Kid Rock to be opening act at Wings' new arena
Detroit — Kid Rock will perform four concerts to open Little Caesars Arena in September, the Motor City rocker announced during a press conference at the site of the new arena on Thursday.
Rock will perform Sept. 12, 13, 15 and 16. Tickets for the shows, $20, $35, $55 and $75, go on sale at 10 a.m. Jan 27.
Rock entered the press conference by walking across the arena's dirt floor and toward the media gathered at the building's north end. He thanked the workers gathered around the space, who paused their work while Rock spoke to members of the press.
"I know you're working hard to get this done in time so we can come in here, open this place up, and rock it," Rock said.
Rock was introduced by Ilitch Holdings President and CEO Christopher Ilitch, who called Rock "a worldwide star and Detroit icon."
Rock is currently working on finishing up his new album in Nashville and plans to have it out by September's concerts, he said.
The shows will mark Rock's first Detroit concerts since he performed a record-breaking string of 10 sold-out concerts at Clarkston’s DTE Energy Music Theatre, playing to 150,000 fans over the course of three weeks.
Rock and his production crew acted as consultants on the design of the new arena, according to arena officials.
Little Caesars Arena is the multimillion-dollar venue north of downtown that will be the home ice of the Red Wings next season. It will likely also be the home court of the Detroit Pistons. In November, the Pistons announced a move from Auburn Hills to the Detroit venue. The Pistons would also move corporate offices to the city and build a separate “community center/practice facility” in the Motor City. If the deal gets the necessary approval from the various government agencies as well as the National Basketball Association, Detroit would be the only city in North America to have all of its four professional sports teams housed within four blocks of the city center.
Also during that November announcement, the owners of the Pistons and Red Wings said they would form a mega-entertainment venture that would control many of the major performance venues in Detroit and its suburbs.
While the two sports teams will remain separate franchises, Ilitch Holdings and Palace Sports & Entertainment — controlled by Pistons owner Tom Gores — have agreed to establish a joint venture in connection with the many Detroit-area venues controlled by the two groups. Those venues include the new arena, Comerica Park, Fox Theatre, City Theatre, the Palace of Auburn Hills, DTE Energy Music Theatre, Meadow Brook Amphitheatre and Freedom Hill Amphitheatre.
laguilar@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @LouisAguilar_DN