Bob Seger has dozens of well-known songs, way more than you probably remember him having.
Take a look at a set list from Night Moves: The Ultimate Bob Seger Tribute and you’ll find yourself thinking, ‘Oh yeah, he did that one, and that one.”
Northwest Indiana audiences can check out Night Moves when the band performs an all-ages show at 8 p.m. April 23 at the Hobart Art Theater in Hobart.
The members of Night Moves: The Ultimate Bob Seger Tribute come from northern Indiana and southern Michigan. They are: Jack Parkhurst in the Bob Seger role, Samuel E. Francis, lead guitar and vocals; Paul Ramone, bass guitar and vocals; Ray Lukowski, keyboard and vocals; Joe Romeo, saxophones and vocals; and Kevin B. Kline, drums.
“We come from all parts. We didn’t put this together to be a local bar band. It was a matter of finding the right musicians over finding close musicians,” said Kline.
Parkhurst formed the band in 2008.
“I don’t want to call him an imitator,” Kline said of Parkhurst. “He practically becomes Bob Seger onstage. He looks like him and sounds like him.”
The pair grew up together in Elkhart and played in various bands together over the years. Kline joined Night Moves two years ago when the group decided to make a regional push.
“I think that there’s something to be said for overexposure when it comes to a tribute band,” he said. “If you want a bigger marketability, you’ve got to be able to travel. Because you can only play the same city so many times before everybody is like, ‘Been there, done that, seen that.’ Even for a Bob Seger fan, you can only go to so many Bob Seger tribute shows in your city before you’re like, ‘OK, I’ve got some gaming to do on my Xbox.'”
Night Moves has mainly played southwest Michigan and northern Indiana markets so far, but Kline has been working to expand the band’s market and move them into the Chicago area and beyond, he said.
“This year, we’re in Chicago, Minnesota, Ohio,” he said. “We’re going to be at the Iconic Fest in Brainerd, Minnesota, in July and we’re second billed in a music fest directly before … BlackHawk.”
Kline admits he wasn’t a big Bob Seger fan when he signed on with Night Moves.
“Since I took the time to learn the material, my whole respect for the Silver Bullet Band and particularly the first drummer, Charlie Allen Martin, has just completely changed,” he said. “This guy has become one of my drumming idols. You do not know by what you hear on the radio — ‘Still the Same’ and ‘Against the Wind’ and what not. Once I learned the material, I was sold. I am now truly a Bob Seger fan. Especially the Silver Bullet Band. They were truly a phenomenal group of musicians.”
Hobart audiences will hear all the hits; including “Old Time Rock and Roll,” “Turn the Page, “Hollywood Nights,” “Mainstreet,” “Still the Same,” “Night Moves” “Rock and Roll Never Forgets,” “Feel Like a Number,” “We’ve Got Tonight,” “Katmandu” and “Against the Wind.”
“The high point of the whole set is the live version that we replicate of ‘Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser,'” he said. “That is what we’re all chomping at the bit to get to. That’s the high point for us. You’re going to hear all the hits, but when you hear the first notes of ‘Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser,’ put your drink down. You can’t stand still once this thing takes off. We go into the zone and it becomes magic.”
The band’s biggest hope is to transport fans back in time to a Bob Seger concert.
“I like hearing that. That means we took them to that place, that ’70s, ’80s Bob Seger concert,” he said.
And if they aren’t Bob Seger fans, he hopes people give them a chance and come to the show with an open mind.
“We base our performance on the ‘Nine Tonight’ and ‘Live Bullet’ albums,” Kline said. “If they’ve ever heard anything off these, they already know about the energy, the musicianship of the Silver Bullet Band and the showmanship of Bob Seger.
“We have taken the time to take apart the Silver Bullet Band and become them instead of just imitating them. It’s a really convincing replication of a Bob Seger concert. Anybody that’s a Bob Seger fan should not miss this show and anybody that’s not a fan will become one.”
Night Moves: the Ultimate Bob Seger Tribute
When: 8 p.m. April 23
Where: Hobart Art Theater, 230 Main St.
Tickets: $12-$15
Information: 219-942-1670; brickartlive.com
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
