When not spending time on sportscards . . .
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I spend my time at Springsteen concerts and have been doing so well over 350 times since my first show in 1975... Here's a few images I shot last night in Philadelphia:
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Comments
<< <i>old farts rock! >>
True! The guy's 62 and still puts out non-stop for 3 hours every night without ever coming off the stage. And the setlist is dramatically different EVERY night. You never get the same show twice.
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stupid print dots
<< <i>Great concert? How did it sound without Clarence? Did they have someone else on sax? I wondered how they were going to handle that. Best concert in rock.... >>
Ha ha...meant to put a "!" not a "?" after concert....
<< <i>Great concert? How did it sound without Clarence? Did they have someone else on sax? I wondered how they were going to handle that. Best concert in rock.... >>
He's using two sax players (Eddie Mannion and Jake Clemons - Clarence's nephew). Jake took most of the sax leads, but didn't take front stage right like Clarence and still remains set back on the stage closer to the horn section when soloing. He nailed the leads and solos including blowing the doors off of Night early in the set and Thunder Road near the end. Jake's improved a lot since I saw him a few years ago with his own band (opening for Clarence, oddly enough). Nice to hear that they've finally got a good sound team and sound system after decades of muddled noise.
What kind of camera are you using?
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
<< <i>Wow that's a lot of shows. 1 a month for 35 years? Wow.
What kind of camera are you using? >>
That is am incredible amount of shows!! Wow. Looks like you were right up front for the concert. Great pics!
"Live everyday, don't throw it away"
<< <i>Wow that's a lot of shows. 1 a month for 35 years? Wow.
What kind of camera are you using? >>
A simple Nikon Coolpix. It is small enough to bring in and inexpensive enough that if it gets confiscated or broken, I'm not heartbroken. I don't bother bringing the gear to the shows anymore.
@Crazy: The same was said of Danny by many. The sound can be replaced. The persona can't. And to his credit, Bruce hasn't tried to. He still hasn't mentioned Clarence by name although there are two tributes during the show (during the band introductions and 10th Ave). And for the record, Clarence had become a liability the last tour or two. But he was also larger than life and the perfect foil for Bruce. While not a technically great sax player, he had character and hit the same solo night after night, and believe it or not, that is what the players in E Street are supposed to do.
BTW: Cubby=Cub Fan
BTW: Cubby=Cub Fan
<< <i>Wow that's a lot of shows. 1 a month for 35 years? Wow. >>
That 40% of all the shows he's ever done.
<< <i>
<< <i>Wow that's a lot of shows. 1 a month for 35 years? Wow. >>
That 40% of all the shows he's ever done. >>
Far from 40%...
I looked at a site that said that he palyed 888 concerts. I didn't really research that though, it just seemed to make sense.
<< <i>@Crazy: The same was said of Danny by many. The sound can be replaced. The persona can't. And to his credit, Bruce hasn't tried to. He still hasn't mentioned Clarence by name although there are two tributes during the show (during the band introductions and 10th Ave). And for the record, Clarence had become a liability the last tour or two. But he was also larger than life and the perfect foil for Bruce. While not a technically great sax player, he had character and hit the same solo night after night, and believe it or not, that is what the players in E Street are supposed to do. >>
The grainy grittiness of Clarence's sound was so distinct. A few months ago I started my car and I caught the last few seconds of Edge of Glory on a local radio station here. Just for a moment or two, I mistook it for a Springsteen song because all I heard was the sax. Then I realized what it was, waited for the sax solo to finish, and changed the station before the rest of the song even ended.
I actually don't like Bruce's demand that his musicians replicate the exact same sound night after night. I say let them improvise a little - not to go crazy and play something that's totally unrecognizable, but give them the freedom to play whatever they're feeling in the moment. Clarence said Jungleland was one of the hardest songs to play for that very reason. He had to stick to the written notes and hold himself back whenever his gut was telling him to change it up just a slight bit. Let artists be artists. I know there's a performance to put on, but doesn't have to be exactly the same every time.
As for Clarence being a liability, check out the June 2009 Hyde Park performance of Jungleland. Clarence was playing like it was 1978 and the rest of the band was hobbling around like they were all 90 years old.
