There are rough diamonds, and then there is Kid Rock. In the persona of a God-loving, gun-toting Southern man who has proclaimed himself to be the rock'n'roll Jesus, Rock has clawed his way to the top by exhibiting a level of brash self-belief that is remarkable even by the standards of the modern American showbusiness circus. Now 37, and on to his eleventh album, the rock-rap crossover star from Detroit has recently enjoyed the biggest hit of his career with All Summer Long, which topped the British chart earlier this year.

On the only British date on his European tour, he began with a typically messianic flourish. Dressed in white and bathed in a dazzling light, he spelt out the gospel according to Rock: “It's all sex, drugs, rock'n'roll/ A soul sensation that you can't control/ You can see I practise what I preach...”

Aided by a sensational ten-piece backing band, a brilliant lighting design and a sound mix that incorporated gentle passages alongside moments of battering-ram intensity, Rock steered his way through a show notable for its passionate showmanship and musical variety if not always for its subtlety. He took a rather brusque approach to the courtship game in songs such as So Hott. “I don't want to be your friend/ I want to f*** you like I'm never going to see you again,” he declaimed against a riff that made AC/DC sound demure by comparison.

While his larger-than-life persona was clearly key to the performance, Rock proved himself to be much more than just an outrageous provocateur. He sang reflective acoustic-rock songs such as Roll On and the gospel-tinged Amen with a genuinely soulful touch, and demonstrated at different times his command of keyboards, guitar, drums and manipulating the record decks. And far from being a one-trick pony, his set incorporated musical genres ranging from the old-school Southern rock of the Allman Brothers Band's Ramblin' Man to the country honky-tonk of Half Your Age, performed as a knockabout duet with the drummer Stefanie Eulinberg.

But it was the self- aggrandising swagger of songs such as Cocky and Cowboy that carried the day, built on the rock and rap alchemy that Aerosmith and Run DMC discovered with Walk This Way. “I'm Kid Rock and I'm the real McCoy,” he avowed. No disagreements here.

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