|   Slightly late (and rather long) review of Bruce in NJ | JazzHead
Aug 9, 2002 11:58 AM | | Wednesday, August 7; total time approx. 2:20; 22 songs (set list below); at The Arena Formerly Known As Brendan Byrne, Turnpike Exit 16W, East Rutherford, NJ.
Previously reviewed the 7/26 show in Asbury Park:
<a href="/crforum?14@@.ef8e21b/2">JazzHead "Springsteen - The Rising" 7/30/02 12:56pm</a>
A marked departure for Bruce and the band. Most strikingly, the two shows were nearly identical - "Tenth Ave. Freezeout" and "My Hometown" out between the rehearsal and the opening, "Badlands" in; CC dropped the bagpipe intro to "Into the Fire;" and Bruce tells a story at the start of "Mary's Place" (it has nothing to do with the song - more about that in a bit). The show is tight, rehearsed, concise, and powerful - many of the songs run into each other, with Max or Gary keeping the beat going while the guitarists trade out axes. It's the opposite of the legendary shaggy E Street marathons that seemed to draw their magic from the whim of the bandleader. In their place is a focused performance that deliberately aims for emotional depth.
Like the album (and the last tour, to an extent), the show was guitar-driven, as it should be if you have Nils, Steven, and Bruce to draw on. They make a holy noise, with the keyboards, CC, fiddler Soozie Tyrell, and Patti adding color. Most impressive was the band's command of dynamics. E Street could always go from a whisper to a scream in a heartbeat, but this time around they've added gradations that draw every particle of pathos and meaning out of new songs like "Into the Fire" and "The Rising." They don't simply switch gears, but build from a calm to a rumble to a roar, like a stifled sob that finally explodes when you can't keep it down any longer.
The show leaned heavily on new material - half of the 22 numbers come from "The Rising." As a result, it is a much darker performance than the E Street Band has ever given (Bruce has gone bleak before, during his "new Woody Guthrie" period, but he didn't drag the band into that). After pounding out five rockers to start, he asked the audience to be quiet ("I know you can do it!") and delivered two of the most wrenching songs from the album, "Empty Sky" (Patti and Bruce opened it with a minute or so of wordless vocalizing - very moving - Bruce played it mostly solo until two-thirds of the way in, when other band members added a few soft filigrees) and "You're Missing." Sad to say, a goodly number of fans took the mini-set as a chance to go out to the lobby for more beer.
With a perfect sense of timing, he followed the two somber songs with "Waiting on a Sunny Day," which is about the most chipper number on the record, even though it starts with the lines "It's rainin', but there ain't a cloud in the sky/Must've been the tears from your eyes". All four guitarists (the three leads plus Patti) strapped on acoustics, and Bruce threw the refrain to the audience. He was genuinely pleased that the vast majority knew the words, even though the record had only been out a week.
Still, the biggest responses came for the older, anthemic material - "Badlands," "Born to Run/Glory Days" (as usual, with the house lights up), and "Born in the USA." In a surprise, he played the latter, both at the rehearsal and the opener, as a rocker. Contrary to what the local newspaper critic said, however, it was not the original arrangement. The tune was slowed down a tiny bit, and the guitars were heavily distorted, almost snarling. Bruce's final solo on the number was a screaming display of dissonance. The effect was to put an edge, a meanness to the song. It rocked, but no one would mistake it for a patriotic anthem.
Which leads to an interesting observation about the new album. It looks like "The Rising" will be his most popular record since "BITUSA," but it also seems that a couple of the tracks, at least, could fall victim to the same misinterpretation that famously |
| Review of Bruce PART TWO | JazzHead
Aug 9, 2002 12:03 PM | | Which leads to an interesting observation about the new album. It looks like "The Rising" will be his most popular record since "BITUSA," but it also seems that a couple of the tracks, at least, could fall victim to the same misinterpretation that famously plagued the title track of the earlier album. The show opened with "The Rising," and many in the audience sang along, fists pumping in the air as if in triumph. But the words aren't about rising above adversity or an enemy; they are a first-person narrative by a dead firefighter whose soul, along with those of the people he couldn't save, is rising from the flames into heaven. The joy in the last verse comes when the narrator gets his first glimpse of paradise.
The other problematic tune serves as the traditional mid-concert showstopper, a la "Rosalita" or "Kitty's Back." "Mary's Place" has been dismissed by many critics as a pale, lightweight throwback to those earlier barnburners, but its lyrics are far darker, mixing desparate heartbreak and hope in a way Springsteen has never done before. This time, the narrator is a widow just coming to grips with the loss of her husband ("From that black hole on the horizon/I hear your voice callin' me"), alternately trying to summon his spirit and move ahead. She seeks solace at a house party, and finds it, but still can't escape her memories ("Familiar faces surround me/Laughter fills the air/Your loving grace surrounds me/Everybody's here/Furniture's on the front porch/Music's up loud/I dream of you in my arms/I lose myself in the crowd"). It's a beautiful, wrenching image - a lonely, bereaved soul making her first tentative steps toward the rest of her life by dancing alone amid a crowd of loved ones. Unfortunately, it seems that not too many people are listening to very much beyond "Turn it up" and "We're gonna have a party." To be honest, Bruce didn't help his cause by opening the song with a story about being twelve years old and lusting after the 'worldly' sixteen- year-olds he saw at the beach and at house parties. Still, the performance itself nicely balanced the pathos and hope of the lyrics while still getting people out of their seats and dancing.
