- Seger Live!
- A special section of The Seger File.
- Updated March 11, 2007
- Written and edited by Scott Sparling
- sparling@segerfile.com
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Bob Seger was never the most glamorous or trendiest of rockers, but his classic, blue-collar rock may have more staying power than the music of many of his contemporaries from the '60s and '70s. On the homestretch of a tour that started in November and winds up next week in Seger's Detroit stomping ground, the singer-songwriter packed Value City Arena last night for a long, satisfyingly varied and energetic concert. Wearing glasses, a baggy black T-shirt, jeans, and -- bless his heart -- a black headband restraining his white hair, Seger looked every one of his 61 years and seemed to be having the time of his life. He's the least aloof rock star imaginable, and maybe the one who leaves the least distance between himself and his fans. Pumping his fist toward the sky, clapping his hands and stomping his feet, he makes it easy to imagine that we could do what he's doing, too. We couldn't, of course. Seger's songs, rooted in the rhythms of R&B, are cannily constructed little works of art, and his voice, though raspy and limited in range, is strong and soulful. Ignoring visual pyrotechnics, the concert focused on the full sound of Seger's Silver Bullet Band, with three back-up singers, four horns, a swoon-inducing saxophonist and a pianist as well as guitarists and drummers. Seger gave the audience, many of whom were old enough to remember him from the '70s, plenty of the oldies they came to hear, getting the party started early in the concert with Mainstreet and Old Time Rock & Roll' and later mellowing out with We've Got Tonight and Turn the Page. Seger didn't need to implore the fans to sing along with him: They did so without being asked. If there's an irony in thousands of people singing together about being alone up on the stage, it's a gentle one, with genuine feeling behind it. Though Seger has a well-loaded backlist to rest upon, he didn't. He integrated songs from his new album, Face the Promise, into the concert, and though his older fans weren't as familiar with them, they fit naturally with the rest of his work. The surging Wreck This Heart was one of the most electric passages of the evening, with a cover of Vince Gill's Real Mean Bottle a close second, while Simplicity brought a taste of funk to the mix. When Seger returned after a short intermission, he was going as strong as ever. The concert offered a generous sampling of songs with strong bones performed by musicians capable of making them fresh without altering their character.
Some people would be thrilled not to work a second job. For someone such as Mark Chatfield, a call from the boss at his second gig &emdash; playing lead guitar in the Silver Bullet Band &emdash; simply means tossing the keys of his Las Vegas guitar shop to one of the six employees, locking the house and hitting the road. Chatfield, a 1974 graduate of Grove City High School who played in the popular Midwestern hard-rock band the Godz, has performed with the Bob Seger group since 1983. In 1982, Silver Bullet Band member and former Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer invited Chatfield to attend an audition for Seger. Brewer knew Chatfield from his stint as producer of the 1978 self-titled Godz album. (Chatfield had also joined the post-Grand Funk band Flint.) At the audition, "I walked in wearing an Ohio State football jersey," said Chatfield, 50. "Bob thought that was pretty funny, him being from Ann Arbor. We hit it off." Plenty of preparation also helped. "Most of the guys who auditioned paid a lot more attention to the staple material &emdash; Against the Wind, Old Time Rock & Roll," Chatfield said. "I was the first guy to come in and audition. I'd taken it upon myself to learn the Distance album, which had just come out. "When the guys in the band started fooling around with the songs, I knew them and I got the job." Chatfield, lead guitarist for the latest tour, played rhythm guitar on the 1983 and '96 treks. The differences between hanging out with the hardrocking and hard-living Godz and traveling with Seger are vast, to say the least. By bus or motor home, the Godz played four or five consecutive nights during breakneck cross-country jaunts. The pace, combined with what Chatfield called "having the times of our lives too many nights," caused their demise. "The Godz went from being an opening band to being kind of a semi-headline band in '77 to '79, depending on who we were out with and where we were." In 1977, the Godz, with Cheap Trick, opened shows for Kiss during the "Love Gun" tour. "It was grueling, but we were young. We had lots of energy. You're 22, 23 years old and in a touring rock band, and you're on such an adrenaline &emdash; and everything-else &emdash; high that you don't notice any of the bad stuff going on." During his initial outing with Seger, Chatfield quickly acclimated to the gentlemanly ways of the Motor City bandleader. "The first tour I did with him, we flew commercial but we stayed in all four- or fivestar hotels," the guitarist said. "The '96 tour, we had a private plane and all great hotels. "This tour, it's a private jet." After all of his shows, Seger "comes right off the stage and right into a car, and &emdash; bam &emdash; he's out of there," Chatfield said. Then, depending on the location, Seger either flies home or heads for a house he rents and uses as a hub until the tour gets closer to Michigan. The rest of the musicians stay overnight in a hotel, then fly to the next gig. "That's great, and it's bad," Chatfield said with a laugh. "If I would ever have the occasion to go out with another band and they wanted to put me on a bus again, I don't think I could ever do it. I'm too spoiled." The Face the Promise tour, he said, ranks as the most enjoyable yet: Seger is playing his usual four-on-the-floor show but a little more loosely. "I don't want to say he's mellower. Onstage, he's not at all. But his personality is. "He's a lot more like one of the guys: He'll joke. He'll do little anecdotes onstage &emdash; which he's never done. He's just having a hell of a lot more fun, and it really shows in his personality and performances. "I'm grateful that he's called me back." As for the Godz, Chatfield still joins them when he gets that call, too. He last performed with the group, which occasionally resurfaces with vocalist Eric Moore at the helm, in 2004 at a festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands. "The band is still popular over there," Chatfield said. "We played with the Scorpions, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper. There's a song called Under the Table on the first album that gets airplay over there." For no reason other than a busy schedule, he said, he hasn't talked to Moore since the trip to Amsterdam.
