Webster’s dictionary defines the word “passionate” as “having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid.” Next to that definition should be a photograph of Ted Nugent.

Nuge is passionate about family, guns, rock n’ roll, hunting, his right to bear arms and freedom. He takes no prisoners, plays no games and says what he means.

Some adamantly disagree with Ted, others are terrified to hear the truth, while others simply don’t understand the principals behind his convictions. “For three months out of the year, I rock my fucking balls off,” Nugent admitted backstage at Miami, Oklahoma’s Buffalo Run Casino, “The rest of the year I kill shit.” It’s really that simple. As Nugent has often said of his beliefs, political, or otherwise, “Its so simple, its stupid.”

For two nights in a row, I, along with my friend, and butcher, Kelly Borror of WB Meats, were privileged to be able to take in two concerts; one, an indoor show in Shawnee and the other in Miami, an outdoor gig for a motorcycle run the casino was hosting. Both shows were amazing and each featured subtle nuances, differing one from the other.

It must be noted, before going any further in this review, that Ted Nugent and his band are playing at a level not seen for many years. Nugent has always given his all, and I have never seen a sub par performance from him in over 30 years, but these two nights were powerful and explosive. There were no video screens, few props, other than a dozen or so Gibson Les Pauls that adorned the stage, and no gimmicks. The light show was sparse and there were no real special effects. What there was, however, was balls out, loud old school hard rock: drums, bass, and tons of guitar solos. Even the usual Nugent political and hunting rants were kept to a minimum.

Back in Nugent’s band for the first time in well over a decade was original Nugent vocalist, and guitarist, Derek St. Holmes. Derek brings something to a Ted Nugent concert that is not obvious. If he is not there, one does not necessarily miss him, but when he is there, the music has more magic, more fever and more sound. His voice has defied the laws of physics as he sounds just like he did on Nugent’s debut solo album back in 1975.

The bottom line for these two concerts was that Ted Nugent wanted to rock. He felt like unleashing his musical spirit and annihilating anything that got in his way, and he did exactly that.

With no opening act, Nugent went on at 7:30pm. The event was held inside the casino in a room that housed about 1000 Nugent faithful, all of whom were locked, cocked and ready to rock. Nugent didn’t make them wait, either, as he opened the show with “Free For All.” Once the tune was over, Nugent shouted, “Let’s do another one. Let’s do another one right now.” The band and crowd agreed and “Stormtroopin’” thundered throughout the small room, allowing Derek St. Holmes to step up the microphone for the first time that evening. Again, Nugent commanded the band to keep going and “Wango Tango” got the crowd, already on their feet, cheering loudly. The onslaught continued, without break with “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang,” “Just What the Doctor Ordered” and “Need You Bad.” Nugent allowed St. Holmes to strut his stuff on “Wang Dang” and Derek slammed out a killer guitar solo before Nugent joined in and the two played some killer harmonic tandem lead.

The surprise of the evening came when Nugent began the opening riff to “Turn It Up,” from the Free For All album. I have seen Nugent live a couple of dozen times and never heard this song performed. This song, live, delivers in a big way. The album version is not as heavy, but on this night, “Turn It Up” was a powerhouse of hard rock.

Before “Raw Dogs and War Hogs” Nugent took a moment to celebrate the armed forces and remind us who he is politically, but it was not as in-yer-face as it has been over the last decade. This tune was followed by hardcore fan favorite “Dog Eat Dog.” St. Holmes and Nugent, once again, took the night to a higher level.

When Nugent strapped on his tiger striped Paul Reed Smith guitar, everyone knew it was time for America’s favorite hunting song, “Fred Bear.” Watching Nugent become emotionally involved with this song is a testament to his passion as a hunter, a guitarist and shows the love and dedication he has to his mentor, the legendary bow hunter Fred Bear. In Fred’s death, Nugent gave birth to an amazing song.

Nugent performed a new song titled, “I Still Believe” that is about his love of freedom and America. Lyrically, it is a powerhouse, musically, it is average, Ted would 100% disagree with me on this one, and I can see why, as this song is dear to his heart. Ted’s solo on the song is, of course, out of this world, but the song does not capture one the way that the classics do. For instance, the way the next tune, “Motor City Madhouse,” did.

Nugent ended the concert with his two most well known songs, “Cat Scratch Fever” and “Stranglehold.” After “Cat Scratch,” Nugent said, “You can’t do that in France. You can’t do that in Canada and you can’t do that without me!” He went on to state, “No one, and I mean no one, can follow that shit… except me!” With that he went in to the iconic opening riff of “Stranglehold.” The night, however, was not quite over.

After a short break the band returned to the stage with Nugent adorned in a headdress. The band played “Great White Buffalo” and at the end of the song Nugent repeated over and over, “We need to sacrifice the buffalo.” He took his guitar off and gave it to a stagehand and then picked up his bow and loaded an arrow. The stagehand gave his guitar back to him and Nugent mounted it on the stage, stepped back, and with guitar still plugged in, shot an arrow through the six-string’s heart. The crowd went wild. The guitar hummed with feedback until the PA started playing “The Marines Hymn,” at which point, Nugent and band put on military helmets and appeared with machine guns. They bent over and hoisted an American flag on the stage, posing like the soldiers at Imo Jima.

