The opening act was Steve Azar, a country singer, or as I called him the "I don't have to be until Monday" guy! He did a good job and he's got a good set up opening for Bob!
As I mention below I have not worked on these photos yet to crop or zoom them but you'll get the idea
Steve Azar:
Bob Seger:
People watching is fun, and last night was no exception! There was a guy behind us that got totally trashed he was so drunk, that he was passed out before Bob got done singing the first song! I couldn't believe it, he was with his wife or girfriend and if I were I would have been beyond mad! They finally left and again I'd have told him to get a cab and go home I am not leaving the concert!
About halfway through the show I smelled what smelled like pot ... about 2 rows behind us these kids (one of them didn't look older than 19) were passing around a joint. We just shook our heads and enjoyed dancing and singing during the show :)
Anyhow, since they search your purses I didn't dare bring my camera with the amazing zoom lens so we brought Jim's digital which does good and got some shots in, they aren't the greatest but I haven't had time to sit and crop and zoom them yet.
Group photo (so not a good picture of me, but I have a cute outfit on! that has to count for something, right?)
I found this on the Detroit Free Press site, the set list from last night which had a bunch of my favorites including Beautiful Loser, Night Moves, Roll me Away, Sun Spot Baby, Mainstreet, Turn the Page and many others!
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids
Nov. 8, 2006
1. “Roll Me Away”
2. “Tryin’ to Live My Life Without You”
3. “Wreck This Heart”
4. “Mainstreet”
5. “Old Time Rock and Roll”
6. “Wait For Me”
7. “Face the Promise”
8. “No Matter Who You Are”
9. “Simplicity”
10. “Betty Lou’s Going Out Tonight”
11. “We’ve Got Tonight”
12. “Turn the Page”
13. “Travelin’ Man”/”Beautiful Loser”
14. “Between”
15. “You Never Can Tell”
16. “The Answer’s in the Question”
17. “Sightseeing”
18. “Sunspot Baby”
19. “Horizontal Bop”
20. “Katmandu”
First encore
21. “Night Moves”
22. “Hollywood Nights”
Second encore
23. “Against the Wind”
24. “Rock and Roll Never Forgets”
And a review from the Detroit Free Press:
Seger's tour kickoff is a welcome return
November 9, 2006
BY BRIAN McCOLLUM
FREE PRESS POP MUSIC CRITIC
GRAND RAPIDS -- It's not always simple finding the magic in rock and roll these days. Sometimes you have to look hard, digging through a swamp of soundalike newcomers, fashionable phonies and retread oldies acts.
Once in a while, though, the moments still come easy. Bob Seger made it that way on an emotionally charged evening at Van Andel Arena, sounding strong and looking upbeat as he underlined his iconic home state status for more than 12,000 high-spirited fans.
On the opening night of a tour that will take him across the country, the 61-year-old Detroit native tapped deep wells of nostalgia without lapsing into schmaltz in a 2-hour, 15-minute show that ended with a two-encore bang. It was an evening that felt easygoing but purposeful, a comeback that felt triumphant.
Michigan hadn't seen him like this in a while. A decade ago, Seger stepped off the Pine Knob stage and walked into full-time family life. For the next several years, he was absent from the rock world he'd inhabited since the mid-'60s, bunkering down to raise a son and daughter.
Seger traditionally has opened his tours in out-of-the-way markets, and with Grand Rapids he had a cozy corner -- a friendly audience on familiar turf. At Van Andel, where tickets had sold out in six minutes, it was the sort of night destined to be special no matter how Seger sounded, as fans arrived with their ragged old concert shirts and untattered loyalty.
Casual in blue jeans and a black T-shirt, silver hair gleaming under the spotlight, Seger opened with a soaring "Roll Me Away." If there were nerves, they didn't show; he looked loose and assured on the no-frills stage, pumping his fists and grinning as he shot thumbs-up at his audience.
With a polished Silver Bullet Band he delivered an eclectic set list -- classic hits laced with offbeat selections ("You Never Can Tell") and party faves ("Old Time Rock and Roll," "Betty Lou's Getting Out Tonight"). The show sagged only during a stretch of new material -- he could ditch the plodding "Simplicity" and help the cause.
Soaked in sweat by the set's third song, the pumping "Wreck This Heart," he joked about his stamina during frequent loose, amiable banter between songs.
Seger is a heavy smoker who just two months ago confessed genuine anxiety about the state of his voice. But although he'll never again sound like the 30-year-old whose raw roar could propel him to the edge of rock abandon on "Live Bullet," he was rugged and robust Wednesday night, revealing a voice that sounded burnished by the years rather than corroded by them.
It's a lengthy tour road ahead for Seger, whose real test will come as he moves into the guts of the tour, with shows every other night.
But Wednesday night was a firm push off the starting ramp, a solid blast of momentum as he heads to Saginaw on Friday and back to Grand Rapids on Sunday. It was also a big reminder why, in Michigan at least, Seger is far more than just another old rocker hitting the road.
