I love Nugent's older material and as i'd been running through his back catalog of late, I thought I'd try this new release. The sound and video quality is superb, compared to Double Live Gonzo this is a sonic perfection. However, as a performance, it's merely a pedestrian run through of tunes that have seen far better interpretations. The band is tight an Ted's guitar playing is still superb. But you get the feeling he can play this stuff in his sleep by now, and it shows. The fire is gone.
Plus, the audience is essentially a bored looking bunch of 50-something rednecks, so don't expect any fireworks there, they stand about staring gormlessly at 'Uncle Ted' without moving a muscle for the entire show. They may as well be dead.
The worst thing however, is that Nugent uses the performance as a vehicle to spout non-stop about his prehistoric views. Now, we all know Nugent is a right-winger of the worst kind - I am pretty sure the kid he was in the 70s would hate the man he has become - but I don't care what someone thinks as long as they make good music. However, he just rams the same tired rhetoric down your throat throughout this video. Screaming, 'freedom!!!' at every opportunity. Then going on to talk about blowing someone's brains out if with his gun if they try to take his freedom, clearly not seeing the irony in the statement! It's a real shame as this element really ruins the show for me, it got so painfully embarrassing I had to turn the blu-ray off about 30% through.
But not until my girlfriend had come in and asked why I was listening to Bruce Springsteen!