It was the sort of evening that normally would not have lent itself to much activity at Rupp Arena. After all, most bags at the University of Kentucky were already packed for spring break, while Lexington's basketball contingency -- the crowd that usually would occupy Rupp this time of year -- was either in Atlanta or in front of a TV for the Southeastern Conference tournament. And yet here was Bob Seger, elder heartland rock 'n' roller, holding court again at the arena with 12,000 fans cheering on nearly 40 years worth of hits. The Detroit singer/songsmith knew the importance of basketball as well as anyone, given the hoops references he made during a hearty new slab of guitar funk called Simplicity. "Back home, we love our NBA like you love your Wildcats." But that was as close to a sports event as the evening got. For his first Rupp performance in a decade, Seger, 61, strolled onstage wearing a black T-shirt, jeans, wire-rimmed glasses and a mane of hair that was almost proudly grey. But to prove performance chops haven't rusted away during his absence, the singer and his 13-member Silver Bullet Band eased into Roll Me Away the way one might merge onto a crowded interstate. The initial pace was purposely studied and slightly cautious. But when the anthemic chorus capped off a tale of escape, destiny and, ultimately, solitude, the band locked into an assured and workmanlike groove that was indeed roadworthy. Seger's stage presence last night bordered on liberation at times. While he wasn't afraid to resuscitate hits from 20 and 30 years ago, he was by no means attempting to relive old glories. Admittedly, some older tunes worked better than others. The rugged barrelhouse groove to 1976's Sunspot Baby, propelled by longtime Silver Bullet keyboardist Craig Frost, still sounded as solid as a stone fortress, while 1980's The Horizontal Bop was, in comparison, a more derivative boogie romp. But Seger had a ball with every song, and regularly flashed smiles big and broad enough to be seen back in Detroit. That such a road warrior still revels so clearly and honestly in the art of pop performance was as comforting as hearing any of his vintage hits coming back to life. The concert's muscular consistency -- specifically, the meshing of meat-and-potatoes rock 'n' roll with shades of vintage soul, R&B, and at times country -- also extended far beyond the career-defining singles that the Rupp crowd had obviously come to hear. In fact, many of the show's highlights came from the earliest songs in the Seger catalog as well as from the newest. Early into the program's second set (which was separated from the first by one of the shortest rock concert intermissions on record: 8 minutes), Seger reached back for 1968's Ramblin' Gamblin' Man, a churchy hullabaloo that lit up every scratchy and joyous crease in his well-weathered voice. Then the singer turned the time machine back further to cover the Chuck Berry staple C'est La Vie. It was a revealing trip through Seger's Motor City beginnings with a nod to the inspiration that clearly ignited his muse. But the half-dozen or so songs from Seger's comeback album, 2005's Face the Promise, were even more industrious. Wreck This Heart and the record's title tune boasted the same the percussive guitar grind as the many Night Moves-era hits peppered throughout the show. Both, however, boasted a more symphonic sweep that took full advantage of the beefed-up Silver Bullet ranks which included Little Feat vocalist Shaun Murphy and longtime Seger sax man Alto Reed. The country-directed entries from Face the Promise were a riot, too. Real Mean Bottle, a hard-knuckled honky tonk confessional was performed as a duet with drummer/vocalist Don Brewer who, like Frost, was a mainstay member of another Michigan rock institution: Grand Funk Railroad. The Answer's in the Question, which features Kentucky native Patty Loveless on Face the Promise, was performed with lighter country flair alongside Silver Bullet singer Laura Creamer.
Bob Seger and Rupp Arena Looking back at old-time rock 'n' roller's old times at Rupp There's something about the music of Bob Seger, as well as the abundant rock 'n' roll cheer that has long been an earmark of his stage shows, that affirms a sense of constancy. At times, the titles alone of Seger's songs all but spell out the steadfast spirit behind his songs: Rock and Roll Never Forgets. Like a Rock. Still the Same. And then there is Old Time Rock and Roll. While that's one of the few Seger hits the rocker didn't write (credits go instead to George Jackson and Thomas Jones), it remains emblematic of the way his best music has stubbornly shrugged off trends. That the single hit big for Seger in the aftermath of Saturday Night Fever and the most lurid extremes of disco only enforced how powerful and immovable Seger's rock sensibility was. Of course, the big question today is how Seger can remain such a rock 'n' roll constant when he slips out of view for a decade at a time? For a start, there is the radio genre now known as classic rock. About half of the songs on Seger's albums Night Moves and Stranger in Town have been making radio rounds pretty much non-stop since they were recorded in the late '70s. And how many times have you heard Like a Rock chugging in the background as TV screens beckon you to buy a new pickup? All that helps. But mostly, Seger's music has long been mounted in the basics -- namely, a Detroit sound steeped in rock and soul tradition with lyrics that seldom flirt with topicality or controversy. While he has written his share of laments for lovers and losers, life has mostly existed as a means of celebration in Seger's music. How else could the protagonist of 1976's Sunspot Baby sound so soulful after being so miserably swindled? But constancy comes into view again as Seger prepares for his first Lexington concert in 10 years on Thursday, a show that will rekindle a longstanding performance relationship with Rupp Arena. By our count, Thursday marks Seger's eighth visit there over a period spanning more than 30 years -- a time, in fact, that covers the venue's entire operational history. So the time seemed right to dig through scrapbooks and archives and dust off personal accounts of three of Seger's concerts from three successive decades. Looking back at these notes revealed, in very vivid terms that shifts in age, commercial trends and even generational appeal have done little, if anything, to stifle a rock 'n' roll spirit that is "still the same." Nov. 25, 1978 It's Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend and Seger is playing Rupp for the third time in 16 months -- a feat indeed, considering the arena has barely been open two years. The performance comes at a time when his commercial popularity is, arguably, at its apex. Stranger in Town has been a top-selling album since the summer while We've Got Tonite is a new single that receives only polite response from a crowd that wants Seger's hearty Detroit rock 'n' roll served straight. To that end, he does not disappoint. Curiously, cover tunes bookend the program. Frankie Miller's Ain't Got No Money opens while a white-hot