Bob Seger plays in Tampa for the last time tonight as the 73-year-old rocker is on his final tour, having delayed it for more than a year following emergency spinal surgery.
Seger is my all-time favorite performer. Somehow the howling lyrics of a 35-year-old with the long haired, bearded Jesus look in the summer of 1980 captured the attention of a 10-year-old kid in Richmond, Virginia just discovering the FM dial.
Seger still has good hair, though it’s shorter and grayer. He was never one of these rockers trying to look 45 forever. Nor was he a guy who lived on the road, essentially staying home for his fifties because he became a first-time father later in life.
As a result, I haven’t seen him nearly as much as I would have liked. Tonight will be just my 10th concert since my first in 1986. Three of those came during a four-month stretch in 1996 and three during a five-week span in 2007, his first tour in more than a decade.
Seger might be the most underrated songwriter in rock history. In 2015, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, I ranked my top 70 Seger songs of all time. I’ll get to hear about 25 of them with my wife tonight from about the 23rd row.
Seger’s ticket prices always have been reasonable compared to other comparable performers, many of which tour more often. Sadly, there’s no longer such thing as ticket stubs, which is why I don’t have a stub from the last time I saw Seger in 2015. Here’s a look at those 10 concerts, the ticket prices, and the legacy of an enduring performer.
Friday, August 1, 1986, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland
Pavillion, row QQ – $16.00, ($36.88 in 2019 dollars)
Bob Seger age: 41
I drove for more than an hour through tough DC area traffic at 16 to see my first Seger show, part of his American Storm tour that lasted more than a year. The second song on the album, Like a Rock, became part of a Chevy campaign that lasted more than a decade. Name another song used in a commercial for a decade. Heck, name another ad campaign that lasted a decade. This was Seger’s first tour since Tom Cruise lip synched Old Time Rock & Roll in Risky Business three years earlier and the first since Eddie Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop in 1984, which produced Seger’s only No.1 hit – Shakedown.
Sunday, October 5, 1986, Capital Centre (demolished 2002), Landover, Md.
225, row BB – $17.00, ($39.19 in 2019 dollars)
Bob Seger age: 41
I watched a lot of great NBA basketball (by visiting teams) as part of sparse 1980s NBA crowds in the dark pit of a building that was the Capital Centre. Usually my friends and I would buy upper level tickets for $5 – $3 with a high school student ID – and move down lower. I should have realized when I bought uppers for my second Seger show in three months that the lower bowl would be full. Still a great show.
Monday, February 5, 1996, USF SunDome, Tampa, Florida
Section H3, Row 31, $25.00, ($40.81 in 2019 dollars)
Bob Seger age: 50
This would be Bob’s last tour for a decade since he recently had become a first-time dad. This being before classic rockers kept performing into their 60s or 70s, there was some thought that this would be his last tour, especially coming on the heels of one of his lesser albums, It’s a Mystery. I was a full-time baseball writer for USA Today, though not sure what I was doing in Tampa two weeks before spring training opened. I’d relocate to Tampa Bay permanently less than two years later.
Tuesday, February 13, 1996, Philadelphia Spectrum (demolished 2011)
R-B-6, side lower level, $30.00, ($48.98 in 2019 dollars)
Bob Seger age: 50
Just eight days later, I drove from my Northern Virginia home to catch Seger at the Spectrum in South Philadelphia, where I was introduced to a talented opening act, John Hiatt, who I’ve now seen at least 10 times, including a month later at a bar in Phoenix during spring training. It’s hard to believe lower level tickets still cost just $30 at this point. Concert ticket prices took a big jump after the Eagles 1994 “Hell Freezes Over” reunion tour. Thankfully Seger never followed the lead of his good friends Don Henley and Glenn Frey and kept ticket prices reasonable.
Tuesday, June 11, 1996, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland
MM-134-Center, $35.00, ($56.48 in 2019 dollars)
Bob Seger age: 51
My first visit back to Merriweather for a Seger concert in a decade, which of course also was his first performance there. It’s also the first Seger show I took my now wife. We used a song from the It’s a Mystery album (The Real Love) on our wedding video. We did not include We’ve Got Tonight, a song about a one-night stand that Seger says couples frequently tell him they’ve danced to at their weddings.
Saturday, January 6, 2007, Amway Arena (demolished 2012), Orlando, Fla.
F4, K10 (floor), $64 ($79.96 in 2019 dollars)
Bob Seger age: 61
With young kids, we didn’t want to spring for a sitter. So I made the two-hour drive alone to see Seger in Orlando, where I learned what at the time was a valuable concert hack, finding a single ticket on the floor (11th row) the day of the show at the box office, part of Seger’s first tour in more than a decade.
Saturday, January 13, 2007, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Fla.
F3, row 18, (floor), $74.16 ($92.65 in 2019 dollars)
Bob Seger age: 61
Having scored in Orlando, I found two last-minute floor tickets a week later in Tampa when some were released online late. Seger’s Face the Promise album was pretty forgettable, though Bob isn’t one of these classic rockers who makes his fans sit through much of his new material. Fellow Michigan native Kid Rock sang a duet with Seger on that album (Real Mean Bottle) and appeared on tour at several tour stops, though sadly not in Tampa.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007, Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
146, row 6, seat 1, $66.50 ($82.64 in 2019 dollars)
Bob Seger age: 61
The good news was that I was in Denver on business working with several big Seger fans. The bad news was the concert was on Valentine’s Day and they all had plans. No problem, I employed my now-familiar, last minute single-ticket strategy and again ended up close. Seger rarely plays his song Get Out of Denver, covered by Tina Turner and others, but he told the crowd he knew he had to play it in the Mile High city.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015, Germain Arena, Estero, Fla. (7,186-seat)
15th row, center, $111 ($119.59 in 2019 dollars)
Bob Seger age: 69
With Seger three months from his 70th birthday, I thought this would be his last tour, especially with no new album. So instead of buying tickets for the 20,000-seat venue in Tampa a week later, I drove two hours to a smaller venue used for minor league hockey near Fort Myers. (Apparently Bob has a condo nearby). Bob sounded great and never said it was his last tour.
Friday, March 15, 2019, Amalie Arena, Tampa, Fla.
FL6, row 5, $150 ($121 plus Ticketmaster fees)
Bob Seger age: 73
These technically were $121 tickets, more than reasonable for 23rd row on a final tour. But Ticketmaster has taken its fleecing to new levels, adding $29 per ticket. Maybe it’s a good thing Bob is coming off the road. Even when he keeps his appearance fees reasonable, others involved get in the way. No longer are paper tickets issued, meaning I’ll have to keep a printout as a souvenir of my last witnessing of a remarkable career.