Kid Rock and Bon Jovi, Live In Melbourne 2013

Date: 8th December 2013 (Sunday)

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Docklands

Time: 5.45pm onwards

Train stop: Southern Cross (4-5 minutes walk to the stadium)

The place was bustling by the time we arrived at Docklands at 6pm. Loved the atmosphere. You could see so many fans decked in their Bon Jovi t-shirts and caps, queuing up to buy more merchandise or food from the available food trucks.

We grabbed a hot dog each (AUD$6.60 each!) and tried to finish it up as quickly as possible before heading into the stadium before Kid Rock was due to come on stage. Once we entered the stadium, we ended up heading towards the beer stall for a beer each (AUD$7.30 each!) before we seated ourselves at our places.

Kid Rock deserves a mention and applause for his performance. He appeared on stage at 6.30pm (very punctual) and spent an hour doing his best to work up the crowd's enthusiasm and excitement before Bon Jovi was due to come on stage.

Not many people may know who he is and most of his songs (besides being ex-Mr Pamela Anderson and his collaboration with Sheryl Crow for 'Picture') so it was a shame to see the stadium half filled during his performance.

I admit that I was pretty lost most of the time during his performance as I was not familiar with most of his songs. He did belt out a few cover versions of ... well, yeah, some songs originally sung by other artistes, and that got the crowd cheering.

He made fun of Justin Bieber's dance moves and that got the crowd chuckling.

But Kid Rock has a powerful voice which I enjoyed listening to, that rough sandpaper-y voice which girls would probably go starry-eyed when serenaded to while playing the guitar. To top it off, he sang with clarity so you could make out most of the words he was singing.

I'm sure you can vaguely make out the shape of Kid Rock on the screen. :)

He was very good entertainer, swapping several hats for different songs, mixing the turntable as DJ Gazelle (?). His song 'Forty' was funny and cracked us up, though before he started the song, he did warn parents to close their children's ears.

Don't know that song? Check it out on this YouTube link and the lyrics are hilarious. :)

What got the crowd to their feet and a roar of approval was when he sang 'Born Free' with a picture of Nelson Mandela on the screen.