Springsteen VIII - 2014, tour, album, etc.

[deep]

What do you expect
It's a Patty Smyth song or something

 

[joyfulgirl]

I expected the show to be great but I did not expect to be so moved hearing The River all the way through. Not my favorite Springsteen record but it means a lot to me. I had an unexpectedly introspective experience hearing it live and realizing Springsteen has provided the soundtrack to my life since I was 15. I feel like this tour is a life review for the band and he as much said so in his beautiful way when he closed that portion of the show.

And I cannot believe how amazing he still sounds. Vocally he sounds like he always has but physically he looks uncomfortable and that was tough to see. Awesome seats right by the stage. And I have to say, I loved the greatest hits part of the show.

So glad I made the effort to see this tour and that I could combine a little work with pleasure here in the PNW. On to Seattle for round two with cori!

 

[joyfulgirl]

oh, wtf moment #2: a cute guy who looked like a billboard model for the bearded hipster waited on me in a store earlier in the day and I overheard him talking about going to a show but didn't catch that it was Springsteen. Sure enough, there he was across from me in the next section seated with an older man who resembled him, probably his father, I assumed, who had a toy saxophone that he pretended to play along with. The young guy looked completely humiliated and I felt like I was witnessing some really fucked up family dynamic like out of a Sam Shepherd play or something.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I know, sorry, it's all tldr.

 

[bono_212]

Haha, I love it.

Bruce looked a little uncomfortable to me as well. He seemed more energetic by the end.

Sent from my XT1575 using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[Hewson]

. Sure enough, there he was across from me in the next section seated with an older man who resembled him, probably his father, I assumed, who had a toy saxophone that he pretended to play along with. The young guy looked completely humiliated and I felt like I was witnessing some really fucked up family dynamic like out of a Sam Shepherd play or something.

In my defense, I enjoy 2 things:

1. Embarrassing my hipster son in public.

B. Playing air saxophone.

 

[joyfulgirl]

In my defense, I enjoy 2 things:



1. Embarrassing my hipster son in public.



B. Playing air saxophone.

Would you carry a toy sax to a Springsteen show and while seated in the first row close to the side of the stage close to Jake, wave the toy around wildly for his attention and trade off 'solos' with him?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

There was a Springsteen show at Giants Stadium, I want to say Working on a Dream tour, but it could have been Magic... I forget

Anyhoo... There was an overturned oil tanker on the Jersey turnpike that delayed the start of the show, which didn't effect my arrival cause I took the train. It was also like 100 degrees that night.

Show didn't begin until after 10pm and he still played for 3 hours. I left the front of the floor and watched the encore from the back in order to make a quick exit. That's the closest I've gotten to leaving early. Considered it after the first encore but made the compromise to just hang in the back.

 

[joyfulgirl]

There are always good reasons why people would have to leave a Springsteen show - or any show - early. But planning in advance an exit strategy that cuts out Born to Run and any number of other possibly best songs of the night, in this case to avoid standing in the Max rail ticket line (since the one-time use pass had an expiration time making it invalid after the show), seemed lunacy to me.

The correct course of action is to do what I did: don't buy a ticket at all and get on the damn train. They're not gonna be checking tickets when they're packed in there like cattle. I stayed til the end and was back in my room 20 mins later, making Portland my new favorite place to travel to for music.

 

[Hewson]

Would you carry a toy sax to a Springsteen show and while seated in the first row close to the side of the stage close to Jake, wave the toy around wildly for his attention and trade off 'solos' with him?

The intended joke was

Spoiler

that it was me you saw

 

[joyfulgirl]

ohhh

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

The correct reasons for leaving a Springsteen show early are as follows

--Family emergency
--You got stabbed
--Severe case of the runs
--Manbearpig

 

[cobl04]

He did two encores, house lights were on and neither of us anticipated a third.

