It was a cool Autumn night, and I was off to see Bob
Seger and The Silver Bullet Band at the Rosemont Horizon. Alright,
it was the middle of May, but what's the deal with the weather?
It was cold outside, and as I stood in line outside, I was cold.
Someone's playing with the weather dominator again because this just
ain't right. I want to go golfing, I want to go swimming, I want…
well, I want a lot, but what I wanted most that night was to see Bob
Seger, and it almost didn't happen.For the second time in a week, my tickets weren't at will-call
where they were supposed to be. Nope, shut-out again, and I feared
that this review was going to be based on the three songs I got to
take pictures for at the beginning of the show. Luckily, the right
person was found, who, although couldn't come up with tickets (Seger
sold out another show on this tour), came up with not the greatest
location, but gave me a little more insight into the production
aspect of putting on a show.
Bob Seger is back on tour supporting his "It's A
Mystery" CD, and you know, as I watched the crowd, and I
watched Bob Seger, I kinda felt bad for some of the youth of today.
Why? I'll get to that later.
Seger is 51, and if I'm in as good of shape as he seems to be now
when I'm 41, at this point it might just be a miracle. Coming out
looking like the hard-working man he has always been, Bob kicked
into "Roll Me Away," his new single "Lock and
Load," and a virtual playlist of some of his everlasting rock
& roll classics and new material which might not be classics,
but have that same appeal to the hard working men and women of the
world. And I think they were all in the crowd because I haven't seen
that many union jackets since the last Teamster's convention!
Yep, Seger hasn't lost his touch for the ways of the working man.
He took some time off to "find" himself, and what I see is
he found the same man he used to be, maybe a little older, maybe a
little wiser,
but still knowing the men and women who built the world did it with
blood and sweat. And his songs, and his singing, still reflect that.
It's funny, growing up I remember the working man's singers.
People like Springsteen and Seger always seemed to connect with a
guy who drives a truck, works on cars, loves (and sometimes ogles)
women, but also loves their country, loves their wife, and busts
their ass for a days pay. Springsteen seems to be going through his
own "finding" himself phase right now, but I'm really glad
Seger came around to reality - Bruce, take a look - your future is
in your past - take a lesson from Bob Seger and come back to the
rock & roll that you helped pave. I'm sorry, I'm straying from
the show.
It's not really hard to explain a Bob Seger show, it's basically
rock & roll at it's finest. With a supporting cast of many on
stage, Bob recruited some members of Little Feat (Shaun Murphy and
Bill Payne I believe), some of the Grand Funk Railroad, and fine,
I'm not perfect, and don't know the guy's name, but the sax player
was unbelievable. And the rest of the band kicked butt too.
After all of these years, his fans still love him, and Bob Seger
looked, on stage, like he was having the time of his life. His smile
showed amazement and fun, and the entire band pounced around the
stage having as much fun as Bob. As songs like "The Horizontal
Bop" and "Katmandu" rang
through the Horizon, the people were dancing in the isles, and the
thousands of fanshaven't forgotten any of the words either.
But it was in the middle of the show that I wondered something.
As the first notes of "Turn the Page" began to ring, I
tried to think of any rock anthems that the youth of the world will
have to turn to, or any bands they will get to still love, twenty
years from now. I tried to think of current bands who will have the
staying power to still have a legion of fans in the future, and just
couldn't come up with any. Maybe I'm wrong, but there have been just
too many "one album wonders" and no one to take on the
world for the next twenty years. Alright, enough editorial shit.
Bob Seger may not have always had the most thought-provoking
lyrics, but I'm glad he "found" himself and hit the
concert and CD road again. One of the better performers, he hasn't
lost touch with the fans who loved him, and has probably picked up a
few new fans along the way. Bob Seger gets TWO BIG THUMBS UP from
this reviewer! The crowd seemed to have as much fun as was possible,
and also appreciated that Seger stayed in touch with them through
the years.
Thank you Bob Seger, for showing that Rock & Roll never does
forget, and if you want to see what rock & roll is about, Bob
Seger and his band will help teach you.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!!
L8R!!! |
