Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

For sure, it was a one-off experience for me. Setlists in Europe seem to resemble his E Street reunion setlists from the late '90s. I'm sort of on the fence about paying to see him again this August, the day after I get back from a vacation and the night before the kids resume school, but it's tempting. He had originally indicated "The River" jaunt would be pretty limited, and that he was going to take a break from the band for a bit, so I wonder why he changed his mind. He's obviously having fun, or maybe just mortal and recognizing that he can't do it forever after all so he might as well stick with his band (already down two members) while he can.

Ugh, it appears Waitin on a Sunny Day is back in the set.

I don't think he ever specifically said it would be a short tour, he was hedging his bets right from the beginning.

It seems like this is designed to be short — just 22 cities, nine weeks, and done. Is that how you're viewing it at this point?

At the moment, yeah. I mean, could it go a little bit longer? It depends. It depends on… if we're having fun, if it suits itself to maybe a few more shows, we might consider it. But right now these are the only certain things we're doing.

Obviously, you have a very dedicated European audience, and we're hearing from a lot of those fans who have their fingers crossed. Given that the '81 European leg was such an important part of the River era, I know there are high hopes.

Yeah, that was the leg that established us in Europe — the River tour there was a major, major event for us. But I don't know yet, we gotta see — like I say, we initially planned for just a few shows, so I don't know if we're going to be doing a whole lot more than what we have planned, I can't really say.

But he did say he had a solo thing that he wanted to do, which is why he initially wanted it to be short. But now it's essentially a 9 month world tour. Of course, he's the Boss and can always change his mind. And apparently did. And they do seem to be having fun. Steve in particular seems to be happier to be on stage than he has been in years.

Wembley last night was p.good - despite slightly wonky setlist (http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bruce-springsteen/2016/wembley-stadium-london-england-5bfec7f4.html) (including Waitin' on a sunny day, although the kid was good - and it was sunny). Bruce seemed to have a cold though as he had a pretty permanent trail of snot which was amply picked up on the massive HD screens....

I saw him in Glasgow last week and absolutely loved it. It was my first Springsteen show. My g/f is a big fan, so we went early afternoon to queue and got in the front pit. The whole experience was great fun.

http://www.clickhole.com/clickventure/youre-germ-can-you-make-bruce-springsteen-sick-eno-4180#1,

(I know that's a joke, but I think in all these decades that Springsteen has yet to cancel a date due to illness, which if true is insane.)

I wonder if he'll do shows for (presumably) Clinton this fall. If Trump fear keeps rising, I bet he will.

http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/files/2011/08/lg-kennedy-center-honorees.jpg

"One soft infested summer, me and Hilary became friends..."

"you ain't a liberal but hey you're alright"

"Bernie said he'd pull out, Bernie stayed in..."

In HIllary's room, there are pictures of her donors on the wall

Bruce Springsteen's Famed 1990 Solo 'Christic Shows' Get Official Release

yes!

Saw Coventry and Wembley from the pit. Both great shows, Wembley shading it, because the setlist was a bit more unexpected. Yes, he has had a shocking cold for a week, apparently.

As always the Euro shows shook up the setlist. So I'm buying a ticket for his return to Chicago at the end of the month, because he makes me happy and can't do this forever. Or can he?!

Buying a ticket...Trying to get one at this point for his DC stadium show would mean lotsa bucks from a scalper....

No chat about Bruce's forthcoming autobiography yet? He's a good writer so this should be well worth reading. Here's the foreword:

http://brucespringsteen.net/news/2016/born-to-run-foreword

I come from a boardwalk town where almost everything is tinged with a bit of fraud. So am I.

Great first(ish) line!

Yes.

Think he wanted to give Elvis Costello a run for his money.

"I used to be disgusted. Now I try to be Bruce."

i cant wait to read it

Hope he talks more about his failed marriage than Costello discussed Cait O'Riordan in his book (who got less than a paragraph, I think)

I just got back from his show at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. It could have been the greatest concert I have ever seen. 4 hours, a dream setlist, and he is at the peak of his power as a live performer. I saw him 30 years ago and he hasn't diminished even a shred. It's almost spooky.