If you are a longtime Bruce fan and have tickets for this tour, set aside any preconceptions about what a Springsteen concert is. The new edition is leaner, more serious, with a power born of sorrow and pain as well as the sheer animal joy of rock-and-roll well-played. The events of the past twelve months seemed to have reawakened his sense of the possibilities of his music, and at the same time to have deepened and matured them. He's back to chronicling the inner lives of the small-town and suburban working people he grew up among, but he's uncovering layers he never exposed before. That he can bring these compositions to an arena stage and give them powerful life, make of them a rock show, proves that he hasn't lost his performance touch - just raised it to another level.
peace,
jh. |
| Review of Bruce SET LIST | JazzHead
Aug 9, 2002 12:03 PM | | The set list:
1. "The Rising"
2. "Lonesome Day"
3. "Prove It All Night"
4. "The Fuse"
5. "Darkness On The Edge Of Town"
6. "Empty Sky"
7. "You're Missing"
8. "Waitin' On A Sunny Day"
9. "Promised Land"
10. "Worlds Apart"
11. "Two Hearts"
12. "Badlands"
13. "Mary's Place"
14. "Countin' On A Miracle"
15. "American Skin (41 Shots)"
16. "Into The Fire"
17. "Born To Run"
18. "Glory Days"
19. "Thunder Road"
20. "My City Of Ruins"
21. "Born In The U.S.A."
22. "Land Of Hope And Dreams"
jh. |
| Thanks! A must-read review. (nt) | Darius
Aug 9, 2002 2:13 PM | | |
| re: Slightly late (and rather long) review of Bruce in NJ | Woochifer
Aug 9, 2002 5:19 PM | | Thanx for the update! I've not really followed Bruce since he began delving into midlife crisis issues starting with Tunnel of Love, and my own tastes went off in a different direction. Even so, his earlier output has always held personal relevance for me, and I actually got his latest album. So far so good with the first impressions.
In a way, I'm glad to hear that Bruce has appropriately evolved his approach for this tour. It would've been sad to see Bruce go the way of so many other baby boomer rockers who've basically turned into caricatures of themselves, sort of like a tribute band only worse because they're the real thing.
Back in his earlier days, I remember reading that the E Street Band would rehearse over 200 songs prior to going on tour, and that on any given night less than half the songs were set ahead of time. Everything else was pretty much played on the fly at Bruce's whim. Also, on any given night Bruce would lose 5 lbs. on stage.
When he did a ten-night stint at the L.A. Sports Arena in 1984, I went to the first weekend show with a friend who'd seen him earlier in the week. He told me that close to half of the set from that weekend show was completely different from the earlier concert. The set that night clocked in at about 3.5 hours.
A year later, I saw him during his stadium tour at the L.A. Coliseum. By then, he was pretty much going with a more tightly scripted set, but still left a little leeway to break out something he hadn't played in several years (which he supposedly did the night I saw him). That concert lasted over four hours, with the encore beginning to stretch into Grateful Dead territory for longievity! It was fun during its epoch, but I'm glad he's trying something different now. |
| re: Slightly late (and rather long) review of Bruce in NJ | JazzHead
Aug 9, 2002 6:24 PM | | Hi Woochifer -
I agree absolutely. I'm a hometown boy (Freehold, NJ, St. Rose of Lima School), but I found his 90s stuff rather forced and arid. The '99 tour was a thrill because he put the band back together, but I came away with a fear that he was turning into an oldies act. I had unsettling visions of him hitting the road at age 60, tossing off "Rosalita" because it was expected, not felt. He's laid those fears to rest; here's hoping he keeps on writing and growing.
BTW, my opinion doesn't seem universally shared, judging from the comments on the www.brucespringsteen.net website. A number of posters are complaining that he didn't do enough of the old favorites, and that the show was (relatively) short for a Springsteen gig. Whaddya want? He's 52 years old, for cryin' out loud. As another middle-aged white guy, I couldn't imagine standing in place for four hours, never mind jumping off amps...
Like his model/idol Bob Dylan, he's not shy about revisiting his past; he just insists on doing it on his own terms. Bravo - I'm willing to go wherever he takes me.
Thanks also to Darius for the kind words.
peace,
jh. |
| Great review | DLD
Aug 9, 2002 8:48 PM | | just stopped by before crashing and saw this review. Glad I read it. I'm borderline as to whether to catch his Dallas Show in November. I've been a fan since the beginning but I likewise lost a bit of interest in Bruce in the 90's. I've ordered The Rising. Perhaps if it rings my chimes the way The River did, I'll go. Sounds like it might. Again, thnx for your time you took in writing this for us, the show sounded incredible! DD |
| Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this morning! | Audio Girl
Aug 10, 2002 1:10 AM | | I up early in preparation.
just kiddin'...it's the insomnia again :-(,
AG
jk' about being up early in prep...tix do go on sale at 10 a.m.! |
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