Yes, the band is structured with regard to their freedom to improvise. But in doing so, it allows for Bruce to have control and know exactly what will be put forth. That's not to say that every night is the same. Far from it.
Take a quick run to YouTube and listen to Jake's solo's on Night, Trapped and most especially She's the One. Perhaps you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about.
Thanks for sharing the pics, your perspective, and the you tube links. I wish I could have been there being the fact I'm only forty minutes from the Wells Fargo Center. Hopefully, another time!
aconte
<< <i>Scott,
Thanks for sharing the pics, your perspective, and the you tube links. I wish I could have been there being the fact I'm only forty minutes from the Wells Fargo Center. Hopefully, another time!
aconte >>
Tony:
Just let me know and I'll get you tickets. He'll be at the LINC later this summer...
I've seen 100's of acts over the years and NONE of them could touch Springsteen live. He's has an ability to really bond with concert goers and make you feel like your part of the show. There's a reason why he has some of the most loyal and passionate fans out there.
Born to Run lyrics..
"In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway american dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on highway 9,
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin out over the line
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
Its a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while were young
`cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs round these velvet rims
And strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
Well run till we drop, baby well never go back
Will you walk with me out on the wire
`cause baby Im just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta find out how it feels
I want to know if love is wild, girl I want to know if love is real
Beyond the palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard
The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
I wanna die with you wendy on the streets tonight
In an everlasting kiss
The highways jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybodys out on the run tonight but there's no place left to hide
Together wendy well live with the sadness
Ill love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday girl I don't know when were gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go and well walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us baby we were born to run"
Singers just don't write songs this well anymore.
<< <i>
<< <i>Scott,
Thanks for sharing the pics, your perspective, and the you tube links. I wish I could have been there being the fact I'm only forty minutes from the Wells Fargo Center. Hopefully, another time!
aconte >>
Tony:
Just let me know and I'll get you tickets. He'll be at the LINC later this summer... >>
Thanks Scott! I keep an eye out for the show and hope I'm home.
Tony
Wow! I think I've been to like 2 or 3 in my life. I'm 28. Whatever floats your boat and makes you happy brotha!
What I'm selling
Building Sets, Collecting Texas Rangers, and Texas Tech Red Raiders
I have to admit though I am not a Springsteen fan and, personally, believe him to be overrated. Of course, many call me nuts for being a huge KISS fan. In the end, if you personally enjoy it, nothing else matters. Any fan who zealously supports their favorite act is awesome in my book.
Out of curiosity, is he really audience surfing in the one photo? That I admit is cool!
Rock on! m/
Matt
@Matt: Yes, he's audience or crowd surfing. He goes out beyond the GA section and rides the crowd back to the stage and has been doing so every night for the last two tours. Not bad for a guy that will be 63 in September.
And in addition to crowd surfing, he's been know to just wander off into the audience like he did last Tuesday in Philly during Raise Your Hand.
<< <i>The new album is interesting. Have listened a few times all the way thru, think I will like it more after it ages. Like a fine wine. Right now I'd say it's solid.......not my fave but not bad.......... >>
I love the contradiction of the lyrics and the music in several songs. What sounds like a nice waltz and opens like a love story is, in reality, an indictment of the corruption of the "fat cats." I've tried adjusting to the countrified Celtic images, but it has been hard. They've played well in concert, though... Last night in the Meadowlands was fantastic and I can't wait until Monday at the Garden in NYC...
Have you ever met Bruce offstage? I'd think you might have seen more of his shows than anyone other than his band members!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Scott,
Have you ever met Bruce offstage? I'd think you might have seen more of his shows than anyone other than his band members! >>
Have met him a few times and his private demeanor is very timid and unassuming . . . and still have yet to get the courage up to ask him to sign a baseball to add to my collection (he's adverse to signing them from what I've heard - although he signs just about everything else). There are plenty of people in "the circle" that have seen him far, far more than I have. I know of one woman that has seen him in excess of 1200 times and there are dozens that are over 500 shows. He's probably played well over 2500 shows in a career that technically started back in the late 1960's.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
That's one I still have to turn way up when it comes on the radio. Those lyrics are just cool.