OT: Springsteen at Wrigley

[RobVarak]

Gents,

I have two tickets for Bruce at Wrigley Field tomorrow night. Available to first interested person for face. $100. Sec 221, Row 1.

Just picked them up today when they released some late seats to Cubs season ticket holders so it's tough to pry the old stooges who comprise my social circle out of their old-person chairs on short notice. Damn kids ruin everything.

PM me if you're interested.

[RobVarak]

FWIW, this show was absolutely bananas.

I had never seen Springsteen live and I'm much more an appreciator than a fan. I have a fairly varied range of reactions to his stuff, and often find that I like the things that others find to be diversions in his career. Obviously, the canonical material is wonderful too, but I wasn't sure if that would hold my interest over a long show. That said, I knew I'd waited way too long to see a legendary live act in the flesh and I was damn excited.

This show utterly blew away every expectation that I had. I've seen and heard enough of his shows to know the parameters of what he would do. I knew he would do his rock 'n roll preacher bit and that the E-Street band would churn out exemplary blasts of classic goodness. What I wasn't at all prepared for was the brilliant Jackie Wilson/James Brown R&B workouts. I mean I knew he was working that sort of thing, but I had no idea the extent to which it would just detonate a stadium. The energy level was off the charts, with that brilliant fan-performer ecstasy that only the absolute best can ever touch. As a music nerd I also wondered how many other acts are even drawing from the "Live at the Apollo" playbook anymore and I was so happy to see these guys doing it so brilliantly.

Don't have the time to do the review that this show deserves, but suffice to say that it was live rock 'n roll at a level befitting a legendary artist and band. The deluge that greeted the last half of the show made everything all the better, with Bruce basking in the love of fans only too happy to be soaked to the bone during his show and returning that love with an impossible level of frenzied energy that drove the entire evening into rarefied air. And he helpfully brought Tom Morello along so that I had nice intervals during which to use the bathroom, an increasingly important factor in the life of the middle-aged rock fan.

Among the top 5 live shows that I've ever seen. Easily. I still won't "Bruuuuuucee" along with the faithful, but I definitely feel like he wasn't too far off when he wondered if the rainstorm wasn't a baptism.

PS This guy showed up too. I'm the farthest thing from a PJ fan, and generally think Vedder's biggest contribution to culture is to re-define "overwrought" but he was really effective on the duets. A not totally unwatchable crowd vid.

[Spooky]

Rob, dude...your write up is so close to home it's freaky!!!

I had the EXACT same feeling about Bruce as you did prior to seeing him and the EXACT same reaction after seeing him at the United Center in 2009. My jaw was on the floor the entire show. I am a very casual fan and kept hearing my friends (who are bigger fans) say "you gotta see him live!". I was skeptical but was beyond blown away. The rawness and power of his band, the way he had the people in the very last row as engaged as the ones in the front row, the feeling of celebration from the crowd - singing every word with fists in the air, his energy, etc... All combined to hit me over the head like a sledgehammer and "get it"!

I was also fortunate to see him perform the entire 'Born To Run' album at that show. Very cool. The only albums I really enjoy (even after seeing the show) are Born to Run and Nebraska but I will definitely see Bruce any chance I get.

SO jealous of your experience!

[wco81]

Glad you guys enjoyed the show but what does it say about the state of the music industry that an artist who peaked in the mid 70s is still a huge draw now?

Just don't see how people get excited and lay out big money to see Keith Richards' craggy face. Better off watching Gimme Shelter.

Maybe the kids who grew up with rock are now middle aged and have money to spend on these overpriced concerts?

Grateful Dead seemed to be the first of the geriatric acts to have a second life. In that case, it was hippies who'd grown up, willing to follow around old musicians who were never all that in the first place.

If there were rock and roll musicians under 30 of note, maybe it would be a different story.

Rock is dead ...

[RobVarak]

I think it says that people still respond to artists that make music that succeeds both commercially and aesthetically no matter what the age of the artist is.

Rock is dead ...

Artistically? Hardly.



Commercially?

Maybe. Almost no doubt that culturally we live in a post-rock era. Hip hop, EDM etc. have more cultural traction and commercial viability, but the classics still sell and seemingly inspire. There are still more garage bands than Spotify and MOG combined can keep up with, and many of the most commercially successful rock bands of the last couple decades are firmly in the classic rock tradition.

Keith's face might be craggy, but the last time I saw them he was still the swaggering, shuffling riff-king that he's always been. I have a different perspective than some on this issue, because the artists closest to my heart have all been R&B and blues artists for whom slowing down or stopping was never an option, and who in many cases continued to make vital music until their last days. Given that these same type of artists were inspirations to the Stones, Clapton, Beck and the like, it's not surprising that they would keep on chooglin' even when their millions make retirement a reasonable option.

