Kip Moore strutted onstage wearing denim jeans with an American flag bandanna hanging from the back pocket, a Rolling Stones tank top, a backwards trucker hat, work boots and a decent amount of stubble.
I’ve heard it said that Moore is the kind of artist who can successfully bridge the gap between "trucker rock" (the country music so many folks love to hate) and "real country" (in the vein of Mr. Cash himself).

That may be true, but it wasn’t evident from his show tonight. And I don’t mean that as an insult – because a 10 p.m. Summerfest crowd at the Briggs & Stratton stage didn’t come for dulcet tones. They came for a dude who sings with a plastic Solo cup in one hand and a flash in the other and catches girls’ bras as they toss them onstage. And for Milwaukee, tonight, Kip Moore was that dude.

In other words, truck yeah.

"Sh*t, this is gonna be fun!" he cried. "Y’all have to work in the morning?" He proceeded to tell a story about a boss of his who became frustrated with him always bringing his guitar to work. "He said, ‘Music will never pay you a dime." The boss said he could choose between working for him and playing his guitar.

Moore chose the guitar. "I guess I got the last laugh now," he told the crowd, before dedicating the last verse of "Reckless (Still Growin’ Up)" to "your boss man and my boss man."

Moore gave the crowd plenty of love, telling them that the last time he played Summerfest (at the same stage) the crowd consisted of 75 disinterested people, two of whom played c ards in the front row the entire time. "The whole f*ckin set!"

He was charming, too, with his Georgia colloquialisms ("right quick" was used more than once) and his kind attention to some fans he spotted in the front whom he identified to everyone as having been attending his shows for years – "Even when there were only five other people in the bar!"

He started the show on a rowdy note with "Crazy One More Time" and played one of his biggest hits, "Beer Money," about the fifth song in. "Motorcycle" was another fast crowd-pleaser. I felt that he really showed his range well when he slowed things down with "Up All Night" – a subtler tune that still got a good reaction from the crowd. He also played a beautiful new song, "Backseat" that the audience really responded well to.

The emotional high point came with "Hey Pretty Girl," his slow, sweet radio hit. Moore preceded it with a story about his guitarist, a good ol’ boy who was always good for a smoke and a drink…until his baby was born. And then, as Moore explained to the crowd, "he settled his ass down."

He finished the night up with "Somethin’ Bout a Truck," clearly the crowd favorite, and came out for an encore with fellow Big Gig headliner Tom Petty’s "Free Falling."

It’s a real pleasure to see an artist who has the talent and stage presence of a superstar but who is still relatively unknown. Moore still has that raw, real world charm and conversational ease. He seemed genuinely in awe of everything he’s accomplished, and truly grateful that we all showed up to listen to him.

He said that at the end of the show he would be at the merch tent. "I’ll sign anything ya got. ‘Till the last person." I didn’t stay, but I’m sure he did just that.