The Bob Seger Final Tour rolled through Chicago’s United Center on Saturday, October 19th. One of Seger’s strengths is his ability to craft a set that perfectly ebbs and flows through the range of nostalgic emotion his catalog affords, bringing the audience to a contemplative state one moment and full-on euphoria the next. An early example of this was the trifecta of “The Fire Down Below,” “Mainstreet” and “Old Time Rock & Roll.” The gritty, rocking “The Fire Down Below” raised the temperature of the proceedings considerably — with Seger having the crowd enthusiastically shout out the title every time it came up.” “Mainstreet” followed with the 74-year-old frontman sitting on a stool strumming an acoustic guitar, and fans singing the plaintive “down on Mainstreet” chorus as if by sheer force of habit, without any prompting whatsoever.
“Old Time Rock & Roll” rumbled forth with a sheer party atmosphere as the house lights came up to show everyone going crazy and compelling the first full standing ovation of the night throughout the arena.
