OK. At Tim’s request I’ll talk a little about the actual performance. It was simply awesome. BS pulled off moves at sixty that would have hospitalized me at thirty.
High energy and stiff, he was still able to pull off the move where he leans over backwards with his feet flat on the stage and the mic stand protruding from his crotch in a weird phallic symbol. His back was perfectly parallel to the stage, about a foot above the stage supported only by holding onto the mic stand. That part was physically amazing.
For the rest of it, what can I say. It was Bruce. The concert started an hour late and lasted almost three hours. The break for the intermission lasted less than five minutes. The encore comprised at least five songs, including two sign requests after Bruce said his final goodnight. Of course, the band didn’t know all of the songs; Bruce has too many.
The most bizarre part was when he took a sign request that was written on two gum wrappers. He held the wrappers to the camera so that the audience could see “Sherry BabyDarling” on the monitors. He then ate the wrappers and played the song, even though I have been told it was only the second time he had every performed it in concert. (I doubt that because he remembered all the words, but you never know. He is a smart man.)
7 comments:
That's "Sherry Darling" on the gum wrapper. And I think Bruce's hair still needs some work.
OK. I’m doing good to recognize “Born to Run” and “Born in the USA.”
Sounds like your experience was better than my only Bruce concert. It was mostly acoustical and really depressing (no E-street). I can't remember which album he was promoting at the time, I went because my dad wanted to go.
That may have been to promote The River or Nebraska, two of his acoustic albums. I always preferred him as a rocker. The voice is more suited to screaming and high energy.
I'm thinking it was probably Nebraska
Thanks so much for posting that concert review, even if it took me longer than it should have to get back here to read it!
I don't know if Bruce has ever played in New Zealand, but he certainly hasn't since I got into his music, was around the time of Darkness at the Edge of Town (it took me a long time to warm to the earlier albums, the first two in particular).
I do like Bruce as a rocker, but I love the songs from Nebraska, especially those included in his 1985 live album. "Reason to Believe" from Nebraska is vying with "Racing the Street" as my all-time favourite Springsteen song. I'm very fond of The Ghost of Tom Joad too, even though you have to turn up the dials real high to hear it - the complete opposite of the production on Magic!
Right, time to go and put some Bruce on ...
You’re welcome. “Racing in the Streets” is definitely one of my favorites, especially Emmylou Harris’s cover on the Ryman CD. She always does justice to his softer tunes.
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