version of Chuck Berry's Let It Rock is served as a second encore. Over half of Night Moves and all but one tune from Stranger in Town make up the bulk of the set list. Seger is having a ball. Only Silver Bullet Band guitarist Drew Abbott can match his energy. Sept. 17, 1986 Already, talk is circulating that Seger is in the midst of his final tour. Like a Rock is the hit album (and single) of the day and 18,000 fans are crammed into Rupp on a Wednesday for his Lexington return. A blues-soaked set by the Fabulous Thunderbirds opens the evening. Perhaps Seger senses some friendly competition from the band. He chooses his set's third tune, 1983's Makin' Thunderbirds, to let his Silver Bullets fly. The only sign of the times comes in the synthesized funk of Tight Rope and The Aftermath, while the singer's mounting country contingency is addressed with his hit cover of Rodney Crowell's Shame on the Moon. Abbott is gone, but in his place is guitarist Rick Vito (who, one year later, would temporarily replace Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac). Vito's slide solo on Like a Rock, which was still years away from becoming a soundtrack for truck commercials, all but steals the show. May 31, 1996 After nearly a decade's absence, Seger returns to Rupp with a new album that, surprise of surprises, is not a platinum-selling hit. Five songs from It's a Mystery still pepper the setlist. But by this point, radio is shunning newer music by veteran artists while heartily championing their back catalogs. An audience of 14,000 responds in kind. The new Revisionism Street reveals a grim R&B groove. But the crowd has clearly come for the hits. And so, Old Time Rock and Roll and Sunspot Baby bring the mid-70s back to life. So does an 11-member Silver Bullet Band that includes Little Feat's Shaun Murphy and Bill Payne, former John Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff, and yet another guitar ace named Tim Mitchell. A little of the higher register bark is missing from Seger's voice. But the boundless love of stage performance that has come to define his performances over the decades positively glows. March 8, 2007? That brings us to the present. When Seger took the stage at Louisville's Freedom Hall in December with a Silver Bullet Band that is now 13 members strong, a sold-out crowd saw a rock veteran perfectly at ease with his age. His hair had grayed. He wore glasses. His stage costume consisted of jeans, a baggy black T-shirt and, as the evening progressed, a headband. Oh, yes. That brings to mind another constant. The smile. You quickly lost count how many times Seger, at age 61, beamed in obvious rock 'n' roll delight. He has been off the road and happily at home with his family. Now, with a solid new album called Face the Promise, he was simply picking up where he left off -- with tunes of fun, soul and familiarity that defined a rock 'n' spirit he has embodied nearly all his life.
"I guarantee I'll be around if you'll wait for me," Bob Seger sings in a new tune, "Wait for Me." By now, fans of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer are used to waiting. Fans have waited 11 years for Seger to unveil his new studio album, "Face the Promise." And they've waited just as long for the Detroit rocker to return to the concert stage. For local fans, the wait has seemed like an eternity. It was 1978 when Seger last played Omaha. But the wait ends Tuesday, when Seger and his Silver Bullet Band come to the Qwest Center Omaha. Though the vast majority of tickets were snapped up months ago, a limited number remain. His hits, which span four decades, range from midtempo ballads such as "Turn the Page," "Against the Wind" and "Night Moves" to more muscular rock songs such as "Hollywood Nights" and "Rock and Roll Never Forgets." Seger, 61, kicked off his concert tour - which has been selling out across the country - in early November in Grand Rapids, Mich. He'll wind things down March 17 in front of a hometown crowd in Detroit. On his last tour in 1996, he played 64 shows that grossed $26.3 million and drew 923,829, according to Billboard Boxscore. Playing dad - not rock star - kept him from the road in the decade that followed. Seger flies home after every concert to be with his wife and kids. "Most of the time, I'm here in Michigan and I'm taking out the garbage every Monday," he told CBS News recently. "I get up and move a couple of cans out to the edge of the road like everybody else." His down-home attitude, rough-edged voice and songs rooted in the people and places of the heartland have catapulted him to rock-legend status. He boasts a fan base that ranges from bankers to bikers. His "Face the Promise" tour, which features a mixture of new songs and numerous classics, has been drawing rave reviews. In a review of Seger's Feb. 24 concert in Oakland, Calif., the Oakland Tribune wrote: "It would be difficult to find a crowd that was more into an entire show, from the opening number to the final encore, than what was witnessed in Oakland. It would also be hard to find a more enthusiastic performer than what we saw in Seger." Reviews of Seger's 'Face the Promise' show When the crowd sings all of "Turn the Page," word for word, loudly enough to almost drown Seger out, there's obviously a lot more than a concert going on. - The Detroit News, Dec. 21, 2006 Seger walked out and waved. He wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt, and with the sturdy support of a reconstituted Silver Bullet Band - several longtime members now sport flowing locks the color of their namesake ammo - played heartland rockers and back-to-basics ballads for more than two hours. - The Boston Globe, Jan. 29, 2007 The recent years that Seger chose to spend with his children after a long career as one of America's most iconic rockers apparently helped preserve that distinctive, nicotine-flavored voice and left him with a whole lot of energy and enthusiasm to spare. - The Denver Post, Feb. 15, 2007 Fast facts about Bob Seger Born May 6, 1945, in Detroit, Seger lived in the suburb of Dearborn, Mich., until he was 6, when his family moved to Ann Arbor, Mich. He started his musical career in 1961 in Detroit as a member of the Decibels and there he met his future manager and record producer, Punch Andrews. His song "Night Moves" was named by Rolling Stone as Best Single of the Year for 1977. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. His album "Against the Wind" won a Grammy Award in 1980 for best rock performance by a duo or group. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2004. Fellow Detroit musician Kid Rock gave the induction speech, and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm proclaimed it Bob Seger Day in his honor. After every show, Seger flies home on a chartered plane. He is married and has two children, ages 14 and 11. Seger in pop culture His 1986 song "Like a Rock" was used in Chevy truck commercials for more than 10 years. He recorded a special version of "Night Moves" (replacing guitar with piano) for the 1981 film "American Pop." His 1982 hit "Roll Me Away" is featured on the "Armageddon" soundtrack.
