Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

Interesting. Must have missed that part of the Colbert interview.

Noticed recently that he tends to "borrow" song titles: "Party Lights," "Mansion on the Hill, "All Or Nothin' At All" to name three that come to mind, don't know how many more there are

half his catalog. quite possibly literally half his catalog. it's one of his basic songwriting tools.

I always think Tenth Avenue Freeze Out means not being able to crossover from NJ to NY, as 10th avenue is one of the western most streets in the city.

more likely, it's where the band used to rehearse in the early days: corner of 10th avenue and -- drum roll -- e street in belmar, new jersey.

I always like to sing it as "Tenth Avenue Freak Out" and imagine the song is about the E Street Band having a bad acid trip.

I figured it was about his favorite ice cream vendor.

Wonder what Jonathan Schwartz thought about "Dancing in the Dark"?

Bought my copy at lunchtime & read the first chapter...he's the best, basically <3

I read the R Ford review and whoever did the NYT daily review, that's as far as i go unless he discusses John Ford movies much in the book.

i lol'd that he didn't drive until "well into his 20s" tho

v weird family setup, parents & grandparents shared a house but his grandmother basically annexed him as her son as soon as he was born & spoiled him rotten & his parents begrudgingly rolled with it. his parents moved him out with them when he started school but it was almost too late he spent most of his childhood thinking of his grandmother as his mom

Bought my copy but am trying to finish something else before I start.

Presumably some of those pre-signed copies are going to turn up on eBay when the book tour is over, I'm planning to spring for one of those as long as the price isn't too outrageous.

Good evening! It's an honor to be here with President and Mrs. Obama, President Clinton and Chelsea, and if we all do our part tomorrow, President-elect Clinton.

The choice tomorrow couldn't be any clearer. Hillary's candidacy is based on intelligence, experience, preparation, and on an actual vision of an America where everyone counts: men and women, white and black, Hispanic and Native, where folks of all faiths and backgrounds can come together to address our problems in a reasonable and thoughtful way.

That vision of America is essential to sustain, no matter how difficult its realization.

Hillary sees an America where the issue of income distribution should be at the forefront of our national conversation, where the progress we've made in reducing our unemployment is not enough — we must do better. She has a vision of universal health care for all that will build on the work of President Obama. She sees an America that needs to be fairer, where our highest courts look to protect the rights of all of our citizens and not just the privileged. She sees an America where the issue of immigration reform is dealt with realistically and compassionately. And she calls for an America that participates in the welfare of our planet — both in world affairs and in global science — and where the unfinished business of protecting the rights of women is not an afterthought, but a priority.

That's the country where we wil indeed be stronger together.

Now, briefly, to address her opponent: this is a man whose vision is limited to little beyond himself, who has a profound lack of decency that would allow him to prioritize his own interests and ego before American democracy itself. Somebody who'd be willing to damage our long-cherished and admired system rather than look to himself for the reasons behind his own epic failure. That's unforgivable. Tomorrow that campaign is going down.

Let's all do our part so we can look back at 2016 and say we stood with Hillary Clinton on the right side of history. That's why I'm standing here with you tonight, for the dream of a better America.

His "Dancing in the Dark" tonight reminded me a lot of late-period Nick Lowe: direct and almost disengaged, highlighting the lyrics and the melody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRA7hyYbTf0

His protest song with Joe Grushecky is about as generic as they come, but I'm happy he did it anyway.

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

Reminds me a bit of ... a corny Zevon?

Worth it for comments like

UN AMERICAN PRICK BRUCE SPINGSTEen👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤

Never listened to Human Touch or Lucky Town, assumed from the singles they were pretty heavy on the production. But then this came up on a shuffle this morning, and I like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAkzIg27ob4

http://brucespringsteen.net/broadway/

Sounds amazing, I suspect the clamour for tickets will be unedifying though.

some of the comments on this are p great

This is like seeing a photo of Babe Ruth holding a basketball. pic.twitter.com/Npou58dy8y

— Jon Wurster (@jonwurster) August 9, 2017

haha indeed

Weird, I was wondering what the Broadway shows would be. I guess I am surprised it seems like an actual show, with a script of sorts. I've seen him perform solo a few times, they were great, tons and tons of different songs every night. This seems almost like a VH1 Storytellers sort of scenario.

Would watch, but only if Roy is in the pit

god I would be willing to commit major crimes to get a ticket to this

anyone want to go on a Brooce Crime Spree with me? :D

Variety:

Being verified, however, doesn’t guarantee you’ll manage to get a ticket. It’s still being determined how Springsteen ... hopefuls will score a place in the virtual line, whether by random lottery or by measurement on some sort of engagement metric.

"Engagement metric"? Does this mean they would scour your social media to see how excited you are? How much you have posted about the Boss? Kind of a weirdly invasive idea.

i think "engagement metric" means we are now officially living in the world of this "black mirror" episode.

Is this his bid for a "T" in EGOT?

"Engagement metric"? Does this mean they would scour your social media to see how excited you are? How much you have posted about the Boss? Kind of a weirdly invasive idea.