Then again, like most jazz fans, it's hard for me not to chuckle at the notion that rock is "dead." Rock makes jazz look like a vital young pup.

[Spooky]

Rock is dead ...

Not at all. However..."Stadium Rock" is dead and has been for years and years. Rock now shows it's face in clubs, theaters, halls, etc...

You need to get out more...

[pk500]

Rock is dead ...

Wrong.

Rock is as alive as ever due to the many genres that have gained exposure through file-sharing and streaming music services that NEVER got airplay on FM radio or MTV, the main promotional vehicles of music in the 80s and 90s.

As Spooky said, stadium rock driven and energized by FM rock radio and MTV is flat-lining. But rock still thrives in smaller clubs and arenas, and there still is very vibrant rock music being made around the world.

Rock's pipeline to the people was about the width of a garden hose 20 years ago. Now it's wider than a massive city storm drain. There's more quality rock than ever. But the attention on it isn't just concentrated on four or five "monsters of rock" stadium bands.

That balkanization of the genre creates a mirage that rock is struggling. Hogwash.

[Gangrel]

I'm seeing Bruce in October here in Ottawa for the second time. I have been a life long fan at my tender age of 36, after finding Born in the USa amongst my stepfathers' largeeeeeee vinyl collection. Must have stumbled on it when I was 9 or 10.

I hope the show is as good as the rest I have read about. 31/2- 4 hours isn't unheard of, and the man has an extensive catalog to draw upon. Unlike some acts, I love him because his show is big, but it still feels like a concert to me, and not an "event". He doens't have just 3 setlists he rotates through, he plays almost anything and everything. He's even gone back to picking signs out of the audience and playing requests, and I don't think he's been stumped yet!

I guess I'm a bit old school, but I like concerts like that, where the songs feel live and spur of the moment, not like I could have just stayed home and listened to the CD and gotten the same thing......

[pk500]

I guess I'm a bit old school, but I like concerts like that, where the songs feel live and spur of the moment, not like I could have just stayed home and listened to the CD and gotten the same thing......

Spot-on, man. That's not old school. That's performers giving value and magic for fans' money.

[wco81]

I don't know about stadium rock but it says something that some of the best draws are artists who produced their best works practically a lifetime ago.

Guess the fans who grew up with these artists make up a sizable portion of those still willing to see rock acts.

[Gurantsu]

Yeah, I think rock is alive and well, but took a break from the mainstream. Of course I tend to favor the lesser known guys. For my money you will rarely find better shows than Southside Johnny or John Eddie (yes both Jersey guys, Southside is a great friend of Springsteens); these are guys who pour their heart and soul into EVERY performance, no matter the size of the audience, and they top the list of the number of times I've seen an artist live. Another cool thing about the smaller venues is that you often get to talk with the artists; years ago Southside warned my fiance (now wife!) to stop hanging around with me, and John Eddie is a Navy vet like myself. And I'm sure there are rockers like this all over the country.

I'm actually getting excited to see Asia next month, right here in my town at a relatively small theater. My cousin saw them a few years ago and said they were fantastic, and I've always been a fan so I can't wait. The Doobie Brothers will be there soon too, but I could only go to one so Asia got the nod.

[Gurantsu]

I guess I'm a bit old school, but I like concerts like that, where the songs feel live and spur of the moment, not like I could have just stayed home and listened to the CD and gotten the same thing......

Spot-on, man. That's not old school. That's performers giving value and magic for fans' money.

This was always a point of contention with me and my buddies whenever we played covers. My theory was if you want to hear it like the album, go listen to the album. I've always appreciated it when bands do things differently than the records. Otherwise just do a Milli Vanilli and lip sync everything!

[pk500]

I guess I'm a bit old school, but I like concerts like that, where the songs feel live and spur of the moment, not like I could have just stayed home and listened to the CD and gotten the same thing......

Spot-on, man. That's not old school. That's performers giving value and magic for fans' money.

This was always a point of contention with me and my buddies whenever we played covers. My theory was if you want to hear it like the album, go listen to the album. I've always appreciated it when bands do things differently than the records. Otherwise just do a Milli Vanilli and lip sync everything!

Exactly our band's philosophy. We play a lot of covers, but we stretch, fold, spin, solo, mutilate and mash them into something different than the album original.

