I disagree with the "tapes don't lie" argument. Not just about Bruce but about any band. Half the point of a live show is the feeling you get from being there. I heard Mick Taylor playing Can't You Hear Me Knockin' and Midnight Rambler with the Stones a few years ago. They could have been horrible performances (they weren't) and it wouldn't have mattered. Because in that moment I was seeing one of my favorite guitarists in his old band. I'm sorry, but you don't get that on a tape. A "great show" doesn't necessarily equate to "perfect playing".

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RollingFreak
I disagree with the "tapes don't lie" argument.

Yeap. I have been many concerts and have many bootlegs of those shows. The quality varies of course, but many of those are what is described as excellent quallity. None of those recordings gets even close to the real thing. A lot of them actually seem to capture quite a horrible performance, which I know is not true. I pretty much never listen to them, since I know the reality was dramatically different. The best example is probably The Rolling Stones at Waldbuhne in 2014 - one of my absolutely best concert experiences, maybe even my very best. All bootlegs I have heard / seen are absolutely dreadful and the band seems totaly out of it. I know they were absolutely on fire and the night was pure magic.

A good illustration of that is when people listen to a tape of a show and immediately get hung up on how one of the musicians screwed up *cough* *Keith* and the people in attendance at the show didn't even notice because the overall experience was so good.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-08-28 10:19 by Aquamarine.

Yeah the atmosphere in the stadium was great, the weather was cool, so "the overall experience was good.
How about the music itself? It's all about the music right?

You have the same problem with "bad weather" concerts. The commonly shared cliché is "the band works its ass of when it rains and they always manage to deliver a spectacular performance".

I attended such a show in 1995. It rained cats and dogs on the audience and the band. I honestly thought the band rose to the occasion and really did good. Weeks later I listened to a tape of the show and I noticed the gig started OK but the quality of the perf declined right when it started to pour on us and it never recovered.
I then realized the band was like us in the audience : soaked to death, taken aback by the (very) adverse conditions and more or less eager to go home.

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dcba
Yeah the atmosphere in the stadium was great, the weather was cool, so "the overall experience was good.
How about the music itself? It's all about the music right?

Yes, of course. And experiencing music live is a very different experience from experiencing it on tape. That's why people will drive miles to listen to a band play rather than just sit home and listen to their record, even if the record is note-for-note perfect because they did 37 takes.

I'm going to the show tomorrow night, and I have to admit, the prospect of a FOUR-HOUR show is rather daunting.

I live outside Hartford, so it'll be about 7 hours of driving round-trip, plus at least 2 hours of queuing up and waiting around, and then potentially a four-hour show.

It's going to be utterly exhausting. I love Bruce, but if he goes for four hours again, he will really be testing the limits of that love.

What would "Mr. Big" on the sax think of this?

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shattered
What would "Mr. Big" on the sax think of this?

Who? You mean The Big Man? Not sure why you would ask this. Clarence loved being on stage.

Rod

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bitusa2012

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shattered
What would "Mr. Big" on the sax think of this?

Who? You mean The Big Man? Not sure why you would ask this. Clarence loved being on stage.

Yes, the Big Man. I asked since I didn't forget about him.

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slewan
I couldn't stand Springsteen for more than two hours.
Quote from the article in ultimateclassicrock: "including appearances from guitarist Tom Morello, guest vocals from a three-year-old fan, a marriage proposal, and the presence of Springsteen’s mother Adele in the audience"
that's embarrassing, isn't it?

Yes, Morello IS an embarrassment

Tonight was an epic soundcheck. Let's see if it lives up to the hype.

Looking like he did indeed deliver on the hype. Pretty awesome setlist, and very different than the other two.

1. New York City Serenade (with string ensemble)
2. Blinded by the Light
3. Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
4. It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City
5. Spirit in the Night
6. Summertime Blues (sign request)
7. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
8. Kitty's Back (sign request, tour debut)
9. Incident on 57th Street (sign request, full band)
10. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
11. Pretty Flamingo (Manfred Mann cover) (tour debut)
12. Atlantic City (sign request)
13. I'm Goin' Down
14. Darlington County
15. Working on the Highway
16. Downbound Train (sign request)
17. I'm on Fire
18. Hungry Heart
19. Out in the Street
20. Living Proof (tour debut, dedicated to his son Evan)
21. Candy's Room
22. She's the One
23. Because the Night
24. The Rising
25. Badlands

Encore:
26. Secret Garden (tour debut)
27. Jungleland
28. Born to Run
29. Dancing in the Dark
30. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
31. Twist and Shout
32. Glory Days
33. Shout

Encore 2:
34. Jersey Girl (Tom Waits cover)

Really cool setlist. Does a good job covering everything, with the first 10 songs being all early, then moving towards some Born In The USA. A healthy dose of great sign requests and tour premieres. Cool little shake up in the encore. And officially his new longest North American concert at 4 hours and 1 minute. His second longest of his career. Of all the "last nights" he's had in Jersey stadiums for the last few years (at least since 09), this is probably the only one thats really lived up to the hype. I personally would have loved to have gotten Sandy and Living Proof.

man he really delivers and he doesn't ignore an era of his output.

