Waiting on the Thunder

February 13, 2015

Bob Seger

Waiting on the Thunder

For the second straight weekend, Kathy and I hit the road to see an 80s Rock n Roll icon perform in South Florida, this time it was to see Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band perform at the BB& T center in Ft. Lauderdale. Unlike Billy Joel, who we saw last week and who I had seen numerous times previously in concert, neither Kathy or I had ever seen Bob Seger.

He had always been on my “to see” list for more than 30 years, but somehow I had never been able to put it together to see a show, and while I am not a huge fan, I knew that he was something of an American icon and that there may not be a whole lot more opportunity to get the chance to see him. I am so glad that we got the tickets, because the show was amazing.

Clare Dunn

A new country-rock style singer from Nashville opened the show named Clare Dunn, she was perfect for the sell-out crowd as she played a ragged mix of power country and rock and was really quite good, even covering Led Zeppelin, which brought roars of approval from the crowd. It was a good opening set and had the crowd primed for Seger’s entrance and he did not disappoint. I had heard that he puts on a great live show and that was indeed the case as he ripped through two and a half hours of mostly hit songs from his peak years. I had forgotten just how many of his songs that I knew and how many were sort of part of the soundtrack to my youth.

 

While the man certainly has turned a few pages, he still sounds and performs really great. And unlike Billy Joel, Seger continues to release new CDs and his new work holds up well relative to his classics.  While he played a couple of new songs, the majority of music was from his heyday, albums like “Night Moves” and “Against the Wind” were heavily featured and it was a sing-a-long throwback to the eighties.

Bob Seger – “Against the Wind”

The other major event this week was the Investiture ceremony for our friend Bonnie who was officially sworn in as the newest Circuit Court judge in Monroe County. Kathy and I and many others worked hard on her campaign and it was such an honor to witness the ceremony. Most of Bonnie’s family was in town for the celebration as well as all the other judges in the county, many local dignitaries and friends. It was so cool to watch the ceremony and to attend the reception on deck of the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham afterwards.

Stephanie & Andy

Congrats and good luck to Bonnie, she will serve our community with honor, fairness and distinction, and we could not be more excited for her as she begins this newest chapter and challenge in her life. 

 

Phyllis Rose at the Friends of the Library