What is the old adage? Any publicity is good publicity? Well, musician, hunter and political activist Ted Nugent has been living that motto for the last handful of years. The 64 year old Nugent, who has been touring since he was in his late teens, performed at Braun’s Concert Cove on Sunday night. I’ve seen Ted Nugent before and as always, you never know exactly what you’re in for, but you can count on great musicianship.
Well, what you got on Sunday was an exhibition of tremendous musical talent. Nugent’s band consists of Derrick St. Holmes on rhythm guitar, Mick Brown on drums and Greg Smith on bass. These guys were locked in and sounded amazing! Nugent kept his political views to a minimum, which made for a smooth show.
With St. Holmes back in the fold, he adds a different element where Nugent can focus on his playing rather than handling all the vocals and lead guitar parts. St. Holmes sounded as he did in 1977. His vocals sounded clean on “Hey Baby” and “Stormtroopin” and, of course, the classic “Stranglehold.” Nugent reminded everybody what the best guitar lick of all time is as he proceeded to play the first few chords of “Cat Scratch Fever.” The rhythm section was locked in as well. Both Brown and Smith propelled the band to sound crisp and fresh and let Nugent and, at times, St. Holmes do their thing. Since the show was right outside of Buffalo, NY, what would a concert in Buffalo be without closing with the “Great White Buffalo?” The only thing missing was the headdress to make this a perfect finale.
What might be lost in translation is how well Nugent can play as a musician, when his political views don’t get in the way of that. This was by far the best show I have seen him do since 2011!
Opening the show was Australia’s darling Laura Wilde. Laura, who also toured with Nugent on his summer tour last year, is in the midst of creating a new CD. Two (2) new tracks and songs from her debut album “Sold my Soul” were played. If you’ve never seen Wilde, not only can she play but she works the crowd very hard and by the end of the night, she will earn your respect. Wilde is very likeable and her songs are catchy as well. Unfortunately, Wilde’s set was only 30 minutes long, so we didn’t see her spread her wings very much. I, for one, am very interested to see how she would do in a headlining slot!
Ted Nugent Set List:
Gonzo
Just What the Doctor Ordered
Wango Tango
Turn it Up
Free-For-All
Stormtroopin’
Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
I Can’t Quit you Baby (Willie Dixon cover)
Live it Up
Queen of the Forest
Fred Bear
Hey Baby
Cat Scratch Fever
Stranglehold
Encore:
Great White Buffalo
Laura Wilde Set List:
Show Me Love(new song)
Angel
Scarlett Woman (new song
For You
I Love This City (new song)
Jailbreak (AC/DC cover)
Drum solo
Sold My Soul
Tragedy (new song)
We would like to thank Linda Peterson from Tedquarters for the credentials to review this show.
