The Nuge in my 'hood!

[XS22J8R]

A promoter recently purchased and restored a vintage large movie theater in the next town over from me and opened it last fall for concerts and other events. I checked it out for the first time last month to see blues guitarist extraordinaire Samantha Fish and was really impressed, both with the theater and with her show, and vowed to become a regular at the venue.
The Des Plaines Historic Theatre in Des Plaines, IL
I didn't have to wait long for another show to see, as Ted Nugent was playing 7-25, so I scored a ticket.
The show was great and my ears are still ringing! I'm amazed a guy who is going to be 74 later this year still can rock like Ted Nugent does! If you are a fan, don't miss him if he plays near you.
And if you live around Chicago, the Des Plaines theater is really a gem. Free parking in a garage right behind the theater, a bar and restaurant in the theater lobby, it's really cool.
The owner also owns the Arcada theater in St Charles and many of the acts he lines up, he books shows at both venues. He had 2 Nugent shows in St Charles and 1 at Des Plaines. So west and southwest suburban residents have a location by them, and us north and northwest suburbanites have the Des Plaines Theater.
Here's a video someone posted of Monday nights encore

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

That is really cool, I love when when investors, or just average people with the right money, take old abandoned buildings and do something with them.

 

[XS22J8R]

There were several efforts over the years to get the Des Plaines theater back in gear. I think there was a time recently where they were showing Bollywood movies there even!
Despite a large east Indian population in the area, that didn't last long either.
This guy Onesti got things rolling with restoring and booking concerts at the Arcada theater 3 or 4 years ago, and I think that has been pretty successful, so he acquired the Des Plaines theater and is doing the same thing with it. Hoping it is a great success and I can look forward to seeing many shows there for years to come!
Now if only someone can do something with the iconic Uptown theater in Chicago. I saw a couple shows there as a college kid in the early 80s before it closed in late '81. There have been efforts to restore it and reopen it in the decades since, but none have ever panned out. That place is amazing, however the money needed to restore it would be immense unfortunately. Maybe it will happen someday though.
Uptown Theatre (Chicago) - Wikipedia

 

[SteveSS]

I saw him 30 years ago in Wichita. He swung onto the stage from way up high like Tarzan just wearing a loin cloth.

I remember him telling this story on stage. He got on the plane to go to our concert and just before takeoff the most beautiful stewardess in the world walked up the aisle to the front of the cabin and grabbed the microphone. She turned around really slowly and said...."Strap on your seat belt MotherF***ers we're goin' to Wichita!"

 

[eldubb440]

Ted was my #1 rocker as a kid.......saw him live at least 10 times.... I have all my ticket stubs somewhere

 

[#41]

He used to play here once a year at the tribal casinos. Then he pissed them off flapping his jaw.... and now I don't get to see him anymore. Hopefully we'll get some new venues like you have and get back on track.

 

[XS22J8R]

I was a little concerned before the show, because a couple years ago Ted was booked to be the main act at the McHenry County fair out in the far Northwest burbs, and a bunch of self appointed virtue signaling area women started making a big fuss he wasn't acceptable to have there. Being how this theater is a lot closer to the city, and more of that cultish woke behavior present in the close in suburbs, I had visions of getting to the theater and finding a bunch of shrieking women with signs in front of the place yelling at me and getting in fan's faces as we arrived. Thankfully my fears were unfounded as there was no one around there except a bunch of happy fans and theater security!
I was going to see Ted for my first rock concert after my freshman year in high school, in 1977. He was appearing at the Superbowl of Rock series in Chicago. My parents wouldn't let me go because some of their friends told them "the skies would be blue with marijuana smoke". I didn't end up getting to go to a rock concert until I was 16.
I saw Ted at an outdoor venue in the mid 80s on a double bill with Aerosmith. I don't even remember much about that show, as we were so far away in the lawn we couldn't see much of the stage. Little did I know I'd have to wait until I was 60 to really experience a great Ted Nugent show after that first failed attempt 45 years earlier!

 

[Budnicks]

Love Uncle Ted...

he's not the "same great rocker" he used to be
but he's a better man today
than yesterday

I saw him quite a few times way back when
1977 was a great year

 

[ykf7b0]

I saw him a few weeks back in Memphis and he plays as well as he ever has. He is now 73 years of age isn’t all over the stage as he once was. He is still a great performer and better than most still out there from his era that includes mostly 1970’s and early 1980’s.

 

[64BEL]

I saw him 30 years ago in Wichita. He swung onto the stage from way up high like Tarzan just wearing a loin cloth.

He did that when I saw him 40 years ago (actually, 1980) for the Scream Dream tour. Interesting footnote...the two bands who played before him were unknown to all of us at the time. Def Leppard and The Scorpions. They both took off in the USA after that.