By MATT CARNEY Satellite Correspondent
Ted Nugent proved he's still got
it at a recent Cain's Ballroom show.
The Nuge rocks out, promotes automatic weapons
Like fine wine, maniacal old rock stars seem to only get better with age.
With the Cain's Ballroom filled from stage to exit, patient fans were losing their patience Thursday night.
All had come to see one man, and after the impatient chanting of "Ted, Ted, Ted" yielded no movement onstage, some appeared disgruntled.
However, moments later that sentiment quickly vanished, replaced by the awe-inspired look of a crowd knowing they were about to witness something special.
The house speakers began blaring a song that, for its obscenity, cannot be mentioned in this article (hint: A certain theme song from "Team America: World Police"), and it was with this that the famed Motor City Madman took the stage with a devilish grin on his face and nothing but trouble in his eyes.
After a flurry of deafening guitar noise and welcomes to the crowd, Ted Nugent, wearing a camouflage vest and cowboy hat and holding an American flag guitar, began playing a loud solo version of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
For any who doubted the ability of the 57-year-old rocker to still play the loud, fast songs of debauchery that made him famous, well, that
doubt would be erased in a moment.
Nugent's salute to America was quickly followed by a lengthy five-song set that included the opening "Stormtroopin'," the classic "Free-For-All," and even a brief cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me."
The first break of the night came after this devastating set of songs, and Nugent used it to address the topic of gun use.
"All the children leave here tonight with a fully automatic weapon!" he yelled, to much applause.
Nugent's love of firearms was clearly demonstrated by the dozen or so weapons adorning the stage, which seemed enough to wage a full-scale war.
"When you have assault rifles onstage, that tends to fire up the crowd a little bit," said Jon Nation, a Metro Christian Academy senior in attendance.
Never stopping for much longer than a few moments, Nugent and his band launched into a long set of both classic and newer songs, most notably his more recent "Still Raizin' H--l," which seemed an apt theme for the evening.
Truly, however, the highlight of the 2 1/2 concert was Nugent's fulfilling performance of "Stranglehold."
With Barry Sparks' smooth, resounding bass setting anchor, Nugent was able to make his slide guitar sound like a sonic wave undulating throughout the venue. It was as though the very song itself filled the venue from front to back.
The concert ended shortly thereafter, following the electric jam-out "Hibernation."
"(The concert) was amazing," said 17-year-old Sean Murphy. "I knew he was pretty old, 'cause my dad talked about listening to him in college, so I wasn't expecting him to be that loud and energetic, but it was like the place was on fire. People came out in a buzz, my ears were ringing -- it was amazing."
