I was wondering how many guitars you need on stage.

Pretty good though, especially for these times. Nice sound mix.

jb

I really didn't appreciate snl performance last night at all

My favorite part of the thing was laughing that Gary Tallent stayed home in Nashville with his bass.

I admit to not being a big Bruce fan and not being familiar with his material...at least not the newer songs but I sure could tell they were way off key on " Ghosts" but I really did enjoy " See You In My Dreams". I liked the energy, and the obvious joy they felt performing LIVE on SNL...but I don't think I could live though a 4 hour Bruce marathon show....does he STILL play for that long....meaning his last tour?

He no longer clocked 4 hour shows on his last tour (2016), but still did 3-hour shows routinely.

The record-breaking show (4 hours and 6 minutes) is from 2012. Right here in Helsinki, too!

4 hour shows were never a standard. Wasn't the longest show in Oslo? I mean that one where he first came on stage during the waiting and performed for the waiting crowd for about an hour and then the main show was also about 4 hours? Correct me if I am wrong.

Anyway - the show in Berlin that I saw in 2016 was 3h20min long (I just checked the recording). No break before the encores. 3h20min of music. All the shows I saw between 2009 and 2016 (only 5) were between 3h20 - 3h40. (And it never felt longer than a "standard" 2h show) So I would say that in 2016 he still played his standard length, not making it shorter. But yeh, he will be at least 5 years older (most likely more) on his next tour, so I also wonder how long will he play.

Edit: I just found this list of his longest shows:

[www.reddit.com]

The longest one was Helsinki 2012 indeed. But most of the shows from the top of the list are actually from 2016.

Edit 2: The pre-set was also in Helsinki, he played 4h30 in total that night:

[www.setlist.fm]



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-14 15:16 by Happy24.

Yes, the longest one was in Helsinki. It was almost 4 h 30 minutes if you count in the acoustic pre-show of five songs that he indeed played before the actual concert. Awesome! They have released an official recording of the show, it's available on Nugs.

And no, 4 hour concerts weren't a standard. On "Wrecking Ball" the length usually was about 3 - 3 and a half hours, if I recall correctly.

let's be clear. until 1993, Springsteen shows included a 30 minute intermission. hence the myth of the "4 hour shows".
the actual played music was around 3 hour, 3 hour and a half maximum (rarely).
the intermission was not used, for the fist time, during the Tom joad solo tour, 1995>1997.
When springsteen reunited the ESB in 1999, for their first tour since 1988, the intermission was gone.
1999 thru 2009, ESB shows (note: during that period Bruce did also 2 non-ESB tours) averagely ran between 2 and a half and 3 hours. I personally witnessed shows shorter than that (ex: Milan 2007 was 140 minutes).
note: Clarence Clemons was ESB's oldest member, born 1942, he died in 2011. during his last 2 ESB tours, 2007>2009, his health was ailing. thus, the shows in general were "shorter", with exceptions. it was rare to have shows longer than 3 hours.
during the 3 most recent ESB tours, between 2012 and 2017, with Clarence sadly gone, the shows average length grew. it was fairly common to have shows well over 3 hours, sometimes close to 4. talking about actual played music. no intermission.
I saw 2 shows in 2012, 2 in 2013, 2 in 2016. they all ran between 3 hours 20 minutes and 3 hours 40 minutes, minus one (2 hours 50 minutes).
note: in 2009 the ESB even stopped having encore breaks. the play the main set, take their bows (couple of minutes), and then (without leaving the stage) they play the "encore".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-14 15:09 by superglen.

Good stuff as i was jumping around getting into , really fun performance . E-Street sounded as tight as can be , and what a sound just like an orchestra as in so thick and the Boss - what can i add other than he is BOSS !!!!!!!!!!!!. I also commented that this will be the musical highlight performance of the SNL season !

The bar must not have been that high then

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Topi
Yes, the longest one was in Helsinki. It was almost 4 h 30 minutes if you count in the acoustic pre-show of five songs that he indeed played before the actual concert. Awesome! They have released an official recording of the show, it's available on Nugs.

And no, 4 hour concerts weren't a standard. On "Wrecking Ball" the length usually was about 3 - 3 and a half hours, if I recall correctly.

Were you there, Topi?

I hope Suzie and Gary get well soon if not well. It was a great performance and even Jake exceeded expectations.


