Too many Bruce threads-lol.. This one is great from last nite..
30th October 2007 08:16 PM
Gazza
Bruce: Magic Refused Radio Play
Bruce Springsteen should be very happy. He has the No. 1 album, a possible Grammy for Best Album of the Year, for "Magic," an album full of singles, and a sold-out concert tour.
Alas, there’s a hitch: Radio will not play "Magic." In fact, sources tell me that Clear Channel has sent an edict to its classic rock stations not to play tracks from "Magic." But it’s OK to play old Springsteen tracks such as "Dancing in the Dark," "Born to Run" and "Born in the USA."
Just no new songs by Springsteen, even though it’s likely many radio listeners already own the album and would like to hear it mixed in with the junk offered on radio.
Why? One theory, says a longtime rock insider, "is that the audience knows those songs. Of course, they’ll never know these songs if no one plays them."
"Magic," by the way, has sold more than 500,000 copies since its release on Oct. 2 and likely will hit the million mark. That’s not a small achievement these days, and one that should be embraced by Clear Channel.
But what a situation: The No. 1 album is not being played on any radio stations, according to Radio & Records, which monitors such things. Nothing. The rock songs aren’t on rock radio, the two standout "mellow" tracks — "Magic" and "Devil’s Arcade" aren’t even on "lite" stations.
The singles-kinda-hits, "Radio Nowhere" and "Living in the Future" — which would have been hits no questions asked in the '70s, '80s and maybe even the '90s, also are absent from Top 40.
What to do? Columbia Records is said to be readying a remixed version of "The Girls in their Summer Clothes," a poppy Beach Boys-type track that has such a catchy hook fans were singing along to it at live shows before they had the album. Bruce insiders are hopeful that with a push from Sony, "Girls" will triumph.
I’m not so sure.
Clear Channel seems to have sent a clear message to other radio outlets that at age 58 Springsteen simply is too old be played on rock stations. This completely absurd notion is one of many ways Clear Channel has done more to destroy the music business than downloading over the last 10 years. It’s certainly what’s helped create satellite radio, where Springsteen is a staple and even has his own channel on Sirius.
It’s not just Springsteen. There is no sign at major radio stations of new albums by John Fogerty or Annie Lennox, either. The same stations that should be playing Santana’s new singles with Chad Kroeger or Tina Turner are avoiding them, too.
Like Springsteen, these "older" artists have been relegated to something called Triple A format stations — i.e. either college radio or small artsy stations such as WFUV in the Bronx, N.Y., which are immune from the Clear Channel virus of pre-programming, and where the number of plays per song is a fraction of what it is on commercial radio.
Starting now 8:38, coffin entry, no calliope, Bruce in coffin, Green blood on Stevie's hands.
. Radio Nowhere
2. Ties that Bind
3. Lonesome Day
4. Gypsy Biker
5. Magic
6. Reason to Believe
7. Night
8. She's the One
9. Living in the Future
10. Promised Land
11. Town called Hearbreak
12. Tunnel of Love
13. Working on the Highway
14. Devils Arcade
15. The Rising
16. Last to Die
17. Long Walk Home
18. Badlands
19. Girls in their Summer Clothes
20. KITTY'S BACK (Tour Premier)
21. Born to Run
22. Dancing in the Dark
23. American Land
[Edited by PartyDoll MEG]
31st October 2007 08:31 AM
Gazza
Oooh..nice..I got Kittys Back (as an audible after a fan request) at my last ESB show four years ago.
he did the Halloween coffin thing before on the River tour when he played the same venue where he played last night. gets carried onstage inside a coffin with a background of howls and other weird noises, jumps out of it and launches into Jumpin' Gene Simmons' long lost rockabilly classic 'Haunted House'. It's on bootlegs - an inspired choice.
[Edited by Gazza]
31st October 2007 08:54 AM
Mel Belli
Mini-review of first LA show from political blogger Stephen Bainbridge (a UCLA prof, I believe):
Caught Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the LA Sports Arena last night. Great show, although not up to the standards of the shows I saw back in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Sports Arena is a crumbling old relic, with antiquated facilities, and horrible acoustics. I wondered aloud why Springsteen chose to play in this small venure. A woman next to me said she had read an interview in which Springsteen dissed the Stapes Center as being sterile and corporate (all those skyboxes?). Maybe so, but Springsteen’s art suffered as a result. The sound quality was, at best, okay. Lots of distortion as the music bounced off all those hard concrete surfaces. The Arena also was hotter than Hades. Which was okay, because so was the band.
