Bob Seger performs at the BankAtlantic Center. (Veda Jo Jenkins / sflimages.com)
“Bob Seger? He’s still playing?” someone asked me when I said I was going to the concert.
Yes he is, and the show was incredible! For those 20,000 fans that attended Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band’s sold out show The Distance ’83, presented by Live Nation at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, it was good old time rock and roll. To use his song title “Rock and Roll Never Forgets”, the final song of his second encore, I would have to say Seger is not forgotten. In fact, he’s been resurrected.
Spilling forth the love he has for his work that spans more than 40 years, Seger’s voice is strong and crystal clear and he couldn’t help but to raise his arms like a winner in a boxing match as he finished another classic. He is a champion.
Photos: Bob Seger at the BankAtlantic Center | Visit this writer’s website
Obviously, Seger’s well-known 1971 classic “Turn The Page” is the story of himself and every other musician in the day. “I wrote this in a motel room”, he told us. No plush hotel room, no planes, just tour buses (actually it was a station wagon for a while for Seger) and a group of musicians trying to make their mark. The miles they put under their wheels and the multitudes of fans they have performed for must be astronomical. When we buy tickets to a concert, we don’t think much about where they are going next or where they have been. All we know is now and the experience we have tonight.
But it’s not just Seger who makes these songs classic. Alto Reed, who now lives in Miami, is a Silver Bullet Band member since 1971 and without him this band is not complete. In the book Travelin’ Man, it states “Tom Weschler (former roadie and author) allegedly helped inspire Reed to create the opening melody (to ‘Turn The Page’). During recording, Weschler told Reed: ‘Alto, think about it like this: You’re in New York City, on the Bowery. It’s 3 a.m. You’re under a streetlamp. There’s a light mist coming down. You’re all by yourself. Show me what that sounds like.’ With that, Reed played the opening melody to ‘Turn the Page.’” It’s a melody that sparks memories of days gone by, never to be forgotten.
That was the emotional wakening in our memories for all the classics Seger and his band performed. From high energy songs like “Old Time Rock and Roll”, “The Fire Down Below”, “Ramblin’ Gamblin Man”, “Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser” and “Hollywood Nights” as well as his slower ballads like “Against The Wind” and “Night Moves”. Seger and his 10-plus-member Silver Bullet Band didn’t skip a beat.
“It was like you were listening to the radio,” said Seger fan Catherine McGlennon.
I truly agree. If you closed your eyes there was no difference in the sound, the only thing that has changed for Seger is his hair is a bit shorter. Not all musicians his age can claim that, but even when the crowd sang along you could still hear Seger’s voice over the crescendo strong and pure.
I mentioned earlier that Reed has been with the band since 1971, but bass guitarist Chris Cambpell, nicknamed C-Note, has been with the band since 1969. Having Campbell and Reed on the road with him for all these years, then adding Craig Frost on piano in late 1979, Seger and his bandmates are like brothers who have grown up together, survived the ups and downs, and celebrated in their successes. But as the song says, the life of a musician is not all peaches and cream. You have to love what you do and Seger and his band definitely make that apparent on stage.
Side notes:
• Seger’s smile on stage was contagious.
• Two encores with 4 songs total — now that’s what old time rock and rollers do for an encore!
