On April 5 and 6, the first stop on Kid Rock and Jason Aldean’s Rock the Country tour took place at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La. and it featured an open spot from conservative pundit Tucker Carlson.
While the more than 20,000 fans were there to see the two headliners along with other acts like Hank Williams Jr., Koe Wetzel, Travis Tritt and others, they were greeted with a seemingly unlikely opener for Kid Rock: former Fox News talking head Tucker Carlson.
“You you may be asking, ‘What am I doing here,” Carlson said as he addressed the crowd, standing behind a podium with a seal that read, “United States of ‘Merica — Kid Rock.”
“And you know, I don’t really know.”
How Did Kid Rock Convince Tucker Carlson to Open For Him?
Carlson explained that he had dinner with Kid Rock recently and the rock star told him he should open for him on the “Rock the Country” tour. Carlson pushed back initially, saying he didn’t play an instrument.
Kid Rock’s response convinced Carlson to reconsider: “‘You will figure it out and you will like it.'”
During Carlson’s six minutes onstage, it seemed as though he was figuring it out as he went along. Pausing every few moments to let out a nervous, high-pitched giggle, Carlson meandered from the story of having dinner with Kid Rock to being depressed by reading comments about America on the Internet.
One of the many highlights, though, came when Carlson explained that the lighting rig at the concert — he used air quotes when he said “lighting rig” — was shaped like a cross, and because he loves that shape, he had to go see it.
On his journey to the cross, he was interrupted by “this chick [who had] two nose rings, a cross necklace and a Trump bracelet. And she looks at me right in the face and she goes, ‘I love you.’ And I said, ‘I love you too.’ And I meant it. And I thought, that’s the America that I know: little weird, slightly crazy, full of love. And beautiful.”
He went on to say that is exactly how he’d describe Kid Rock, eventually referring to him as a “real American.”
It is unclear whether or not Carlson will open for Kid Rock at the remaining “Rock the Country“ shows.
In the meantime, though, you can watch Carlson’s opening set in the tweet below, courtesy of right-wing personality Benny Johnson. We have also transcribed the speech at the bottom of this article.
What Is the “Rock the Country” Tour?
Kid Rock and Jason Aldean are part of the “Rock the Country” tour that kicked off on April 5 in Gonzales, La. The tour will travel to Ashland, Ky., Rome, Ga., Ocala, Fla., Mobile, Ala., Poplar Bluff, Mo. and Anderson, S.C.
While the lineup looks different at each stop, Kid Rock and Aldean are the constants throughout the tour.
Was Kid Rock Recently on Fox News?
The day prior to the start of the “Rock the Country” tour, Kid Rock joined Laura Ingraham on her Fox News show, Ingraham Angle, wearing a Budweiser hat.
READ MORE: Kid Rock Says He Never Asked For Bud Light Boycott
When she asked him about the hat, he said, “We got bigger targets,” turning his focus to Planet Fitness and Ben & Jerry’s, though he never really explained why he named those businesses as “targets.”
Earlier in the conversation with Ingraham, he commented on Donald Trump’s Spotify playlist: “It’s awesome, frickin’ the best.”
You can watch Kid Rock’s appearance on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle here.
Transcription of Tucker Carlson Opening For Kid Rock in Louisiana
I feel welcome. Thank you. You may be asking, ‘What am I doing here?’ And you know, I don’t really know. So I wound up here tonight because I was having dinner at my house with Kid Rock a few months ago. And he said — and I think he likes my house because you can smoke in my house — but he said, ‘You know, you should come and open for me on my summer tour.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m honored, of course, but I don’t play an instrument. Actually, I’m an unemployed talk show host. So what would I do your show?’ And he said, and I’m quoting now, ‘You will figure it out and you will like it.’
So that was two months ago. And I woke up this morning and I thought, I gotta go to Gonzales, La., and open up for Kid Rock. What am I going to say? And I had no idea till I got here. And you know what changed my mind?
I woke up this morning — and maybe you have this experience — I woke up this morning and I went on the Internet. Familiar? And I read all these stories and I thought to myself, ‘This is the most depressing thing that’s happened to me in a long time. This country is fucked up.’ That’s what I thought. I did think that. Which is a sad thing to think when you’re in bed. And I looked over at my wife and my four Dogs and I thought, ‘Whew, I feel depressed.’
And then I got here and I walked through the crowd and I thought, no, no, it’s not. The country they tell me about on the Internet is fucked up. The country that I experience when I walk through this crowd or when I wake up in my town of 100 people in a rural area, is a beautiful country.
Filled with beautiful people. I’m standing here and I look out and I see the structure. I don’t know if you can see it. It’s a lighting rig. But it’s got a familiar shape to it. A shape I like. And I said I want to go see the cross. So I walked out to the cross and as I’m walking out, this chick gets right in my face. She’s got two nose rings, a cross necklace and a Trump bracelet. And she looks at me right in the face and she goes, ‘I love you.’ And I said, ‘I love you too.’ And I meant it. And I thought, that’s the America that I know: little weird, slightly crazy, full of love. And beautiful.
And that describes the man I’m here to introduce. Yes it does.
If you could take one person out of this nation of 350 million people and present it to the rest of the world and say, ‘What’s what’s a real American look like?’ I would say, I would say that American would be both disobedient but decent. That American would both give you the finger and burst out laughing at the same time. That’s right.
These two men have a lot in common. Well, I I have the feeling that your wish will be granted. But enough of me talking, it is time to celebrate.
Now I know that many of you are not from Gonzalez, which has a population, I checked, of 12,000 people. There is more than twice that number here. So you came long distances and you spent quite a bit of your money to get here.
But it was worth it. Because can you put a price on living free in the last free country?
So let me tell you, my fellow Americans what we’ve got. All gathered here tonight, of free people, united by our love of country and under God and in the name of that country and that God, we’re here to celebrate a party that will not stop.
And so as I know you can, please be as noisy and disobedient as possible for Kid fucking Rock.
Top 50 Nu-Metal Albums of All-Time
These are the top 50 nu-metal albums of all time.
