Bonnaroo: Bruce Springsteen on stage with Phish
As a Bruce and Phish fan for more than a quarter century and almost 20 years respectively, my mind was just about blown last night when I was reading through my Twitter feed, and saw this from Bruce’s official Twitter:
I guess the opportunity was ripe, with Phish and the Boss co-headlining the festival, but it just didn’t seem within the realm of possibility that these two forces in popular music – different realms of the spectrum, one could argue – would collide and collaborate. But it happened. At the end of Phish’s 1st set on Sunday night, Trey Anastasio introduced his “boyhood and still hero”, Bruce Springsteen.
They tore through “Mustang Sally”, “Bobby Jean”, and “Glory Days”. And suffice it so say, I’ll be scouring the interwebs for any and all video of this moment. Bruce was also spotted taking in Band of Horses earlier in the day as well. It just keeps coming together, doesn’t it?
Springsteen Tour Premiere Tracker
Photo / set list info courtesy of Backstreets.com I’m still riding a Springsteen high after seeing him April 3rd here in Arizona. Since then, the show has rolled on to Austin, Tulsa, Houston, and Denver – each stop bringing more surprises for the lucky fans. I thought I’d keep track of the tour premieres on this, the Working on a Dream tour, since it seems the band will be pulling out more treats, and the fact that sign requests have become a staple of an E Street Show, with the Boss honoring requests each stop along the way.
So read on for your one stop shop for all the Springsteen bust-outs as they travel on down that road….
[Be sure also to keep up to date on Backstreets and Bruce’s Official Site.]
Faith Was Rewarded: Bruce Springsteen @ Jobing.com Arena
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 here].
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 Google 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 DarkThis Hard Land
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 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.”
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.
New Boss Video: The Wrestler
Have you ever seen the Boss wearing a tank top and knit hat?
Have you ever seen the Boss standin’ in a ring?
Super Bowl Boss: Half Time
Photo Credit: David J. Phillip (AP Photo) First of all, may I take a moment for a self-congratulatory look at my set list prediction for Bruce’s half-time show? This was my Twitter to the world at 8:42am yesterday morning:
I called 3 out of 4, in the correct order, mind you (and no, I didn’t have any advance notice!). He didn’t end with “Twist & Shout”. Instead, he opened with “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”. But golly, that’s a mighty fine prediction…
So, my hometown Arizona Cardinals couldn’t pull it off against the Steelers, though they sure made it close. Thanks to Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald for giving us an opportunity to jump up and down for a few minutes in the second half. By that time, the Fat Tire had run dry, and we had raided the ladies supply of Strawberry Daiquiris. We were convinced that the red drink was the good luck charm. Turns out we were wrong.
Bruce and the band’s half-time performance was as intense as I expected. It was fun to see Bruce pull out all the tricks from an E Street Show and condense them into a dozen minutes: Working the crowd. The running stage slide. Right into the camera. We saw Bruce hang on to the mic stand for one of his lean-backs (a move that had a co-worker of mine wondering for a moment if he was stuck, and needed the Big Man to help him back up). We got the leap on to the piano and the guitar swing-around. And how about the opening silhouette shot, as Bruce and Clarence brought the Born to Run era back to life? Nice.
Sure, I enjoyed the hell out of seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform at the Super Bowl. How could I not? But at the same time, a lot of my focus was spent wondering how others might be perceiving the performance – sort of how I felt the last couple years watching Petty and Prince. These are three of my absolute favorites, after all. Each of them legendary live performers whom I’ve had the privilege of seeing many many times. I know what to expect. So most of my energy is spent thinking about how they’re playing out to the biggest audience of their careers. What Joe Six-Pack is thinking… What the people around me in the room are thinking. It doesn’t make a difference, of course, but that’s how I’m wired to watch my favorites at the Super Bowl.
What it also did was get me even more pumped for 10am this morning, when tickets went on sale for the Boss’s Phoenix date – Friday, April 3rd at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale. I secured my GA-Floor ticket, and will be taking a vacation day, planting my butt out at the arena nice and early, and working my way into the pit, as close to the stage as I can get.
It was a thrill watching the Boss give it to the world for 12 minutes. But it’ll be even better watching 160-180 minutes in person. There’s nothing like it, people. If you’re one of the people who was intrigued and entertained by the E Street Band: Super Bowl Edition, do yourself a very big favor and catch them in your town on this tour.
