springsteen fans

[russycarps]

I know there are some mega springsteen fans on here. What is your take on his set? Was it as good as usual? were there more of his greatest hits than normal? was the crowd disappointing for you in comparison to one of his own gigs? did that spoil it for you? Do you think he had a positive glasto experience?

I am curious!

[chrisdebag]

I know there are some mega springsteen fans on here. What is your take on his set? Was it as good as usual? were there more of his greatest hits than normal? was the crowd disappointing for you in comparison to one of his own gigs? did that spoil it for you? Do you think he had a positive glasto experience?

I am curious!

[Messi30]

dont agree with that at all - probably more due to fact he isn't as 'big' here as in other territories

[solarfall]

Needed more Youngstown

[russycarps]

bruce was as brilliant as ever and he loved interacting with the crowd even though the stage was a lot further away than usual

he did tailor some of his set for the new people watching him but not that much

i would have loved backstreets or jungleland but i cant complain with a fantastic performance of the river in which he was smoking in more ways than one

and then the next day he plays another three hours in hyde park

in a normal concert the fans know every word so the sing alongs werent the same but english or british crowds are always more reserved than the nutters in sweden norway spain and italy

[chrisdebag]

dont agree with that at all - probably more due to fact he isn't as 'big' here as in other territories

[Vectrex]

Am not really a Springsteen fan as such. But I did goto his set to hear some of his biggest hits such as Born In The USA, Dancing In The Dark, Streets Of Philadelphia, etc. He was 15 minutes late arriving. And then he was playing song after song of tracks I've never even heard before! By 11:50, an hour and 35 minutes into his set I decided to call it a night as it didn't look like he was going to play any of his greatest hits!

He's a talented man, but I was dissapointed he didn't play any of his greatest hits(not in hour and 35 minutes I was watching it for anyway).

[chrisdebag]

Am not really a Springsteen fan as such. But I did goto his set to hear some of his biggest hits such as Born In The USA, Dancing In The Dark, Streets Of Philadelphia, etc. He was 15 minutes late arriving. And then he was playing song after song of tracks I've never even heard before! By 11:50, an hour and 35 minutes into his set I decided to call it a night as it didn't look like he was going to play any of his greatest hits!

He's a talented man, but I was dissapointed he didn't play any of his greatest hits(not in hour and 35 minutes I was watching it for anyway).

Edited June 29, 2009 by chrisdebag

[pehaw]

Am not really a Springsteen fan as such. But I did goto his set to hear some of his biggest hits such as Born In The USA, Dancing In The Dark, Streets Of Philadelphia, etc. He was 15 minutes late arriving. And then he was playing song after song of tracks I've never even heard before! By 11:50, an hour and 35 minutes into his set I decided to call it a night as it didn't look like he was going to play any of his greatest hits!

He's a talented man, but I was dissapointed he didn't play any of his greatest hits(not in hour and 35 minutes I was watching it for anyway).

[austrian_zeppelin]

Am not really a Springsteen fan as such. But I did goto his set to hear some of his biggest hits such as Born In The USA, Dancing In The Dark, Streets Of Philadelphia, etc. He was 15 minutes late arriving. And then he was playing song after song of tracks I've never even heard before! By 11:50, an hour and 35 minutes into his set I decided to call it a night as it didn't look like he was going to play any of his greatest hits!

He's a talented man, but I was dissapointed he didn't play any of his greatest hits(not in hour and 35 minutes I was watching it for anyway).

[Martin Ashford]

I've seen him a few times before so knew what to expect - what I wasn't expecting was to find Suggs standing right behind me with some mates for most of the set! He kept asking me what was wrong with the sound as Bruce's vocal wasn't clear enough. anyway, I thought Bruce played an absolute blinder with a set drawn across his career. I know he was blowing away the sceptics because I had been talking him up to young lads around me and an hour into the set they were high fiving me saying "you were absolutely right"

[kohoutec]

I'm not a fan but thought I would give him a go and I was pleasantly surprised I must say, especially when he opened with Coma Girl, as I love that song.

[TheBoyInTheBubble]

don't mean to offend but is it really the artists fault if you can't recognize the "biggest hits" as you call them? don't know exactly when you left but i reckon you made it until about the river. until then he played

Badlands

Out In The Street

Johnny 99

The Ghost Of Tom Joad

Because The Night

No Surrender (W/ The Gaslight Anthem)

Waitin' On A Sunny Day

The Promised Land

The River

songs you will find on every best of but i guess some people are never pleased. proper artists who have an actual back catalogue worth listening to, spanning 40 years, like Springsteen or Shakey have a repertoire that's far too big to please everybody everytime. I have seen him several times over the last 10 years and this was the first time i heard Johnny 99 live....

it was an awesome setlist, an awesome performance and a shame he could not play longer as it always takes him at least an hour to get into the full of swings, before murdering the audience in hours 3, 4, 5....

