COWBOY UP: Kid Rock

The pros and cons of Kid Rock, performing Saturday at Tampa's MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre:

PRO: Few rock stars are as committed to showing fans a good time as Robert Ritchie, whose $20 Ticket Tour — featuring one cheap price point for most tickets, plus $20 souvenir packages and $4 draft beers — is a wildly popular deal. This Tampa stop sold out long ago.

CON: Few rock stars are as unfiltered as Rock, especially when it comes to his social conservatism. In a single Rolling Stone story earlier this year, Rock shot and killed some nuisance wild hogs on his rural Alabama estate and later exchanged texts with Sarah Palin. Nothing necessarily wrong with all that … but lately, Rock has come under fire for failing to decry his use of the Confederate flag at concerts and on merchandise. Not exactly a popular stance these days.

PRO: Some 15 years after rap-rock's heyday, hick-hop haymakers Devil Without a Cause, Cowboy and American Bad Ass are still big, dumb, funky, ridiculous fun.

CON: Bawitdaba, da-bang da-dang, diggy diggy diggy said da boogie, said up-drop da boogie … This is for the questions that don't have any answers, indeed.

PRO: In recent years, Rock has mellowed out with Southern-fried rockers in the vein of Bob Seger or Lynyrd Skynyrd, like Born Free and All Summer Long, and his latest album, First Kiss, is essentially outlaw country. With songs like Drinking Beer With Dad and Jesus and Bocephus, how could it not be?

CON: This new-school Rock can also be pretty edgeless. Case in point: his Sheryl Crow duet Picture. SNORE.

PRO: Rock remains one of the most personable frontmen in music, and he has a sense of humor about himself. Did you see him on the pilot episode of HBO's Silicon Valley, playing a private concert for a group of nerds who could care less he's there?

CON: Silicon Valley's a pretty hip show, and yet it still feels kind of dirty, kind of shameful, to call yourself an out-and-proud Kid Rock fan in 2015. Which is a shame, because …

PRO: … love him or hate him, he's one of rock's last real outlaws.

Rock performs with Foreigner and the Packway Handle Band at 6:45 p.m. Saturday at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, 4802 U.S. 301 N, Tampa. Check your favorite after-market vendor for tickets. Call (813) 740-2446 with questions.

FREE FOR ALL: Vance Joy and Meg Myers

If you've somehow avoided getting swallowed up by Vance Joy's Riptide over the past year, congratulations — you never had to worry about the sticky-sweet ukulele ditty clinging to your eardrums like marzipan. Realistically, though, you're probably humming it right now: Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the dark side … Taylor Swift is such a fan of the Australian folk singer that she (A) covered Riptide on a British radio show, and (B) booked him to open her North American tour, which stops at Raymond James Stadium on Oct. 31. If you can't wait that long, 97X has you covered, bringing Joy to Jannus Live next Wednesday for another of its free Shindig shows. To sweeten an already sugary pot, the opening act is Tennessee native Meg Myers, whose breathy warble on just-shy-of-Gothic new single Sorry is part Fiona Apple, part PJ Harvey and part Bat for Lashes. The 21-and-up show is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Jannus Live, 200 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg. While it is free, you do need a ticket for entry. Find a ticket drop location near you at 97xonline.com.

COVER GIRL: Dej Loaf

XXL magazine's annual "Freshman Class" issue is no joke. You make the cover of hip-hop's bible, and it's a heck of an industry endorsement. That goes double for female MCs like Dej Loaf. In June, the Detroit rapper became one of just a handful of ladies so honored by XXL, the latest highlight of many from her breakout year. In the past few months, Loaf (born Deja Trimble) has signed with Columbia Records, watched her glossy single Try Me scale the charts, been featured on Kid Ink's hit Be Real, rocked the mic at Bonnaroo and hopped on the road with Nicki Minaj. It is, in fact, between dates on Minaj's Pinkprint Tour that Loaf will swing by Ybor City for an appearance this Sunday at Club Skye. This is the part where we warn you, as always, that these late-night club gigs can be kind of a crapshoot — sometimes artists hit the stage well after midnight, sometimes they perform only a few songs, sometimes they don't perform at all, sometimes they don't even show up. Caveat emptor, yada yada yada. But assuming Loaf does show, it'll be a great, intimate chance to see one of rap's brightest stars on the rise. Admission is free until 11 p.m.; after that, tickets are $30 via Ticketmaster. Club Skye is at 1509 E Eighth Ave., Ybor City. For info, see skyetampa.com.