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Those that Have Seen Springsteen...

Guest GlastoRulz

By Guest GlastoRulz
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grumpyhack Grand Master

grumpyhack

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I saw him at Earls Court a few years ago when the E-Street Band reuinited.

They did an hour and a half rising to a point where you thought it could get no better.

Then the E-Street band walked off leaving Bruce alone.

He then did an hour long solo acoustic set, again rising to a point where you thought 'This is it - you can't top this.'

But they did. The E-Street Band came back for another hour and a half and it just got better and better.

I went away totally exhaused having had a musical experience like no other.

I also saw him in Cardiff - again magnificent. The thing that struck me then was that even with a huge stage none of the band was wearing earpieces to pick up the sound. They knew each other so well and knew the music so well that they were just able to play off each other perfectly.

Thanks to my age (I've been going Glasto since the beginning) there aren't many of the great bands I haven't seen but Bruce beats the lot for performance, passion and stagecraft.

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deschwah Contributor

deschwah

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saw him in '85 at St James' Park during my goth days and even then he rocked the place.. walking toward the ground [late] the first chords of BitUSA were so loud around the side sreets it was spine tingling stuff

however, not top 5 for me but if he doesnt clash with anyone i have either not seen before or really really want to see, then i'll be as close to the front as possible

if you have even half an inkling or curiosity about seeing him then you must go.. regret the things you didnt do n'ting

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Wooderson Proficient

Wooderson

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saw him in '85 at St James' Park during my goth days and even then he rocked the place.. walking toward the ground [late] the first chords of BitUSA were so loud around the side sreets it was spine tingling stuff

however, not top 5 for me but if he doesnt clash with anyone i have either not seen before or really really want to see, then i'll be as close to the front as possible

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Jens Wildman Newbie

Jens Wildman

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San Jose (tour opening 1st of April) review from a semi-casual fan

Off backstreets, it`s a good read for this topic.

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A friend of mine went to the San Jose show and posted his review on Facebook. I asked him if it was OK to repost here because I think he says some things that will resonate with many folks here. (He also said to keep it anonymous; if anyone really wants, I can pass on comments to him.) Enjoy

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I have had the good fortune of seeing some of the great bands of my generation and just before. When I was younger, I was pretty much always up for a concert with friends whether or not I was a fan of the band in question. I've seen bands from all kinds of genres of music over the years. Sometimes seeing a band live has turned me into a fan of their music, even when it's not normally something I would listen to. Some of these bands I've seen early in their careers, others at the height of their creative powers and a few others on reunion tours. I won't try to make any kind of exhaustive list, but to give you a sample of the variety at work here: The Cure, Slayer, Luscious Jackson, The Pixies, Depeche Mode, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Metallica, Bauhaus, The Allman Brothers Band, and now...Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Bruce was and is one of my dad's favorites, so I have been hearing his music, literally, as far back as I can remember. When my dad bought an early, expensive CD player for himself in 1984, one of the few CDs he bought with it was Born in the USA. The next year he got the 3 CD live box set of recordings made between 1975 and 1985. I have five or six Springsteen albums...which is a rather meager sampling all things considered. I can't honestly claim to even know all of the songs by heart on those albums, but I like all of the albums and listen to them from time to time.

We got nearly three full hours out of them last night. Pretty typical from what I've heard over the years, which is damn amazing. For many of the bands I've seen 90 minutes including the encore is the outer end of what you can expect. They did about half of the new album. They did some of the hits that you would expect (Born to Run, Thunder Road, Dancing in the Dark), and many of the obvious anthems from some of their albums. All in all, though, I probably only knew half of the songs well enough to sing along. That didn't matter at all. The level of performance that this band puts on is probably what every band should aspire to. Obviously, not the same style, but the intensity, the connection with audience, the showmanship was all head and shoulders above what most bands do. They are an incredibly tight band. They manage to both sound exactly like what you'd expect from the records and yet nothing like the actual recordings. Their long jams were not self-indulgent, heads down "let me show you how awesome I am at playing guitar" jam band crap. It was almost like they were sampling and remixing themselves, but doing it all in a completely analog way.

If I have one complaint, it's that we saw such an amazing band with such an old audience. I expected the median age to be above 50 and I was not disappointed. I did not expect that this would mean we would be expected to sit politely in our seats and enjoy the opera. But it was not until the encore section where they started doing some of those old hits that you saw people standing up, dancing, and enjoying the music. When the house lights first went down, the guy sitting next to Lysella leaned forward two rows to tap a woman in her mid 20s on the back and tell her to sit down. I then heard him say "I'm not putting up with that standing the whole way through the show crap" to the person he was with.

I think it would have elevated the show up into that "best I've ever seen" level to be able to see the band play to an audience that was mostly well under 40. I mean, I'm fat, asthmatic, and have arthritis in both knees and twenty year old metal screws in one of them. If I can stand and enjoy the music for three hours, anyone who isn't in a wheel chair should be able to. In spite of that, I highly recommend seeing them if you ever get a chance.

Edited by Jens Wildman
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