From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #51 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Wednesday, July 31 2002 Volume 09 : Number 051 NOTE: Sale/trade posts should be emailed to luckytown-ads, *NOT* to luckytown. That includes tix wanted/tix grovels, post them to luckytown-ads, please. Contents: Inside the Today Show ["Douglas W. Corkhill" ] Links to more reviews & the Time cover story ["Kevin Kinder" ] The Right Time For Bruce! ["Dave Rotella" ] Review from UK newspaper 'The Guardian' ["Perkin, Richard" ] St. Paul, MN - September 30th Show - Tickets to go on sale 8/10 @ 10:00 [] Rising in the Mail Sat. [Jmcerra@aol.com] Mann made Hit [OmanIV@aol.com] Let's Be Friends [WiseBloodC@aol.com] Bruce on Sacramento radio ["Roger Harness" ] Thank you, Mr. Springsteen [JohnnyBilo@aol.com] Bruce homework ["M. Conens" ] UK Reviews of The Rising [] What we owe to Bruce [Gennel T Zimmerman ] The Rising, Coal Miners, and The Fever [Jon Boroshok ] Hustlers and thieves [Enders@aol.com] The new album [Johnedwin17@aol.com] Who disaster ["M. Conens" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 20:27:37 -0400 From: "Douglas W. Corkhill" Subject: Inside the Today Show Earlier I couldn't decide whether to write this as a critical concert review, a travelogue of the trials and tribulations of driving from North Carolina to Asbury Park and back, or a fan's gushing of what the last 24 hours or so have been like. Matt Orel and Steven Svoboda write pretty good reviews, and we've all had fun 'n games on the road, so I think I'll just gush. Let me preface this by saying I may be 45 years old, but I feel like I'm about 14 today. Where to begin? I was in Convention Hall for the Today Show. I got to speak to every member of the band. (Every. Yes that means Bruce.). I drove on Ocean Avenue and Kingsley in Asbury Park. I had my picture taken in front of the Tunnel Of Love sign on the wall of the Palace, and on the stage at the Stone Pony. People in the line waiting for tickets remembered me from the "Greetings from the Parking Lot" film. And when I got home there was a picture of me in our local paper and an article about my Bruce fandom. For those who have a minute or two: http://www.newsandobserver.com/front/Features/story/1594035p-1621717c.html Okay, for those who don't know yet, Bruce played three songs solo acoustic starting about 7:30 am: Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street, For You and Waiting on a Sunny Day. He was joined, in progress, during Sunny Day by Nils, Gary (on stand-up bass), Patti and Clarence. I'm not sure if this is the number he meant to play because before the song began he asked for Steve, but no one could find Steve (and Bruce waited for a bit) and then began alone. It was pretty funny. I really liked Sunny Day, even more when I played the full band version in the car driving home. This quieter version was still a lot of fun as Bruce turned it into a sing-a-long. It has some serious potential in the arena shows to become one of those great cathartic moments. There were about 30 or 45 minutes before the full band set. Bruce was visibly nervous walking around backstage sipping hot tea. My seats were behind Roy at the back (or front, depending on your perspective) of Convention Hall. All the band members walked by and as they did I asked for and received signatures on the sign I brought and held up during the show. A few other folks were leaning over the rail getting signatures as well. Patti and Steve were the most chatty. Bruce and Clarence signed nothing. Bruce said to me (to me!) "Not today, I'm working." The electric set was broadcast in it's entirety on tv, I think. The Rising, Lonesome Day, Glory Days and Into the Fire. I found the sound system overwhelmed the small building and the vocals were quite murky back in my corner. Nevertheless, The Rising is a really superb song, very powerful and as the likely show opener an inspired choice. It worked well there. Of course the show was over all too soon. When I asked, the guys back stage indicated there was going to be one more song, but then an announcement was made and we had to clear the building. We tried to hang in our spot for Bruce and Clarence to walk back by and ask for their signatures one more time, but the guards shooed us out. At the time I commented that this was the first Bruce show I ever saw without Born To Run, but it seems to me he skipped it on the STFU tour. As for the GA on the floor, there was an inner circle set up in the European style so the folks at the very front were only mildly squished. These people were literally leaning on the stage. There was a second rail to lean up against, and it appeared the folks at the front of that rail had mostly unobstructed views. I don't have a clue as to what the procedures will be or the numbers for getting in the 'gold circle' when the tour starts. I stopped at a Best Buy just south of Baltimore and got in 3 ½ listens of The Rising before I got home. Did I mention it was 84 degrees out on the Boardwalk in Asbury Park at 5 am? Bruce said something about air conditioning for Convention Hall is "in the redevelopment plan somewhere." It was hot. I'm rambling now, a good sign it's time to quit. I hope to see some of you in the parking lot at the Meadowlands next week. Doug ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 22:24:14 -0500 From: "Kevin Kinder" Subject: Links to more reviews & the Time cover story In the interest of copyright and digest space, below are web links to articles which some of you had sent in (thank you Barry Kaplovitz, Tom Ross, and M. Conens): Kurt Loder's review in Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/recordings/review.asp?aid=2044473 David Segal's