In his classic song "Turn the Page," Bob Seger sings about "a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha." Shaun Murphy is no stranger to highways, east of Omaha or otherwise. An Omaha native, Murphy has logged hundreds of thousands of miles singing, recording and touring with rockers like Joe Walsh, Bruce Hornsby, Eric Clapton, the Moody Blues, Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent. Since 1973, she's worked with one of rock's biggest names -- Bob Seger. Murphy, born Sheryl Murphy, is one of three backup singers on Seger's "Face the Promise" tour. She returns to her hometown Tuesday, when the tour stops at the Qwest Center Omaha. Murphy, who also is a member of the band Little Feat, lived in Omaha until she was 10. She and her family then moved to Iowa and later Detroit. Over the years, she's also lived in Florida and California. She now calls Nashville home. We caught up with the 58-year-old for a quick chat. Q.How do you feel about coming back to Omaha? A.I love it. I play there with my other band, Little Feat. We play there now and again. It's great to see all the old places. I think we even once played in Peony Park, which I used to go to all the time when I was little. Q.How is the Seger tour going? A.It's going just terrific. I couldn't be happier for Bob. Obviously, he's waited a long time to come back out. You know, nobody thought that the tour was going to happen, so this is just tremendous for him and everybody. The reaction's been just great. Bob's been in great spirits the whole tour. Q.How did you start working with Bob? A.When I was living in Detroit, I had some bands there. Bob's manager, Punch Andrews, not only managed Bob, but he had a couple of clubs in town where he used to book my band now and again. We got to be really good friends. When I did a little short stint with Motown Records, they moved me out to California. And then I sat there. They didn't do anything with me. So I called up Punch and I said, "Look, I want to work. Do you know anybody in town that's looking for a singer?" He said, "Well, we're actually looking for a background singer." I said, "Well, I've never done that but that doesn't sound too hard." So he hired me, and I drove back to Michigan and started working with Bob in '73. Q.What kind of show does Bob have planned for us? A.He has been doing a lot of the new material, which has been going over great. Of course, every time he hits those opening bars for the classics, everybody goes crazy. There hasn't been a lot of changing in the set - one or two tweaks here and there, that's about it. Q.You're one of three backup singers on the tour. What's it take to do your job? A.You have to be real versatile. I've got a very strong voice. I've got a pretty large range. And I can have a nice strong clear voice or I can have a gruff voice. Pretty much anything he needs to do, we can accomplish. Q.What's a typical day like for you? A.It's not real exciting. We get into town and hopefully we find a great place to eat. That's about it for our day off. By the time we get here it's dinnertime, and then everybody wants to go to bed. The next day you get up and prepare to go to the gig. We have a pretty lengthy sound check, and then we wait around until the gig. We go to the after-show party and meet friends, and come back and go to sleep. It's pretty routine, unfortunately. No big rock 'n' roll kind of craziness anymore. Everybody's pretty well through with that. Q.Do you have a favorite Seger song? A.I have always been a fan of Bob's from the get-go. I don't think I could nail it down to one or two. He's such a great tunesmith. In this climate, with people just dropping off the charts like flies, to have him have the longevity that he's had has just been great to see. Q.What do you enjoy most about being a professional musician? A.I love hearing other musicians and singers, and I love to travel. It's almost, at this point, like being a sailor. You get used to traveling. You're home for a week or two and you want to get back out again. Q.The Seger tour comes to an end soon. What are your plans then? A.We're starting up the Little Feat tour right as this one ends. I have enough time to go home and wash my clothes and go back out again. Little Feat is getting ready to put out a new studio record. It's a collaboration with Jimmy Buffett. It's in the process of being mixed. Hopefully it'll be out by late spring or early summer. It's good to have a full plate. Q.What else should we know about the Seger concert?
In his classic hit, "Night Moves," Bob Seger sings: "We were just young and restless and bored." That was hardly the scene at his sold-out concert Tuesday night at the Qwest Center Omaha. The bulk of the audience was far from young, and there was nary a restless or bored fan in the crowd of 15,500. The 61-year-old veteran rocker and his Silver Bullet Band barreled through a crowd-pleasing performance that had the audience on its feet, singing and dancing along. The two-hour-plus show felt more like a party than a concert. With only five shows left until his massive U.S. tour comes to an end, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was in great spirits and in great voice as he dusted off a string of classic hits and unveiled a half-dozen new songs from his first new album in 11 years, "Face the Promise." Seger arrived onstage to Thin Lizzy's rock anthem "The Boys Are Back in Town," clad in a black T-shirt, jeans and a headband. He addressed the crowd with a hearty, "Nice to see you!" then kicked off the night with his 1982 single, "Roll Me Away." Accompanied by his six-piece Silver Bullet Band, four-man Motor City Horns and three female backup singers, including Omaha native Shaun Murphy, Seger followed with the old Memphis tune "Trying to Live My Life Without You." With simple lighting, an unadorned stage, and no distracting special effects, Seger let his timeless songs take the lead. For most of the show, Seger sang and crisscrossed the stage with his microphone in one hand while pumping his other fist high in the air. The crowd responded with equal energy and enthusiasm, clapping and cheering wildly after every song. The crowd went crazy when, 11 songs into the set, Seger sat behind the piano for "Turn the Page." Fans roared as musician Alto Reed launched into the road song with his smoky, soulful saxophone. As expected, fans filled the arena with deafening cheers after Seger sang the tune's first verse: "On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha." Seger closed out the first set with a terrific version of "Beautiful Loser," then told the crowd he would be back after an eight-minute intermission. (I timed it, and yes, it was exactly eight minutes.) Though he stuck to vocals most of the night, Seger played acoustic guitar during "Mainstreet" and "Night Moves," which arrived during the encore. He sat behind a piano during a gentle rendition of "We've Got Tonight."