Life’s too short not to.
See some other Super Bowl thoughts from some friend of Ickmusic:
- Ben at A Deeper Shade of Soul
- Scott at Popdose
- Tony at The Screen Door
- Gonzo at Gonzo’s Music-o-Rama
And this just in…
The Boss and Phish to headline Bonnaroo in June. Looks like it’s time for that RV trip to Tennessee… Holy flippin’ poopy pants.
Ick’s Pick (Week IV): Springsteen’s Working On A Dream
In 1975, When Bruce was blowing up on the cover of Time and Newsweek because of the groundbreaking Born to Run (an album that came out when he was 25, for crying out loud), I wonder if he ever pondered his long term success, if he ever wondered how his career would be trucking along in the year he turned 60?
Well, it’s 2009, the year Bruce Springsteen will turn 60. And if anyone is proving that age is just a number, Bruce is it. Look at the year he’s embarking on… his 16th studio album is released this week. He’ll play for something like a billion people around the world this weekend as the half time entertainment for the Super Bowl (go Cardinals!). He’ll embark on yet another world tour. He’s winning awards for his contributions to film (but inexplicably shut out for the Academy Awards – F.U. Oscar!). He played at the inauguration celebration of the new U.S. President. All told, he’s set to have a banner year (hell, he already has). It’s good to be the Boss…
So it’s a no brainer that my pick for week 4 of the year is Working On A Dream. I’ve been letting it seep into me for the last couple of weeks (don’t worry, I’m buying the deluxe version this week!), and, like all Bruce albums before, it evolves more and more with each listen. The way I feel about certain songs now will inevitably be different days and months down the road. I’ve read a ton of reviews already – almost regretfully at this point – because reading a critic’s opinion of one of my (two) favorite artists has a way of polluting the music for me. The way a human being feels about music is as intimate as it gets, so I feel like that special one-on-one relationship is spoiled a little if you let those other opinions trickle into your listening experience.
The common consensus about the opening track, “Outlaw Pete”, is that it’s too long (at eight minutes). When I first heard it, I had my eyes closed, and total focus, and… I loved it! I love the story he has to tell about this character from the Old West. The way the tune meanders and swells… And I love the fact that Bruce opened an album with an 8 minute song so far out of left field. It’s a tale that takes its time in the telling…. It’s one of my favorites from the album. And it didn’t make me think of Kiss until I saw this.
By far the track that clicked with me right off the bat is “Tomorrow Never Knows”, an upbeat saloon shuffle of a tune, complete with strings, and the shortest song on the album (2:14). Upbeat in tempo, but subject matter-wise, a calm look at the uncertainties of the future and the life beyond… Oh, and does anyone else hear “Here Comes My Baby” in the melody (I favor the Yo La Tengo version, by the way)?
“The Last Carnival” is a gorgeous tribute to keyboardist Danny Federici, who passed in April 2008. It sets itself in the same carnival atmosphere of “Wild Billy’s Circus Story” from The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle – a tune made so memorable by Danny’s accordion. Danny’s son Jason does the honors this time around.
“My Lucky Day” is the E Street Band barn burner of the album. Uptempo, Clarence’s sax, Steve sharing vocals… My prediction for show opener for the first part of this tour.
“This Life” gets better with every listen. Great vocals by the Boss on this one. And the subject matter seems to fit with many of the songs on the record… “A bang then stardust in your eyes / A billion years or just this night / Either way it’ll be alright /…. This life, this life and then the next / With you I have been blessed, what more can you expect.” The finiteness of life on this earth winds its way through the album.
On “Good Eye”, Bruce uses that voice altering thingy (hey man, I’m technical) to give him that delta blues swampy sound. Good tune, and no baseball analogy to be found, like I expected from the title.
“Working on a Dream” I’ve liked since day one. Some think it’s a tad generic for the Boss, but I enjoy singing along, and I think it’s catchy as hell… “Rain pourin’ down I swing my hammer / My hands are rough from working on a dream.” Man, can I relate. Except I work inside and bang on a keyboard. And my wrist hurts sometimes. And sometimes I bang my knee when I swivel in my chair.
