The Metal Files

It’s funny.  Whenever I mention Bob Seger around friends, it’s always a reaction of love or hate.  I really like most of everything I’ve heard by him sans a few songs, mainly Katmandu, Old Time Rock and Roll and Like a Rock.  Even before Chevy picked that song up it annoyed me for some reason.  I could stand never hearing Turn the Page again just because it’s a good song that’s been overplayed, not to mention the bastardized version that Metallica recorded.  Horrid.

Upon getting to our floor seats, I noticed two drum sets on the stage which meant there was an opener.  BUMMER.  I didn’t sleep much the night before and even though I had a nap earlier at the hotel, I was still wiped out and the last thing I wanted to do was sit through an opener.  It was Austin’s Heartless Bastards and were about as boring as I could imagine.  Good on ’em for picking some shows on such a huge tour, but they just weren’t my thing at all.

Bob Hits the stage just a little after 9PM and opens with Roll Me Away from The Distance album and went right into the Otis Clay cover of Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You.  I wasn’t familiar with either of them but the majority of the crowd was singng along to both.  That crowd averaged in age about 50 years or more.

Fire Down Below came up next and that got the crowd even more energized.  It was followed by a Steve Earle cover tune called The Devil’s Right Hand from his new album entitled Ride out.  That album is Bob’s last according to him.  He also played a John Hiatt tune from Ride out called Detroit Made.

They ran through most of the hits you’d expect and thankfully skipped Katmandu.  I’ve always been a big fan of Against the Wind, Come to Poppa, Beautiful Loser, Night Moves and Especially Hollywood Nights.    Bob’s songs sometimes tell great stories.  Against the Wind and Hollywood Nights certainly evoked some great childhood memories and even some memories of good loves gone bad or bad loves gone worse.  haha.  I was really hoping to hear Still the Same, Even Now, You’ll Accomp’ny Me, Shame on the Moon and even more so Fire Lake.  I adore that song.

Bob will be 70 this year but you’d never know it.  He was all over the stage and his voice was in excellent shape.  I was really surprised.  Overall it was a great show minus two drunk couples in front of us that wouldn’t shut up the whole show.

Thanks for the memories and great songs, Bob.

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