The Omaha Crowd was outstanding tonight, and Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band rewarded the crowd with a really high energy show. It's been a long time since they have played here (1978?) and the crowd was ready. Unlike the traditionally late arriving Los Angeles crowds, about 80% of the seats were filled by the time Steve Azar reached the stage; his set received a standing ovation at the end! I was on the main floor, and the crowd was on its feet from start to finish tonight. Of course, everyone in the crowd was waiting for "Turn the Page--On that long lonesome highway, east of Omaha" and the fans cheered loudly! Shaun Murphy was also welcomed back to her home town by the crowd during her introduction.
He's still runnin' against the wind, even if his gait has stiffened a bit and his knees don't quite bend like they used to. One look at Bob Seger these days -- gray hair, goofy glasses, thick shoulders, thicker waist, the sweaty headband, the callused mitts of a guy who works with his hands for a living -- and he becomes inseparable from the blue-collar ham-and-eggers who populate so many of his tunes. Rock 'n' roll is populated by everymen -- it's what we like about Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and John Mellencamp -- but nobody fills this role quite like Seger, a guy who waxes romantic about neon beer signs, considers rock 'n' roll a sacrament and pines for the open road like a lover whose embrace he can't wait to return to. Seger's voice is ragged, gruff and tuneful all at once, a bundle of imperfections that, like a mutt howlin' at the moon, works on a primal level: He sings from the gut, and that's where his tunes hit you. All things considered, Seger seems less like a rock star than the guy occupying the stool next to you at the local bar, downing shots and railing against Ford's latest round of layoffs. This is Bob Seger's appeal. And this is why, close to seven years since he toured last, Seger still can pack arenas with throngs of fans, many of whom look a lot like he does. "Most of his songs seemed to be about me," says Rick Stewart, a repo man from Ringo, Ga., and longtime Bob Seger fan who's been following his career since 1976. "Whatever I was going through, he had a song that related to my feelings and made me feel better about myself." "His music is timeless and classic, not trendy," says Erin VanWay, 22, a Seger fan who recently saw him in concert in her native Texas. "He made me cry, scream, laugh." Seger's return to the road has long seemed like an inevitability. He took some time off to raise his kids, but Seger's vast back catalog is so full of love letters to the highway, it's as if motor oil courses through his veins. Seger's latest disc, "Face the Promise," his first album of new material in 11 years, continues to barrel down those same byways. "I need a world of changes / I need a brand new space / I need an El Dorado / That needs to be some place," he sings on the album-opening "Wreck This Heart," his voice growling like a revved engine. The allure of Seger's wanderlust is a simple one: If there's anything implied in the open road it's possibility, and the characters who inhabit his songs are frequently looking for something better -- a better life, a better woman -- in that vast horizon that they're always chasing down. On "Promise," however, Seger seems to be seeing a different man's reflection staring back at him in his rearview mirror. He's long documented how alienating and lonely the road can be -- Seger's aching hit "Turn the Page" is still one of best tunes about living the nomadic life of a rock star -- but on his latest disc, the comforts of home seem to be appealing to him more and more. "I will answer the wind / I will leave with the tide / I'll be out on the road / Every chance I can ride," he sings on the flickering ballad "Wait for Me," before telling the object of his affection that he's ready to get back in her arms. "No matter how far / No matter how free / I'll be along / If you'll wait for me." Seger may as well be speaking to his fans, who've made this long journey with him. "He's so sincere up there on the stage," says Beth Swayze, 41, an account executive from Kent, Wash., who recently saw Seger perform. "I went to a couple of his concerts with my mom growing up, and then this last week took my 19- and 22-year-old kids. This was like a dream come true to be there with my mom and kids. It's funny, here, Bob Seger said that he wanted to tour so his kids could see him. I got to do the same thing." Seger's hinted that, at 61, this may be his last stretch of prolonged touring. If so, he's earned the respite.
Mark Chatfield has traded his day job as owner of Cowtown Guitars in Las Vegas for some night moves with Bob Seger. Chatfield has moved into the lead guitar spot with Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, who perform Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden. "Guess paying my dues and practicing paid off," Chatfield said in an e-mail. He's been touring with Seger since 1983. Chatfield was the rhythm guitarist with Seger and the Silver Bullet Band on previous tours, in 1983 and 1996. A 1982 audition with Seger opened the door for Chatfield, at the suggestion of Don Brewer and Craig Frost. Frost had joined the Silver Bullet Band in 1980 and Brewer in 1982.
