Europe! Are You Ready to Be Transformed?!

[AndyK]

Originally Posted by Julie in the rv mirror

Wow, was it Sunderland? I guess I got them mixed up. lol I just love the screaming guitar songs- give me "Youngstown" or "Ghost of Tom Joad" and I'm a happy girl!

Yeah I like those two as well. GoTJ especially is awesome

I love when Bruce and Stevie sing. Stevie likes the stuff from "The Promise" and Disc 2 of "Tracks", as do I, so I hope he can influence Bruce to play some of those songs. My dream is that they would do Stevie's song "Until the Good is Gone"- that would be amazing!

Well we did get Save My Love in Manchester , so there's hope!

The 3:48 in Madrid (it WAS Madrid, right? lol) wasn't just the longest this tour, it may be his longest show EVER, especially considering that back in the 80's they used to have an intermission, which he doesn't do anymore. I'm betting he's going to break the 4-hour mark before the tour's over, though.

I'm sure that if it wasn't for the curfew then we'd have had a longer show in Manchester. Would only have taken a couple more songs ...

And didn't Curt Ramm fall down during "Twist and Shout"? That might be a reason Bruce stopped there as well, to make sure Curt was OK? It looked like he took a pretty big spill.

Fall down is an understatement, he took a major tumble and really was lucky to not hurt himself or break his trumpet (which sounds ruder than I meant it lol). From what Bruce said and what Curt mimed once he'd picked himself up it wasn't the first time its happened this tour.

[evil nickname]

I *really* need to finish my write-up of the Florence show. Despite the deluge, it was epic.

[duke knooby]

Originally Posted by Julie in the rv mirror

I think you're hearing right. lol

Yep, those are all from the last album.

Me thinks you would have enjoyed the Sessions Band Tour: :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICqY2...eature=related

"Live in Dublin" is a great release.

i caught the end of that gig on tv one night, and really enjoyed it.. might have annoyed some people with a text about it lol

is live in dub a cd or dvd?

[duke knooby]

Originally Posted by Julie in the rv mirror

One more- I love, love, love this version of "Growin' Up" - even more than the original, which is my favorite song of Bruce's to begin with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xikQH...hannel&list=UL

a drop of harmonica, a little banjo, and some pedal steel

[Julie in the rv mirror]

Originally Posted by duke knooby

i caught the end of that gig on tv one night, and really enjoyed it.. might have annoyed some people with a text about it lol

is live in dub a cd or dvd?

Both, actually. You can get either separately, or both as a set, which I think is the best deal. There actually is a "studio" album called, "We Shall Overcome", but it only contains the folk covers. I put "studio" in quotes because it was actually recorded at Bruce's house, with all the musicians there at the same time, as opposed to the typical studio setup these days. It's kind of cool when you hear him call out to somebody for a solo.

On "Live in Dublin", on the other hand, you get both the folk tunes as well as re-workings of Bruce's own songs, some of which I think are just brilliant. I'll confess, I held off buying it for a long time (I didn't see that tour) because I was pretty sure I would hate it, and I was amazed at how much I loved it.

The band Bruce is out with right now is kind of a mixture of both the Sessions Band, and the E Street Band, and I think he's having a ball with it, because it opens up more setlist possibilities for him. The show he did in New Orleans at Jazz Fest, for example, they played several of the SSB tunes along with the E Street stuff.

Originally Posted by duke knooby

a drop of harmonica, a little banjo, and some pedal steel

The banjo player's name is Frank Bruno; I'm pretty sure he's Bruce's cousin. A couple of my other favorites are his reworkings of "Long Time Comin'" and "Highway Patrolman".

[Julie in the rv mirror]

Originally Posted by AndyK

Fall down is an understatement, he took a major tumble and really was lucky to not hurt himself or break his trumpet (which sounds ruder than I meant it lol). From what Bruce said and what Curt mimed once he'd picked himself up it wasn't the first time its happened this tour.

Bruce introduced him at the Isle of Wight as, "Curt Ramm and his flying trumpet". The poor guy- I'm glad he's OK.

Originally Posted by AndyK

I'm sure that if it wasn't for the curfew then we'd have had a longer show in Manchester. Would only have taken a couple more songs ...

A couple more songs, or one "Kitty's Back".

Yeah, that's what bugs me about my September shows at Wrigley Field- the curfew is usually pretty strict. Of course, Bruce has been known to break curfew before, and our Mayor is supposedly a fan, so maybe...

Originally Posted by evil nickname

I *really* need to finish my write-up of the Florence show. Despite the deluge, it was epic.

Yes, please do- I'd love to read it! I saw video from that show- it looked like he was having a ball out there in the rain with you guys!

