Me 'n Springsteen

I have tried and tried to like Bruce Springsteen's music.  Everyone seems to love it but me.  Went to see him in concert last night. I've been told that he puts on a great show and that you can't not get into it.  Well, to a certain extent that is true, I suppose.  I can't say I didn't enjoy the performance, but I am still not a fan. 

Somehow I still feel that whatever it is he is communicating and others by the millions are getting, is just lost on me.   

The enthusiasm of the crowd was almost too much.  We were sitting in the nosebleed section, and I had a view of the entire arena, including the people with floor tickets below.  The crowd was undulating as one, and everyone was pumping their fists, like some great point was being made and they definitely agreed with it. He seemed like a holy roller preacher, and the crowd was writhing in religious fervor. He'd come close to them, and they were grabbing at his legs, foaming at the mouth trying to get to him.  And I kept wondering what it was they saw.

I didn't really "get it" and felt like an observer, rather than a participant.

Some people are color blind.  I guess I am Springsteen blind.  

Comments

[Lorelei Leigh]

I realize I may be of the wrong generation to truly make the following statement meaningful to you in any way, but I've never much liked Bruce Springsteen, either. Of course, unlike you, I haven't even tried.

[draftervoi]

Ah, this tour wasn't as good as prior years; for the set list here at Oakland, 11 of 24 songs were off the last two albums...which meant that a lot of classics had to be left off.

You're correct in your analysis that Bruce uses the concert experience in a quasi-religious manner. That's no accident, it's a hallmark of his performances. Plus, you need to realize that...well, let's just say Bruce is in his late 50s, and puts on a hell of a show for a guy his age...but what you're seeing is less than what he was at the peak of his powers.

I'm a fan, but I'm also aware of the ridiculous undertones: Bruce is always singing about working in a factory or laying down blacktop, and his boss doesn't understand him anymore than his girlfriend's parents, and the girlfriend is always named something like Wendy or Frankie or Cindy and they're going to run off to the boardwalk at Asbury Park and bust out of the urban jungleland or the urban backstreets or 42nd Street. Et cetera. Oh, and there's a bunch of cars in the song, and the guys steal 'em or race 'em, or drive all night in 'em. And they're AMERICAN cars. No one ever drives a Toyota in a Springsteen song.

We saw Elvis Costello last week, at a one-off benefit where he played the entire "My Aim Is True" album. Spectacular show.

[Gail]

Draftervoi: I saw Mick Jagger strut all over the stage in 2005. He was 62 years old. I've also been to some great concerts by CSNY, Simon and Garfunkle, and the Moody Blues. None were spring chickens, but I enjoyed them all. They didn't seem diminished. Maybe Bruce needs to find out what those guys do to stay in shape!

I am not very familiar with Elvis Costello's music. When I have a chance, I will listen to some samples on iTunes to see what he sounds like. I remember that he appeared briefly in one fo the Austin Powers movies.

Going to see Neil Young on Thursday. Looking forward to it. And tonight - Star Trek, The Menagerie on the big screen! I am going to try to remember to take my camera. If anyone is in costume and I can capture it, they will be starring front and center in this blog tomorrow.

[oceanguy]

Maybe you're just trying too late. I saw Springsteen for the first time in 1974 and saw at least a half dozen other shows by 1980... Thereafter his light dimmed. I still like his old stuff but can barely stand to listen to anything he's recorded since he jumped the shark with the Born in the USA album.

The Boss was huge when he knew he was nothing... He lost it when he became something and tried to keep playing the poor working man role... overly political overly polemical

[Gail]

I do remember when Springsteen first began to be popular in the mid 70s. He never appealed to me back then either - his subject matter seemed too depressing. I was a fan of the Greatful Dead, who had a different sensibility: Music through rolling clouds of marijuana. Guess I preferred more escapist entertainment. (sheepish grin) And today, I find Springsteen inauthentic. Back then, I was not ready or willing to listen to any deep messages in my music and now it's too late to enjoy him - you are right. I must have missed the Springsteen train.