He was but three songs into a long, loose-fitting set when Bob Seger strapped on a ratty black headband -- the guy was perspiring already, his skin glistening like it had reached its dew point. The sweat was all in the service of some sizzling rock 'n' roll, bashed out as if R&B were short for rhythm and bombast. At the MGM Grand on Saturday night, Seger and his diesel-powered pelvis begged the obvious question: What is rock 'n' roll if not a series of arch gestures -- the clenched fist punching the air to the beat; the locomotive, nonstop hips; the guitar held high, like some hard-earned trophy? Seger embodies all these conceits and makes them his own; he's an exultant 61-year-old who still plays as if his beard were on fire. Visceral and hot-blooded, his shows work on a cardiovascular level, not a cognitive one, with Seger boxing the air and gesticulating like a cop directing traffic. This isn't to suggest that Seger has nothing to say -- far from it. His tunes are often eloquent and touching reflections on the promise of young love and the emptiness of midlife ennui. But watching Seger duck- walk across the stage like Chuck Berry's pasty, slightly paunchy spiritual heir, you get the impression that all the poignancy in the world wouldn't mean that much to this veteran rocker if you couldn't shake your derriere to it. "The question is, are you feelin' funky tonight?" Seger said early in the show, right before launching into a heated "Tryin' to Live My Life Without You." He didn't wait for a response. He didn't need to. One gal was shakin' her hair so hard, she had to remove her glasses lest they go flying off. A row behind her, a refrigerator-size dude in a Seger T-shirt bellowed along to "Katmandu" with his hand over his heart, as if he were reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance." And, in a way, perhaps he was. Seger inspires this kind of devotion because he seems so devoted himself. Backed by a 13-piece band, Seger howled through his many hits with that gutbucket voice of his that doesn't sound like it's aged a day past 1976, often singing from the back of his heels. Live, Seger and Co. tease even more sharp-edged funk out of standards like "Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight" and "Sunspot Baby," resulting in extended jams with some combustible saxophone playing that nearly sucks all the air out of the room. And during an especially raucous "Travelin' Man," you could feel the floor rattling beneath your feet as the crowd stomped along. Seger played almost half of his latest album, "Face the Promise," a vintage-sounding disc that doesn't attempt to update his soul-fired rock 'n' roll and is the better for it. After all, Seger's full-bodied swing is like denim and leather: It'll never go out of style, no matter how the times may change. And that's where a large part of his appeal lies, especially with the older members of the crowd. Seger soundtracked a generation's worth of proms, and to hear him sing today, it's as if no time has lapsed since. This is a comforting notion, no doubt, for anyone who has gone gray like Seger has. He has grown up without getting old -- a nifty feat -- and that's earned him arena after arena full of true believers. "Faith, it's hard to find," Seger sang midway through the show, sitting down at the piano for a rare breather.
Another great performance, only issue, and had nothing to do with Bob or the band, was the sound techs had problems, and evry now and then Bobs voice was cut off, or the music sounded fuzzy, but the performance was just as spectacular as in L.A. The crowds were more energetic in Vegas then L.A. and very rarely sat down, and ther were a few changes from 2 nights ago, (no Kid Rock) but Don Brewer sang Kids parts, and you would not have known unless Bob didn't say that Don was singing, it was GREAT! Only other problem was that security was strict, if someone started to dance in an aisle, they got stopped, so it was a little over the top. But enjoy it, WE DID! It was my wifes first time seeing Bob Seger, and she was amazed by his youth energy, and blown away by Alto Reed and his stage performance, he rocked and rolled the crowd from end to end! My buddy from the Air Force came also, and he said it was a great send off for him, as he is being shipped to Iraq in 3 weeks, and it was also his 1st time seeing Bob Seger. Other noticible difference, the fans that came from far, and farther, Alaska, Atlanta, GA. Chicago, Portland, MICHIGAN, and numerous other states that I talked to, but Bob gave a special nod to the family from Alaska, so they must have been floating on cloud last night.
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -- Bob Seger never was a "rock" star. He's a rock 'n' roller -- and his show Thursday at the creaky Forum was a pointed reminder of how rock 'n' roll used to make us feel. And still can. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and his Silver Bullet Band rollicked through a joyful show that thrilled the graying, near-sellout crowd for most of the two-plus hours. The years have sapped much of the soul from his voice, but Seger gamely delivered all he had, which was plenty. And more importantly, the songs have held up -- from hit singles to underappreciated album cuts. During the 1970s and early '80s, Seger was something of a maverick, celebrating rock 'n' roll in the age of rock -- be it corporate, progressive or Fleetwood Mac. And his first local concert in 11 years continued that wave, with song after punchy song extracting the passion of youth and a musical style that moved a generation, or two. And while many of his songs were nostalgic when he wrote them decades ago, they have an entirely different nostalgic effect today. With two weeks to go in his five-month tour, Seger's voice was a shell of his heyday. Indeed, he occasionally was drowned out by his three backup singers and rarely even attempted any tough notes. Instead, he let his deep, durable catalog carry the show. And with a bare-bones stage, simple lighting and nary a video screen, there was nothing to distract from the singer and his songs. The pairing of "Fire Down Below" and "The Horizontal Bop" dug into rock 'n' roll's carnal roots, as fundamental as it gets. "Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight" was the night's peppiest song, and it was followed by the still-lovely ballad "We've Got Tonite." As jarring as that tempo downshift was, it absolutely worked, with Seger playing gentle piano. Played during the encore, "Night Moves" lost some of its raging-hormones bite, yet it resonated like that song Seger was humming from 1962 while waxing nostalgic in 1976. The evening featured a half-dozen tracks from "Face the Promise" (Capitol), Seger's first new album since 1995. Most were solid if not wholly memorable, with the standouts being the title track and "Real Mean Bottle," a rollicking honky-tonk tale that featured the guest singer it was recorded with -- "Mr. Kid Rock," as Seger called him. Humbly clad in a black T and jeans, Seger summoned his biggest vocal effort for the road lament "Turn the Page," especially during the verse about leaving it on the stage night after night ("Every ounce of energy, you try and give away").
