Herr Springsteen ...

uwe · June 04, 2012, 01:05:56 PM

I saw my first Boss concert last week. It will be my last one too. It was like watching an Oliver Stone and a Steven Spielberg movie at the same time in an IMax cinema with 3D magnifying glasses. Four hours on end.

I know now what larger than life means. Spare me.

A few observations:

- If you have someone as good as Nils Lofgren playing guitar for you you should give him some space even if you are a legend like Bruce or Litte Steven, but cannot play guitar nearly as well as Lil' Lofgren.

- It's nice if a song has a melody. You may want to repeat it. But not over and over again with five or more melody instruments ~~playing~~ blaring it in unison towards the end of every song. For several minutes.

- Compared to the sonic barrage of the E-Street Band many heavy metal bands are disciplined and economical. Maybe music as simplistic as Bruce's does not need to be played by three electric guitars, a hammering piano, an oversize horn section that should take lessons with either Chicago or Blood, Sweat & Tears as regards neatness of arrangements, a violinist, Max Weinberg's unsympathetic drumming, an accordeon player and what have you ...

- I always assumed that Jon Bon Jovi patterned latter day Bon Jovi after The Boss' sonic assault. I was wrong. Somewhere along the line Springsteen turned his band into a sloppy Bon Jovi II.

- Garry Tallent had throughout all the mayhem a nice warm sound and was actually tasteful at times - a living minority on stage the man.

- Herr Springsteen works hard for the money, I'll grant him that.

Pilgrim · June 04, 2012, 01:48:19 PM

Perhaps he is more of a US phenom...but I'll admit that I find some numbers excessively repetitive. Born in the USA comes to mind. It gets old for me.

gweimer · June 04, 2012, 01:56:28 PM

I am not alone....

ack1961 · June 04, 2012, 01:56:38 PM

Quote from: uwe on June 04, 2012, 01:05:56 PM

- Garry Tallent had throughout all the mayhem a nice warm sound and was actually tasteful at times - a living minority on stage the man.

That hasn't changed a bit since the early 70's.

TBird1958 · June 04, 2012, 02:03:52 PM

Gotta say I never cared much for him -he got played to death on FM here in Seattle. There is one song tho, "Downbound Train" I like it very much.

ack1961 · June 04, 2012, 02:13:39 PM

Being from Jersey and in that age bracket (somewhat), I grew up with these guys. Their songs hit home, but I stopped listening to them when Born in the USA came out and he became a denim-wearing Bono. I've seen him many times in concert prior to B.I.T.-USA, but I cannot stand going to a show and hearing some richer than God (but poorer than Bono) icon regurgitate his political/social beliefs on a crowd.

TBird1958 · June 04, 2012, 02:22:40 PM

Quote from: Pilgrim on June 04, 2012, 01:48:19 PM
Perhaps he is more of a US phenom...but I'll admit that I find some numbers excessively repetitive. Born in the USA comes to mind. It gets old for me.

We got Bruce.........

The U.K. and the Continent got Slade.

We Amis got the short end of that

lowend1 · June 04, 2012, 02:43:10 PM

Quote from: uwe on June 04, 2012, 01:05:56 PM
- Compared to the sonic barrage of the E-Street Band many heavy metal bands are disciplined and economical. Maybe music as simplistic as Bruce's does not need to be played by three electric guitars, a hammering piano, an oversize horn section that should take lessons with either Chicago or Blood, Sweat & Tears as regards neatness of arrangements, a violinist, Max Weinberg's unsympathetic drumming, an accordeon player and what have you ...

I assume that "what have you" includes the obligatory glockenspiel and attached backup singer / rhythm guitarist / wife thingie.

patman · June 04, 2012, 03:00:00 PM

Saw him in the mid-seventies...was a wonderful show.

I stopped at about "Born in the USA", also

gweimer · June 04, 2012, 03:25:39 PM

The funny thing is that I got to talk to him right as he was breaking. He was playing across town at a small arena in Michigan, and my band was playing a club nearby. He came in "unannounced" (meaning the club owner played nothing but Born To Run for 2 hours...), and basically hung out. He's a short dude, and was more interested in playing pool than anything. His best comment was about his newfound stardom - "Yeah, we get to stay in less crappy hotels now".

lowend1 · June 04, 2012, 03:29:33 PM

Quote from: TBird1958 on June 04, 2012, 02:22:40 PM

We got Bruce.........

The U.K. and the Continent got Slade.

We Amis got the short end of that

You figure that's the equivalent Mark? Slade always had a sense of humor about what they did. Bruce seems preoccupied with the socio-political-economic impact of what he is singing - at least these days. Best story here in NJ of late: Our governor, Chris Christie - himself a huge (pun intended) Springsteen fan who has seen Bruce 120 times - attended one of the recent shows... and fell asleep in his seat.

ack1961 · June 04, 2012, 03:57:14 PM

OK, a confession...Bruce once threw half of his Twinkie to me as he was walking from the parking lot into a loading dock at the Hampton Coliseum.
I was wearing a Stone Pony tee shirt and all he said was "here ya go" as he tossed it.
Some friends from Shartlesville, PA wanted to have it bronzed at the local plant.

A few weeks later, I got a box at the PO (I was in the Air force at the time) and the return address was:
B. Springsteen
Asbury Pk, NJ
I was with a buddy (who didn't believe the Twinkie story until that moment) as we opened it up.
There was a half of a Twinkie and a note which read "Dear Steve, here's the other half. Love, Bruce"
Some investigation showed that dear 'ol Mom was the culprit.

TBird1958 · June 04, 2012, 03:59:46 PM

Definitely not equivilant!

Slade were fun and all about a ( U.K. working class ) good time.

Bruce is........... eh, I don't care.

Basvarken · June 04, 2012, 04:25:19 PM

Me and Floor went to a Springsteen concert ten years ago, because we were curious to find out if a concert from The Boss was really such a fantastic experience. (And because the concert took place in a stadium in our hometown).
I tried to enjoy it, but I didn't. After about half an hour I was bored stiff. We sort of gradually went back further and further until we were literally standing outside the stadium. We looked at each other and said, let's go downtown and have a drink. The Boss went on for another two hours...

Highlander · June 04, 2012, 05:42:31 PM

I saw him once, in '88, so I could see Lofgren again...

Seen Lofgren a stack of times, including a few with Neil Young (where he did get his fair share of work), and a great half set with the late Jim Scott-Honeyman... simply stunning musician, but a guy's gotta eat, and Springsteen's gig pays well, so...

Springsteen's written some good material, but...