[draftervoi]

Jeez...Neil Young! You're lucky, I haven't had a chance to see him since '93. As for Costello, he's had a long and varied career, so be aware that some samples may not be representative (his classical album with the Brodskey Quartet, for example).

I'm pretty much along with O.G's assessment, although for me it was first seeing him in 1975 and not buying anything after 1982's "Nebraska," except for bootlegs of live performances. And you may be right about the inauthenticity, as I pointed out, there's something phony about the tales of working class angst being purveyed by a guy who's been a ROCK STAR with a recording contract since he's 23.

Terri's not a fan of the albums, either, but she really liked the two concerts we saw (1999 and 2007) because she likes the E Street Band. As a stage band, they're tops.

[Gail]

From yesterday's Washington Post - a review of the concert. They loved it, and it's easy to see why - knowing the WaPo:

The guiding principle of a Springsteen show is to deliver salvation and hope through song. Forging bonds is critical, as well -- no audience is more important to Springsteen than the one he's currently trying to win over -- and so he set out to do just that with the audience here immediately. "Is there anybody alive out there?" he wondered. " Is there anybody alive out there?" And away he and the E Street Band went with "Radio Nowhere," a chugging new single about searching for connections in a disconnected world.

Performing the first of two sold-out nights at the arena, Springsteen and his nine-piece band delivered a marvelous 24-song set that included some of his greatest hits ("Born to Run," "Dancing in the Dark," "Badlands") but was particularly heavy on songs from "Magic," a new album whose central figures are isolated, alienated and disillusioned. They've been betrayed and deceived, and so there's a riptide of angst tugging at those who occupy this wartime Americana.

Springsteen articulated that in both music and words: The song "Magic," he said, is about how "the truth gets twisted into lies, and lies get twisted into the truth." In introducing "Livin' in the Future," he talked about rendition and wiretapping and a Constitution under "attack." "The E Street Band is here tonight to do something about it!" he said. "We're going to sing about it. We're musicians. It's a start."

His moaning harmonica set the tone for "Gypsy Biker," a haunting tale about a soldier who comes home in a casket. "Last to Die" was a soaring, impassioned antiwar rant. "Devil's Arcade" -- dedicated to Veterans Day -- was a moving, meditative lament from a soldier's lover who lost her man to the military.

Their ideas were big, and the sound was bigger. Sometimes too big: With the audio mix muddy throughout the arena, instrumental parts stuck together and some vocals were swallowed whole. It was a shame, given just how tight the band's playing was, from Nils Lofgren's pealing guitar leads to Max Weinberg's tempo-pushing drumming, so furious yet so steady.

Still, the message rang clear: All is not well in the promised land of America. But all is not lost, either. "At the end of every hard-earned day, people find some reason to believe," Springsteen sang as the band turned "Reason to Believe," one of his stark "Nebraska" songs, into a bluesy stomp.

In this review, the Post plays up the anti-Americanism/anti-war bits to a much greater extent than they came across to me. I went there fully expecting some leftist ranting and was completely unsurprised by it. I was determined not to let it interfere with my enjoyment of the music - keeping in mind the Draftervoi doctrine of separating the politics from the art. In retrospect, I am thinking this was what people in the audience were pumping their fists and getting all crazed about. I was so determined to ignore the politics, it passed right over my head and I didn't have a clue. lol.

The lyrics did get swallowed up by the sound system, as mentioned in the article. That probably contributed to my cluelessness too.

[DRaftervoi]

Yeah, but in almost two hours of music, it's pretty minimal, and it's silly to take them out of the context of the concert and pretend that Springsteen gave some sort of political rally. It's certainly not a diatribe...I give Springsteen credit for presenting a show where his politics live, for the most part, in his creations, and you're free to like 'em...or not to like 'em.

My feeling is that people pump their fists to the beat of the mighty Max Weinberg's drumming.

Also: if you're not a fan...what made you buy tickets? Is your husband a fan?