Back after 11 years, the Detroit rocker delivered an expert tutorial in rock fundamentals with his highly entertaining return to the Forum. To some people -- ardent fans, primarily -- it's surely a shame that Bob Seger hasn't come around more often lately. It had been 11 years since one of Detroit's earliest and greatest rock stars had put out an album when "Face the Promise" arrived in September -- and it's been nearly 11 years since he has played the Forum, as he did Thursday night. In that same time, most of Seger's peers -- Springsteen, Mellencamp, the Who, Elton, Rod, even once-reclusive John Fogerty -- have offered at least 11 SoCal performances each. Enough cash-showered visits, in other words, to grow overly familiar with their live routines; in every case except the Boss's their ability to surprise has vanished. Which is why it's actually to Seger's advantage that he has spent the past decade in semiretirement with family, watching his stature rise while a new breed of Detroit rocker (from Kid Rock to the White Stripes) has tipped his hat to him. Granted, despite solid new studio work, there was reason to wonder if Seger still had that certain spark in concert, given his rather raspy and strained appearance when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. Such concerns, however, were trumped immediately Thursday, as the once gangly, now big and broad wall of a guy unleashed his unmistakable holler on "Roll Me Away." The roar of recognition that rose from the crowd -- even for that relative obscurity from the early '80s -- indicated absence had made these hearts grow deeply fonder. It was a remarkable outpouring that became even more thunderous as the night wore on and Seger and this unerring incarnation of the Silver Bullet Band dusted off one classic after another. "Too many new songs," the scribe to my left grunted during intermission. I disagree completely. Of 24 selections, only a fourth were from "Face the Promise," and of those, one ("Simplicity") was merely a means to get people back in their seats after the break; two others ("Wreck This Heart" and the grimy title track, both reminiscent of primo Don Henley) held their own against his staples; and the playfully ornery "Real Mean Bottle," which closed the first set, was enlivened by a guest appearance from Kid Rock, Seger's duet partner on record. Better yet, the new songs not only didn't distract from the oldies, they seemed improved by their company. The "Roll With It" feel of "Face the Promise," for instance, tumbled almost seamlessly into the strut of "Sunspot Baby" and the giddy fun of "Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight," proving that Seger remains a master of fundamentals in any era. True, there's little variation between "Old Time Rock and Roll" and "Katmandu" and "Rock and Roll Never Forgets" or even his first record from 1968, "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man." All of them, however, are played with precision by the sprawling Silver Bullet Band, which still includes a few longtime members (bassist Chris Campbell, saxman Alto Reed, pianist Craig Frost) as well as Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer and current Little Feat vocalist Shaun Murphy. A rarity in rock anymore, it's also one of the few bands in the idiom that merits the description "powerhouse." Naturally, Rock 101 is their ambition. For as many elegiac gems as there are in Seger's catalog, he is foremost an everyman purist, an extraordinary ordinary guy keeping the basics alive in a black T-shirt and jeans and headband holding back his gray hair. He'd just as soon revive Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" (done in a swinging style this night) than make sure to include more of his own copyrights. (Sadly missing here: "Still the Same," "Shame on the Moon" and "You'll Accomp'ny Me." Gratefully absent: "Like a Rock.") That said, what held me rapt were indelible tunes. Not so much "Night Moves," unfortunately -- it felt a tad stodgy, though it wasn't nearly as altered as "Old Time Rock and Roll," the key dropped to avoid sky-high notes Seger can't reach (regular high ones he still nails). But "Turn the Page" is still a gripping piece of tough-luck melancholy, as is "Beautiful Loser"; "Hollywood Nights" is as exhilarating as anything the '70s produced; and I had forgotten just how beautiful "We've Got Tonight" can be.
Detroit rocker performs crowd-pleasing greatest hits along with newer material at the Forum. You likely wouldn't think of Bob Seger as a visionary. But he's played that role at a couple of points in his 40-year career. He was hammering out early-model iron-clad heartland rock from his Michigan base back in the late '60s, when Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and Tom Petty were still skipping school and ticking off their dads. And while today even the hippest musicians are eager for the exposure and cash flow generated by putting a song in a TV commercial, back in 1990, when he let Chevrolet use "Like a Rock" to sell trucks, it was anything but cool. Seger made it cool on his own terms by pretty much giving the song to Chevy as a way to help his hometown's beleaguered auto industry. At the Forum on Thursday, Seger, 61 and sporting silver hair and spectacles, represented another notion that could benefit many artists: Go away for a while. Seger did. He sat out the last decade, concentrating on family life, working up a handful of songs he could feel good about releasing, letting his old fans miss him, letting some new fans discover him -- a more commendable course than the standard of cranking out a new album every few years with somewhere between adequate and negligible sales and going out on the road regularly to play for folks who only want to hear the old songs anyway. The latter probably remains true in any case, and Seger didn't disappoint anyone Thursday on this stop of his first tour since 1996. His set was heavy on the oldies, reaching back as far as 1968's "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" and concentrating largely on '70s staples, including churning rockers "Fire Down Below" and "Hollywood Nights," evocatively wistful ballads "Night Moves" and the still-superb "Beautiful Loser" and popular backward-looking novelties "Horizontal Bop" and, of course, "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll." It's not so much that these songs seemed refreshed, but rather they were trustworthy, reliable, enduring, all the things Seger has long represented -- "Like a Rock" and such (though last year he swore off Chevy due to environmental concerns and didn't play that song Thursday). That was underscored by the current 14-member edition of his Silver Bullet Band, featuring bassist Chris Campbell and sax player Alto Reed (who have been with Seger since 1969 and 1971, respectively) as well as keyboard player Craig Frost (since 1980) and drummer Don Brewer (of Grand Funk Railroad and part of the same Detroit rock generation as Seger). And the leader himself, though not exactly athletic, has kept his voice in prime, gruff shape. The six new songs he played, from last year's "Face the Promise" album, stood up well in the company of the old favorites. The title song rocked as hard as anything else this night, "No More" drew a reflective line in the sand, and 90-proof country-rocker "Real Mean Bottle" let him pay honor to the song's writer (Vince Gill), its inspiration (Merle Haggard) and Seger acolyte Kid Rock, who walked onto the Forum stage to reprise the duet role from the album.
