Bob Seger’s concert career has taken him from high-school gyms and remote Midwest bars to the country’s biggest arenas.
Now, after 56 years of live performing, the iconic Detroit rock singer is taking his final bow.
Seger has announced his last tour — a six-month run with the Silver Bullet Band that will launch Nov. 21 in Grand Rapids. At 73, he’s turning the final page on a concert legacy that began as a teenager in southeastern Michigan. While he may continue recording, Seger says this is the end of his touring career.
The Travelin’ Man Tour schedule released today includes 10 new shows, on top of already-announced makeup dates for a tour derailed last year by the singer’s spinal surgery. The Grand Rapids opener and a Jan. 9 Toledo concert are among the new shows.
There’s no hometown Detroit date at this point, but Seger’s team says more shows will be added in coming weeks, including stops in Fresno, Calif., Las Vegas, San Diego, Vancouver and Florida. Seger's Detroit concerts traditionally have been announced after his initial tour releases.
Tickets for the shows announced today will go on sale Sept. 28 and 29, with a fan club pre-sale starting Sept. 25.
Bob Seger performing in Detroit in 1978 and in 2017. Detroit Free Press photos by Taro Yamasaki (left) and Junfu Han (right). (Photo: Composite image)
The tour retirement news will be bittersweet for fans across the country. But it will be especially poignant in his home state of Michigan: Seger has been a local hero going back to the 1960s, when he was playing for devoted audiences long before hits like “Night Moves” broke big.
Even as Seger eased back on touring in recent years, few artists better exemplified the nitty-gritty realities and transcendent possibilities of the rock ‘n’ roll stage.
Through relentless live performing, Seger earned a name first in Detroit, then the Midwest, then nationally — that final breakout coming thanks to the multiplatinum 1976 concert album “Live Bullet,” recorded in his hometown.
Seger is even responsible for rock’s most beloved song about life on the road: 1973’s “Turn the Page.” His onstage recording of the song — captured during that “Live Bullet” stand at Cobo Arena — has remained a rock-radio staple, and covers have been famously recorded by artists such as Metallica and Waylon Jennings.
Seger has been contemplating a departure for some time now. In 2011, he told the Free Press “you can’t cheat Father Time forever” as he considered wrapping things up after that year’s tour.
The retirement signals emerged again last year, when Seger took the road in support of his album “I Knew You When.” Many venues billed their Seger dates as the last chance to see him on their respective stages. When his ruptured disc and emergency surgery halted the tour in the fall, it was uncertain when or even if he'd be back; Seger told the Free Press he wouldn't perform again unless he was 100%.
Restlessness about touring life has been a long-running Seger theme. As early as 1980, “Against the Wind” found the singer questioning whether “moving eight miles a minute for months at a time” was worth the trade-off.
Still, few scenes in Detroit rock are more iconic than Seger and his raised fist under a spotlight. And in Seger's decades onstage with the Silver Bullet Band, he's maintained a high musical standard and audience bond that have made him one of the most reliable box-office draws in the business.
Seger and his fans are about to embark on one last ritual in concert.
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band shows, Travelin' Man Tour, 2018-2019
Upcoming on-sale dates are in parentheses; other shows are already on sale. A pre-sale for fan club members will start Sept. 25. Fan club membership info: bobseger.com/bulletclub.
Nov. 21 Grand Rapids, Van Andel Arena (Sept. 28)
Nov. 24 Kansas City, Sprint Center
Nov. 27 Des Moines, Wells Fargo Arena
Nov. 30 St. Louis, Enterprise Center
Dec. 6 Cleveland, Quicken Loans Arena (Sept. 28)
Dec. 8 Louisville, KFC Yum! Center (Sept. 28)
Dec. 12 St. Paul, Xcel Energy Arena
Dec. 14 Chicago, Allstate Arena
Dec. 20 Greenville, S.C., Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Dec. 22 Atlanta, Infinite Center
Jan. 9 Toledo, Huntington Center (Sept. 29)
Jan. 11 Nashville, Bridgestone Arena (Sept. 29)
Jan. 15 Fort Wayne, Ind., Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (Sept. 28)
Jan. 17 Buffalo, KeyBank Center (Sept. 28)
Jan. 19 Columbus, Nationwide Arena
Jan. 22 Peoria, Ill., Peoria Civic Center (Sept. 28)
Jan. 29 Billings, Mont., Rimrock Auto Arena
Jan. 31 Boise, Idaho, Ford Center
Feb. 2 Portland, Ore., Moda Center
Feb. 9 Seattle, Tacoma Dome
Feb. 15 Phoenix, Talking Stick Resort
Feb. 17 Denver, Pepsi Center
Feb. 23 Los Angeles, The Forum
March 7 Austin, Frank Erwin Center
March 9 Dallas, Ford Center at The Star (Sept. 28)
May 2 Houston, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (Sept. 28)
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
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