One of Detroit's legendary sons, came home to roost for a 3 day run at the Palace. Bob Seger has always been one of the best things to ever come from the "D". You'll never here about him beating his wife, falling down drunk, wrecking a hotel room while hopped up on smack. Our own "Uncle Bob" is a true class act and an ambassador for us all. Welcome back Bob!
The Saturday night show was welcomed with weather worthy of a show at Pine Knob. Around 75degrees and sunny. Too bad we are stuck indoors. The lovely BLT and I were here to party with 17,000 friends and fellow Rock Doggs! We were joined by Nate, Karen, Ed, Maureen, Dan and Bonnie for dinner and drinks in the Palace Grille prior to showtime. Our friend and "worlds best waitress" Rebecca was on hand to cater to all our needs. As usual, Rebecca made the night perfect for us all! Well done.
Due to the fun we were having in the Grille, we missed the entire warm up act. In fact, about 15 minutes prior to showtime, Chris called from the seats to say he and his wife Rita were there waiting. I told him we'd be in our seats with 1 minute to spare. Sure as shit, we arrived just as the band was walking out. Perfect timing! It helps when you've already seen the set list and times.
Now I'm going to rant again about Ticketmaster policies. We had 4 different presale codes to buy the best tickets prior to the general public. We were online at 9:59 on Thursday, logged in with VIP, Palace, Live Nation and AmEx passwords. 2 minutes later, the best seats available were upper deck, 12 rows back, side stage???? I cry bullshit! No offense, but I do not know anyone that spends more money than me at Palace functions (other than corporations) and VIP passwords should mean something. Same day I go on Craigslist and Ebay and there are over 1000 tickets avaiable at double/triple face, in way better sections. Most were out of state ticket brokers. Once again, I cry bullshit! Limit sales for the first 24 hours to in-state only. We fans deserve the chance at good seats, at face value! By the way, these crap seats were $84.00 with all the surcharges.
On top of the bad location and over pricing, we are located in the "Section of the Living Dead"! No one but us would get up and rock. We must have been asked nicely to sit down 20 times. Sometimes we did, but if you are not up and rocking to Nutbush City Limits, Old Time rock and Roll, Beautiful Loser, Rambling Man, slow dancing to Turn the Page or Night Moves, then why come at all?
The band was tight as hell, all your favorites and a few obscure songs were played to near perfection. Bob's voice for the most part was strong and on pitch. Alto Reed is ageless! He played and looked like he was 20 years younger. The sound was pretty good from our side perch. I'm sure it was better from the front. The lighting, effects, props, and visually staging were largely absent. This was a show to focus on the musicianship, band interplay, and overall cohesiveness of a tight unit. The extent of Bob's performance was to raise both his arms into the air as if to signal a touchdown. My friends, there were many touchdowns this night, to be sure. A fun night for all.
Weather A
Crowd A-
Atmosphere A-
Sound B
Staging C
Lighting/Effects C
Line up C
Fun factor A
Overall, I give this show a B. Better seats could have moved it to B+./
A great day to party at the Knob. Free 16th row VIP tickets, 88 degree and sunny weather, the lovely BLT at my side, and Steve & Mary to share the evening with. The evening starts as usual with dinner and drinks in the VIP Starlight Lounge. Hooray, they have changed the menue up and we must say for the better. Us four share 4 differnt dinners and they all were quite good. As usual with smaller shows at the Knob, service was exemplary! Kudo's to young Travis for keeping us well plyed and GM Dan for sharing his humor and concert updates with us. After a great dinner, good conversation and numerous drinks, it is finally showtime. On a night like this, what could possibly screw things up???? We take our seats during the first song, "Black Dog", just in time to see the lead singer Randy Jackson, projectile vomit off to the side. Not a good sign for the night. when you have a 50 person orchestra, 7 person band, and 1 lead singer, it is near impossible to keep the crowd happy. After a few minute delay, the band is playing again with lead guitarist, George Cintron singing the hard to do Robert Plant vocals. While no Plant or even Randy Jackson, George pulls it off to the crowds delight. At this point the band leaves the stage so they can figure out how to perform the rest of the show without a singer. We retreat to the VIP for more libations and GM Dan thinks the show will be cancelled. After a 20 minute break, the band is back out and George Cintron is singing lead vocals and playing lead guitar, likely for the first time in his life. The crowd of 3,500 appreciative fans gives him an ovation after nearly every song. What a team player and what a pro! We were all so impressed by "The Show Must Go On" attitude of everyone concerned, we overlooked any vocal weakness you may have had on certain notes. All in all, you sounded very good and you made this a far more memorable night in my mind than it otherwise would have been. Well done George. The set list covered the usual 18 song Zeppelin greatest hits formula, topped off by a rousing version of "Stairway to Heaven". A real fun and intetresting night. Weather A Crowd B Sound B+ Lighting C Set list A Special effects/staging C Fun Factor B+ Overall i give a strong B. To George Cintron an A+++ for effort!