I saw him long ago too, and while he is still great live, I think he does less running around the whole stage and leaping about with guitar in hand then he did back then.

well, he's 82

He is still ridiculousy handsome for an old bloke

He did a lot of running the other night. And lots more crowd interaction too.

Jesus Christ, this guy. 3 1/2 hours tonight, but one of the best performances I have seen him give out of 20+ shows. One of the best crowds, too.

Yes! These stadium shows this summer are spectacular.

We got an arena show (thank goodness, not a fan of stadiums).

Wow: http://www.blogitallnight.com/news-updates/newbrucespringsteeninterviewrevealsin-storebooksigningsandmuchmore

^Long, very revealing Vanity Fair interview.

The scramble for tickets for those in-store book signings is going to be unedifying.

I'll just download the bootleg.

Looking forward to reading this, and I am not even the biggest Springsteen fan- I just don't have the Sitzfleisch to make through a four hour rock concert.

Thumbs up AVclub:

Although Springsteen will appear in person at each stop on the nine-date book tour, the books will come pre-signed, meaning you probably won’t get the chance to stand in front of The Boss and ask him if he got sick of sitting around here trying to write this book with a big stupid grin as he scribbles your name and pretends he’s never heard that one before. Maybe that’s for the best, come to think of it.

Dates for the Bruce Springsteen Born To Run book tour are embedded below. How he’ll manage to extend a book tour date to nearly four hours remains to be seen, but if anyone can do it, Springsteen can.

lol nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpOSRY2olDk

Picked up my friend Steve to see the Mekons in the city. It was 7:15, and the Springsteen channel was maybe 2/3rds of the way through "New York Serenade," the first song he played at the epic August Meadowlands set they were broadcasting. We drove into the city and got to the gig a bit early, then the band went on a bit late. The Mekons were ragged but managed maybe two hours of music. We got back to the car around 10:20, and Bruce's Meadowland's set was nowhere near done. It was mid-'Dancing in the Dark," which means there were still five songs to go, all around 6-10 minutes long, and it was still far from wrapping up when I finally got home. I mean ... wow.

Meanwhile: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/21/books/bruce-springsteen-memoir-born-to-run.html

He raised his three children without rock-star mementos in the house. “My kids didn’t know ‘Badlands’ from matzo ball soup,” he writes. “When I was approached on the street for autographs, I’d explain to them that in my job I was Barney (the then-famous purple dinosaur) for adults.” His eldest son says, in shock, “Dad, that guy has you tattooed on his arm.”

Who is going to be awesome and convert this list to a public playlist on Spotify?

http://www.vulture.com/2016/06/every-bruce-springsteen-song-ranked.html

hmm all titles in that article have youtube links afaict so if you want a playlist with every bruce song haphazadly ranked it wld prob be a lot easier to youtube it

Does anyone know where I can find a streaming service that provides access to some Bruce Springsteen tracks?

Ah good point Niels...so the thing to do would be make a YouTube playlist of those tracks and then import to Spotify via:

https://soundiiz.com/login

That site has been very handy in the past btw.

Starting to wonder which Jimmy Cliff songs he covered. I had forgotten about "Trapped," which was popular for one hot minute because it was on a benefit album, (We Are The World?) and see some other tunes on YouTube from The Harder They Come, including "The Harder They Come" with Jimmy himself. But I also seem to recall him playing "Vietnam," although I am finding little evidence of it.

(We Are The World?)

Yep, that's the one (and I wish the question mark was actually part of the title), and "Trapped" got a ton of airplay at the time.

I don't know why I am thinking he covered "Vietnam." Did he? Or did it appear in some other context - the "Treasure Island" section in Stranded?- and I am just confounding.

There's bootlegs of a song he did called Vietnam that later mutated into Born In The USA. I don't know if his song has anything to do with the Jimmy Cliff song.