Bruuuuuuuuce!
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are coming to Portland!
I was a late-comer, as far as Springsteen fandom goes. For most of my life, I knew him only through what I heard on the radio (”Born to Run”) and what was shown on MTV during my youth (Bruce dancing with Courtney Cox). I basically thought he was just another cheeseball 70s icon who played music geared towards my parents. Until…
I was in California visiting family back in 2002. My sister had tickets for the Springsteen concert at Dodger stadium while I was there. My brother in law was sick and couldn’t use his, so he gave it to me. I wasn’t all that excited about the show - I mainly just wanted to hang out with my sister. On the way, she played “Nebraska”, which I had never heard before. Having been familiar only with the “Born in the USA” and “Born to Run” stuff, I was absolutely and immediately blown away with “Nebraska”. If you’re not familiar, the album was recorded on a four-track in Springsteen’s home. The songs all focus on the seedy underside of American life. I had no idea that so much could be said with such a minimalist approach, and my respect for the guy grew.
At the show, any remaining doubts I had were quashed. The performance was absolutely mind-blowing. We were sitting near the top of Dodger Stadium, and people were still dancing in their seats. I was simply amazed at how well this guy could work a crowd. It was one of the best shows I had ever seen.
Since then, I’ve been getting more and more into his catalog. Like Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott, Springsteen’s lyrics take blue-collar life, and make them into epics, yet somehow retaining a sense of honesty and dignity. It’s a skill that the vast majority of songwriters don’t have, and that alone makes him something special. The fact that he do all that and still kill ‘em onstage, well, that’s why he’s a legend.
Even pushing 60, the guy still has it. Tickets are still available for the show, and you can get them here.
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Totally jealous that you guys got floor tickets - but we’ll be dancing anyway from 200 level!
If I had a dollar for every person who had casually written Bruce off and then had their heads turned by Nebraska, I could have paid for my ticket to this show! Ha, just giving you a hard time. Welcome to the Bruce club!
You know, there was a period in the early 90’s (when Neil Young was being called the Godfather of Grunge) that Bruce almost earned the sobriquet of Godfather of LoFi as fans of Sebadoh and Will Oldham heard that album for the first time and grudgingly admitted that they liked the Boss. I saw it happen many times when I worked at Music Millennium.
Anyway, I’ll see you at the show. I’ll be on the floor - should be cool with the no seating/general admission policy. Can’t wait.
I saw the boss on the Born in the USA tour at Dodger stadium when I was in fifth grade. I’ve always loved the boss, but I’m in the Nebraska club. I can’t listen to that record and do anything else because I’m just caught, stunned, breathless waiting for the next story. State Trooper. Oh my…
For what it’s worth, “The Boss” lost his blue collar cred with me when he crossed a picket line to perform at the Tacoma Dome in 1992.
http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:ORGB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB0876B202758C9&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=8CE642B8CA5C4083BE84A2539D6E1A73
I got my floor tickets
Will check out Nebraska right now!
oh just drats. not yet in on Amazon.com/mp3. grrrr.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_gnr_spell?ie=UTF8&search-alias=digital-music&field-keywords=bruce%20springsteen
Are there any record stores in NoPo that people like to frequent?
Jackpot, Everyday Music…
Or, if you want a cheap mp3 option, hit up mp3fiesta.com.
Looking forward to this show like you wouldn’t believe. Funny enough, as much of a Woody Guthrie fan as I am, Nebraska wasn’t the album that sold me - it was The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle. That’s quite simply amazing. And I don’t think he stresses the “working class cred” like Nebraska screams but, rather, elevates and dignifies the common person. Just my opinion…
Good posts, all. Blue collar cred or no, I am positively giddy about this show.
One other personal note - my brother in law, who passed on not too long after that Springsteen show in L.A., used to sing “Thunder Road” as a lullaby to my niece when she was an infant. Needless to say, that song always brings a tear to my eye when I hear it.
I once went trick-or-treating at Bruce’s house in Rumson, NJ. He was standing back in the shadows, behind a couple of state troopers. My girlfriend’s son loaded up on candy from his basket, and we all went away happy.
“Mr. State Trooper, Please don’t stop me (from passing out candy)…” I think those were the original lyrics.