Set List:
Free for All | Stormtroopin' | Wango Tango |　Just What the Doctor Ordered | Wang Dang Sweet Poontang |　Turn It Up || Hey Baby | Fred Bear | Motor City Madhouse | Cat Scratch Fever | Strangehold

Encore: Great White Buffalo　

Day II began with our ears still ringing from the onslaught in Shawnee the evening before. We, excitedly, headed northeast to the Buffalo Run Casino, where Nugent was the headlining act for the annual Buffalo Run Bike Show.

Backstage, before the show, we spent some time with Ted as he told us of his recent hunting experiences, and how much he is enjoying his current tour. “I am the only one doing this. You just don’t see concerts like this anymore,” confessed Nugent. “A lot of bands go through the motions but we are out there rocking our balls off every night. New bands don’t do this stuff anymore.”

Nugent went on to tell us that after the Shawnee show, the previous night, he flew home and got up and went to work cleaning the stalls and feeding his animals. During his morning routine, and ritual, he said he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a duck in a small area of water. “I wondered what the hell a duck would be doing there. I looked over and realized it wasn’t a duck. It was a large buck. I walked over and he had a blind wrapped around his neck and tangled up in his antlers. He was literally dying and was lying in the puddle of water. I thought of going and getting some help but I was afraid if I left that he might be gone when I got back. I thought about it and then decided that I could do this – the only reason I was going to try is because he was so weak. If he were not exhausted I would never have attempted it because he would have killed me. I went over to him and took out a knife and cut him free.”

It is easy to pay attention to Nugent when he is storytelling, as the same passion he gives onstage, he puts into recalling his hunting experiences.

When the topic of a Bucket List came up Ted smiled, leaned back in his chair and said, “You know, I have been fulfilling my Bucket List since 1968. I actually don’t even have one. Like I said, three months out of the year I rock my balls off and the rest of the time I kill shit.” With that, Nugent’s tour manager came into the room and said it was time for him to get ready for the show.

Kelly and I retreated back into the dark night. The temperature still hovered around 100 degrees, but the night sky felt better than the hot sun and a nice breeze kept things bearable. Before long, Nugent appeared, leading off with “Free For All” and yet another Oklahoma crowd cheered him on.

Nugent told us backstage that the experience of freeing the helpless animal had really been exciting and fired him up. He bragged, “If you think last night in Shawnee was great, wait till you see what I do tonight. Shit like that really makes my spirit alive and it all comes out in my guitar playing.” Truer words have never been said as Nugent’s set list was four songs shorter than the previous night but the concert was just as long. That meant only one thing: he played the shit out of his guitar.

In between “Just What the Doctor Ordered” and “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang,” Nugent introduced the band. Drummer Mick Brown and bass player Greg Smith held down a groove both nights that allowed St. Holmes to flavor the songs and Nugent to set ‘em on fire. After the intros, St. Holmes and Nugent began a two-guitar jam that ended up with the rhythm section jumping in, creating an improv jam that lasted several minutes.

The evening was electric as St. Holmes could hardly contain himself as he got the crowd singing and clapping along to the songs. Nugent extended his solos on “Fred Bear,” “Motor City Madhouse” and “Stranglehold” taking us back to the days of Double Live Gonzo where a three-minute studio version would stretch into a ten minute live rendition.

The show ended with the same three songs as the previous night, “Cat Scratch Fever,” “Stranglehold” and “Great White Buffalo.” He shot his arrow into his guitar, this time the arrow was on fire, and the band did the Imo Jima flag raising to end the show.

Ted Nugent is guitar god but he is also a self-proclaimed controversial figure. If he entered the political arena one wonders if the world would be better, or if it would spin out of control. The intro tape to both shows began with the voice of the Jack Nicholson’s character, Col. Jessup from the movie A Few Good Men, ordering out, “You want me on the wall. You need me on that wall.” I don’t doubt for a minute that Commander Nugent would have ordered the Code Red. Would that type of leadership benefit America? After all, Jessup was breaking the law and was arrested at the end of the show. One thing is for sure, Nugent, the politician, would wake all of our asses up and changes would happen, fast. Whether his spirit and attitude is right for political office has yet to be determined but it does make for one hell of a rock n’ roll show.

To be honest, this writer enjoyed the concert more with less political ranting from Nugent and more guitar playing. I respect his right to say whatever he wants, as this is America, but Nugent playing loud, in-your-face guitar is a special thing all by itself.

Derek St. Homles, far from a household name, brought a lot of energy to both concerts. Having Derek in the band actually costs Nugent money, as the pie gets one more slice taken out of it. For the crowd, however, it is worth the price, as the music is enhanced. Let’s hope these two rock n’ roll brothers from another mother can keep on rocking and create some new music while they are bouncing around the countryside.

Classic Rock Revisited highly recommends all rock dogs and rocker chicks to get off their asses and head to a Ted Nugent show before fall gets here and Nugent goes on safari. The only worry we have is that if Ted rocks his balls off the rest of the summer, then we may have to get used to hearing him talk in a higher register, as there may be no balls left by the time hunting season rolls around! Actually, upon second thought, we don’t have anything to worry about as Ted Nugent has proven many times over the years, his balls are big enough for any occasion.