Grand Funk Railroad will bring their tour to Van Wert’s Niswonger Center this weekend.
VAN WERT — Grand Funk Railroad will be Van Wert’s captain this weekend when they come to the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.
The Michigan band will take its tour closer to their home at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and drummer and founding member Don Brewer could not be more excited.
“We love playing in Ohio,” he said. “We go way back to when we were playing around Cleveland all the time. This is our old stomping grounds and I can remember driving down US-23 and it’s really nice how close the Lima area is to Michigan.”
To still be touring and now celebrating the 50th anniversary of the band’s signature song “We’re an American Band” makes it even more exciting.
“I get up on stage and I start singing ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’ or ‘Closer to Home’ and you look out in the audience and see multiple generations of people singing along and it’s really a sight,” he said. “I love being a drummer because it’s the best seat in the house.”
Those multiple generations can expect a Grand Funk rock and roll show with all of those familiar hits Saturday, which Brewer said he expects to get the audience on their feet.
“That just really stands out, the fact that they know the songs and love them,” he said. “And it’s a combination of the audience and the band getting together and being one.”
But Grand Funk Railroad will also perform some new songs at the show for a hint of the future of the group.
“We’re always coming up with new stuff and we have a couple of new songs that we do on the show,” Brewer said. “At some point, maybe we’ll put out something new or a compilation of stuff that we’ve done for the past 23 years.”
And anyone interested in learning more about the band can check out their website or stream their music.
For tickets to the show, visit the Van Wert Live website.
In addition to Brewer, Max Carl, Tim Cashion, Bruce Kulick and fellow founding member Mel Schacher round out the lineup.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
