Bob Seeger Cover Band Rocks Desert View, a Review
VIA SBINSIDER MUSIC CRITIC SOULESS JOE JACKSON | March 2nd, 2024
Once again the aging but nostalgia-loving crowd mainly from SaddleBrooke rocked the Desert View Preforming Arts Theater. The sold-out crowd listened a bit passively as The Sam Morrison Band turned a rainy night into a bonfire of hot saxophone licks, great guitar solos and and very spot-on Seeger sounding vocals lead by Sam Morrison.
As the band leader Morrison explained, Seeger and his Silver Bullet Band had so many hits that in 90 minutes they could not cover them all. But they gave it a try! Without taking a real break, the band performed for the full 90 minutes with a water break while the drummer performed a 7 minute solo.
As for the encore, the band skipped the obligatory stage exit and stayed out and chatted with the crowd before sending us off with a rendition of a Bob Seeger riff that Seeger would regularly perform to close his show. The riff was an homage to Chuck Barry and wove some of his songs into a throw-back mosaic of 50s’-60’s hits.
Sound Level, A Continuing Complaint
Like the Moody Blues cover show, the sound is still an issue. Fortunately, this band had the drummer in plexiglass to mute his level so as to not overpower the vocals, but the lead singer’s microphone was not hot enough and the backup vocals were so subdued as to be almost inaudible. This is a real negative and the performer’s talent is not really expressed. Too, the overall sound level is too low. The audience could easily withstand and enjoy another 20 or 30 decibels as many have diminished hearing and rock and roll should be loud and proud with chest-thumping bass lines, screaming sax and guitar riffs-like a real concert.
