Michigan rocker Bob Seger has made Grand Rapids a regular — and early — stop on his tours with the Silver Bullet Band since 2006. Here’s what some fans had to say about Tuesday night’s show at Van Andel Arena.
Leave it to the fans to say it with real enthusiasm and a genuine respect for a Michigan icon.
Spins on Music asked several concertgoers attending Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band’s sold-out show at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena to share their thoughts about the two-hours-plus show.
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You can read the Spins on Music review by clicking here. And here’s what some fans had to say:
Don Drury, Grand Rapids — Seger rocked as usual. He does a great job, especially when you consider he is like at least 67. My favorite part of the show is when he did “Live Bullet” songs. “Nutbush City Limits” and the “Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser” medley take me back to 1976-77 and watching them at Rose Arena at Central Michigan University and at the Bay City Jam. (Van Halen was a warm up band.) Love Bob. Here’s a fantasy: He’s got 50% of Grand Funk Railroad in his band (Don Brewer, Craig Frost) so why not do, “We’re an American Band”? That would be amazing.
Charley Honey, Grand Rapids — The great joy of Seger is he’s one of our own. You know the man understands the particular pain and pleasure of living in a place where there’s never enough work and the dirty snow lingers too long, but the cars look great in the summer sun. High points for me were the slightly nasty delight of “Nutbush City Limits,” the vintage awesomeness of “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” and the majestic “Roll Me Away,” which sounds as much like freedom as a song about freedom can sound. I loved it when he paused midway through “Night Moves” just to smile at the audience. He knows how much we love him, and he wanted a moment to take it in. Beautiful.
Lisa Villarreal Wiseman, Grand Rapids — The highlight of the show was the love from the audience. It is great to see and hear an arena full of people welcome one of their own and sing the songs along with him. I loved hearing his new stuff and look forward to the new album. I particularly liked the song “California Stars.” “Old Time Rock and Roll” has always been one of my favorites and he didn’t disappoint. My favorite ballad is “We’ve Got Tonight” and we were seated up behind the piano, so we could watch him play. I don’t think there was anything about the show that I didn’t like, not from a Seger standpoint. The younger girls can have their Bieber Fever, I’ll take Seger Fever anytime! The one thing I didn’t like about the show was that we were seated behind four drunk women who stood and danced and blocked our view for most of the show. (But) happy that I got to see the man, the legend and was able to see him perform at least a little bit. Disappointed that I had an obstructed view of his show. But I thoroughly enjoyed the music. He may be older, but he’s still got the voice and the moves. And I did enjoy the music of the opening band, J.D. McPherson. Loved the rockin’ sound. I would go see them again.
Jay Farquharson, Rockford — Overall, it was a fantastic concert, so much so we are thinking of going to Detroit to see him again. Bob’s singing seems to be much stronger then the first concert back from retirement. And for all but a very few times I could almost close my eyes and go back to the “Live Bullet” tour. Alto sounded a little thin the first half of the show. Partly due to the soundman and his playing seemed somewhat uninspired, but he really seemed to pick it up the second half of the concert. The rest of the band was very tight, and Don Brewer and the lead guitar player were truly outstanding. My favorite songs were “Like a Rock,” “Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser,” and always, “Turn the Page.”
Dianna Higgs Stampfler, Plainwell — Another great show! It amazes me that Seger has been performing on stage for longer than I have been alive. He sure looked like he was having fun. “Mainstreet” has always been my favorite Seger song, so I was happy to have it be one of the first songs he sang. “Hollywood Nights” and “Roll Me Away” are other faves. I would have liked to have heard “Still the Same,” “Fire Lake” and “Shame on the Moon,” but I guess he can’t sing everything. It was great that the entire arena seemed to be his chorus, singing all the songs. Even my 20-year-old daughter knew most of his the songs. I could have stayed there all night.
Mike Ensing, Grand Rapids — Enthusiastic Seger and crowd, but the band seemed to be playing by the numbers. Reminded me of what Artie Shaw said about the Glenn Miller band – “They never make a mistake, which means you’re not pushing limits. After awhile it gets extremely boring.” The songs were almost all crowd-pleasers, but they didn’t sound much different than what we’ve heard on the radio all these years. Good voice, tight band, but nothing transcendent. But that’s ok: The place was rocking.
Regina Daukss, Rockford — Highlight: the quality of his voice and the saxophonist. Still “Running Against the Wind.” He’s still doing this because he loves it!
Richard Kelley, Grand Rapids — “California Stars,” like Bob channeling Gregg Allman or Tim Hardin, was brilliant. Gut-wrenchingly good. Much of it we’ve heard ad nauseum, like “Turn the Page,” but there is no denying the crowd. … Most relaxed and enjoyable of all the Grand Rapids shows since ’06. … Delightful. Most fun of all the Grand Rapids shows.
Email: jsinkevics@gmail.com
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
I was there and it was an AWESOME show!!
I loved how Bob smiled the whole time and seemed to have as much fun as his audience. I loved how the audience sang along to his slow songs that it was almost all you could hear. I teared up on a few songs as I was truly touched by his beautiful music and the fact that I was lucky enough to be in the audience. Also saw him in Indy 2 years ago and it was just as awesome. Thank you Bob Seger!!