Candy's Room! #heartemoticon

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RollingFreak


Really cool setlist. Does a good job covering everything

yeah Brooce's next tour will indeed cover everything as he'll play his entire discography in chronological order from "Blinded By The Light" (1973) to "Dream baby Dream" (2014).

Shows will start at 8... (a.m.) ><

i saw bruce in milano almost 2 months ago and he played 3,5 hours.
even for me is too much, but i am afraid that i am getting too "spoiled".
i complain when some gig is too short (it happens many times, i still remeber a 70 minutes john mellencamp concert few years ago), i complain when somebody plays too many famous songs, i complain when some artists don't change the setlist....
so the last thing i wanna do is to blame Bruce for playing 4 hours .

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RollingFreak
Looking like he did indeed deliver on the hype. Pretty awesome setlist, and very different than the other two.

1. New York City Serenade (with string ensemble)
2. Blinded by the Light
3. Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
4. It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City
5. Spirit in the Night
6. Summertime Blues (sign request)
7. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
8. Kitty's Back (sign request, tour debut)
9. Incident on 57th Street (sign request, full band)
10. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
11. Pretty Flamingo (Manfred Mann cover) (tour debut)
12. Atlantic City (sign request)
13. I'm Goin' Down
14. Darlington County
15. Working on the Highway
16. Downbound Train (sign request)
17. I'm on Fire
18. Hungry Heart
19. Out in the Street
20. Living Proof (tour debut, dedicated to his son Evan)
21. Candy's Room
22. She's the One
23. Because the Night
24. The Rising
25. Badlands

Encore:
26. Secret Garden (tour debut)
27. Jungleland
28. Born to Run
29. Dancing in the Dark
30. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
31. Twist and Shout
32. Glory Days
33. Shout

Encore 2:
34. Jersey Girl (Tom Waits cover)

Really cool setlist. Does a good job covering everything, with the first 10 songs being all early, then moving towards some Born In The USA. A healthy dose of great sign requests and tour premieres. Cool little shake up in the encore. And officially his new longest North American concert at 4 hours and 1 minute. His second longest of his career. Of all the "last nights" he's had in Jersey stadiums for the last few years (at least since 09), this is probably the only one thats really lived up to the hype. I personally would have loved to have gotten Sandy and Living Proof.

It was amazing but EXHAUSTING. My back was absolutely @#$%& killing me, but I loved it.

I was right by the riser where he stands during Hungry Heart and 10th Avenue Freeze Out...I'll try to post some pics.

Epic night, and he did indeed break his record if my timing is correct.

Unfortunately, I'm rather unfamiliar with Springsteen's pre-Born To Run albums, so leave it to Mr. Unpredictable to lead off his show with over an hour of material from those albums!

Now, I've listened to them and I certainly know Spirit in the Night and Rosalita, but for most of the other songs, I was left feeling rather left out of the crowd swoon.

Once he played Atlantic City, it started picking up into more familiar territory for me. Bruce seemed to get genuinely emotional while singing Secret Garden...I could see his eyes watering and he looked over at his wife a few times. It was quite an amazing thing to see.

Seeing Jungleland is ALWAYS worth the price of admission alone, although, and no offense to Jake, he can't even come close to approaching the majesty of Clarence's solo.

Bruce is sick. I love it.

I can only hope he feels as inspired as this when he plays the two Philadelphia shows next week. We usually are treated here but I can't imagine being smiled upon like this.

[www.youtube.com]





This is so great! This is the Bruce I love. What a cool narrative

If he's ever doing 5 or 6 hour show I'll be there in the front row

Some other great videos:

[www.youtube.com]

[www.youtube.com]

What a crazy bastard...how can you not love his energy?

Stevie Van Zandt tweeted tonight, about the four-hour show: "back in the day we regularly played close to 5 hours. Hell our soundchecks were 4 hours!"

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Aquamarine
Stevie Van Zandt tweeted tonight, about the four-hour show: "back in the day we regularly played close to 5 hours. Hell our soundchecks were 4 hours!"

