Having been born and raised in San Diego, I can appreciate when someone comes to our town to work and live, and they still love the sports teams they grew up with.

They'll want to talk endlessly about why the Red Sox are better than the Padres. And you have to tell them, "Dude, I'm not even a baseball fan."

They'll want to get drunk at the sports bar, and fight some Giants fan, because there's this big rivalry with the Dodgers. And, part of you wants that fight to happen. Maybe them getting a broken nose, will get them to chill out on all the talk on their sports team.

But one thing I can't figure out, is why you'd like a band, simply because they're from the city you grew up in.

When I meet people that like Kid Rock, and I ask them why, it's always the same thing. "I grew up in Detroit, man."

Uh, so what? Isn't Madonna from Michigan? And what about those boy bands? Would they be fans of New Kids on the Block if they were from the same city? I'm doubting they would. But for some reason, they think it's cool to be fans of someone they "think" is cool.

Yet Kid Rock doesn't strike me as cool. He almost got there, when he sucker punched Tommy Lee at a video awards show a year ago.

But, that whole white trash pimp look he had. It was lame.

In all the interviews I've seen of him, though, he impressed me. He has a good sense of humor. He treats his staff really well. And he's willing to poke fun at himself.

My friend from Detroit got free tickets.

Now, usually when we see her bands from Detroit, I'm stoked. The White Stripes...great band. The Von Bondies....now, that was some Detroit Muscle. Ted Nugent...well, I blogged about that show previously.

When someone calls me with free concert tickets, I don't always jump at it. One of the worst concerts I ever saw was from the 3rd row at the Sports Arena for R.E.M. They did two songs I liked. The rest was listening to Stipes whiney voice.

But, off I went to Pala Casino. In the parking lot I saw a Mustang with a license plate that said KIDROCK. I'm assuming it wasn't his.

The place looked to be sold-out. And, with tickets starting at $75...yikes.

And, I have to admit, he put on one helluva show.

I didn't care for his country sounding songs, although one had very funny lyrics.

And, although his latest song is catchy (you know the one...it mixes the music of Warren Zevon with Lynyrd Skynyrd), I think it's kind of lame.

He performed all his hits, and they sounded a lot better live. They had more punch.

And near the middle of the show, he brought out Rev Run, from the rap group Run DMC. And, he was a lot more energetic than he is on his reality show "Runs House".

They did "It's Tricky" and "You Be Illin'" (wow, I felt goofy just typing that title).

They did the cover of "Walk This Way," and Rock sounded a lot like Steven Tyler.

The show was two hours, with Kid Rock thanking everyone in this economic time, for coming out to support him.

He also said a few words about the troops, before playing the ballad he wrote about them (with the moving video, showing a handful of soldiers).

As my girlfriend and I were getting ready to leave, we saw a guy that she claimed "looked just like Kid Rock." Well, he was bald and fat, but other than that....

We got a closer look. And sure enough, in the face, it looked just like Rock. We asked if he was related, and he said he was his cousin.

I then noticed he had backstage credentials, so he probably wasn't lying.

As we were talking with him, and he joked his voice isn't nearly as good as Rock's, two women came up and asked if they could go backstage with him. One of them said, "We even smell good."

He then grabbed her hand, lifted it, and smelled under her arm. He said, "Yeah, you do."

Gotta love the Kid Rock clan.