Ted Nugent Motor City Mayhem
by John Kindred
Staff Writer
Proving that longevity can exist on the backs of hits forged long ago, Ted Nugent continues to be musically and politically relevant. In an age where ‘70s rock mega-stars are moving towards becoming the dinosaurs of rock, they battle impending extinction. If not for the current wave of unsatisfying self-indulgent, posturing posers currently paraded to the masses, their fossils would have long since been buried deep within the earth.
Still their voices call from the past and remind us that, at one time, these dinosaurs ruled the world.
With a career spanning 40 plus years, Nugent delivers his 6000th concert to 20,000 faithful fans. Recorded for DVD, Blue-ray and CD formats, the concert was captured on Independence Day in ’08 at DTE Energy Music Centre in Detroit, Mich.
Nugent’s three-piece band features Mike Brown (Dokken, Lynch Mob) on drums and bassist Greg Smith (Rainbow, Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult). On this night, Nugent brought out his guitar teacher, Joe Podorsek, who performed on the song “Honky Tonk.” Johnny “Bee” Badanjek of Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels joined the group on the classic “Jenny Take a Ride.” And the heralded return of Derek St. Holmes, who was part of Ted’s solo band, took the stage performing “Hey Baby,” “Cat Scratch Fever” and “Stranglehold.”
Motor City Mayhem follows up last year’s live DVD release Sweden Rocks and is a far superior performance. Motor City Mayhem lacks any bonus features, which will come as a disappointment to fans. From a visual stand point, multi-angled cameras present the concert in easily viewable presentation. The production team shied away from parlor tricks and delivered a suitable visual experience. More importantly, the audio is clear and well mixed.
While poking fun at Ted with all the “dinosaur” references, one cannot escape the musical and political influence that the man will leave after he is long gone. That can’t be said for many of the new fly-by-night acts that are here today and gone tomorrow.
DVD /Blu-ray/CD Track Listing:
1. Star Spangled Banner
2. Motor City Madhouse
3. Wango Tango
4. Free For All
5. Stormtroopin’
6. Dog Eat Dog
7. Need You Bad
8. Weekend Warrior
9. Love Grenade
10. Honky Tonk (with Joe Podorsek)
11. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
12. Baby Please Don’t Go
13. Geronimo And Me
14. Jenny Take A Ride (with Johnny “Bee” Badanjek)
15. Soul Man
16. Hey Baby (with Derek St. Holmes)
17. Cat Scratch Fever (with Derek St. Holmes)
18. Stranglehold (with Derek St. Holmes)
19. Great White Buffalo
20. Fred Bear
Hardrock Haven rating: 7/10