Songs like “Kingdom of Days”, “Queen of the Supermarket”, and “What Love Can Do” haven’t done much for me yet, to be honest. But like I said, who knows how I’ll feel down the road. Tomorrow never knows, right?
Is Working On A Dream among Bruce’s best work? No way. That’s setting the bar way too high for someone with Bruce’s history. But what we do get is a collection of songs from an artist still completely driven to make fresh, creative music. And what’s even better, he’s still committed to taking his powerhouse of a band out on the road, to treat his fans to the experience that is an E Street Band concert. And at 59, he’s as great as ever.
Speaking of…. April 3rd here in Phoenix!! Who’s joining me in the pit?
Buy Working on a Dream (Deluxe Version)
Visit Bruce’s Official Site
Tour Dates…
DATE / CITY / VENUE / ON-SALE DATE
Feb 1 Tampa, FL Super Bowl XLIII
Apr 1 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose Feb 2
Apr 3 Glendale, AZ Jobing.com Center Feb 2
Apr 5 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center Feb 7
Apr 7 Tulsa, OK BOK Center Feb 7
Apr 8 Houston, TX Toyota Center Feb 7
Apr 10 Denver, CO Pepsi Arena Feb 2
Apr 15 Los Angeles, CA LA Memorial Sports Arena Feb 2
Apr 21 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden Feb 2
Apr 22 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden Feb 2
Apr 24 Hartford, CT XL Center Feb 2
Apr 26 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena Feb 2
Apr 28 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Spectrum Feb 2
Apr 29 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Spectrum Feb 2
May 2 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum Feb 6
May 4 Hempstead, NY Nassau Veterans Mem. Col. Feb 2
May 5 Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones Arena Feb 2
May 7 Toronto, ONT Air Canada Centre Feb 6
May 8 University Park, PA Bryce Jordan Center Feb 2
May 11 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center Feb 2
May 12 Chicago, IL United Center Feb 2
May 14 Albany, NY Times Union Center Feb 2
May 15 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium Feb 2
May 18 Washington, DC Verizon Center Feb 2
May 19 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena Feb 2
May 21 E. Rutherford, NJ Izod Center Feb 2
May 23 E. Rutherford, NJ Izod Center Feb 2
May 30 Landgraaf, Holland Pink Pop Festival March 7
June 2 Tampere, Finland Ratinan Stadion ON SALE
June 4 Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Stadium SOLD OUT
June 5 Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Stadium SOLD OUT
June 7 Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Stadium SOLD OUT
June 9 Bergen, Norway Koengen SOLD OUT
June 10 Bergen, Norway Koengen SOLD OUT
July 2 Munich, Germany Olympiastadion ON SALE NOW
July 3 Frankfurt, Germany Commerzbank Arena ON SALE NOW
July 5 Vienna, Austria Ernst Happel Stadion ON SALE NOW
July 8 Herning, Denmark Herning MCH ON SALE NOW
July 11 Dublin, Ireland RDS Jan 30
July 16 Carhaix, France Festival des Vielles Charrues Jan 30
July 19 Rome, Italy Stadio Olimpico ON SALE SOON
July 21 Turino, Italy Olimpico di Torino ON SALE SOON
July 23 Udine, Italy Stadio Friuli ON SALE SOON
July 26 Bilbao, Spain San Mames Stadium ON SALE SOON
July 28 Benidorm, Spain Estadio Municipal de Foietes ON SALE SOON
July 30 Sevilla, Spain La Cartuja Olympic Stadium ON SALE SOON
Aug 1 Valladolid, Spain Estadio Jose Zorrilla ON SALE SOON
Aug 2 Santiago, Spain Monte Del Gozo ON SALE SOONThe Boss Was Made for Lovin’ You?
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”:
Bruce’s Greatest Hits, exclusively at Walmart
First, the cover for Working on a Dream. Now comes news that a new greatest hits compilation will be released exclusively at Walmart on January 13th – a couple weeks before his Bridgestone Super Bowl Half Time show.
1. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
2. Born to Run
3. Thunder Road
4. Darkness on the Edge of Town
5. Badlands
6. Hungry Heart
7. Glory Days
8. Dancing in the Dark
9. Born in the U.S.A.
10. The Rising
11. Lonesome Day
12. Radio NowhereIs 2009 the year that the Boss appears on American Idol??
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