Ted Nugent @ HoB 7-3-06

[TeleCat]

Missed the first twenty minutes or so because of traffic (Myrtle Beach on 4th of July weekend is hell). Anyway I got in the place and it was jam packed (well over the 2600 capacity). I managed to get right up front though. When I got there Ted was talking up the guns and hunting deal (typical of him, but not as bad as I've seen him). Then he broke into Hey Baby. His bassist sang dead on (swore it was Derek St. Holmes) Perfect! I tell you what, he gets better with age. His leads are flawless and his tone is unreal. Not a lot of effects either. No rack system just a few pedals. He played his American flag Les Paul for most of the show. Next was Dog Eat Dog. I love the guitar solo in that song and he nailed it. He then started taking about Detroit and Motwon and went into Soul Man. And it was pretty damn good. Couple new tunes, one called Girl Scout Cookies (typical funny sex song from Ted along the lines of Wang Dang). The big surprise was Need You Bad from Weekend Warriors. Another very cool, tasteful solo in that one and again flawless. Fred Bear was in there and he broke out the zebra striped PRS. (I'm not crazy about that tune but I've never heard the studio version). Then he did a montage of Motor City Madhouse/Baby Please Don't Go and (swear to God) a free form jazz thing with the bassist. So it went from speed metal, blues boogie, to jazz and back to metal. He's certainly versitile. Cat Scratch was in there of course. Then came Kiss My Ass and a big sillouette of Bin Laden arose from back stage and it got an arrow in the chest. The encore was Stranglehold with his Gibson Byrdland. All in all a very good show. I'm pissed that I missed the opening though. I did find a pick on the floor on the way out though (scrap book fodder).
All I can say is his showmanship is surpassed only by his guitar playing. He's one of the best pure rock players out there but he can play almost anything. As for his nationalist views-I don't mind. He's passionate about guns and hunting and America and you can't knock him for that. The Greatful Dead were passionate about LSD, Jimmy Page is into the occult so I don't see how you can say he's out of line. I remember seeing him for the first time in '86 and it was more of a straight up rock show without the bow and arrow and all that but all in all he lets the music do the talking. Love ya Ted!

 

[Music Wench]

Thanks for the review Telecat. I personally love Ted Nugent's music. Lots of fun and sometimes I think people let their feelings for his political views stand in the way of their appreciation of his talent. Most excellent guitarist.

Oh and despite being a liberal, I find his views on guns and hunting to be all right. Personally I could never kill anything. I'm a hypocrit in that respect cause while I love a great juicy steak, if I had to kill the cow to get that steak, I'd be a vegetarian.

In any case, Ted teaches responsible gun ownership to kids, he advocates hunting and using what he kills to feed his family, etc. Having lived in Michigan for about 12 years now, I understand that. Everyone goes hunting around here. Not everyone needs to but many of the people who do hunt use what they kill for food. In these days it certainly helps families around here what with the shitty economy and gas prices, etc.

As for his other politics, well, I just choose to ignore them.