Bob Seger concert review

Last night Jim, Jean, Deb, and I went to the Bob Seger concert. It was awesome! This was his first concert in over 10 years and he opened his new tour in Grand Rapids! When tickets went on sale in October they sold out in 4 minutes! He added a second show for this Sunday and it sold out too in no time at all. We had good seats, on the floor in row 6 in the "exit row" so we had room to move and dance.

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.

Sushi update

It's been a few weeks since I posted anything about Abbie and her new pet, Sushi. I'm happy to report Sushi is still with us and happily swimming around in his tank!

I had Jim's digital camera last night so I decided to take a few pictures of Abbie and her new pet!

Sushi:


Abbie in her favorite spot to watch Sushi:


Don't pet Sushi...


I promise I wasn't petting him Mom! :::innocent look:::

Friday night fun

Friday night Jim had tickets for the Griffins game and invited me along and our friend Rachel that we work with.

On the way we stopped at McDonalds for dinner and we were waiting for 20 minutes for our food! One of the cooks walked out so they were short staffed and it was just crazy in there. We finally got our food and then took off for the game.

Game was fun, Rachel and I talked through most of it but the Griffins won!

Afterward Rachel wanted to go karaoke so Jim and I decided to go along, I didn't plan to stay for more than an hour... well an hour turned into over 4 and we ended up closing the place!

We ran into other friends/co workers, Susan and her fiance Scott, and then other friend/co worker Ray showed up along with Rachel's roommate. We had a great time and the girls got Jim to get up and sing! He was so against it and then when his turn came he just got right up!

I did not go up to sing, I don't sing ... except for in the car :) The others all got up and sang and we just had fun watching others get up and sing and took some pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

Rachel and I:



All 4 of us (Rachel, Me, Ray, Jim)



Me with my "Bend and Snap" impression from Legally Blonde



Jim and Ray singing together ... New York, New York

Pete's Pond - Botswana

Thanks to Scrapshare *wink* I am totally addicted to watching live feed of a watering hole in Africa.

There are 2 that I am watching but the one where I've seen the most "action" so far is National Geographic live feed of Pete's Pond in Botswana, Africa. I'm watching a beautiful sunrise right now earlier tonight I saw 3 hyena's and an antelope plus what I think might have been a croc? swimming around in the water.

Check it out, you may get addicted too!

Click here: National Geographic live streaming video

Happy Halloween!

One of the nice things that our work does is from like 4pm-6pm on Halloween employees are allowed to bring their children and/or grandchildren in to trick or treat in the building. Lots of people participate and it's fun to see all of the kids dressed up.

I ate so much candy today ... mainly Sour Patch Kids. I love sour candy and I am ADDICTED to Sour Patch Kids! I got to the point today where I had to stop because my cheeks and tongue will get sore :)

Hope everyone has a safe day/night no matter what you do and if you are out driving watch for little kids!

Blogger Beta

I finally decided to upgrade to blogger beta ... very painless and seems to be easier to place things since you can drag and drop. Only thing I did lose in the transfer was my Scrapshare blog roll ... soon as the board is back up I can go in and get the code for it and plug it in then I'll be up and rolling 100%

In the mean time since the board has been down this weekend I've been "sprucing up" my blog here and my myspace page (www.myspace.com/cmcemmylou)

Can't wait till the board is back!

Weekend in review

This was a pretty quiet weekend, Friday I stayed home, caught up on sleep and things around the house.
Saturday night I went out with Jim, Paul, and Jean to State Grounds coffee shop in downtown Hastings to listen to Paul's nephew's band The BreakUps play. I had a toasted marshmallow hot chocolate ... very yummy! and we just enjoyed listening to the band.
After they were done we walked over to a bar for drinks and stayed there a few hours just hanging out. When they finally wanted to close down for the night we left to head back home, but not after Jean and I made a late night stop at Arby's :)

Today I am doing laundry and more laundry and watching Here Come the Brides season one on DVD.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Q&A Time

I've not had alot going on this week worthy of blogging about so here's some more random stuff to file away for a rainy day.


Q: NAME A FRIEND WHOS NAME STARTS WITH a "M".
A: Melissa

Q: DO YOU CHEW ON YOUR STRAWS?
A: Sometimes

Q: DO YOU HAVE CURLY HAIR?
A: Yes just not as curly as I'd like

Q: WHAT IS THE NEXT CONCERT YOU'RE GOING TO?
A: Bob Seger (November 8th!)

Q: WHAT WORD DO YOU SAY A LOT?
A: Seriously?

