Terrible Ted is Back! Ted Nugent Plays Backstage Live in San Antonio! by Greg Testerman

We all know him. In fact, we love to tag him with all kinds of nick names such as "Motor City Madman", "Terrible Ted", "The Nuge", and "The Wackmaster" among others. The 63 year old outspoken rocker has withstood the test of time and believe it or not has released 34 albums dating back to his days with "The Amboy Dukes" in the mid '60's.

My first exposure to Ted was the televised edition of "California Jam 2" in 1978. He played "Motor City Madhouse" in front of 300,000 people. I was barely a teenager when first saw Ted playing his huge Gibson Byrdland guitar on the show and I had never seen anything like it. My jaw dropped as he screamed and jammed until he basically had to be helped off the stage while feedback from his guitar continued to roar through the huge crowd. I immediately ran out and bought my first Ted Nugent album "Double Live Gonzo" but by that time, Ted was already enjoying success with the top 40 hit "Cat Scratch Fever" from his 3rd solo album with the same name. Other releases included "Free For All", Weekend Warriors, and Scream Dream, just to name a few from those early days. The outspoken rocker always sparked my interest and always has plenty to say. Agree or not, I admire those who speak there mind and that's just the way Ted is built. His views and the ability to articulate them in a more than direct format has made headlines over the years and sparked conflicts with animal rights activists and just about anyone who agrees or disagrees with his views on politics, hunting, gun control, and other subjects. News clips and articles of all of this is on the web so I'll just leave it at that.

To me, it's still all about the music and I've always loved the way Ted plays guitar. The energy he injects into his patented guitar work has always been outstanding and he plays with a style all his own. it's a raw ability, tone, and characteristic, that is all "NUGE".

As I entered the venue, I was surprised at the size of the place, located near downtown, I found it easy to get to and the staff were all courteous and helpful and friendly to us media types. It was extremely hot in the early evening, about 102 degrees but as the sun went down, things slowly improved. The stage set was awesome...the stage was decorated with Gibson Les Paul guitars on top and hanging all along the front of the amplifiers - Pretty cool.

It was around 9:30pm when "The Nuge" entered the foggy stage area all plugged in, jamming and screaming his greetings to the crowd of about two thousand. Dressed in a blue shirt with camo with one of his famous Gibson Byrdland guitars I mentioned earlier. Original singer "Derek St, Holmes" is back with Ted for this tour and I thought he sounded great. It gave the old classics an original feel and that's always great!

Speaking of old classics, Ted opened the show with "Free For All" from his second solo album (1976) followed by "Stormtroopin", "Wango Tango" and "Just What the Doctor Ordered". The crowd responded well and sang along and generally seemed satisfied all night. All in all, the band sounded great and played just about two hours. Ted played most of his major hits and incorporated those scorching lead guitar riffs from years gone by and I really thought the energy level was incredible.

To sum up the night, if you like Ted Nugent, you would've loved this show!!! If you don't like Ted well, maybe not. Bottom line...he'll still rock your ass off......GT

San Antonio Set List
1. Free For All
2. Stormtroopin
3. Wango Tango
4. Just What the Doctor Ordered
5. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
6. Need you Bad
7. Turn It Up
8. Dog Eat Dog
9. Hey Baby
10. Fred Bear
11. Motor City Madhouse
12. Catch Scratch Fever
13. Stranglehold
Encore
14. Great White Buffalo

Venue Info
www.backstagelivesa.com

Ted Nugent
www.tednugent.com

Greg Testerman
www.jgregoryphotography.com