The show opened with blazing versions of Radio Nowhere and, a personal favorite, No Surrender. Then a string of songs from the new album: Lonesome Day, Gypsy Biker, and Magic. The latter was preceded by what the first of what I gather has become nightly political rants. Both rants felt scripted and unauthentic. Just as Springsteen’s working class hero facade was a deliberate construct engineered by Jon Landau, Springsteen’s political statements seem a self-concious effort in branding.
Anyway, the show then shifted gears with an old favorite from Nebraska, Reason to Believe, which sparkled in a new arrangement for the 10 piece band. It’s interesting how he can turn the country feel of the Nebraska version into a Born in the USA-esque rocker. A searing version of Candy’s Room followed.
The second political rant followed, this time even longer. Cleverly, Springsteen then lightened the mood with a hard-driving pop-rock arrangement of Living in the Future in which the music matytered much more than the words.
Interestingly, here in one of the bluest towns of one of the bluest states, folks mostly sat through the political songs, while surging to their feet for the pop classics. In fairness, however, this was probably not a political statement by the audience so much as our geriatric preferences for the old songs we grew up with.
Anyway, the show wound on through The Promised Land, Town Called Heartbreak, Backstreets, Working On The Highway, Devil’s Arcade, The Rising (which seemed to especially suffer from the lousy acoustics), Last To Die, a brilliant rendition of Long Walk Home, and finally a rousing, crowd sing along version of Badlands. The 18,000 (?) fan chorus sounded great.
At 18 songs, the main show was a lot shorter than the famous shows of my youth. But we’re all getting up there. Bruce repeatedly soaked himself with wet towels. Clarence Clemons actually sat through a number of the slower numbers. Has he had health problems? And Danny Federici looked thin and frail. I was not a fan of the ”other band,” but one had to wonder how much the E Streeters have left in the tank. Will this prove to be a farewell tour?
Speaking of looks, with his current hair style, Bruce looked a little like Keith Richards. Actually, when the camera was below face level, looking up, he looked a lot like Keith Richards. Scary.
Anyway, the five song intermission was the highlight of the show. Girls In Their Summer Clothes was a crowd favorite, with much of the audience singing along. It was pretty much the only song of the new material that really got the crowd rocking. An old encore standby, Thundercrack, was preceded by Bruce telling a story about playing in LA in 1973. It was the first time any of the E Street Band had been on an airplane. The record company flew them out to do a showcase. Bruce quipped that Thundercrack was “supposed to be our big showstopper. Unfortunately, the show stopped before we played it.” The long rendition of Thundercrack sequed into a medium-fast version of Born To Run. Dancing In The Dark followed, which was one of the high lights of the show. Long, rocking, and with lots of interaction between the band members, including a cute moment when Bruce pretended to go to sleep on Nils Lofgren’s shoulder. Nils, by the way, seems to have shrunk! He seemed even more elfin than usual. He also played brilliantly. There’s really no excuse for letting Steve Van Zandt have any solos with Nils on stage.
The show closed with a sing-a-long version of American Land. A lof of Bruce fans are probably old enough to remember Sing along with Mitch, the old Mitch Miller TV show that ran the lyrics along the bottom fothe screen so that you could, as the title put it, sing along. During American land, Bruce had the lyrics run along the bottom of the jumbotron screens.
There were some old favorites missing. Rosalita, Thunder Road, and Jungleland, which used to be concert standards, were especially conspicuous by their absence.
All in all, however, it was a great show. If this does turn out to be a farewell tour, I’m glad I had the chance to relive a bit of my youth with one of my favorite bands.
[Edited by Mel Belli]
31st October 2007 04:04 PM
Gazza
Video of the Hallowe'en 'coffin' intro on official site now
http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
31st October 2007 09:30 PM
ebmp
quote:Gazza wrote:
Video of the Hallowe'en 'coffin' intro on official site now
http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
lol that was great! It could've been cheesy, but it wasn't
I think he did that on the river too as well
1st November 2007 02:28 PM
robpop
Interesting. Could there be a special guest?
Tuesday
November 13th Hard Rock Cafe
Pittsburgh
Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
9 p.m.
1st November 2007 03:47 PM
PartyDoll MEG
Kitty's Back..... not the best video..but gets the point accross
[Edited by PartyDoll MEG]
1st November 2007 04:44 PM
wasted
quote:Mel Belli wrote:
Mini-review of first LA show from political blogger Stephen Bainbridge (a UCLA prof, I believe):
The show opened with blazing versions of Radio Nowhere and, a personal favorite, No Surrender. Then a string of songs from the new album: Lonesome Day, Gypsy Biker, and Magic.
