Some people call him the space cowboy. Some call him the gangster of love. I call him a rock icon who, 40 years later, still can get a crowd on their feet.

Last night at the Bergen Performing Arts Center (Bergen PAC) in Englewood, New Jersey, Steve Miller and his band kicked off their 2012 World Tour, unveiling his new set design and production to all in attendance, young and old. “This is the first time we’re using this set design,” Miller told the crowd, “so, if it blows up, you’ll be the first to see it!”

Miller broke out all his hits for the show, starting things off with “Jungle Love,” before working right into “Take the Money and Run”—setting the tempo for the rest of this high energy show.

The band then played some of their newer stuff, including “Tramp” and “Further On Up the Road,” both of which featured Miller’s background singer Sonny Charles—a talented performer in his own rite—on lead vocals. For those of you who don’t know, most of the band’s newer stuff is very bluesy; in fact, his past two albums were almost exclusively covers of classic blues songs, so this little “blues break” in the concert was a perfect example of just how versatile the band really is. The only thing that bothered me at the time was that this 20 minute segment focused too much on Charles, but then again, putting him in the spotlight seemed to keep him from dancing, which he distractingly did when he was backing up Miller. Seriously, dude…stop dancing.

The new set design was really stunning. The glittery lights worked well with their set list, especially so on “Abracadabra.” The only production issue I had was when they started flashing the spotlights in the audience’s faces—didn’t really get that. Other than that, the new set really is quite impressive.

Miller had the crowd on their feet for the remainder of the show, finishing off with some of his more notable hits, including “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Jet Airliner,” and “Rock’n Me, Baby,” before giving a four-song encore, ending the set with “The Joker.” If there’s one show you don’t want to miss this summer, make sure it’s this one. For more information on the Steve Miller Band tour information, check out www.stevemillerband.com.