Earlier today, we published Justin Weber’s lengthy review of Kid Rock’s concert at Walnut Creek on Saturday night. It’s been a difficult two weeks for Detroit’s Kid Rock, who has been challenged at home for his use of the Confederate flag but refused to back down until a publicist named Nick Stern took over for him.
I appreciated Justin’s review, in part because of its thoroughness and in part because its accounts of parking-lot stupidity resonated with my own experiences the night before in the same space, when I caught a (very good, actually) Tim McGraw set at the Triangle’s big amphitheater. I, too, saw sexual harassment and Confederate flags, heard a few racist epithets and generally felt disappointed by the way folks with a little freedom on a Friday night tend to get ignorant. It was a tad scary, as if all the national battles of the last few months had filtered down into the festering gravel lots of an old amphitheater. So, as I read and eventually published Justin’s thoughts, I nodded along emphatically, more than once.
But apparently Nick Stern—”a former Atlantic Records staffer, currently a manager at Vector Management whose clients include The Black Angels, Phosphorescent and Eagulls, among others,” according to a piece he wrote for Billboard last year—didn’t nod so much. Stern, who I’ve alternately seen listed as Kid Rock’s manager and publicist, sent Justin and a Live Nation representative a rather irked email this afternoon. He didn’t like the review and takes issue with the price of beer that Justin named.
“Looking forward to talking to your editor as well,” he concluded. So, rather than wait around for his complaints, I emailed Stern straight away and asked how I could help.
Our unedited exchange is below. Two hours later, I am still waiting on his next response, but I do not think I will get one. He mad.
And as best as I can tell, Justin’s facts check out. If Stern tells us otherwise, of course, we’ll fix them.
