Madison Square Garden. New York City. On a cold night in
March, members of my family and I got to take in the Bruce Springsteen make up
concert. This concert was originally supposed to happen on a Sunday night in
mid-January and then the blizzard of ’16 hit thus postponing the concert. So,
two months later, the sold out crowd was told that the band would make it up to
us on that night.
Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band were on tour in
support of The River box set release
that had come out in the fall of 2015. It was a mammoth set of re-mastered
originals, rarities, outtakes, and b-sides that also included a making of DVD.
Springsteen got the notion that it would be nice to tour behind this release.
He then decided to perform the original released album in its entirety. That’s
a lot of songs. And for Springsteen fans, that’s a lot of the set being known
before entering the venue. And anyone who has ever seen The Boss in concert
knows that varied setlists are one of the best parts of the show.
Which is what made my 19th witnessing of Bruce
Springsteen live, one of the strangest. I have never known that much of the set
before entering the building. Knowing which song was going to be performed next
as they came up to start the night ruined a lot of the mystique of a Springsteen
concert.
I realize The River
is a majestic album filled with beauty. I also realize that it was the
album that produced Springsteen’s first top 10 hit (“Hungry Heart”). But going
into the show, I wasn’t super excited about seeing all of the songs played. The River does have a few clunkers and a
few songs that I never paid much attention to. And playing all of The River left little room for
surprises. I like surprises---especially at a Springsteen concert.
Thus, we settled in and prepared to hear The River in its entirety. Seeing all of
The River wasn’t necessarily a bad
thing, as I mentioned, it was just different. And it did contain some
highlights. I would get to hear “Independence Day” live for only the 3rd
time. I would get to hear a couple of my favorites (“The Ties That Bind” and
“Cadillac Ranch”). And I would hear some rarities that could be very
interesting (“Crush On You,” and “I’m A Rocker”). All in all, it was going to
be a surreal Springsteen concert experience for me.
The night began with The
River outtake, “Meet Me In The City” and the crowd was on their feet
immediately. The performance of this
song was tight and true to the version contained on the box set. I enjoyed
hearing it live for the first time. After the end of the song, Springsteen
talked about the snowstorm that delayed the original show and discussed what The River meant to him when he first
wrote it. It was an album about growing up and dealing with adult problems for
the first time. With that, the band kicked into “The Ties That Bind” and we
were off and rocking.
The River has a
lot of good moments including “Sherry Darling,” “Two Hearts,” and the
aforementioned “Independence Day.” Hearing all of those songs early was a nice
highlight for me. Most of those songs I’ve only seen live once or twice over
the years. “Crush On You” was absolutely magnificent and has since become one
of my go to songs when I want to hear Springsteen. The same can be said for
“The Price You Pay.” These were two songs that I liked, but never paid a lot of
attention to prior to that evening. Hearing them in concert gave me a new
appreciation. If the point of playing The
River in its entirety was to turn fans on to songs they may have forgotten
or never paid much attention to, then you could say “mission accomplished.”
During the performance of “Ramrod,” the video screen
showed an elderly women to the side of the stage dancing along to the music. She
was just rocking out having a good time. When Springsteen went to her side, we
realized that she wasn’t just any elderly woman, it was Springsteen’s mother!
Wow! He and she danced side by side and then turned and did a little tush shaking
for the camera and the crowd, which got a huge ovation from all in attendance---a
memorable moment indeed.
When the closing notes of “Wreck On The Highway” rang out
in the arena, chills covered my body. This was due in part to knowing I had
witnessed Springsteen history, and partly because now we were in uncharted
territory. What would the band play next? Where were we heading?
An exceptional three pack of “Badlands,” “Because The
Night,” and “Brilliant Disguise” came next, much to my delight. This was the
way to kick off the unscripted part of the evening. Then when “Brilliant Disguise” ended the
stage got dark and the band got silent. Moments later the silence was broken by
Roy Bittain’s hand going over the piano keys and playing the opening notes to “Meeting
Across The River.” I screamed my appreciation along with the rest of the crowd.
This also meant that “Jungleland” had to be next.
“Meeting Across The River,” into “Jungleland” was a
brilliant performance. It’s always been one of my favorite one-two punches in
music album history, just an exceptional segue from one song to the next. I’ve
only see this combination live one other time (during the 2003 Giants Stadium
run), so it was nice to have it back once again. “Jungleland” was as amazing as
ever. Jake Clemons now owns the solo toward the end of the song and he has
become extremely comfortable performing it. And he absolutely nailed it on that
night.
And if “Meeting Across The River” into “Jungleland” wasn’t
enough, we were then treated to the Born
To Run opener “Thunder Road.” This was very unexpected and very welcomed by
me. Born To Run is my favorite
Springsteen album and hearing a total of 5 songs from the record did not go
unnoticed or unappreciated.
All in all it was another fine night of Springsteen in
concert. And while it wasn’t my favorite
Springsteen concert, it was still a solid show and one that I am glad I went to
see. And yet, The River in its
entirety is also the reason that I didn’t go to more of the local area shows. With
the band aging as they are, this could be the last time we get to see them on
tour. I hope not, but at this stage of their career, every time could be the
last time.
Setlist
Meet Me In The City
The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out In The Street
Crush On You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
I Wanna Marry You
The River
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I’m A Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
The Wreck On The Highway
Badlands
Because The Night
Brilliant Disguise
Meeting Across The River
Jungleland
Thunder Road
ENCORE
Born To Run
Dancing In The Dark
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Shout
1 comment:
Great bloog
Post a Comment