Swan Posted September 11, 2003 Report Share Posted September 11, 2003 And his name is Bruce Springsteen. I love the Boss, this was my third time seeing him this year and it gets better of all of the time. I've really got to say that Badlands has got to be one of my all time favorite songs to hear live. For those of you you missed it - try it, you might like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted September 11, 2003 Report Share Posted September 11, 2003 Heres to you Sean. I wish more people could get past the Born in the USA, muscle car, "greaser" image of years past and just listen to the music. I love the Boss more than anything, and wish I could see him every month. That is a true rock and roll show, no holds barred. Badlands is quite the rocker live, I got it in Prov. earlier this year. Although that particular show was very Rising heavy. You have to love the man, just for the fact that he plays his middle aged (or better) ass off every night, as though it was his last chance. S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shitidiot Posted September 11, 2003 Report Share Posted September 11, 2003 blinded by the light Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B & Z Posted September 11, 2003 Report Share Posted September 11, 2003 Sorry, can't agree. The Boss? Future of rock n' roll? Great song writer but ... Where is the innovation (like the Beatles, Jimi, Crimson...). Where is the bite (like Nirvana, the Sex Pistols, the Doors ...)? Where is the emotion (like Claption, Neil Young, Joni ...)? Where is the complexity (like Yes, like Ravi ...)? Where is the virtuosity (like Jeff Beck, Santana, Page and many already mentioned ...) Where is the jam factor? I guess what I'm trying to say is that nobody has everything. There are tons of great artists out there, tons that I didn't mention. The Boss is just your favourite! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcO Posted September 11, 2003 Report Share Posted September 11, 2003 quote: Originally posted by B & Z: Sorry, can't agree. The Boss? Future of rock n' roll? Great song writer but ... Where is the innovation (like the Beatles, Jimi, Crimson...). Where is the bite (like Nirvana, the Sex Pistols, the Doors ...)? Where is the emotion (like Claption, Neil Young, Joni ...)? Where is the complexity (like Yes, like Ravi ...)? Where is the virtuosity (like Jeff Beck, Santana, Page and many already mentioned ...) Where is the jam factor? I guess what I'm trying to say is that nobody has everything. There are tons of great artists out there, tons that I didn't mention. The Boss is just your favourite! Steve Fair enough. But now, please allow me to deconstruct your post. First, let's remove the extraneous arguments looking for complexity, virtuosity and jam factor. These mean absolutely nothing in the face of a good song, of which Springsteen has in abundance. Too often, they are used as crutches to prop up poor songwriting or deficiencies in emotive expression. See [any-jamband-you-don't-like] for an example of this. Thankfully, not everyone plays drums like Neil Peart. Give me Levon Helm or Charlie Watts anyday..... As for emotion or bite, well even a cursory investigation of Springsteen's output will reveal these qualities in spades. If there is a spookier album from a major artist than "Nebraska", I'd love to hear it. Even his most famous song, "Born In The USA" is a song with teeth: the story of a Vietnam-vet struggling to come to terms with his tour of duty and his struggle to accept the horror of it all. Emotion and bite, and more importantly, integrity, is at the core of most of The Boss's work. Innovation is a trickier thing to grasp. Let's just say that Springsteen is a major contributor to the American singer-songwriter tradition extending from Leadbelly to Woody Guthrie to Dylan and on into the late 20th century. Not exactly the same as "inventing" trip-hop or something like that but be assured his influence is there in modern music. Oh and the "I have seen the future of rock and roll..." quote comes from the first major article on The Boss from the mid-1970's for - I think - Rolling Stone. I believe Jon Landau wrote that article, and then became the Boss's manager in the next few years. Don't underestimate The Boss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 Don't judge Springsteen until you've seen him. He puts on one of the best shows going, and without a prop or a light show. You look and you wonder, "why is this show kicking my ass so hard?" and the answer is "I don't know" hence he must be a god. See a show. Become a believer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basher Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 Thursday, September 11, 2003 American rock icon blows the roof off the SkyDome By MARY DICKIE Toronto Sun BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN SkyDome, Toronto Wednesday, September 10, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TORONTO -- Seeing Bruce Springsteen play is kind of like witnessing a living, breathing, jumping Mount Rushmore -- he's the American musical establishment with a heart and a conscience, a middle-aged man still playing with his high school friends, seemingly without losing any of his youthful energy or passion. Springsteen brought his 10-piece E Street Band -- which includes his wife Patti Scialfa, guitarists Nils Lofgren and Little Steven Van Zandt and pianist Roy Bittan -- to the open SkyDome on a beautiful moonlit night and masterfully orchestrated its transformation from a sports stadium into a rock-and-roll gospel revival meeting. They started quietly, playing a lovely, respectful cover of the late Warren Zevon's My Ride's Here and pensive recent songs like Empty Sky and The Rising, from Springsteen's much-lauded, post-9/11 album, and the older The Ties That Bind, accompanied by accordion and violin. Gradually, though, things began to heat up. During Darlington County, on which the audience joined in on the "sha-la-las," Springsteen went from standing more or less still in front of the mic to hanging upside-down on the mic stand, and running across the front of the stage to slide on his 54-year-old knees. And things grew steadily more intense as they went through Because The Night, She's The One and Badlands. Springsteen introduced the gospel tent idea during Mary's Place -- a nostalgic remembrance of the days of rock-and-roll dance parties -- by asking, "Are you ready for a pants-dropping, love-making, death-defying, sexifying, mud-wrestling, rock-and-roll exorcism?" and proceeding to rock the house. But the Boss and co. weren't even close to their peak. Things continued with a note-perfect version of the too rarely performed Jungleland, No Surrender, bits of the old gospel tunes This Train and People Get Ready and a crowd-wide howl at the full moon. Not surprisingly, the ageless Born To Run was the closing highlight, before a couple of encores that included the anguished My City Of Ruins and Land Of Hope And Dreams and a cheerful romp through Moon Mullican's Seven Nights to Rock. Then as a parting gift, they played the divine Rosalita from the early album The Wild, The Innocent And The E Street Shuffle, and a lively Dancing In The Dark to send the folks home exhausted and happy, with their faith restored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B & Z Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 Like I said, Bruce is your favourite and I'm glad he does it for you. There are tons of cool artists in the world doing different, interesting things. I forgot about the classical and jazz worlds and the ultimate "good vibes" of Bob Marley because I am a rocker at heart. Things like "complexity, virtuosity and jam factor" are also interesting but just another aspect to be enjoyed and not written off in the name of a "good song". The opposite is also true. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.