Bob Seger reminds Pittsburgh rock and roll never forgets
Bob Seger reminds Pittsburgh rock and roll never forgets
By Scott Tady
stady@timesonline.com
PITTSBURGH -- Remember when Bob Seger first told us that even at the age of 31, we could still spend the night rocking out with a great band?
That reassurance came 41 years ago in his song "Rock and Roll Never Forgets."
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Age has been redefined thanks to rockers like Seger -- and the sold-out PPG Paints Arena audience he treated Thursday to a solid, expertly paced two-hour performance filled with hits and bearing one intriguing cover.
Seger, 72, looked excited to be back on stage in Pittsburgh, punctuating many songs by lifting an arm or two triumphantly skyward, then grinning.
His fans, most old enough to remember Seger's late-1970s/early-'80s heyday, seemed fully in the moment, too, even if many of them stayed seated much of the time, saving their energy to sing along with or cheer classic-rock staples such "Old Time Rock and Roll" and "Night Moves."
Seger started with "Roll Me Away" then gave his Motor City Horns a workout on the R&B number "Tryin' to Live My Life Without You," an Otis Clay original Seger turned into a hit in 1981.
On this 13th night of the tour, Seger's trusty Silver Bullet Band -- including Class of '69 bassist Chris Campbell and Class of '71 saxophonist Alto Reed -- blazed through "The Fire Down Below."
Seger dusted off his great love song "You'll Accomp'ny Me" as a video showed scenes of young romantic couples holding hands, leading to the penultimate scene of a couple, maybe both in their 80s, tenderly doing the same.
You almost had to dab a tear.
Seger grabbed an acoustic guitar and took a seat for "Main Street." Just like his last Pittsburgh show in 2015, Reed's saxophone needed to be more demonstrative.
Reed would make up for that 10 songs later, with those heart-piercing sax riffs on "Turn the Page," earning an atta-boy fist bump afterward from Seger.
Missing from the 2015 tour was drummer Don Brewer, of Grand Funk Railroad fame, though his highly capable replacement Greg Morrow brought the locomotion on "Her Strut" and the hard-driving "Travelin' Man" paired as always with "Beautiful Loser."
Seger played piano on "We've Got Tonight," which he said was always his mom's favorite. Lead guitarist Rob McNelley's slide work lifted "Like a Rock" to special heights.
Putting on a headband and later switching to a ball cap with the Detroit "D," Seger worked up a sweat. He muttered something about being in the final stages of a head cold, but his voice sounded fine. Though by the time he got to "Hollywood Nights" in the first encore, you sensed he was glad to turn the microphone toward the crowd a few times to have them supply that robust song's vocals.
Seger announced he's got a new album, "I Knew You When," arriving Nov. 17, and said it's dedicated to his friend, the late-Glenn Frey, best-known from the Eagles. Seger sang its lead-off single, a cover of Lou Reed's 1989 song "Busload of Faith." It's an intriguing pick with a dark, pessimistic worldview that Billboard magazine notes "reflects the tenor of present times."
Every band member seemed to shine on Seger's oldest hit, "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man," which set up the four-song encore launched by "Against the Wind."
With Seger again seated and wielding an acoustic guitar, the band slightly modified the epic "Night Moves," giving it more of a soulful, sax-y sound.
At last came "Rock and Roll Never Forgets," that song where Sweet 16 has turned 31, and has begun to feeling weary when the work day is done. Fans who long ago left their 30s sang along, danced and relished Seger's point -- that as long as there's a band playing it loud and lean, you're never too old to rock and roll.
Fittingly, another classic-rocker, Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson, kicked off the concert with her new band, Roadcase Royale.
Wilson started on vocals with a cover of Heart's "Even It Up." Her voice was a little thin, making it clear why her sister Ann Wilson serves as Heart's lead vocalist.
Though once Nancy Wilson focused on guitar and turned the mic over to her new bandmate, powerhouse vocalist Liv Warfield, Roadcase Royale was off and running.
Warfield belted out Heart's "What About Love" with full gusto. Wilson splendidly played acoustic guitar on Heart's "Crazy on You."
Though Roadcase Royale's coolest moment came during an original number, the female empowerment anthem "It Will Get Loud," where Warfield tossed her tambourine to a front-row fan and let her play it the entire song.