When veteran rocker Bob Seger (tickets | music) busted into "Rock and Roll Never Forgets" as the final song of his nearly two-hour set Thursday night (3/1) in Los Angeles, it was a fitting finale to a long-awaited night his die-hard fans won't soon forget. It's a good thing the memories will be positive, as judging from Seger's track record, it might be a while before he tours again. In the midst of his first North American tour in more than a decade, the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee put his 40-year career on display in front of a near-capacity crowd at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. The 24-song set spanned his catalog, from the title track of his 1968 debut, "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man," to six cuts from his latest release, last year's "Face the Promise." The new album debuted an impressive No. 4 on The Billboard 200 album chart and quickly achieved platinum status, marking the 11th platinum effort of Seger's heralded career. To his credit, the new material doesn't stray far from his comfort zone, and the tracks made comfortable additions to a hit-laden performance. Opener "Roll Me Away" immediately shifted the night into gear, the heartland's favorite rocker aiming his set for the open road and never looking back. It was the early, back-to-back billing of "Main Street" and "Old Time Rock & Roll" that got the equally veteran crowd off their feet in a big way, though, Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed kicking off the first, and piano man Craig Frost hitting the intro notes that put Tom Cruise on the map in "Risky Business." Seger, for his part, sounded strong, his voice warm, weathered and raspy, and showing nary a sign of wear (possibly due, in part, to its limited use over the past 10 years). Dressed down in blue jeans and a black T-shirt, and accessorized by a black headband, the frontman was as stripped-down as his stage show, which offered little more than robotic light-trusses that wouldn't have been considered high-tech even the last time he toured. The presentation was so bare bones, even the upper-most riser, behind the modest drum kit, didn't get used until Reed climbed atop to play his sax during the night's closer. But bells and whistles weren't necessary. Backed by his six-piece Silver Bullet Band, the four-piece Motor City Horns and three female backing vocalists (Laura Creamer shared the spotlight on the duet "The Answer's in the Question," recorded on the new album with Patty Loveless), Seger sat behind the piano for "We've Got Tonight" and "Turn the Page," donned an acoustic guitar on "Night Moves" and "Against the Wind," and even fired up the electric six-string, serving up his latest title track with an adrenaline rush that defied his years. When he wasn't behind an instrument, he worked the stage with an assertive savvy that drove the crowd to return the same, his fists pumping, theirs pumping back, his legs braced to the floor and fists clenched in delivery, and the crowd dancing in appreciation, even if not always in rhythm. Even the tabloid headline-stealing Kid Rock couldn't rob Seger of his roaring thunder. The fellow Detroit native joined the elder statesman for a run through "Real Mean Bottle," "an ode to Merle Haggard, Cali-style." It was a one-off highlight for the Hollywood crowd that would have normally been reserved for one of the pair's hometown throwdowns. It was working-class rock, as delivered by the working man's rock-and-roll messiah. If the night were any more blue collar, Dickies would have been required dress, and Union cards would have discounted the $22 parking. But there was magic in the blue-collar missives delivered on this night. While classic ballads may have rekindled broken hearts, and broken hips from excessive dancing might have worried some in the crowd, the man they came to see ultimately proved exceptional. Bob Seger is more than just an acclaimed rock-and-roll legend, he's part of the American fabric. In Los Angeles, that fabric, however simple and understated, felt as comfortable as ever.
My name is Brady keegan, I'm 10 years old, and went to the LA concert with my dad, we won tickets for 2nd row but a guy let us move up to 1st row, the opening band Steve Azar was really good, and towards the end, he threw me a guitar pick. When Bob Seger came on,I was really excited, and was cool that Bob Seger seen me, I was in front of Chris Campbell most of the night, and got to see Alto Reed, and Jim Moose Brown, and got a guitar pick from him. When Kid Rock came on, they sang Real Mean Bottle, and it was really good. The crowd was loving it. All the songs were great, it was the best day of my life, and wish it could last forever, I will always remember it. I wore my Bob Seger shirt to school the next day, showed my teacher, and friends, and had to explain to my friends who Bob Seger was.
Oh. My. God. It's like it was 1996 all over again. I had expected Seger to have lost a step or a note since the last time I saw him, but no. He was just as sharp, just as fun, and even more talkative tonight than he was then. 25 songs he played, every one of them a stellar arrangement. Yes, he compensated for the deepening of his voice, but in a way, it sounded that much more Seger because of it. Lord knows I experienced a deepening of MY voice tonight. In fact, I've all but lost it.
What a ride! I brought my 10 year old son we had 2nd row seats, but got booted to front row, almost center by a guy who thought it was so cool my son was there! Everyone seems to forget about Steve Azor, he was great, he through a pick to my son, and just showed a zest up on the stage. But when Bob Seger and the boys came on, with Roll Me Away, we were rolled away with it! My son very seldom sat down for the rest of the night, everyone of the band aknowledged him at one point or another, just to show what a great bunch they are! And the music, it is still ringing great in my ears, and what a beautiful ring it is! They rocked the house and people loved them! They say he never lost a step, that's because they floated with ease of it all! Anyone who says different, must have been at the wrong concert! At the end, my son had 2 guitar picks, the Steve Azor, and Jim Moose Brown, and as we were getting ready to walk out from our seats, a very great fan came up to him and gave him a pick from Mark,
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