I seem to be doing a lot of tribute bands lately, and in my own defense, the chance of seeing any of the acts they are recreating ever coming to Maine is marginal if not impossible at best. This week’s offering is from Gerry Criscenzo who, with his band Live Bullet, will be playing at the Somerset Abbey on June 28. When reached in Waltham, Massachusetts, Criscenzo was more than happy to chat about what folks can expect from the six-piece group’s show at that well-respected venue in Madison next Friday.

Q: Is this your first time performing there?

A: No, this will be our second time, the first time was last year, I think it was in August but I don’t remember the date.

Q: How was the show?

A: Oh, it was great! The couple who own it is just fantastic, the venue itself was really great, the sound was great, the crowd was great, it was at capacity, it was a really great experience. We also did a gig in Augusta and some of the people came up to see us in Madison, too, so that was cool.

Q: How long have you been doing this Seger tribute?

A: This year will be 13 years.

Q: How far do you travel to do shows?

A: That’s about as far as we go, that’s probably the farthest we’ve traveled. We typically stay local but this year I’ve gotten calls as far as Iowa — we don’t have a tour bus so we really can’t do gigs like that. So when we went up to Augusta and Madison that is the farthest we’ve gone.

Q: I imagine it is a haul up this way.

A: It is — it’s five hours; and that was another thing about the couple at the Abbey. They put us up at a house there, that saved us a lot of out-of-pocket expenses.

Q: Well, taking all that into consideration, this must be something you enjoy doing for you to be at it for 13 years.

A: Oh, we have a great time. We have our moments, we’re like a family, like brothers (chuckle), but we really enjoy playing together and just being up onstage, it’s a great feeling, it’s something I can never really describe to people — it’s awesome.

Q: I know it’s kind of in the rearview mirror now but COVID must have had an impact on what you guys do, right?

A: COVID changed everything, nothing is the same, nothing is even close to what it was before. A lot of venues closed and still haven’t returned, a lot of bands went away because that was their only income, it was devastating and it still is hard.

Q: And at least you’re still having fun which, I think, would take a little of the sting out of it all.

A: The day that it’s not fun anymore, I stop.

Q: Yeah, I understand. Oh, just out of curiosity, how do you choose the songs you cover? Seger has quite the depth of material out there.

A: Actually, it’s pretty easy. Our name is Live Bullet, as you know, and that’s the name of his 1984 live album. What differentiates us from other Seger tribute bands is we do all the songs on the “Live Bullet” and “Nine Tonight” albums, so we do all of the live versions of the songs. We don’t do the studio version which are different. By doing that we recreate that live Seger experience — we don’t ‘try,’ we ‘do’ recreate it. We also will do some deep cuts from other albums, but he has a catalogue of three hours of hits, so it’s pretty simple to select the songs.

Q: How long is one of your performances?

A: We do two 90-minute sets typically — we’ll do 90 minutes, we’ll break for 20 minutes or so and then we’ll do another 90.

Q: Wow, people are getting their money’s worth, that’s for sure!

A: Oh yeah, definitely (laughter)! I used to like to say it like this: “You don’t pay us to play, you pay us to move our gear!” once we get there, we play — that’s it.

Q: How about a little band history before we conclude this chat. Are you the one who formed Live Bullet?

A: No, I’m not … me and the sax player were childhood friends. Over time we lost contact with each other but then another mutual friend called and asked if we wanted to join with some other guys in a Seger tribute band; so we got together and it was like instant chemistry … and that’s the band that you see right now. I’m the bass player and also the band manager.

Q: How long have you been playing bass?

A: I’ve been playing bass since I was 13years old — I’m 60 now.

Q: Is there anything that you’d like to pass on to the folks reading this article?
A: Just that we love playing for people who love Bob Seger; one of the things that we hear all the time — it’s actually on the website and is our No. 1 quote from fans: “I’ve seen Bob Seger, if I close my eyes I’m at a Seger concert.” People think we are an authentic replication of Seger’s music, and we really strive to do that and deliver that experience. I guess I would want people to know that when they come to see us, they’re going to believe that they are at a Bob Seger show.

Lucky Clark, a 2018 “Keeping the Blues Alive” Award winner, has spent more than 50 years writing about good music and the people who make it. He can be reached at luckyc@myfairpoint.net if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.

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