Opening up the proceedings tonight were the Birmingham based band and new saviours of rock in this country Rattlesnake Remedy. Having caught these guys earlier this year supporting Love Hate I was really looking forward to seeing them again. The band opened up their impressive set with ‘Black Sheep Fiddle’, a song that had an immediate impact on myself, while the majority of the crowd seemed a little perplexed by the band.  However, the band started to win them over when they went into ‘Reach For The Line’, which was more of a hard edged song, which went down well with the partisan crowd who had seemed to have only one thing on their mind.

The band sounded great to me and when they went into ‘Killing Time’, their bluesy rock crossover song, the crowd were definitely starting to melt to these guys. The blues influence continues with the aptly named ‘Hangover Blues’, another stunning song.  As the set was coming to a close the band left the best to last with the magnificent ‘Magic Man’.  The set was closed with the band going into high octane mode with their new single ‘Drag You Down’, a song that rounded off another sterling set by the band.  Rattlesnake Remedy are a band I would most definitely recommend checking out if they are playing a gig in a venue near you. 

Now for the highlight of the night, not only did I witness a support act who rocked to the core and who were on fire from the off, but after some 26 years, I got to see the mighty Ted Nugent on stage once again.

The lights went down and the crowd went ballistic as Ted Nugent, Barry Sparks and Mick Brown hit the stage.

The band went straight into the classic Nugent back catalogue with ‘Stormtroopin’ and instantly the past 26 years were swept away.  With Ted sounding better than ever and at 57 years old you gotta give it to this guy as he shows he still has all the attitude.

The classics just kept on coming as the band rampaged into his next hit ‘Wango Tango’.  I would just like to say that whoever was doing the sound for tonight’s show did a fantastic job, in fact this was probably the best sound I have ever heard at any gig in this particular venue, and I've been to more than a few.

Ted has never been lost for words and tonight was no exception, as he asked for the crowd to show their appreciation for him and his band, and to show what makes Britain so great.  The crowd did so by giving Ted a big thumbs up and cheering so loud they nearly brought the roof off.

It was time for a something a little more recent as the band went into  ‘Klstrphnky’ off the Craveman album.  The set continued with another song off Craveman, the excellent ‘Rawdogs & Warhogs’.  I swear if you cut Ted in half he would be Stars and Stripes through the middle.  As he dedicated the song to all the forces and was proud to say that wherever there were ass holes in the world, Great Britain always supported the US and dealt with ass holes by simply just killing them, a sentiment that went down well with the majority of the crowd.

The Nuge did a little dedication to Detroit’s Motown and reminisced back to when he was just a little black guy in Motor City!!! ... before continuing the set with ‘Soul Man’, but done Gonzo style.

Then it was time for another classic bit of Nugent as bassist Barry Sparks stepped forth to show his prowess on vocals with ‘Hey Baby’.  Then we were privileged to something new from Ted and his boys, firstly with the fantastic ‘Still Raising Hell’, a song Ted said was a little Country and Western song, before joking that he was perhaps not being quite gay enough to sing Country and Western.  The song actually optimised Ted’s life.  But then it was time for the mischievous soundings of ‘Girl Scout Cookies’, which apparently is “a song about humping your neighbour”.

Barry Sparks returned to vocal duties for ‘Need You Bad’, a song that showed at 57 years old Nugent can turn out the licks like never before.

Then it was time for some more classic Nugent, with a storming version of ‘Dog Eat Dog’ off the classic ‘Free-For-All’ album.  But the classics didn’t end there as the set continued with ‘Motor City Madhouse', which was intertwined with ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’.

Ted then proceeded to proclaiming to the audience that “the tail sticking out off my behind isn't just a tail, I will be shitting out a coyote later tonight”.  With that he and the band launched into what has to be his most infamous song ‘Cat Scratch Fever’, a song that got the biggest cheer of the night.  As soon as the first few chords were played of the song, the entire venue starting singing along enthusiastically. The band left the stage to rapturous applause with the crowd baying for Nugent and the boys.  They didn’t disappoint and soon returned to the stage with Nugent in a Native American headdress and went straight into the stirring rendition of ‘Stranglehold’. However, I have to say it was that last song that really gave me the goose bumps, my all time favourite Nugent song the excellent ‘Great White Buffalo’.  By this time I was totally riding high on the exaltedness of Nugent, the man who was now God in my eyes, and I'm sure most of the crowd would agree with me.

As the song came to an end Nugent got out his Stars & Stripes bow and arrow and shot an arrow into his guitar.  As these were the only stage props Nugent used throughout the whole performance, this shows the rest of the rock world that if you have the songs, that’s all you need too put on a great rock show.  Plus of coarse it helps if you have "the attitude" as well.

As gigs go this is without a doubt my favourite of all time and will be hard to beat.  Let's hope that this will not be Nugent’s swansong when it comes to UK tours and fingers crossed he will hopefully be humbling are shores again in the not to distant future.

Set list:  Stormtroopin', Wango Tango, Snakeskin Cowboys, Free For All, Wang Dang Sweet Poontang, Klstrphnky, Rawdogs & Warhogs, Soul Man, Hey Baby, Still Raisin Hell, Girl Scout Cookies, Need You Bad, Dog Eat Dog, Motor City Madhouse, Baby Please Don’t Go, Cat Scratch Fever, Stranglehold, Great White Buffalo.