[Gail]

Yes - some people like Springsteen for his music alone. My husband is one of them - he is a fan and that is why I went. He was interested to see if I would get to like him any better after witnessing him live in concert. He doesn't give a darn about the politics - he does not agree with Spingsteen but doesn't care what he's singing about. I think the saxaphone player is terrific and did enjoy that. But I didn't find anything fabulous enough to make me anywhere near as excited as the rest of the audience. It's a strange sensation to be among so many people feeling the same thing so deeply and yet feeling oneself so removed. I am not trying to disparage anyone who likes Springsteen - I am just trying to analyze what they see vs what I don't that causes the disconnect.

[draftervoi]

In the past, Springsteen was far more ambiguous about his politics - he'd usually involve a local charity with his concert, urging people to give to a food bank, or a veteran's organization, or a homeless shelter. All good work, and all commendable. For the 2004 election, though, he explicitly endorsed John Kerry and did a "Vote For Change" tour. My only criticism of that would be that it ties Mr. Springsteen very closely to a specific political agenda. His prior ambiguity was almost inarguable...after all, who doesn't want to help the poor, or veterans, or the homeless? But endorsing the RICHEST MAN EVER TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT? That's specific, and easier to disagree with...

[soccerdad]

I once read a comment, "I like Springsteen as much as the next guy, unless the next guy David Marsh." Marsh, a rock critic, is the high priest of Bruce worship.

I much prefer Springsteen's older music. If I ever get a Springsteen album it will be "Born to Run" not a greatest hits album.

I like him, but I do think that he's overrated.

BTW, I heard a relatively recent recording of the Moody Blues (maybe from the 90's) on a classic rock station and it was awful. It sounded like they lost their voices.

But then I heard Bruce doing an acoustic version of Born to Run, that was quite awful too.

[Lorelei Leigh]

I am now jealous of draftervoi. I love Elvis Costello...well, the early years, anyway, which is the stuff I'm familiar with. I was just listening to My Aim is True in my car last week. I would have loved to have seen that show.

[Gail]

SoccerDad: I saw the Moody Blues twice in the last two years at Wolf Trap in Virginia. They gave great performances each time. I'd definitely see them again if the opportunity presented itself.

[DRaftervoi]

Personally, I like the acoustic version of "Born To Run," but I'm a guy that bought Throbbing Gristle 45's, so my taste is questionable at times.

As for the Costello show, it was in actuality everything that you would imagine it could be: a magical and engaging performance.

But back to Gail's being "among so many people feeling the same thing so deeply and yet feeling oneself so removed." Gail, I don't think that this is so strange, at least not strange in the sense of "unusual." I've felt the same way at shows, most recently at a Shawn Colvin concert. The audience was lappin' it up, but I had no emotional response to her performance.

[soccerdad]

Do the Moody's concentrate on their pre-1980's stuff or the later stuff? Is Patrick Moraz still in the band or did they ever find Michael Pinder?

[Gail]

The set list that was played that evening can be found here. I don't think ether of them play with the group anymore. They had a terrific keyboardist, but I don't know what his name was. Here's a review of an avid fan who was at the same concert.

[soccerdad]

You're right. Both Pinder and Moraz are gone. (I had read that the band wanted Pinder back but this article suggests that they wouldn't have wanted him. I think one of them said that he was the only one with formal musical training.)

But how do you play "Late Lament" before "Nights in White Satin?" And why isn't "For my lady" in their concerts?

[Gail]

Honestly, I don't remember if they did "Late Lament" or not. But IMHO, as long as they do "Tuesday Afternoon," "Story in your Eyes," and "Question" - - it makes it worth the price of the admission.

[DRaftervoi]

I've never been a fan; the Moodys were too MOR for my taste, although I like their singles, particularly the uptempo ones, and I give 'em credit for nice massed harmonies...big piles of echoey human voices. Secra's always been a fan, though...and we had one of those nice "internet moments" last year. She saw them live in '79. I tracked down a guy on the Bailiwick of Jersey who had a copy and arranged a trade...so she can listen to concert she attended three decades ago.

They just reissued most of their late 60s/early 70s albums in definitive SACD hybrid format, and they're well worth the extra money.

[Bookworm]

I'm with you -- can't stand Springsteen and never could. That he's become pompous and political only makes him more unpalatable.

[Jack]

I am a big Springsteen fan, always have been. I am able to separate from the political diatribe. Music and lyrics speak to me.