[Swindlebiscuit]

The simple fact is that, regardless of how talented and marvellous people may think Bruce Springsteen is, he has not built up in his career a natural knowledge of how to play a festival crowd. You do have to stick in a really big hugely obvious track early to try to grab people who might only know a tiny handful of your songs. By playing to his own audiences for years, he's never had to do that - and what they consider to be big tracks may be VASTLY different to what festival audiences expect. Or if he doesn't want to do one of his own songs at that point, a well-known cover version (Coma Girl is not well known enough) can do that and create a party atmosphere.

[daveinafield]

coma girl was genius, i was gobsmacked, i thought we would get london calling maybe. this was probably the best moment of my glasto going life (16 years) .... even though i was the only one by me who knew the words....two of my big music icons merged in one blissful moment

[When Jokers Attack]

greatest live music set i have ever seen tied with mr young on the friday.

was going absolutely nuts the whole time! met alot of people during the gig aswell, apoligies for my drunkness at times!

[Swindlebiscuit]

coma girl was genius, i was gobsmacked, i thought we would get london calling maybe. this was probably the best moment of my glasto going life (16 years) .... even though i was the only one by me who knew the words....two of my big music icons merged in one blissful moment

[ml1dch]

The simple fact is that, regardless of how talented and marvellous people may think Bruce Springsteen is, he has not built up in his career a natural knowledge of how to play a festival crowd. You do have to stick in a really big hugely obvious track early to try to grab people who might only know a tiny handful of your songs.

[Kyelo]

I find it very odd that I've not seen any posts complaining that Neil Young didn't play a big, well-known song early in his set to try and grab people.

Any reason why he isn't being hit with a similar stick?

[dirk4danger]

Isn't it supremely arrogant, and disrespectful to the crowd, to play a self-indulgent set of his minor back catalogue?

Brucie strikes me as very much stuck up his own arse.

[daveinafield]

glasto is about music not about greatest hits!

[daveinafield]

actually its about a hell of a lot more

[robith]

I absolutely loved it, but I was hammered.

I loved how he changed the words to Coma Girl to be about Glastonbury, and then from the second Badlands kicked in I was dancing like a loon. I very much lost my voice during the last 30 minutes.

I think sceptics were unlikely to be swayed anyway. He's a divisive artist. Some people get it and go mad, some people don't and can't stand it. It's all good. What I'm impressed here is that all the people saying "I didn't like it" gave it a fair chance, came with an open mind and then made their judgement. Even though I don't agree I will always respect people's views when they've gained them like that.

IMO, all three headliners absolutely BROUGHT IT. 3 amazing experiences

[alframsey]

I loved it!!! He was fantastic, the band were fantastic! I cannot put into words how much I enjoyed it! I think Bruce clearly enjoyed it, he knew before the gig that he wasn't gonna get the sort of crowd he does at his own gigs simply because there will be some curios people there who aren't fans, so I don't think the crowd will have disappointed him. I think the crowd was quite good, they were singing quite loud in parts, this is clear when you watch it on T.V.

I feel Bruce had a brilliant time, the set had a special feeling about it. Not sure what it is, but it just seemed to.

[HolmbridgeLad]

Looking at the set list I would say that it wasn't an untypical Bruce setlist and obviously he wasn't given the opportunity to stretch it by another 3 or 4 songs.

Coma Girl was a nod to Glastonbury but really he was on a hiding to nothing. It was 1975 and 'Finally London's Ready For Bruce Springsteen' all over again - hardly helped by Q's comment about him being the greatest live act on the planet - it was setting him up for a fall which in the eyes of some/many, depending on who's typing, he did.

I was at Hyde Park on the Sunday and he got his usual rapturous reception and I think this was the clue to what was the Glastonbury problem. I understand Eavis went after Bruce big style after seeing him in Cardiff last year and that was undoubtedly a very good Bruce show. But that was in front of 60K people who paid to see Bruce and Bruce alone, with no hype and knowing, in the main what was likely to be heading their way. It's that audience interaction with Bruce on his concert staples that lifts the crowd and the band. If you stand in a field, arms folded and just say 'Entertain me!' it's never going to happen especially if you're told that it's the greatest live act on the planet in front of you.

If I have a major criticism of Bruce here it was the decision to break the tour by a fortnight and to come in to Glastonbury cold. It was strongly rumoured that he was going to play Sheffield the Thursday before Glastonbury and nothing came of it. It was the very strong rumours about that non-show and the fact that he was at Hyde Park on the Sunday that persuaded me to give Glastonbury a miss because the only thing keeping me from seeing every Bruce show is a wife, son and bank account! Had he done Sheffield I think you guys would have seen more of an edge to his performance.