When I saw Prince I think he'd done two or three encores, and the house lights were up, so when he walked off stage for the third time I thought clearly he was gonna come back for another encore. Waited 15 fucking minutes before music started playing and he decided against it. Sour way to end what was a great gig.

 

[martha]

The correct reasons for leaving a Springsteen show early are as follows

--Family emergency
--You got stabbed
--Severe case of the runs
--Manbearpig

Some of these are still negotiable.

Was it my imagination, or was he playing less guitar than usual? He had that brace thing on his right hand, and it seemed like Steve and Nils were playing more solos.


Sent from my iPad using U2 Interference

 

[joyfulgirl]

Some of these are still negotiable.

Was it my imagination, or was he playing less guitar than usual? He had that brace thing on his right hand, and it seemed like Steve and Nils were playing more solos.


Sent from my iPad using U2 Interference

I thought so, too. He stood still behind the mic a lot but I am not one to know which songs he plays guitar on and which he doesn't. He also moved like he had bad knees or maybe arthritis. I had a close up side view and I swear the man's legs do not straighten ever. Steven seemed to be more comfortable in his body but he wasn't working as hard.

Still, they played straight through without taking a break and that is amazing.

 

[joyfulgirl]

When I saw Prince I think he'd done two or three encores, and the house lights were up, so when he walked off stage for the third time I thought clearly he was gonna come back for another encore. Waited 15 fucking minutes before music started playing and he decided against it. Sour way to end what was a great gig.

Same thing the one time I saw him. I figured he was well into his club set we read about the next day by the time we gave up and left the arena.

 

[Hewson]

--Manbearpig

This is #1

 

[bono_212]

When I saw Prince I think he'd done two or three encores, and the house lights were up, so when he walked off stage for the third time I thought clearly he was gonna come back for another encore. Waited 15 fucking minutes before music started playing and he decided against it. Sour way to end what was a great gig.

Yeah, by the time we decided to leave, we had waited a while, and he'd already done three encores, iirc. It was also laaaaaaaaate and I had to be to work in about 5 hours, but if I'd known he was coming back out, I'd have stayed.

Edit: so technically it was encore 3, but yeah. We'd waited a long time between each encore. That final one I just didn't see coming.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/prince/2012/united-center-chicago-il-43dde35f.html

 

[deep]

The intended joke was

Spoiler

that it was me you saw

It was a toy sax not a sex toy.

 

[Hewson]

Try the veal.

 

[corianderstem]

Tonight! Tonight! Tonight! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[deep]

calm down
it was a toy sax

 

[Hewson]

EdVed guest duet in Seattle last night

 

[joyfulgirl]

Yeah but that was like the least interesting moment of the night. Nothing against Eddie - I quite like him - but I just generally don't give a flying fuck about guest appearances, I don't care who it is. It almost never actually adds anything to a favorite artist's set.

Oh wait, there was that Little Steven show at The Ritz in the 80s where I was in the front row and Springsteen came out. Ok, that was cool.

BUT, Vedder's appearance did get me to pull out my wallet when the bucket came around for the food bank, knowing Pearl Jam would match the donation. (Yay me, bragging publicly about my charitable ways.)

 

[corianderstem]

The River is far from the top of the list of favorite Springsteen albums, but holy shit, what a show.

I can't believe he played almost four hours. (I mean, I can believe it, it just always felt like other countries got the marathon shows, and the US got, like, 2.5 hours. That's how my first two Springsteen shows were.)

Probably only because The River is a double album, so if you're playing the whole thing, it's already a full concert on its own!

Had a blast. My feet are so sore today from dancing during the whole encore. I feel like I don't need to go the gym for a week.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

 

[joyfulgirl]

This sequence

I'm Goin' Down
Badlands
She's the One
Adam Raised a Cain
Because the Night

was almost too good to be true.

 

[martha]

Dang. That sounds great.

 

[IWasBored]

Goddamn.

 

[david]

Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and Bob Dylan are my Mt. Rushmore of artists I need to see live before I, or they die.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference