Posts tagged Springsteen
The Boss Rolls on…
Apr 30th
Did you know that, over the past week, Bruce and the Band have covered the Ramones and the Clash? Keep up to date on all the tour premieres over at my Springsteen Tour Debut Tracker.
Photo: courtesy of Backstreets.
Faith Was Rewarded: Bruce Springsteen @ Jobing.com Arena
Apr 4th
Well that was one for the ages. Bruce and the Band rolled into town yesterday for the first time in seven years. I decided to do it right, and show up early for a chance in the “pit”, the fenced off section at the foot of the stage. Of the 960 people who showed up for numbered wristbands, I was one of the 400 who made it in.
The only person I know who’s willing to put in the work for the pit experience is my brother Dave, and he’s in Boston, so this was a solo mission. A “mission from God”, as Elwood put in the Blues Brothers.
Last night was only show # 2 of the Working on a Dream Tour. But just a couple minutes into the opener, “Badlands”, it was clear that Bruce and the band were in prime form, and were feeding off the raucous energy of the Arizona crowd (seven years is a long time to wait!).
Of the new tunes, “Outlaw Pete”, “My Lucky Day”, and “Working on a Dream” were well received – but he really connected on “Kingdom of Days”(which he sings with his wife Patti) and especially “The Wrestler”. With Nils Lofgren on acoustic guitar, Bruce poured it all out at the mic, and surpassed the studio version, I thought. [You can see the video from last night at Bruce’s site].
It was great to experience “Seeds” live – a hard luck rocker that appears on the Live 75-85 box set. Nebraska’s “Johnny 99” followed it – the full band version. And then “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, with Nils blazing on lead guitar.
Bruce was taking requests, too. The signs were abundant in the crowd. Before “Working on the Highway”, Bruce worked the crowd and collected a handful. The “winners” were “Downbound Train”, “Because the Night”, and, later, “Rosalita” during the encore.
“Downbound Train” is one of my all time faves – I wonder how man car hours I’ve logged singing that song at the top of my lungs – and it was so nice to hear it / see it right in front of the man.
The atmosphere last night was absolutely electric: Bruce and the band grinning ear to ear, The “Big Man” Clarence Clemons even shuffling across the stage. “The Big Man’s dancin’!” Bruce cried…
Since I was solo, and could really let the Bruce fan in me rear its geeky head, I Twittered the whole set list. Also, I hung around the arena after the show, looking down on the loading dock a few hundred feet below, watching the roadies load the trucks, and Bruce and the Band’s fleet of black limos and SUV’s waiting for their passengers. At about midnight, Bruce came out of the arena and got into the front passenger seat of his luxury SUV. Two police motorcycle escorts led the way up the ramp. The next thing I see? Brake lights. And off to the races I went. The Boss stopped on the street, rolled down his window, and signed for the few lucky fans who waited it out. After running a couple hundred yards, I had him sign a 5×7 card I had tucked in my back pocket, and I think I said to him: “Bruce….Gammage Auditorium! [where he signed my tour program in 1996]… love you… *heavy breathing…” Leave it to Bruce to make me feel like a pimply 16 year old…
As I walked back to my car in the cool desert air, I was on cloud nine. Mission accomplished, and faith rewarded.
See my photos from the night here in my Picasa album.
Setlist:
Badlands
Outlaw Pete
My Lucky Day
Night
Out in the Street
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Working on the Highway
Downbound Train
Because the Night
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The Wrestler
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run
* * *
Hard Times
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
Rosalita
Land of Hope and Dreams
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
This Hard Land
Feb 20th
Bruce originally recorded “This Hard Land” in 1982 during the sessions for Born in the U.S.A, but it would never see the light of day on any Springsteen studio release. However, in 1995, when Columbia was packaging Bruce’s first greatest hits release, the E Street Band returned to the studio and recorded four songs: “This Hard Land” and “Murder Inc.” (also originally from the BITUSA sessions), “Blood Brothers” and “Secret Garden”. Also, on 1998’s Tracks box set, the original ‘82 version was also released.
The first “This Hard Land” I ever heard was the Greatest Hits version. It was 1995, and I was in the midst of my “lost” years job-wise: in my mid-20’s and working as co-manager of a car rental company. It was a waste of my college education, it didn’t pay well, and it didn’t challenge me. There was one thing I loved about the job, though, and that was being out on the open road with the music blaring. We rented brand new Fords, and we had to shuffle them between our offices in Scottsdale and Mesa. Windows down, crystal-clear blue sky, the Superstition Mountains in the near distance to the east… this was how I first heard “This Hard Land”.
The song was so full of joy and pain, beauty and ugliness. My heart pounded and tears welled in my eyes.
I still get the same rush every time I hear this song. The energy, the imagery of the great wide open, Bruce’s harmonica, the “Bar-M choppers sweepin’ low across the plains”. Bruce’s “come on” that ushers in the full band at 47 seconds in. The hooves twistin’ and churnin’ up the sand. Sleeping by the fields, sleeping by the rivers. The undercurrent of desolation, sparseness and struggle , and the insistence on overcoming it all….
I heard the song again this morning during my drive to work. Things sure have changed since that sunny day in 1995. I make a decent living at a job I enjoy. I met and married the girl of my dreams. I have two darling little squirts that I feel so much love for it can’t even be measured… all this good in a world that “stirs you up like it wants to blow you down”…
How do I face these hard times? How should we face these hard times?
“Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can / and meet me in a dream of this hard land.”
Bruce Springsteen – This Hard Land (mp3)
Here’s the full band in 1995, with a rocking and spirited version virtually identical to this Greatest Hits recording. They must’ve been fresh from the studio. Does anyone know where (and for what) this was shot?
Check out…
New Boss Video: The Wrestler
Feb 18th
Have you ever seen the Boss wearing a tank top and knit hat?
Have you ever seen the Boss standin’ in a ring?
The Boss Was Made for Lovin’ You?
Jan 17th
The Boss lifting from Ace, Gene, Paul and Peter? A new controversy brewing on the interwebs is the similarity between Bruce’s new album opener “Outlaw Pete”, and Kiss’ 1979 foray into disco, “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”. Similar? Sure, but not to the extent of Coldplay’s rip of Satriani. I rule in favor of – guess who? – The Boss!
What do you guys & gals think? Did Bruce dip back into his repository of shitty disco-rock?
“Outlaw Pete” vs. “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”:
All of “Outlaw Pete”:
Recent Comments