Speaking of looks, with his current hair style, Bruce looked a little like Keith Richards. Actually, when the camera was below face level, looking up, he looked a lot like Keith Richards. Scary.
Nice review though personally I have my doubts about the reviewer and his knowledge of all things Bruce despite being a possible UCLA prof. Lonesome Day is from the new album? I didn't know that.
1st November 2007 05:08 PM
Dan
I don't think the shorter setlists are necessarily due to the band's age as it is the type of crowds these events draw. Personally, I thought it was one of the best paced longer than 80 minute shows I have ever seen.
1st November 2007 08:43 PM
GimmeExile
quote:Dan wrote:
I don't think the shorter setlists are necessarily due to the band's age as it is the type of crowds these events draw. Personally, I thought it was one of the best paced longer than 80 minute shows I have ever seen.
Tuesday's show was the shortest E Street Band show I've seen. 2hrs, 10mins...but it was the most intense, sustained high-energy show they've done.
1st November 2007 11:10 PM
M.O.W.A.T.
There is a new version of the Ottawa show on Dime. It's a 24bit/48khz version and possibly the best sounding of the lot.
2nd November 2007 12:04 AM
Mel Belli
quote:PartyDoll MEG wrote:
Kitty's Back..... not the best video..but gets the point accross
[Edited by PartyDoll MEG]
Ahhhhhhh. My favorite era - pure, pre-Landau, unbridled Bruce.
2nd November 2007 07:48 AM
Factory Girl
quote:Gazza wrote:
As he's playing at least half of it, it might be advisable to start listening!
[Edited by Gazza]
LOL, G! I'm working on it!
3rd November 2007 05:19 PM
PartyDoll MEG
Tomorrow it is my turn for Bruuuuuuccce...
3rd November 2007 06:29 PM
Gazza
Have a safe trip and a great show, Meg.
the first confirmation of 2008 dates
at the end of last night's St Paul show, a mesage flashed on the video screen that tickets for a return show on March 16th will go on sale next Saturday.
Guess we can expect announcements of more shows any time.
4th November 2007 02:09 AM
parmeda
quote:PartyDoll MEG wrote:
Tomorrow it is my turn for Bruuuuuuccce...
IT'S ABOUT FRICKEN TIME, NO???
Have a great time, M. I expect an ass report first thing Monday morning!
4th November 2007 09:18 AM
GotToRollMe
quote:PartyDoll MEG wrote:
Tomorrow it is my turn for Bruuuuuuccce...
Good on ya, Meg! Have a great time, kid!
4th November 2007 10:06 PM
Gazza
Looks like Meg got a couple of nice rarities so far - "Its Hard To Be A Saint In the City" and "Be True" (which for those who dont know it was the non-album B-side to the 'Fade Away' and 'Sherry darling' singles in early 1981 and whose only CD release was on the 'Tracks' boxed set)
So much for the one night stand shows being "Omaha-ed"
Unfortunately for Pam, Meg was too high up for any "ass shots" it seems
[Edited by Gazza]
4th November 2007 10:09 PM
Mel Belli
quote:Gazza wrote:
So much for the one night stand shows being "Omaha-ed"
Actually, it's the first night of two-night stand cities that see the Omaha-ing.
5th November 2007 01:44 AM
PartyDoll MEG
I'm tired..gotta go to bed...
No ass shots too high...Sorry Pam..hope I can make up for it in Boston
Great Great Great(and add a few more)show..
Two RARE premieres..Hard to be a Saint and Be True both had my mouth open in shock...
Reason to Believe..great rockin' fun
Gypsy Biker.... absolutely at a loss for words.
Kitty's Back..played better than I've ever heard it and the highlight for me
Can't wait for Boston...I want more
[Edited by PartyDoll MEG]
5th November 2007 07:46 AM
GotToRollMe
quote:PartyDoll MEG wrote:
I'm tired..gotta go to bed...
No ass shots too high...Sorry Pam..hope I can make up for it in Boston
Great Great Great(and add a few more)show..
Two RARE premieres..Hard to be a Saint and Be True both had my mouth open in shock...
Reason to Believe..great rockin' fun
Gypsy Biker.... absolutely at a loss for words.
Kitty's Back..played better than I've ever heard it and the highlight for me
Can't wait for Boston...I want more
[Edited by PartyDoll MEG]
"Hard To Be A Saint"! Lucky girl!