Steve apparently has bought into their own mythology.

Rod

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bitusa2012

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Aquamarine
Stevie Van Zandt tweeted tonight, about the four-hour show: "back in the day we regularly played close to 5 hours. Hell our soundchecks were 4 hours!"

Steve apparently has bought into their own mythology.

So did they play 5 hours back in the day or not? That's what I used to read, and now they're saying that the four-hour show I attended is his longest US show ever.

Did they play 5 hours with an intermission? Is that the distinction?

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keefriff99

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bitusa2012

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Aquamarine
Stevie Van Zandt tweeted tonight, about the four-hour show: "back in the day we regularly played close to 5 hours. Hell our soundchecks were 4 hours!"

Steve apparently has bought into their own mythology.

So did they play 5 hours back in the day or not? That's what I used to read, and now they're saying that the four-hour show I attended is his longest US show ever.

Did they play 5 hours with an intermission? Is that the distinction?

According to reliable sources his longest show to date is Helsinki 2012 which ran 4 hours and 6 minutes (plus half hour accoustic preset).

[brucebase.wikispaces.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-09-03 20:36 by franzk.

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franzk

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keefriff99

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bitusa2012

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Aquamarine
Stevie Van Zandt tweeted tonight, about the four-hour show: "back in the day we regularly played close to 5 hours. Hell our soundchecks were 4 hours!"

Steve apparently has bought into their own mythology.

So did they play 5 hours back in the day or not? That's what I used to read, and now they're saying that the four-hour show I attended is his longest US show ever.

Did they play 5 hours with an intermission? Is that the distinction?

According to reliable sources his longest show to date is Helsinki 2012 which ran 4 hours and 6 minutes (plus half hour accoustic preset).

[brucebase.wikispaces.com]

Right. And I was at his second-longest show ever (and longest U.S. show ever) Tuesday night.

I'm just curious if they're counting that because it's a continuous block of performing, as opposed to two sets with an intermission that added up to over 5 hours in the '70s.

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keefriff99

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franzk

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keefriff99

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bitusa2012

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Aquamarine
Stevie Van Zandt tweeted tonight, about the four-hour show: "back in the day we regularly played close to 5 hours. Hell our soundchecks were 4 hours!"

Steve apparently has bought into their own mythology.

So did they play 5 hours back in the day or not? That's what I used to read, and now they're saying that the four-hour show I attended is his longest US show ever.

Did they play 5 hours with an intermission? Is that the distinction?

According to reliable sources his longest show to date is Helsinki 2012 which ran 4 hours and 6 minutes (plus half hour accoustic preset).

[brucebase.wikispaces.com]

Right. And I was at his second-longest show ever (and longest U.S. show ever) Tuesday night.

I'm just curious if they're counting that because it's a continuous block of performing, as opposed to two sets with an intermission that added up to over 5 hours in the '70s.

I think that must be it, because they did play way more than four hours with the intermission.

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bitusa2012

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Aquamarine
Stevie Van Zandt tweeted tonight, about the four-hour show: "back in the day we regularly played close to 5 hours. Hell our soundchecks were 4 hours!"

Steve apparently has bought into their own mythology.

Steve has also said Bruce has the same waistline he had when he was 21.
Uh... I don't think so.

Yeah, Steve is wrong and purporting a myth but, whatever. Now that there's modern proof of Bruce playing 4 hour shows (long the "holy grail" of timed concerts), he is saying it used to be 5. Not true. It used to be 3 hours of music, I think at most, with 45 to an hour of intermission. In all honesty, even with an intermission I don't think they ever got close to 5. Maybe 4 and a half, but thats still over 2 two and a half hour sets, and I know they played for awhile, but I don't think that was ever the case.

Bottom line, Bruce plays for a long time. 3 hours is a short show for him, and 5 hour ones never happened. 4 hours of actual music never happened except one or two times until very recently.

E Street Band has a great work ethic. They are project oriented and give 100%. I have had several jobs in life , where folks just show up to collect a paycheck.

This team is not flashy and genuinely connect with their fans including myself.

You have to love their discipline to the very element of not wearing flashy clothes on stages. They are here to entertain and deliver music that is undeniably outstanding.

I could listen to the guitar solo on Lucky Town all day long.

Happy for the fans in Virginia ( and NC where Greensboro was canceled as Va Beach is on the border) that he rescheduled for tomorrow night.


Last time he played there he opened up the show with "May I" coined by Maurice Williams and Zodiacs and a later up-tempo version by Bill Deal and the Rhondells.