For all his cringe-worthy commentary and ridiculous bluster, Ted Nugent remains an extraordinarily formidable entertainer.
"Sounds mighty good for an old son of a bitch," the 59-year-old rocker told an audience of about 1,300 diehard fans Sunday night at the Uptown Theater. "It's better now than it's ever been."
He may be right.
The "Motor City Madman" played his 6,000th show earlier this month. Unlike many of his fellow '70s hard-rock hitmakers, life spent on the road has seemingly energized him.
Nugent has also become famous (infamous?) as an incendiary political analyst and gun-rights advocate. His two-hour performance opened and closed with Hendrix-derived versions of the "The Star-Spangled Banner." The primary stage backdrop depicted Nugent as a leering Uncle Sam wearing an NRA button. At least one fan sported a T-shirt that read "Ted Nugent Is My President."
"I'm going to try to be nice tonight," Nugent pledged. "I don't want to hurt nobody's feelings."
He was lying. One of Nugent's unamusing conceits: He's a black soul musician.
"I've been coming here since I was a small black child," Nugent joked. "I invented barbecue for all you white motherf*******."
The most objectionable moments came when he spotted two black security men guarding the stage.
"I thought I was going to be the only black guy here," he told one. Then to the audience: "If anything happens to me, shoot that boy."
The buffoonery didn't end there. While chattering about "American cowboys," Nugent shrieked "There ain't no Jap cowboys... I like the U.S. Army; those are my cowboys."
He also called an enthusiastic blonde fan a "bitch" and characterized the audience as "crackers."
Good-natured ribbing or ignorant bigotry? I think Nugent's provocations are tasteless but free of hateful malice. After all, it's impossible to take "Uncle Ted" seriously when his set list is loaded with gleefully idiotic gems like "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" and "Wango Tango."
As if to make amends for his absurd rants, Nugent covered Sam & Dave's "Soul Man," riffed on "Cool Jerk" and made reference to James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Bo Diddley.
Working in a trio, Nugent's sound is now bluesier and slightly less metallic. "Free For All" exemplified this shift; it came across like ZZ Top hopped up on Red Bull. The move toward simplicity transformed "Stormtroopin' " into a primal stomp that rivaled Motorhead for sheer brutality. And yes: All nine minutes of "Stranglehold" still sound great.
"This is the tightest band in America," Nugent boasted.
It wasn't all good. The patriotic "Raw Dogs & War Hogs" and the hunting-inspired "Fred Bear" are excruciating, while "Need You Bad," sung by bassist Greg Smith, was listless.
Energy wasn't lacking in the opening set by Alex Winston. The 20-year-old young lady from Detroit won over Nugent's fans by combining youthful pep with classic-rock boogie. It was as if Aerosmith had replaced Steven Tyler with Avril Lavigne. To quote Nugent, it was "real American shit-kicking music."
| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star
It was a good concert. The old lady forgot to bring her teeth, but we still had a good time. I got so excited I crapped my pants, and the old lady was squealing like a pig!! Hee-haw!!
Posted by: Doublewide | July 21, 2008 at 05:09 PM
I'm a huge Ted MUSIC fan from way back but his stage shows have gotten so repetitious it makes a Kiss show look like Gov't. Mule. He always brings in a whopping 2 side musicians so he doesn't have to pay squat. Nobody you've ever heard of, not that it would matter. He sings all of Derek's lead songs, which sounds like crap. He'd get so much more from his fans if he'd come out on stage wearing something besides army gear and stupid stage props. Here's an idea... A blank stage, jeans and a T, no yapping in between songs and just play. Ain't never gonna happen..... "Fred Bear"? That song was atrocious 20 years ago.
Posted by: wadkc | July 21, 2008 at 05:35 PM