Your ‘Uncle’ Ted Nugent is an original, as he’ll constantly assure you. His
latest double CD and DVD Motor City Mayhem, recorded at Pine
Knob in Michigan, his hometown, marks not only the fourth show of 2008 (when
it was recorded), but old Uncle Ted’s 6,000th performance (though how anyone
could keep track of this milestone is beyond me). As with everything Ted Nugent
does, this show takes off in a big big way. From an opening of the man wailing
away on a pretty competent “Star Spangle Banner” with soldiers
behind him and a beauty queen popping out of a seven-foot tall red white and
blue cake with “6,000th Concert” written across it, to his blistering
band — drummer Mick Brown and bassist Greg Smith — plus guest
stars to be named later — the Nuge runs through everything you’d ever
want to hear.
There’s a little-too-fast-for-its-own-good “Motor City Madhouse,”
where the band sounds more like Motorhead. “Wango Tango” benefits
as much from great backing vocals of Brown and Smith as it lacks from the
fact that there’s no second guitar the early tunes kind of plod along. Things
pick up a bit with the double whammy of “Dog Eat Dog” and Smith’s
lead vocals on “Need You Bad.” Then Nugent calls out his guitar
teacher, a man named Joe Podorsek, for a quick instrumental of “Honky
Tonk.” Mitch Ryder drummer Johnny “Bee” Badanjek, who can
still groove, joins on “Jenny Take A Ride.” It’s only a weak run
through “Soul Man” that kills the momentum. Why that was in the
set in anyone’s guess.
But things really take off during the last five tunes. Nugent brings out
Derek St. Holmes, who sang on the landmark Ted Nugent album of 1975. The man
plays guitar (we finally get two guitars in the mix to fill out the sound)
and sings up a storm on “Hey Baby” and the monumental showstopper
“Strangehold.” Nugent really nails the lead here, nearly note
for note. “Great White Buffalo,” the encore, is about the only
song the group could follow up with. Nugent, decked out in full Indian head
dress, really brings the house down. With his cries of “Freedom”
(like Mel Gibson in Braveheart), his self-congratulatory boasts,
his sizzling lead guitar playing, his lifting of rifles in both hands —
Ted Nugent, like him or hate him, is a true maverick who makes his mark on
Motor City Mayhem.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