It is fact that Bruce has played 4 HR plus concerts despite the naysayers in this thread

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Chris Fountain
I hope Suzie and Gary get well soon if not well. It was a great performance and even Jake exceeded expectations.


It is fact that Bruce has played 4 HR plus concerts despite the naysayers in this thread

Garry is well. Soozie, who knows?

Bruce played only a small handful of 4 hour plus shows. in 2012 and 2016.

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jbwelda
I was wondering how many guitars you need on stage.

the ESB has used as much as FIVE guitars on stage. overkill? yeah, totally.

Yes, Happy24, I was at the 2012 Helsinki show. I saw 8 shows in total on that tour. Counting the Broadway performance, I have seen Bruce 22 times between 2008 and 2017.

Garry tweeted he just didn't want to travel and quarantime. He's OK, he was just playing it safe.

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Topi
Yes, Happy24, I was at the 2012 Helsinki show. I saw 8 shows in total on that tour. Counting the Broadway performance, I have seen Bruce 22 times between 2008 and 2017.

Wow, that sounds great. I am a bit jealous :-) Each of those 5 shows I have seen was absolutely fantastic and I remember that leaving the stadium I always thought that that was the best show I had ever seen. I have never seen him in more intimate venue than a stadium, but I was always 2nd-4th row in the centre, so no reason to complain. But seeing the Broaday...well, that must have been fantastic. Good for you!

Watched SNL and thought BS&ESB did too much posing, they participated in no non musical scripts - and why not play Santa Claus is coming to town as they roll the credits or something festive.

Disappointing for me, kind of like the disappointment I felt after watching his Broadway show on Netflix.

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MizzAmandaJonez
Watched SNL and thought BS&ESB did too much posing, they participated in no non musical scripts - and why not play Santa Claus is coming to town as they roll the credits or something festive.
.

because SNL Xmas episode is next saturday (12/19)

Broadway was great but it was not a concert. It was a performance. As you'll know, he basically told his life story with the help of songs. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. I actually managed to score a second-row seat, right at the corner of the stage, with some help of total strangers on a Facebook group. I flew into New York on a Monday afternoon without a ticket - and before that day was over, I had an orchestra ticket for Springsteen on Broadway that same Wednesday!

My most memorable Bruce&ESB show might have been the one on his home turf in Newark, NJ on the River tour in 2016. In the pit lottery, I had a great number and ended up second row, right in the middle. Perfect spot (no stage monitors blocking my view!). After "Rosalita", Bruce gave me his guitar pick.

The next day I was flying to Toronto for another show there, and who's on the check-in counter before me? Max Weinberg! Turned out half the band and the road crew were on same Air Canada flight with me from Newark to Toronto Pearson! I sat right across the aisle from Bruce's guitar tech Kevin Buell on the plane. (The band members were in first class..
)

At the gate, I had to seize the opportunity to get Max, Nils, Garry and Charlie to sign my Newark ticket stub. =)

Here's my Bruce "display":






Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-14 18:06 by Topi.

Amazing stories, Topi! If I am not mistaken, the CD cover is signed by Bruce himself, right? How did you get that one?

Oh yes, that's Bruce himself on the CD cover. He signed it for me the day before the Helsinki show on the Magic tour back in 2008.

That was a whole different autograph collecting experience compared to the Stones. Any member of the Stones will only ever sign for a couple of fans at the time (IF they're lucky!!!), especially if it's busy in front of a hotel.

But Bruce was different - he took his time to shake hands, sign, take song requests, change a few words...he did that for about ten minutes, not kidding you. Basically signing for everybody who was right behind the sidewalk in this cordoned-off area waiting for him.

I also put in a song request of mine - asked him to play "Youngstown". And he did, for the first time on that tour with the full band. They actually did "Youngstown" and then "Murder Incorporated" back-to-back, just like on the Reunion tour in 1999 in MSG!

I was in the stands at that show, but I was in tears when that song started.

A press photographer happened to capture the moment where Bruce is signing for me:



Bruce even added the dedication later, as the next guy asked for his to be made out to "Tom" or whatever...then I went like "hey, can you please make mine out to Topi, that's T-O-P-I"...so he added my name. That was WAY cool and shows how down-to-earth he is with his fans.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-14 18:32 by Topi.

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loog droog


This is what I heard: It was stock Bruce schtick. The usual overblown "intensity" and dramatic faux-passion.