Ah, sounds like what they did with Depeche Mode earlier this year -- yeah you pretty much have to give into social media gamification. Pretty obnoxious.

Yeah this was the bunch behind it

https://www.americaninno.com/boston/techstars-demo-day-preview-strobe-is-palantir-for-events/

And yes, that comparison is not only in the article, but they said so themselves on at least one of their websites. Great.

so do i have to delete that tweet i wrote in 2009 about "outlaw pete"?

What if I'm just saying really nice things about my boss all the time?

What if I've been typing "Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuce" but they think I'm booing?

cool so i posted about him every day while i was reading his book that shd help my numbers

I registered to try to get a code for the sale tomorrow (because why not?) and got an email tonight that I am on "standby." It says it's due to demand. Or is it because I didn't post about Springsteen enough on Facebook or Twitter? Is it because I almost never buy tickets through Ticketmaster? Who the fuck knows or cares. They haven't even clarified if tickets, once purchased, are easily transferable. Oh well, I think my hoop jumping experiment has come to an end. Still love you, Bruce, and I understand.

(And the sour grapes: not sure I'd even want to see a 2-hour Bruce show that has a set setlist and that also includes readings and stuff, especially since I have seen him solo before in a more rollicking, free ranging format.)

Now, swap out 'Springsteen' for 'Swift'...

We've gone over this already. First, it's not a mad race with a progress bar to buy as much new stuff as possible to prove your fandom. It isn't even clear what exactly they are looking for on the "fan" front; there were no instructions to buy buy buy to win win win. But more to the point, this isn't buying swag in an effort to get better tickets to a generic outdoor stadium jaunt, this is for a limited number of nights in a 400 seat theatre with one of the biggest rock acts of all time in what may be his most popular market. This is a full-on novel setting and special occasion, not just some tour, so yeah, I'd expect more hoops.

i'm standing by too. and while i agree springsteen and swift are different in the way they're doing this, and that springsteen is probably facing a significantly higher per-seat demand, there is still uneasiness, especially on this front:

Or is it because I didn't post about Springsteen enough on Facebook or Twitter? Is it because I almost never buy tickets through Ticketmaster? Who the fuck knows or cares.

i hate the "black mirror" stalking aspect to all of this. the idea that you have to live your life in a specific, measurable way just to have the right to spend money on tickets for a show. and that some unseen figure, which is no doubt a bot, is watching you to make sure you do. maybe it's the same bot that last time around was swiping the tickets you desperately wanted and re-selling them for the same 850 bucks that has now become the ticket's face value.

Oh, I agree, it's still gross (just not as gross as Swift).

Shocking no one, all sorts of fuck up stories with this system, and hey, look, tickets already showing up on Stub Hub for a few thousand dollars.

After listening to Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town a lot this week, it's fair to say that I've changed my mind about Bruce.

Yeah I mean his image and earnestness was unpalatable to a 90s alt rock loving like myself but when I actually listened to his records, I realised what an incredible artist he is.

90s alt rock loving teen

I think I'm more of a fan of the Bruce that writes songs and makes records than Bruce the stadium rock'n'roll preacher guy.

"Darkness" is probably my favourite. Everything from '75 to '87 is great. A synth-pop fan like yourself would like "Tunnel of Love" I think

xpost

stadium Bruce is crucial tho (for me anyway) - creating what feels like an intimate, shared experience for THAT many ppl is a gift. it looks corny outside the show experience...hell it can be pretty corny during it sometimes...but godammit i love how hard he works to make me feel like i spent my money on something special/worthwhile

otm

he is incredible live, you'll be totally won over. He played a mammoth 4 hour show in Limerick a few years and i went out for a pint once

like, he's giving 3+ hour shows on the regular when a lot of acts have to push to do 2+ hours as a special treat ffs

dude is cognizant of his role as an entertainer & he has made it his life's work to try to live up to that for every audience at every show

it's pretty great

More impressively, the last couple E Street tours (well, maybe not The River Redux tour) they ended up playing some 170 songs or something. Yeah, tons of covers, and yeah, teleprompter, but who the fuck cares about that? Any band that could be so on the ball that they could play dozens of different songs at the drop of the hat is something awe inspiring.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/nils-lofgren-defends-bruce-springsteens-use-of-teleprompter/2012/04/03/gIQAOWS6sS_blog.html

From Nils:

Your teleprompter article left out some important points. Last E Street tour, (”Working On A Dream”) we played 192 different songs on that tour alone. Dozens of those songs were from audience-request signs Bruce would collect and dump in front of the drum riser. He would then rifle through them, sailing them around him until he found a song to attempt — much like the college kid rummaging through the pile of dirty laundry in search of one clean shirt.

Many of those audibles were Bruce songs unrehearsed or played in years or decades. With our collective musical memory, hand signals and teleprompter, it allows for those ambitious, ad lib moments and an inspired, musical recklessness I believe is unique to our shows. These points might have brought some additional perspective to your article. In our case, the teleprompter has a much more ambitious use and purpose than your article indicates.

nice

i really really hope bruce's teleprompter tells nils exactly when to do a backflip. i can see how a guitarist could forget to do that otherwise!