Bruce and the band were playing "Lonesome Day," thousands of arms were flying into the air every time Bruce said "yeah," and a dozen or so rows above the back of the stage I held my 5-year old son Aaron as he stood on the top of the chair in fron of us, taking it all in. A moment, a remembrance, and a thought: I'm with my son at a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert.
Springsteen performed what has become basically a static setlist, with only a few lines from "Dancing in the Street" (as a lead-in to "Mary's Place") and a band introduction joke at Danny Federici's expense (he is now the product of 3 complete strangers from Jersey City) separating it from the previous 3 shows of the tour. The song performances, though, were strong and fresh nearly throughout, and with a revved up -- if somewhat less than capacity -- crowd helping out, the results were generally superb.
Empty Sky/You're Missing is, for me, the show highlight and the emotional core. Around us we could hear people talking during the songs -- about the songs. We were seated directly above Soozie's instruments. This was a bonus because Aaron recently started violin lessons, and I could point out the viola and all of the violins, and he could watch her play. He liked what he saw, she played "soft and smooth," he said, but he was disappointed that he couldn't he her over Bruce's guitar.
As "The Promised Land" was ending, Aaron became very excited: "I see a banjo!" Unfortunately, the banjo playing gave way to the rest of "Worlds Apart," which lasted several minutes too long. There are a few other items in the setlist that I think could be tweaked: "Counting on a Miracle," in particular, seemed to be out of place and lifeless; seems to me "Streets of Philadelphia" and/or "Let's Be Friends" would work better there. I could also do without most of the Darkness songs -- for that matter, without most of the oldies. With an album at #1 and an audience that has obviously familiarized itself with the new material, many of the older songs are no longer necessary or even helpful to the set.
"Waiting on a Sunny Day" is a hit, it seems. Just 10 days back in New Jersey it was a train wreck with a bi-tonal sax solo and a crowd that refused to dance or sing; at The Palace the music was crisp and the crowd happily went along for the ride. Virtually all of the new material went over well; I saw people standing at attention for "Into the Fire," which closed the main set.
The first set of encores featured 3 of the "classic" Bruce tunes -- "Thunder Road," "Glory Days" and "Born to Run." Far from sounding old as they sometimes have on past tours, this night they were fresh, fun, and a welcome change of pace from the set, and they blew the roof off the joint. This led into "My City of Ruins," and from where we were able to watch Bruce's hands on the piano as he played; the song just continues to improve.
The show ended, and right above us the monitors went in to a black and white video of Bruce singing "Counting on a Miracle" solo acoustic, hair slicked back and singing in a yodelly falsetto. Let's just say the camera work was nice. Soon, familiar faces surrounded us; we took Aaron -- who managed to stay awake until the end -- to the food stand, where it wasn't too late for an ice cream bar.
Bruce and the band were playing "Lonesome Day," thousands of arms were flying into the air every time Bruce said "yeah," and a dozen or so rows above the back of the stage I held my 5-year old son Aaron as he stood on the top of the chair in fron of us, taking it all in. A moment, a remembrance, and a thought: I'm with my son at a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert.
Springsteen performed what has become basically a static setlist, with only a few lines from "Dancing in the Street" (as a lead-in to "Mary's Place") and a band introduction joke at Danny Federici's expense (he is now the product of 3 complete strangers from Jersey City) separating it from the previous 3 shows of the tour. The song performances, though, were strong and fresh nearly throughout, and with a revved up -- if somewhat less than capacity -- crowd helping out, the results were generally superb.
Empty Sky/You're Missing is, for me, the show highlight and the emotional core. Around us we could hear people talking during the songs -- about the songs. We were seated directly above Soozie's instruments. This was a bonus because Aaron recently started violin lessons, and I could point out the viola and all of the violins, and he could watch her play. He liked what he saw, she played "soft and smooth," he said, but he was disappointed that he couldn't he her over Bruce's guitar.
As "The Promised Land" was ending, Aaron became very excited: "I see a banjo!" Unfortunately, the banjo playing gave way to the rest of "Worlds Apart," which lasted several minutes too long. There are a few other items in the setlist that I think could be tweaked: "Counting on a Miracle," in particular, seemed to be out of place and lifeless; seems to me "Streets of Philadelphia" and/or "Let's Be Friends" would work better there. I could also do without most of the Darkness songs -- for that matter, without most of the oldies. With an album at #1 and an audience that has obviously familiarized itself with the new material, many of the older songs are no longer necessary or even helpful to the set.
"Waiting on a Sunny Day" is a hit, it seems. Just 10 days back in New Jersey it was a train wreck with a bi-tonal sax solo and a crowd that refused to dance or sing; at The Palace the music was crisp and the crowd happily went along for the ride. Virtually all of the new material went over well; I saw people standing at attention for "Into the Fire," which closed the main set.
The first set of encores featured 3 of the "classic" Bruce tunes -- "Thunder Road," "Glory Days" and "Born to Run." Far from sounding old as they sometimes have on past tours, this night they were fresh, fun, and a welcome change of pace from the set, and they blew the roof off the joint. This led into "My City of Ruins," and from where we were able to watch Bruce's hands on the piano as he played; the song just continues to improve.
The show ended, and right above us the monitors went in to a black and white video of Bruce singing "Counting on a Miracle" solo acoustic, hair slicked back and singing in a yodelly falsetto. Let's just say the camera work was nice. Soon, familiar faces surrounded us; we took Aaron -- who managed to stay awake until the end -- to the food stand, where it wasn't too late for an ice cream bar.
The Orel Family
Email: matt@orel.ws
URL: http://matt.orel.ws/