[samurai7]

The coverage on TV for the IOW festival was appalling. They kept us waiting all night (until AFTER Bruce had finished) before showing any of his set, and then it was only four songs: Wrecking Ball, Death to My Hometowm, Shackled and Drawn, and then it cut away and came back to Twist and Shout. And all of this was on a subscription only channel, yet over on free-to-air BBC3, which was covering Radio 1's Big Hackney weekend, all the sets were shown in full, more or less, and with MUCH better sound quality (when viewing in stereo)

[evil nickname]

Originally Posted by Julie in the rv mirror

Yes, please do- I'd love to read it! I saw video from that show- it looked like he was having a ball out there in the rain with you guys!

It took me nearly three weeks, but at last my write-up of my road trip to Florence to see The Boss is finished.

[Julie in the rv mirror]

Originally Posted by evil nickname

It took me nearly three weeks, but at last my write-up of my road trip to Florence to see The Boss is finished.

Great blog post- thank you! It sounds like you had a great trip, and the show was fantastic! You got "Be True"- I'm jealous. And, I love the way Bruce plays "Twist and Shout".

Shake it up, baby!

[AndyK]

Originally Posted by samurai7

The coverage on TV for the IOW festival was appalling. They kept us waiting all night (until AFTER Bruce had finished) before showing any of his set, and then it was only four songs: Wrecking Ball, Death to My Hometowm, Shackled and Drawn, and then it cut away and came back to Twist and Shout. And all of this was on a subscription only channel, yet over on free-to-air BBC3, which was covering Radio 1's Big Hackney weekend, all the sets were shown in full, more or less, and with MUCH better sound quality (when viewing in stereo)

You can blame Bruce's management for that, Jon Landau is notorious for not allowing live broadcasts, even delayed. He can't earn any money for himself (or Bruce) off them!

[samurai7]

Originally Posted by AndyK

You can blame Bruce's management for that, Jon Landau is notorious for not allowing live broadcasts, even delayed. He can't earn any money for himself (or Bruce) off them!

in that case, does he also manage Tom Petty and Pearl Jam as well?
the whole thing was a farce, especially for a subscription channel.

[evil nickname]

Originally Posted by Julie in the rv mirror

Great blog post- thank you! It sounds like you had a great trip, and the show was fantastic! You got "Be True"- I'm jealous. And, I love the way Bruce plays "Twist and Shout".

Shake it up, baby!

Thank you! I did, and it was, despite the rain. Or, because of the rain. I don't know anymore.

Three years ago Bruce closed the show I saw in Dublin with Twist and Shout, and it was better that it had any right to be. But I just don't like the song, at all. Under dryer circumstances, I probably would have stayed until the very end, but at this time I was done.

[Wario]

the fact bruce fans get all this live stuff pisses me off.

[Sarge]

Originally Posted by Wario

I absolutely hate springsteen for having so many live soundboards available

Originally Posted by Wario

the fact bruce fans get all this live stuff pisses me off.

Is that Bruce's fault?

Thanks to Julie and evil nickname for their detailed reviews. I'm a bit late and I haven't had time to finish a longer report so far, so here's just a short summary.

I was at Bruce's Berlin show a month ago. What can I say? The greatest concert I've seen so far. More than three hours full of incredible energy, cool music, great atmosphere and lots of fun. Bruce was smiling most of the time and obviously enjoying the show and the interaction with the fans. I almost got jealous of the girl who got the chance to "play" his Telecaster during Dancing In The Dark, being the guitar nut that I am.

The concert was kicked off with a special song. You can watch a recording of it on his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsjkqHT0O-o

I was surprised by the variety to be found in the music as well as well in Bruce's vocals. At times he even sounded like a 1960s soul singer and he often appeared more like a skilled, passionate preacher than just an "ordinary" rock singer.

Bruce had promised to "rock our pants off", now look what happened towards the end of the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icVOmkAxoyo

When the concert was over, I had the feeling that I had to crawl out of the Olympic Stadium, every bone and muscle in my body was aching - but it was worth it. I wonder how Bruce and the E Street Band felt and how they manage to do such demanding shows.

I can't complain about the organization of the event, everything went smoothly. Although I arrived rather late, I didn't have any problems to snatch a good spot in the front of stage area. The fans were very considerate, in spite of their ecstasy (even whenever Bruce came over to shake hands and they all started moving towards him like a giant wave, chanting "Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce" ).

Fantastic songs, fantastic musicians, fantastic audience! That night was the ultimate definition of rock and roll. Thank you, Bruce!

By the way, I noticed that Bruce's speech on economic problems (which he delivered in German) was even mentioned by foreign media.

[Julie in the rv mirror]

Originally Posted by Wario

the fact bruce fans get all this live stuff pisses me off.

What are you referring to, Wario? Because we really don't get that many official releases, especially considering what is in the vault that fans would LOVE to have. There are lots of artists/bands who sell live recordings of their shows these days, and I don't see Bruce doing that any time soon.