Q: WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE:
A: Roast beef sandwich

Q: WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU SAID TO SOMEONE AND WHO WAS IT?
A: Talk to you later ... to Jim

Q: DO YOU WATCH TV?
A: Constantly

Q: HAVE YOU SEEN THE MOVIE DONNIE DARKO?
A: no

Q: DO YOU HAVE WORK TOMORROW?
A: no

Q: EVER BEEN HUNTING?
A: No

Q: IS MARRIAGE IN YOUR FUTURE?
A: I hope so

Q: WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAID, "I LOVE YOU" AND MEANT IT?
A: Mom

Q: WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOING RIGHT NOW?:
A: Cleaning my kitchen

Q: DO YOU HAVE A NICKNAME?
A: a few

Q: DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?
A: Yeah

Q: WHO'S THE YOUNGEST ONE IN THE FAMILY?
A: my second cousin who was born a month ago

Q: ARE YOU A HEAVY SLEEPER?
A: Yep

Q: LAST TIME YOU USED A SKATEBOARD?
A: I don't know if I ever have

Q: WHERE WAS THE LAST PLACE YOU SLEPT BESIDES YOUR HOUSE?
A: Someone elses house

Q: EVER RUN OUT OF GAS ON THE ROAD?
A: Yes, Paul and Jean came and helped me

Q: BEST MOVIE YOU'VE SEEN IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS?
A: Employee of the Month (the only one I've seen!)

My US Map

I case'd this from another blog and thought it was neat. It's listing all of the states I have been to (I'm counting airport layovers of longer than an hour here too) as those that know me well know, one of my goals is to visit all of the states. Some I have been to I want to go back as I don't have the "right" pictures for my 50 States Album so I will likely visit some others again. It's funny as I looked at the map you can see where alot of my road trips were ... definitely a few patterns :)



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Abbie vs. the Fishy --- day 2

I got up this morning and the fish was still swimming happily in his tank, on the counter where I left him. Abbie had to get up on the counter right away to make sure I knew he was still there.

I left for work after telling her be nice, don't pet him and don't be naughty. Came home from work and she was on the counter watching him but came down to greet me and then promptly jumped back up to watch him because he might run away somewhere I guess.

I fed him but he's not eaten yet, I don't think I could eat either if something 100 times the size of me is watching me all the time. I had wondered if we'd make it through a day with both of them still alive, we have a successful day!

Siamese Fighting Fish

I broke down and got a fish this weekend ...a Siamese Fighting Fish ... or more commonly known as a Betta. Lots of people at work have them on their desk and I like them and had been kicking around the idea of getting fish so Abbie would have something to watch ... yes I contemplated getting my pet a pet :)and a month or so ago Jim got a fish tank and now has tropical fish, and got a few more today ... so it got me thinking about it.

I had to go to Meijer for a few items anyway so I thought I'd cruise through the pet department and look at the Betta's. I found a tank that has a locking lid and came with a plant, gravel, water conditioner, and food for $8 on sale. I figured that's cool and got a betta :)

This is pretty close to what he looks like, he's a male since they are more colorful and have the beautiful fins.

As soon as I got home I got his tank set up and got him into the tank and got some food and let him settle in. Abbie immediately got up to see what was going on and spent the last 2 hours staring at him, I don't think she's even blinked!

I was talking to my Mom and told her about it and she suggested I name him Sushi after the Garfield comic strip today:



It's been a few hours since "Sushi" came home and seems to be swimming happily in his new digs ... much much larger and nicer than the container he was in I may add. I've only had to have the "Don't pet the fish or the tank" and "Fish are Friends, not food" talk with Abbie once *wink*

I feel the need to watch Finding Nemo though now .... *lol*

Hockey weekend

Jim got season tickets for he and his boys for the Grand Rapids Griffins AHL hockey team here in town as he's a big sports fan. This weekend was not a kid weekend for him so he asked me if I wanted to go to 2 games, one Friday and one Saturday night. I went to one about 5 years ago and don't remember much so I said sure why not ... it's always a photo op right? :)
Friday night our friend Jean went with us and Saturday night our friend Deb went with us.


Self portrait ... notice my new Scrapshare shirt? *wink*

It was fun, I'm not a big sports fan but hockey is a fast-paced game and I like the shoving into the glass and the fights :)

Friday night the Griffins won! Saturday night they lost in a shoot out ... playing the Houston Aeros.

I took Jim's digital camera with me and here's a few shots:

I love a rainy night

Random memory time.

I went into the cafeteria at lunch yesterday and they play various music, mostly "oldies", in the cafeteria itself. It's not uncommon to walk in and start singing a Supreme's song or a CCR song. Yesterday when I went in I heard Eddie Rabbit's "I Love a Rainy Night" and instantly I was brought back to being a little girl.

When I was little there was a pizza place Charlie's Pizza and I remember going with Mom and Dad and alot of times Uncle Danny and Aunt Rhonda for pizza there for dinner... this was when I was no older than 5 since my brother was born when I was 5 and I know he wasn't around. All I remember of the pizza place was that each time we went there I always heard that song "I Love a Rainy Night" playing over the intercom. I don't remember anything about the place except for that :) Oh and it was next to Piggly Wiggly and the Carter's baby store in a strip mall. I don't even know if it is still there anymore.

