “make America rock once more.” Nevertheless it wasn’t simply Child Rock’s obnoxious show of politics that received previous quick. It was how a lot he pandered.
And the gang ate it up.
Child Rock stopped at Blossom as a part of his Unhealthy Popularity tour, taken from the title of his new album. The trek has him taking part in throughout the nation with opening acts long gone their prime. (Friday evening’s was no matter passes for Foreigner in 2022, which I sadly missed whereas getting caught within the venue’s famously terrible visitors. I did hear “I Need to Know What Love Is” on the radio whereas driving to the present, although.)
If something, the present cemented a popularity he garnered previously decade of fixing simply sufficient to remain related to a sure viewers. A number one purveyor of rap-rock within the late Nineties, he’s now in his 50s. He stays an acute businessman, nonetheless, and due to that now caters to a crowd that loves American flags and proudly owning the libs.
To be clear, it’s completely unfair to color his viewers with such a broad brush. Nevertheless it wasn’t tough Friday to run into concertgoers carrying pro-Trump or anti-Biden shirts. There was even a bumper sticker on one van with Chief Wahoo punching the Cleveland baseball staff’s new Guardian mascot.
As for Child Rock’s music, it’s now into a mixture of Bob Seger, Nineteen Seventies rock and enviornment nation, full with boneheaded lyrics like “Oh, I’m gonna soar like an eagle, my wings will carry me away.” There are not any dynamics, it’s simply loud and brash.
Nonetheless, ever the showman, his voice stays intact and buoyed by a crack 10-piece backing band. He can nonetheless do his trademark jump-while-holding-his-hat-on-his-head transfer. He loves to make use of hearth, lasers and big lights onstage, all of which made the present a spectacle.
However the pandering was ever-present. In fact he needed to take a swig of an deliberately superbly lit Jim Beam bottle and smoke a cigar throughout a mini-DJ set. In fact he needed to limp by way of snippets of Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever” and ZZ High’s “La Grange” And naturally he needed to shout out Cleveland each probability he received.
Additionally, did he really want to amp up the gang by blasting John Denver’s “Take Me Dwelling, Nation Roads” and Machine Gun Kelly’s “Unhealthy Mom F****r” earlier than taking the stage? Was he actually nervous his personal showmanship wouldn’t be sufficient?
What’s most disappointing about Child Rock and the present is that the person doesn’t lack musical expertise. Lots of his songs are essentially just like the postmodern stylings of Beck or any hip-hop act that samples one other artist. In any case, the endlessly modern Beastie Boys sampled AC/DC’s “Again in Black” for its early single “Rock Exhausting,” and Child Rock used the identical track throughout Friday’s efficiency of opener “Satan With out a Trigger.”
However these components don’t make his music good. There are solely so many ‘70s riffs to knock off, so many energy ballads to wail on and so many references to weed one could make.
The present had just a few brighter spots, although, and so they largely got here when Child Rock opted for simplicity. “Unhealthy Popularity” was a reliable homage to Seger. “First Kiss” had me questioning how pop-punk lovers would obtain the track if it have been performed of their most popular model.
And a few of his early hits like “Bawitdaba” and “Cowboy” nonetheless retain responsible pleasure standing.
However for each a kind of was a track there have been performances of a dud like “Don’t Inform Me Dwell,” full with a video that confirmed CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and a bald eagle flying over a glistening physique of water.
Is Child Rock, for all his success, actually involved about carrying a masks or no matter a information anchor mentioned? No, he simply is aware of it’ll rile folks up and promote extra live performance tickets.
Mission completed.
Eric Heisig is a contract author in Cleveland. He could be reached at eheisig@gmail.com