Musically, too many guitars, everyone's playing and nothing's distinctive with no space in the sound between instruments.*

Then the band hanging all over themselves at the end, as if they were totally spent after a four-hour show.

He was impersonating himself.

Yeah, that's my take, too. He's had some great moments but ultimately I just can't quite commit to him because he's pushing the same emotional buttons.

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superglen

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Chris Fountain
I hope Suzie and Gary get well soon if not well. It was a great performance and even Jake exceeded expectations.


It is fact that Bruce has played 4 HR plus concerts despite the naysayers in this thread

Garry is well. Soozie, who knows?

Bruce played only a small handful of 4 hour plus shows. in 2012 and 2016.

The fact is that he did play over 4 hours and his concerts are much longer than the Stones'

Well there is quantity and then there is quality. Two similar words to describe entirely different concepts. Both apply to length of show as well as instrumentation. I much prefer a one hour action packed show to four hours of drudgery interspersed with the one hour of killer. And much much prefer two guitars: one rhythm and one lead, on stage at any one time. Not to take away from Mr Springsteen who I admire greatly, off stage as much as on, but I think I would be leaving the hall before the end if confronted with four hours of non stop four or five guitar audio assault.

The Grateful Dead have the same problem since about the mid 70s, not too many guitars, just too much filler and poor playing (and singing/screeching) where they could have trimmed it down to half as much and concentrated on performing instead of endurance.

Reggae back up outfits (Roots Radics, Sly and Robbie, etc) often back a whole string of artists in a night, playing four or more hours with little break in the action, and don't let the quality slip. Don't see why some of these rock acts cannot do the same actually.


jb

The performance was okay but as stated to many guitars playing the familiar old rock cliche of chords and rhythm on the boring chord changes

To those that opin that it is too many guitars , they don't get it or are not appreciating the beauty and charm of the E-Street Sound . Look up on you tube the rock and roll hall of fame concert in 1988 when Bruce & The E - Street Band backed Chuck Berry . Then tell me that it is too many guitars . That single performance made my head snap around and i suddenly got the aura and charm of the massive E-Street sound -wow !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish i had a band like that backing me up on my guitar !

I admit I remembered wrong: he did indeed play a few four-hours shows on his last tour in 2016 as well. Thanks for that Reddit link, Happy24.

@Chris Fountain: I think people just wanted to point out that "four hours" is not a standard for Bruce, that's all. And yes, his shows have pretty much always been a lot longer than your average-length Stones show.

@jbwelda: I never thought of long shows as "drudgery" or of less quality. The key with Bruce is that the setlist always changes, even on the fly, as he does a lot of audibles and requests from the crowd. He has a written setlist, but only for reference - the actual setlist played is often not what he wrote before the show. So there's almost always that element of surprise.

And it's not always four or five guitars live on stage. Often times it's three: Bruce, Nils and Stevie.

Now, Soozie and Patti may fill in on acoustic, but Soozie also plays violin on manys songs. Hell, Patti isn't often even with the band when they tour outside the USA. (And I actually prefer it that way...;-))

Wonderful story, Topi, just incredible! Memories for life, right?

About the SNL "sound" - for me the sound of the band is absolutely fine. Bruce uses a wall of sound on Ghosts, which I think is more tha OK.

There is no one right formula, not everyhing has to sound like blues or pure country to be a "quallity" music. Yeah, I get it, there is not much space left in the sound, but it is OK to let each note ring and it is also okay to use wall of sound if it is appropriate.

The complains actually reminds me of the "too many notes" scene from the Amadeus movie:

[www.youtube.com]

On the other hand, I get it that not everyone has to like it, that is absolutely fine, but that doesn't make it bad

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Happy24
About the SNL "sound" - for me the sound of the band is absolutely fine. Bruce uses a wall of sound on Ghosts, which I think is more tha OK.

There is no one right formula, not everyhing has to sound like blues or pure country to be a "quallity" music. Yeah, I get it, there is not much space left in the sound, but it is OK to let each note ring and it is also okay to use wall of sound if it is appropriate.

The complains actually reminds me of the "too many notes" scene from the Amadeus movie:

[www.youtube.com]

On the other hand, I get it that not everyone has to like it, that is absolutely fine, but that doesn't make it bad

That you tube clip was awesome "too many notes "