Review and Photography by Micah Gummel.
On August 15th, 2011.
I had the opportunity to photograph Ted Nugent, or to fans ‘Uncle Ted’ or “The Nuge”.
Ted Nugent never holds back: from guitar, to guns, to the stage, to his famous hunting show on TV – the guy even has a post as a reserve police officer in his hometown! With both life and music experience, the Nuge has been performing from the age of 10.
Review and Photography by Micah Gummel.
The great thing about this tour was that the dynamic duo of St. Holmes and Nugent was reunited after fifteen years apart. Derek St. Holmes, that’s right! Nugent/St. Holmes are responsible for writing some of the greatest rock songs of the mid-70’s. The rest of the team well respected in their own right were Dokken drummer, “Wild” Mick Brown and bassist Greg Smith.
This well rounded team took the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom by storm helping the Motor City Madman re-state his case as one of the best live rock ‘n’ roll performers of his or any other generation.
St. Holmes fit in perfectly with Nugent’s “Funk Brothers,” which are bassist Greg Smith and drummer Mick Brown. He showed that his voice is still in fantastic shape, and provided solid rhythm guitar support that freed Nugent up to add extra dramatic flourishes to songs like ‘Just What the Doctor Ordered.’
Nugent repeated the secret ingredient to his sound many times throughout the night: “What kind of music is this? Soul music! No s—!” He gave shout-outs time and again to the greats that inspired him: James Brown, Chuck Berry and others.
The Nuge is, without a doubt, also of the best talkers in the game, stating unequivocally that he and his band were the last men standing, that he’d keep bringing his music to the people because he didn’t trust anybody else to do it, and that if there were one band he’d want to go see, it’d be… himself! He is quite simply a force of nature, leading his band with repeated jaw-dropping displays of furious, seemingly half-improvised and somehow tasteful guitar exploration.
It’s really remarkable; he plays roughly the same dozen or so songs on tour year after year, but breathes enough new life into them each time so they never sound stale or over-rehearsed. The Nuge made a point to say they take off from their “day jobs” for 3 months out of the year and do 50 shows in 52 days! Ted loves his work and 62 years old he still has a blast!
The stage setting had the Nuge surrounded by a wall of guitars and well, a few guns on stage this time out. Any conversation we have about the Nuge is always gonna start and end with his music. He’s a living legend with a dozen or so forever-classic songs to his credit, and he puts on, without a doubt, one of the most energetic, skilled and rousing live performances you’re ever going to see. If you ever have the chance to see him do it you will have a blast!
There were many memorable quotes, but this one I jotted down:
“Look what venison does to a goofy guitar player from Detroit? I’m going to be 62 this year and if I had any more energy I’d scare you.”
Set List:
Free-for-All Stormtroopin Wango Tango Just What the Doctor Ordered Wang Dang Sweet Poontang Need You Bad Turn It Up Rawdogs and Warhogs Dog Eat Dog Hey, Baby Fred Bear I Still Believe Motor City Madhouse Cat Scratch Fever Stranglehold Great White Buffalo.
Ted Nugent.