I saw a cover band at a party last Saturday night that was technically more proficient than us. But they played the covers almost note for note, paint-by-number, and the gig was dull by the end of the second of three sets.

[Brando70]

First, great write-up by Rob and it makes me wish I had seen Springsteen.

Having just gotten back from a great concert by Rush, not all "old" concerts are alike. Springsteen may not be the mega-seller he once was, but he still creates great music and pours his soul into performing. Likewise, Rush just made a fantastic new album and play with a greater ferocity than when I saw them in the late 80s and early 90s. It's true that there are a lot of nostalgia acts out there, but there are also a lot of classic bands who love playing live and do very well at it.

New rock music has become more niche, but I don't see that as a bad thing. There's still a lot of really great rock music out there, even if the audience for it has shrunk.

[Gurantsu]

Exactly our band's philosophy. We play a lot of covers, but we stretch, fold, spin, solo, mutilate and mash them into something different than the album original.

I saw a cover band at a party last Saturday night that was technically more proficient than us. But they played the covers almost note for note, paint-by-number, and the gig was dull by the end of the second of three sets.

It reminds me of a Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes show I saw a few years ago in Ocean City, New Jersey. It was at a new venue for him, and to be honest the crowd was much less active than is usual for their shows (and they haven't returned there since). However it was great for me, because he took it as a reason to play a lot of his own and also classic blues songs live, which he rarely gets to do since most of the crowds now want the "standards". It was an awesome chance to hear the whole band stretch their blues legs, and Southside is one hell of a harp player. I also remember seeing Elton John, and his over twenty minute version of Rocket Man blew me away; they did it as rock, blues, honkey tonk, and jazz, and it sounded great and everyone in the building loved it.

Making an album is like an artist creating a painting, and probably about as exciting, with the performers carefully creating and tweaking with each song to come up with a final product (I've always hated having to record anything). I see live shows as bands just being bands, and hopefully having fun with the crowd and their music, instead of just going through the motions.

So I figure I'll get the thread going to it's inevitable conclusion; what is your favorite live album? Even though he is not my favorite artist, for me it's Bob Segers "Live Bullet". That album has stood for decades as my high water mark on what a live album should be. The energy just pours out of my speakers.

[pk500]

So I figure I'll get the thread going to it's inevitable conclusion; what is your favorite live album? Even though he is not my favorite artist, for me it's Bob Segers "Live Bullet". That album has stood for decades as my high water mark on what a live album should be. The energy just pours out of my speakers.

Probably "Live at the Wetlands" by The Robert Randolph & The Family Band. It's not a live album; it's a musical revival meeting. Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" ranks up there, too.

[RobVarak]

There is plenty of room for debate about music. There is no debate, however, about what the greatest live recording in the history of rock music:



Jerry Lee Live at the Star Club is rock 'n roll distilled to its essence like a great whiskey. Power, sex, menace, fun, swagger,humor, insanity: everything right there in 200-proof firewater.

2:30 songs played back to back by The Killer at his peak. Not only is he giving clinics in boogie woogie piano, country vocals and showmanship, but he's yanking a pick-up band of barely pubescent British ex-pats in Germany around by the scruff of their neck and making them play the show of their lives.

Others off the top of my head that could be spoken of in the same thread as "Star Club" without it being a laughable blasphemy:

James Brown: Live at the Apollo
Ray Charles: Live
The Who: Live at Leeds
Allman Brothers: Fillmore East
Sinatra: Live from Paris (Nobody said greatest rock live albums did they? This is an amazing sextet recording that really gets the Chairman out of his big band comfort zone and lets his instrument shine)
Ellington Live at Newport
The Band: The Last Waltz
Sam Cooke: Live at the Harlem Square Club (maybe the most underrated live album in R&B)
Sarah Vaughan: Live at Mr. Kelly's (I think this is the greatest sounding live album ever. Magical)
The Ramones: It's Alive (mix with Star Club for a live album boilermaker)
Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison

[Brando70]

The Who's Live at Leeds tops the list for me. I prefer the mid-90s extended version without the full Tommy set because it never lets up the pace. A perfect chronicle of the greatest live rock band and their peak.

[Spooky]

The Who's Live at Leeds tops the list for me. I prefer the mid-90s extended version without the full Tommy set because it never lets up the pace. A perfect chronicle of the greatest live rock band and their peak.

This.

[Gurantsu]

Sam Cooke: Live at the Harlem Square Club (maybe the most underrated live album in R&B)

I do love that album. Within seconds Sam has the audience in the palm of his hand.

The Johnny Cash you mentioned reminded me of another great album recorded at a prison: B.B. King Live from Cook County Jail.