Bob Seger live at the Scotiabank Centre, Saturday October 26, 2019

2019.10.26

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Saturday October 26, 2019, Scotiabank Centre, Toronto

After six decades on the road and 74 years so far on Earth, Bob Seger is finally, slowly, calling it quits. Roll Me Away; The Final Tour has kept the Silver Bullet Band on tour for most of the last two years. This tour has revived a few Seger favourites, but he is still reluctant to play any pre-Silver Bullet material besides “Ramblin Gamblin Man” which was done quickly near the end of the show.

What we did get included the odd choice for an opener, “Simplicity” followed by “Still the Same” which Seger hasn’t sang in at least a dozen years, at least not in Toronto. Seger classics like “Fire Down Below” and

“Main Sreet” followed along with the tour’s namesake “Roll Me Away” and some lesser known cuts. Crowd favourites “Old Time Rock n Roll,” and the Willie Mitchell cover “Come to Poppa” introduced as a Memphis song which must have seemed like a tease for Seger’s well-loved rendition of “Tryin To Live My Life Without You,” but no dice. “Come to Poppa” has a slow bubbling funkiness which made it a good lead up to what Seger told the crowd was, apparently, the most-played song of 1980; “Her Strut.”

Seger paused to talk the crowd more than on previous tours, giving some background on a few songs. “Like a Rock” was inspired by high school days when he was a long distance runner. “Youll Accomp’ny Me” had been on ice for 30 years until this tour. “The Famous Final Scene” reminded the audience this would be Seger’s last time in our town, but they weren’t done yet. “Sunspot Baby,” one of Seger’s odes to summer was performed along with “Turn the Page.” Seger credited Drew Abbott for the distinctive saxophone riff that defines this 1972 song about longhair in bands touring America.  

The oft-covered “Forever Young” pushed us closer to the “encores” which are more like finales if an encore is still to be taken as an impromptu return to the stage.

The first was “You Take Me In,” “Against the Wind” and “Hollywood Nights.” The actual famous final scene consisted of “Night Moves” and Seger’s favourite show closer, “Rock n Roll Never Forgets.”

“Night Moves” was actually recorded, or finished in Toronto, Seger told the crowd. The band was recording here, most of the record was finished, and Seger stayed in town with the producer who recruited back up singers from Montreal. A dash of local music history is always fun to hear from the horse’s mouth, as it were, and one might wish the reclusive Seger gave more interviews. This was a suitable farewell from Seger who’s always traded on playing great shows with or without a new record.