The Nuge

I haven't written in a few days and I need to catch up on things I've been meaning to write about. Things like going to see the Nuge, the Motor City Madman, the Whackmaster, or whatever other name you might prefer that the outrageous rocker has coined for himself. If there's one thing he is it's cocky. His stage presence was radiant at the Lucas County fairgrounds to celebrate their 25th Annual Rib-off. And who better to celebrate such a momentous occasion? He did indeed celebrate it well, dedicating nearly every song he played, from "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" to "Dog Eat Dog" all the way to "Stranglehold" to what he liked to call "the sacred flesh." Being that he's also one of the most famous hunters in the world, and loves to go out and "kill shit" (his term, not mine), this wasn't unsurprising to me. What I've been wondering is whether this man is a respectable hunter and person or just a sadistic weirdo who's catered his chaotic tendencies to the masses.

Now, well known to most people near me, I think things to death. I often don't let them go even when I know I should. So, I annoyed people with comments like "It was kinda insensitive of him to wear that feather headress out on the stage. And besides that's something to do out in the Dakotas where Indians actually wore headresses, not in Toledo." And I can see why this might annoy some people. It's nitpicky but that's because I am. I often hold people to too high of standards. Call it a flaw if you must, but it's how I work.

He's a sight, standing up there, so proud of what he does, maybe too proud, but praising America and our freedoms in unconventional ways, all while rocking out: that warrants my respect though. And his lyrics can easily be manipulated to entertain folks at a massively large barbecue, because there's not really much depth to them. Dog eat dog, yep, that means we have to prey on one another to get ahead. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang, yep, people like having sex. And he's charismatic enough to realize that and cater to his crowd, cheesy as it may be to sing "Baby's gonna get some ribs tonight!"

His show was entertaining though, to be sure, especially for someone like me, who grew up listening to classic rock, especially Detroit-centered. But what about his beliefs? I know, it doesn't matter, yeah. Well, it does to me. I think about these kinds of things. I didn't like the feather headress, but I know 90+% of his crowd went nuts over it. Then when he declared that his Gibson archtop was "the Great White Buffalo" and vowed to kill it with his bow, the crowd was inconsolable. And I have to admit, watching him light an arrow and bullseye the crossed arrow target on the back of his guitar does get the blood pumping a bit. But other elements of his show, like when he tasked the American Armed Forces with "killing all the assholes for Uncle Ted" or any one of the many times he lauded "killin' shit and grillin' it" as a great American pastime, it kinda made me want to punch him in the head. But that's the general "conservative" concensus, I guess, and he got almost as great of a cheer for that as for his archery stunt. Kill all the assholes out there for Uncle Ted. Say that at a rib-off if you want people to love you.