But for the rest of the afternoon I was singing the song :)

My soon to be new family member

I *think* I blogged about this ... if not I know I've mentioned it on Scrapshare for those that are on there and that read my blog. I am getting Abbie a companion! My co worker and friend Paul has 2 kittens that were born 9/21 and I am taking one and another co worker and friend of ours is taking the other. The kittens are 3 weeks old right now and of course too young for me to take it home but the proud "granpa" took a picture for me (finally!) so I could see my new furry child. He is 98% sure it's a female and I am taking the gray one.



I had to laugh at the personality already showing on the kittens face! Just has that look like she is very inquisitive. Paul said they are finally starting to play and "explore" outside of their box they were born in.

I'm not sure on a name yet, my mom has been helping me with names and what we have so far is Willow, Tiger Lilly, and Cinders. If you think of a name please share, I've got about 5 more weeks to decide :)

Amiable Analytical

This week at work I was out of the department in a Social Styles Class. It's a fun class where you learn about your social style, how to manage it under stress, and how to Identify, Reflect, and Modify your style with others who are different styles. There are 4 styles: Amiable, Analytical, Driver, Expressive. I had homework before class where I had 5 people, one of whom had to be your boss, "profile" you by answering questions about how they see you. In the class you get your results with the second style being your dominant style. I am an Amiable Analytical so my driving style is Analytical with my other less dominant style being Amiable.

What does that mean for me?

I'm Analytical:

The Analytical is polite but reserved, logical, fact- and task-oriented. This
person’s focus is on precision and perfection. Other strengths include
persistence, diligence, caution, and a systematic approach.

Weaknesses involve being withdrawn, boring, quiet, reclusive, and even
sullen at times. If he or she seems indecisive, it’s because of a need to assess
all the data. Perfectionism can be a fault if the Analytical pushes it too far.
This person is definitely not a risk-taker.

The Analytical needs to be right, and won’t openly discuss ideas until
confident in a decision. His or her pleasure is accuracy. Pain is to be wrong
and criticized.

When communicating with an Analytical
Be systematic, thorough, deliberate, and precise
Focus on the task
Be prepared to answer many “how” questions
Provide analysis and facts
Don’t get too personal
Recognize and acknowledge the need to be accurate and logical
Don’t rush unnecessarily
Expect to repeat yourself
Allow time for evaluation
Use lots of evidence
Compliment the precision and accuracy of the completed work.
Portrait of an Analytical’s office

The first thing you notice will probably be the glasses. The Analytical will
have worn out his or her eyes from constantly reading everything. On the
wall you may see a framed degree, but the chief decoration will be charts,
figures, and graphs of every kind. The analytical is not very friendly, will
often greet you skeptically, and doesn’t want to share much – especially
anything personal. There will be no flowers or plant; for the Analytical, they
belong in greenhouses. On the desk will be only business-related
information, and that will be carefully arranged. It’s not a power office, but
it definitely will be functional. As for color, black and white will do nicely.

I actually agree with alot of this, it is very true and makes sense to me and I am sure that those that know me will see it too as they read this. Only thing that I don't really agree with in this profile is the not very friendly, that is where my amiable takes over.

Speaking of Amiable, this is my less dominant style but also holds true to me.
b

The Amiable

Devoted, consistent, dependable, and loyal, the Amiable is a hard worker
and will persevere long after others have given up. He or she is a team
player, cooperative and easy to get along with, trustful, sensitive and a good
listener. Working in groups with cooperative individuals, the Amiable tries
to avoid confrontation. He or she enjoys company, performs best in a stable
environment, and often has a stabilizing effect on others.

Weaknesses include indecision and an inability to take risks. Amiables are
often too focused on others, conforming, quiet, and passive. They often
won’t speak up for themselves, are too compliant and nice, and often
painstakingly slow to make decisions.

The Amiable’s pleasure is stability and cooperation. His or her pain is
change and chaos.

When communication with an Amiable
Be relaxed and agreeable
Maintain the status quo
Be logical and systematic
Create a plan with written guidelines
Be prepared to answer “why” questions
Be predictable
Agree clearly and often
Use the word “we”
Don’t push
Don’t rush
Compliment him or her as a team player
Be a good listener
Portrait of an Amiable’s office

The first thing you will notice will be pictures of loved ones on the desk:
husband, wife, family, favorite pets. They’ll be in a candid style, and the
Amiable loves to talk about them. On the walls will be colorful photos of
landscapes, waterfalls, birds, and sunsets. You’ll find flowers or plants that
are growing well and office colors that are harmonious and restful. The person
will almost certainly be dressed in colors that match. Furniture will
be fashionable, but not overwhelming. Files are present, but usually kept out
of the way. If you’re a little late, the Amiable won’t mind. If you have the
Amiable in your company, he or she will stay with you. The Amiable likes
company, newsletters, picnics, gatherings, and retirement parties.

My desk is really organized and lots of folders and organizing things, I do have a few pictures in frames pushed away from my desk, I have a Dilbert cartoon hanging on my wall in my cube and I have a calendar of Seattle but not alot of "flare"

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