More Bob Seger Shows Likely This Fall
In March, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band hit arenas for the first time since 2007, playing long sets full of both the band’s massive hits and rarely performed deep cuts. But it may not be over yet: Seger’s longtime saxophonist Alto Reed tells Rolling Stone the band had so much fun they are strongly considering hitting the road again this fall. “We did a few dates on the East Coast, but we couldn’t do Madison Square Garden and we didn’t do Philadelphia or Pittsburgh,” he says. “I think there’s a good chance that we’re talking about a fall tour and hitting the markets that we missed.”
Seger told Billboard in late May that he was thinking about a fall tour. “There were states we never even got to,” he said. “And it’s going so well and everybody is so positive on it, we are considering maybe two months, like late October to late December, just before Christmas.”
Reed is eager to get back on the road. He’s been backing Seger since the early Seventies, and says the spring tour was their best in decades. “The 28 shows were fantastic,” he says. “Bob was probably in the best shape in 20 years. His kids really encouraged him and they were thrilled and came out many nights. We filled 15,000 to 20,000-seat arenas without almost any advertising.”
He continues: “It’s a very powerful thing that takes place us between us and the audience. It’s an extraordinary experience. People always say ‘You don’t you miss being home?’ and I said, ‘Man that stage, that is home. This is what I’m supposed to do.’ I was so grateful for being there again, and Bob doing extraordinary shows. He was in as good a voice as 1986.”
When Rolling Stone last caught up with Seger in April, he was also having a blast. “Our biggest problem is that we have too many songs,” he said. “I worked up 36 songs and I can’t fit them all in . . . But it’s real fun up there.”
Seger is also working on a new album, his first since 2006’s Face the Promise. “I’d say it’s half-done,” he said. “I have three other brand new songs on it, and then I’m torn, because I really like some of this old stuff, ‘Downtown Train’ being one of them. I’m thinking about maybe a mix of old and new for the next record.” He later added, “If the song-writing gods smile on me, it will all be new. If they don’t, it will be a mixture of new and old – and the best of the old. That’s what it will be, whatever the best songs are is what I’ll put out. Old or new.”