Concert Review: Ted Nugent/Canyon Club, Agoura Hills, CA/7/1/11

In the name of total honesty, you need to know that I worked for Ted Nugent for 5 years between 1974 and 1979 and was part of his huge success as a musician during that time period. I've seen him perform 100's of times during and since those years, and we have maintained a friendship all these years, although we have never and never will agree on politics. Okay...so there's the disclaimer.

I was particularly excited to go see Ted play this year because of the return of lead vocalist, Derek St. Holmes. Derek had performed with Ted on his first two hugely successful albums back in the 1970's - Ted Nugent, Free For All - and it is his voice that true Nugent fans think of when they hear those classic rock tunes from Stormtroopin to Stranglehold, Just What The Doctor Ordered, Hey Baby, and Turn It Up among others. And Derek didn't disappoint. His voice is as smooth and powerful as it was all those years ago, his guitar playing has even improved since then, but more importantly, Ted is finally allowing Derek to showcase his talents. Now, I do remember and did love all the Nugent antics of the 70's - jumping off amps, wearing nothing but a loin cloth, swinging on a rope across the stage, etc. But let's face it, Ted is now 62 years old, has had knee surgeries, and isn't going to be leaping off 7 foot amps any more. But Ted knows that his popularity and success as a musician was as much because of his outrageous showmanship as for his guitar playing, and that people come to a Ted Nugent show as much to see what the Motor City Madman is going to do next as to hear the classic hits of their youth.

Unfortunately, however, Ted's current stage antics have nothing to do with putting on a rock concert, and everything to do with Ted shoving his right wing beliefs down the throat of everyone in the audience, whether they want it or not. Today, they are all about placing guns around the stage and ranting about his dislike of the current President and the people around him. Now, the beauty of this country we all love is that you can do that. You don't have to be afraid to express your own opinions, or to even have them, the way people in several other parts of the world have to. And I do know that as I do, Ted loves his country. But is it truly patriotic to belch the name of the President into the mike before going into a tirade about him? I don't believe so, and if this were a Republican President and someone else did it, Ted would be the first one to criticize them for such disrespect not only of the country, but of the person the majority of this country's people elected to lead them. That's when I left, by the way.

I don't need anyone to tell me what to believe. But I used to laugh along with Ted as he would spout out his conservative philosophy because at least he did it from a place of humor and entertainment. I know he truly believes what he says, and I respect his right to believe what I don't. That's not the point here. The point is that for someone who claims to be such a patriotic American to publicly attempt to humiliate and denegrate its chosen leader is disgraceful and about as unpatriotic as someone can get.

Okay, so you may have noticed that I'm talking about the between song rants and not the music and this is supposed to be a concert review. Exactly!!! This was not a rock show. It was a political rally (for people I don't support) with some good old classic rock thrown in between the speeches (all given by the same person). I did not walk out of there with one thought about how the songs sounded or how much fun it was to see Derek onstage with Ted again or hear his singing. I did not hum one Ted Nugent hit on my way to the car or want to pull out my old albums to listen to them. All I felt as I left the show early was "I'm never going to go see Ted play again." If I want a political rally, I'll go hear President Obama speak. But I went to the Canyon Club that evening to hear a part of my past. Sorry Ted, you let me, and alot of old fans down.

Ted Nugent needs to learn how to separate his many interests and not force music fans to love hunting or gun enthusiasts to buy his political beliefs. And most of all, if he wants to have his credibility as a musician restored, then he has to remember what it was about his music that made him so successful all those years ago which THEN gave him the platform to do all the other things he's done since. The venues are getting smaller and smaller with every tour. And so is his reputation as a musical force. I have to wonder if public interest in what he has to say is going to follow in the wake of his musical career.