By Andrew Bansal
July 16th 2013, City National Grove Of Anaheim, Anaheim CA: Love him or hate him, Ted Nugent stands true to his beliefs and principles, and regardless of whether or not one agrees with his political leanings or his lifestyle, Ted Nugent the musician has been and always will be a legend. With that said, there are numerous such musicians that have been around for a lengthy period of time, are still playing shows even though they really shouldn’t be, delivering half-hearted, money-grabbing performances to soak up the die-hard fans’ money. Ted Nugent’s controversially titled ‘Black Power 2013’ tour began on July 11th and headed its way down to make a stop at the lovely City National Grove of Anaheim last night. For this reviewer, it was not just merely a chance to fulfill yet another wish on the bucket list by seeing the Nuge in concert, but also to discover, in all honesty, whether the man can still put on a worthy show for his loyal audience. I immensely enjoyed interviewing him a couple of weeks ago, and as a warm-up to my review below you can get started by reading the interview here, if you haven’t yet.
Expectedly, this was a seated show as opposed to the all-standing general admission events I usually attend here, which meant that the total capacity was reduced, but to Nugent’s credit he still managed to sell out a venue as big as the Grove, whereas he’s been playing much smaller venues in other cities on this tour. The sheer number of white people in the crowd was alarmingly large, the beer lines were long, and things looked all set for a classic Nugent show.
But before that, opening act Laura Wilde took the stage at 8 PM and attempted to wow the crowd with her brand of hard rock. This very young Australian artist has been residing in Los Angeles for the past four years, and quite appropriately, her music captured the Aussie flavor as well as the kind of hard rock Los Angeles-based bands are known for. This singer/guitarist did an excellent job on her vocals and had a decent backing band with her. I wish she did more as a lead guitarist because for a good portion of the 30-minute set, the guitar strapped on her wasn’t even put to use. Whenever she did play the guitar though, she brought out some cool blues-based licks. Their cover of AC/DC’s ‘Jailbreak’ was enjoyable too. Overall I thought it was a decent set, very easy on the ears and thanks to Laura herself, easy on the eyes too. She’ll only get better as an artist and a live act. All she needs is more guitar.
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Grand Funk Railroad’s ‘We’re An American Band’ was fittingly played on the PA just before Ted Nugent and his band hit the stage as the clock struck 9. The stage was literally set for a typical Uncle Ted onslaught, with his signature amps either side and in front of the drumkit, white buffalo horns on top of the amp walls, the infamous bow & arrow resting by the side, and of course, the American flag. He sounded and looked full of energy even at the age of 65. Right from the get-go, his musicianship was top-notch. Those beautiful Gibson Byrdland guitars of his treated this rock n’ roll hungry audience with plenty of ear candy. As for the vocals, rhythm guitarist Derek St. Holmes contributed a sizable portion of the lead vocals, but when it came to the old, classic stuff, the Nuge definitely chimed in.
The first half of the set included tunes like ‘Wango Tango’, ‘Turn It Up’ and ‘Wang Dang Sweet Poontang’, and there really wasn’t a single dull moment because the set flowed smoothly with one hit after another, although some songs are obviously more popular than others. Later on in the set, Nugent belted out the mother of all classics ‘Cat Scratch Fever’, which before proceeding to play he described as ‘the best riff in the world’. He saved the song ‘The Great White Buffalo’ for the encore, and ended the set with the first verse of the American national anthem on his guitar. But amidst the rock n’ roll grooving and dancing, there were a couple of slow, bluesy tunes that truly showcased Nugent’s roots and talents on the instrument. It was a real treat for music lovers and provided a nice relaxation period between the rocking tunes.
The music throughout the set was fantastic, but besides that, the show had a whole another element to it that made it all the more memorable. This element was made up of Uncle Ted’s monologues, rants, jokes and pieces of advice. The man was in no mood to hold back, at all. He addressed the Zimmerman verdict, his hunting sprees, the US military, and various other things in a manner that made everyone laugh out loud, whether or not they agreed with him. Nugent simply has that natural, uncanny ability for comedy. His relentless, shameless, bold statements were just hilarious. You’ve got to love the manner in which he stands up for himself, you’ve got to love the pompousness. ‘Nobody can play like us or think like us. We’re the last of our kind’ yelled Nugent about his music. ‘I love coming to California in the summer, for the rest of the year I just kill shit’, was another statement from him. But the best of them all was his tribute to the black musicians who helped shape rock the way we know it today, as he mentioned Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley, hence perhaps tying into the name of the tour.
But don’t get me wrong, I do not have any political inclinations and neither agree nor disagree with whatever Nugent has to say about anything. But, I certainly enjoyed listening to him talk. Rock n’ roll needs more frontmen like him. All in all, this Ted Nugent live experience was an excellent dose of some of the most influential rock music. If you get a chance to see him in your city, do not miss it!
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Set List:
1. Gonzo
2. Just What the Doctor Ordered
3. Wango Tango
4. Turn It Up
5. Free-For-All
6. Stormtroopin
7. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
8. Live It Up
9. Queen of the Forest
10.Fred Bear
11.Hey Baby
12.Cat Scratch Fever
13.Stranglehold
Encore:
14.Great White Buffalo