5th November 2007 07:53 AM
Gazza
Ah, I went to bed before I read what the encores were. 'Kittys Back' - sweet.
5th November 2007 10:38 AM
PartyDoll MEG
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Bruce Springsteen doesn't shy from political commentary
Upbeat sound, ominous objection
Monday, November 05, 2007
John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic
"Is there anybody alive out there?" Bruce Springsteen sang over and over during his opening number, "Radio Nowhere," a bracing song about trying to communicate above the white noise of these troubled times.
Lucky for us, when it comes to communicating with a roomful of 20,000 people, nobody does it better than Springsteen.
The Boss had the ever-dependable E Street Band in tow for a sold-out concert Sunday night at The Q, although it wasn't business as usual for one of the most successful partnerships in rock 'n' roll.
They drew heavily from Springsteen's new album, the chart-topping "Magic."
Springsteen & Co. went on shortly after 8:30 p.m., behind schedule because sound check ran late. This was their first show here since 2004, when Cleveland was a stop on the Vote for Change Tour.
Springsteen, 58, didn't shy away from political commentary on this occasion, either.
"This is about living in times when the truth gets twisted into lies and lies get twisted into the truth," he said by way of introducing the spooky ballad from which his latest album takes its title.
There was no mistaking the subtext of several other new tunes - hard-hitting protest songs in the guise of catchy pop music.
Sure, "Livin' in the Future" sounded upbeat, although its feel-good vibe was offset by ominous pronouncements. "Tell me is that rollin' thunder / Or just the sinkin' sound of somethin' righteous goin' under?" Springsteen wondered.
The pointed "Last to Die" weighed the human cost of the Bush administration's war on terror. "Who'll be the last to die for a mistake?" Springsteen demanded, against a backdrop of angry guitars and drummer Max Weinberg's driving backbeat.
From his back pages, Springsteen pulled out "Night," "Reason to Believe," "The Promised Land," "Tunnel of Love," "The Rising" and other crowd-pleasers. Among the pleasant surprises was "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City," a rollicking chestnut off his 1973 debut album, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J."
The stage was unadorned, keeping the emphasis squarely on the interplay between Springsteen and his nine-piece band. Singer-guitarist Patti Scialfa - a.k.a. Mrs. Springsteen - got a chance to shine on "Town Called Heartbreak," a Motown-ish tune off her latest solo effort; sax-playing stalwart Clarence Clemons punctuated "She's the One" with soaring grace notes; and Springsteen and guitarist Steve Van Zandt traded fiery licks during "Gypsy Biker."
The lush "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," another new keeper, channeled the Beach Boys to kick off a five-song encore, followed by "Kitty's Back," "Born to Run" and "Dancing in the Dark." Just over two hours after the concert began, the uplifting jig "American Land" brought it all home.
The result was more than just another bravura performance by these old pros, for whom bravura performances are practically routine. On a deeper level, the panoramic music reflected the hopes, dreams and harsh realities of the American experience, delivered with an unwavering conviction in the redemptive power of rock 'n' roll.
A sense of hard-won optimism never was far behind, particularly when Springsteen brought the evening full-circle with "Badlands," which closed the regular set on a triumphant note.
When he proclaimed "It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive," thousands of fans proclaimed it right along with him.
Is there anybody alive out there?
Springsteen got his answer. And it was a resounding "YEAH!"
5th November 2007 10:44 AM
Mel Belli
Oddly enough, I saw my very first Stones show in Cleveland, at the old Municipal Stadium in '89.
5th November 2007 11:56 AM
PartyDoll MEG
Just found a better Kitty's Back from LA..God that song was awesome last nite! Hope there was a taper in a good spot!!
5th November 2007 12:25 PM
Mel Belli
Awesome. He better keep that "Kitty" around for D.C.!
6th November 2007 07:44 AM
Gazza
On one of the Bruce boards, it seems that 'Kittys Back' was on the setlist last night in Detroit as one of the encores, but some kid had a sign for 'Ramrod' and so he played that instead. Rumour has it the kid was taken outside and stoned to death for his blasphemy after the show. 'Jackson Cage' got dusted off last night too.
There's also talk now of 2 shows at the Pond in Anaheim, CA on April 8 & 9 with ticket sales on November 17th. Still to be confirmed, though.
6th November 2007 08:21 AM
Ade
Meg-
pleased to hear you had a great time with Brucie,
sounds like a great show!