As to the "unofficial" stuff, that essentially comes down to the fan community. There are still a few people who do it for profit, but there isn't much profit to be made anymore because of file sharing, so it's mostly fans who do it to share (which I appreciate). I guess it also helps that Bruce pretty much turns a blind eye to it as long as people aren't making money from it.

[Julie in the rv mirror]

Thanks for your report, Sarge! Berlin looks like it was a fantastic show, as well!

The pants-less guy was too funny! I have some fond memories of that sponge, too.

After watching that, I had to go back and watch "Spirit" from Frankfurt again- I wonder who was on the other end of the phone? (Love his giggle at 5:36 lol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QclA...feature=relmfu


@Wario- I wanted to add, if you're talking about the recently broadcast live stuff, it's basically because Bruce has been playing festivals, and it's the festivals that are broadcasting the footage, although I'm sure the artists have to approve it. As for IOW, I read that Pearl Jam only had 3 songs broadcast as well- not sure about Tom Petty.

I did watch Bruce at Rock in Rio, and it was a little frustrating because it sounded like we were going to get the whole set, and all we got was 30 minutes. I guess I can't complain, since it was free, but still. I felt bad for the Europeans who stayed up to watch it, because it was on really late for them.

@Andy- It wouldn't surprise me if we get one of these festival shows as a DVD again- rumor is there will be a DVD released form this tour. I have a feeling the Apollo show will be released, but if it is, I hope it's not the only one, as that was pretty much the first show, so the band wasn't totally up to speed yet.

[AndyK]

If they do release a DVD of a show from this tour, then much as I'd like it to be a show I was at, which means Hyde Park again, I do hope it's not a festival show but the second night of double header, the second night rule pretty much always generates a better concert from the energy and the set list.

[samurai7]

Originally Posted by AndyK

... the second night rule pretty much always generates a better concert from the energy and the set list.

...and the fact that the audio engineers are by that point already familiar with the room's acoustic properties (or lack of!) and so the sound can often be better the second night. Plus everyone is not worn out from travelling

[Julie in the rv mirror]

Originally Posted by AndyK

If they do release a DVD of a show from this tour, then much as I'd like it to be a show I was at, which means Hyde Park again, I do hope it's not a festival show but the second night of double header, the second night rule pretty much always generates a better concert from the energy and the set list.

The second night rule usually applies, but not always. The trouble is, you never know when that "lighting strike" show is going to happen- St. Louis '08 (which was a "night 1", with Kansas City being night 2) being a perfect example. And, while I know they film every show, I doubt they're all filmed with the quality needed for a possible release, as that would be cost prohibitive. I've heard reports of extra equipment being used at several of the European shows so far, so maybe they're going to film a number of them and decide which one to release later. Although, a number of shows were reported to be professionally filmed during the BITUSA tour, and so far nothing has been released other than a few clips.

I agree in that I don't think another festival show would be ideal, and in keeping with Landau's assertion that they want to do "something different" with each release, you could argue they did that already with the Hyde Park DVD. I've got it- perhaps a show filmed in an iconic baseball park that happens to NOT be located in the Northeasten U.S? He's doing two nights...

[Julie in the rv mirror]

I'd surely take tonight's Paris show as a DVD!

(Time was 3:37)

1. The Ties that Bind
2. No Surrender
3. Two Hearts
4. Downbound Train
5. Candy's Room
6. Something In The Night
7. We Take Care of Our Own
8. Wrecking Ball
9. Death To My Hometown
10. My City of Ruins
11. Spirit In The Night
12. Incident on 57th Street
13. Because The Night
14. She's the One
15. Working on the Highway
16 I'm Goin' Down
17. Easy Money
18. Waitin' On a Sunny Day
19. Apollo Medley
20. For You (Solo Piano)
21. Racing In The Street
22. The Rising
23. Out In The Street
24. Land of Hope & Dreams

25. We Are Alive
26. Thunder Road
27. Born To Run
28. Glory Days
29. Seven Nights to Rock
30. Dancing In The Dark
31. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out

[AndyK]

Yeah I'd take that as a DVD too please. ..In fact there's a good chance that something will appear sonwewhere one day I'm sure

[Julie in the rv mirror]

There's a beautiful version of "Independence Day" from the July 4th show up now on his official site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=SKzOHemAFPw

[chairboys]

31 songs! Gee whizz!

[Julie in the rv mirror]

Originally Posted by chairboys

31 songs! Gee whizz!

That's not at all unusual for Bruce. His Dec. 31, 1980 show at Nassau Coliseum in NY was 38 songs and close to 4 hours. It was the longest show until this year's Madrid show, which lasted 3:48, but was "only" 32 songs.

[Julie in the rv mirror]

"Incident" from Paris night 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUv63w24lKk