All I can say about last night's Springsteen show is that he continually amazes me. At 58 years old, he remains as committed to the idea of being in concert with his audience; that his performance is a two way communication between artist and audience. The sheer joy on the faces of the 15,000 people in attendance reminds me like nothing else that music, at its best, is a transformative experience that gets people in touch with the best parts of themselves.
I got to watch the show with my brother (who took me to my first Bruce show when I was a teenager), some of my closest friends and I even ran into some friends from elementary school. Much of the history of my life was there, all within a ten foot radius of each other. And then there was Bruce, the man who has been my major source of inspiration for the past twenty five years. With him, I picked a good hero.
(The following photos were taken by me last night. You'll get the idea of what kind of show it was.)
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Nassau Coliseum: 3/10/08
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5 comments:
Fabulous! The countdown is on...6 days till The Boss is in Milwaukee. The first time I saw him was '77 and every show has been outta sight! Thanks for the photos, they got my juices flowin'.
Great pics and piece! Death, taxes, and SPRINGSTEEN. You can count on em.
Blind devotion. That is the problem with most Bruce fans. I had amazing seats, probably the best I've had in years. I love "Magic," fave album of the year. But, it is NOT a good album live.
A lousy Bruce show (which is a rarity) is still better than most anything life has to offer. Nassau on Monday, was my least fave E-Street show ever. It was a logy mess.
No song has moved me like "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" has since maybe "Woman," by John Lennon. Live, it loses all its nuance and charm. The 1-2-3-4 punch of "Devil's Arcade>Rising>Last To Die>Long Walk Home" is a 40 minute mood killer. Would you watch Ben Hur, Gone With The Wind, Saving Private Ryan and Imitation Of Life one after the other?
The set lists have gotten lazy. How many in Buffalo were thinking on their way to the show, "Oh God please, I hope he does Buffalo Gals!" Three?
Sure, there were moments. "Jungleland" will forever bring tears to my eyes. "She's the One" will always brings chills to my spine. "Reason To Believe" is just kick-ass. But even "Incident"seemed forced.
Bruce and guys have aged, and we can't expect the marathons and rock n roll covers and extended jams of the 70s and 80s. But I do expect something more than a throwaway sing-a-long like "Waitin' On A Sunny Day." Please don't say, "The crowd was loving it." Of course they were. So was the woman holding the request sign that said, "Stand On It." Thank God he didn't see it.
Agreed about Magic not hitting the mark live. But I thought Bruce's performance blew past that.
I wouldn't call "Incident" forced. I'd call it "mellow." And I'd agree that he didn't nail it.
But I would also disagree entirely that Monday's show was a "logy mess." I can be as critical as it gets of Bruce. But he was on fire Monday night.
anonymous: you're partially right and I understand your concerns about the signs, Waitin on a Sunny Day, Girls not being performed as it should...
but still I think the shows were great. As for lazy set lists, by now probably you've seen the set lists SINCE Milwaukee... simply amazing. By pure chance Milwaukee was my first show, I went there expecting a standard set list... and encountered a wild wild show, with Bruce on fire, singing with rage... and doing a fabulous Streets of Fire. Plus Saint in the City, Loose Ends, Meeting, Jungleland, etc... So I went on and drove to Indy and Cincy. I got 6-7 new songs every night, and great performances. Milwaukee, however, was the best.
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