Washington Post review: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19022-2002Jul29.html Time Magazine cover story: http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020805/story.html Neva Chonin's San Francisco Chronicle review: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/07/30/DD63087.DTL David Browne's Entertainment Weekly’s review: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/music/0,6115,331478~4~0~wegradespringsteensnew,00.html - ----- Kevin Kinder kinder@luckytown.org ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 16:33:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Bruce Elbeblawy Subject: Vancouver Sun Review http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/archives/story.asp?id=71B95572-4DAF-42F8-BA24-DB1099FF6F9F This album is truly brilliant. Bruce "If you had everything you wished for, what would you live for & what would you lose" - Matthew Ryan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 13:22:25 -0400 From: "Dave Rotella" Subject: The Right Time For Bruce! Last night I went to bed like a kid waiting for Santa to come down the chimney and fill the underneath of the tree with presents. The alarm was set for 6:45 am...but there was no need. I was up just after 6. Put the esspresso on, worked out a bit, then got the VCR ready. 6:59 am >> Press Play! Esspresso & bisciotti, Matt, Katey and Al, the Jersey Shore.....Christmas had come a few months early (and I held out and waited until this morning to unwrap my present - - The Rising -what an album/disc)! I'm 36 going on 18. I have been a Bruce fan since about '77 when Cindy B. brought her Born to Run album into Grade 7 music class (I of course had Kiss/Destroyer). She played Jungleland, I played Detroit Rock City. I liked hers much better. But I digress. Today felt like high school all over again. I can vividly remember listening to the radio, waiting patiently outside in the school parking to hear the premier of Dancing In The Dark/Pink Cadillac. Spending nights in line waiting for tickets (that's how you get tickets....not the Internet)....and travelling with my friends all over to see the man! Today, the sun shining and me playing hookey (this time from work and not school), I feel like a kid. I watch Today every morning before work and today...what a great show. All of it. From Al running around the boardwalk to Danny DeVito to Katey not asking Gary T. anything (ooops, you missed someone Katey) in her E Street Band interview. The bands performance was great (oh, I'm sure someone will say Bruce wasn't into it or they should have played this song and not that song). It was great. Lonesome Day sounds amazing live..they all did...but that stood out. Now I'm really ready for the road trips!!! What struck me the most was how important this album and this music is to ME. How important it is to have Bruce take this incident and help the country(ies) get through the worst time in our history (remember this is just my opinion). I was not effected by the loss of a friend or relative on 9/11. I'm not American. But unlike anything in my life (and like many people around the world) it really took hold of me in ways I can't explain. I cried (like the rest of the world), I prayed (like the rest of the world) and I wanted to go over there and personally take care of Bin Laden (like the rest of the world)....still do "the taste on your tongue doesn't easily slip away". I never really did wrap up those emotions? Not really. At times it doesn't even seem real. But today, like he's done a million times before in my life, Bruce lifted me up over the pain and confusion. He got "under my skin' during Into The Fire. He took me back there, but through a different set of eyes...something more real...something clearer. I got all choked up. I sat their sippin' my esspresso and smiled....it was like I finally got it. Maybe I'm nuts....maybe (as my wife thinks) I need therapy...but I felt this was the music I needed to get past this horrific event. Maybe that passerby was right when he screamed "we need you now" to Bruce just after the events took place. It wasn't fluff like Paul McCartney's "Freedom". I remember hearing him doing that and thinking "Give me a break Mr. Beatle....that's not helping a bit". It was actually embarrassing. Much different than what I heard this morning and what I'm listening to right now. Bruce's use of terms like loss, missing, hope, faith, love and the powerful mentions of revenge seemed to really sum up my vision of how these poor families and the rest of the country were, and are feeling. I still feel that revenge burning...but the idea that there is hope really shines through in all of the lyrics and is one of the things that Bruce has always really seem to do for me. In fact, Land of Hope And Dreams caught me that way during the last tour. I stood the entire time. I sang that song like it was my own anthem. I left every show on such a high. Too bad the world ends up getting in the way. I guess that's why we all need to seem him over and over again. It's funny because Bruce (the music) was there when I was a teenager dreaming of girls and cars (Incident, Backstreets, Racing, etc.). He was there during the bad relationships and the good ones (Fade Away, One Step Up. He was there at my wedding (Book of Dreams, Walk Like A Man, Glory Days, Thunder Road). He was there at my friend's father's funeral (Independence Day). He's always there when the "boys" all reunite (It's Been A Long Time). And now he's back trying to make sense (probably a bad choice of words) of a senseless act and a trying time for the U.S. and the world. These are "Better Days". America's working class hero (I consider him our hero too in Canada) has done it again. This IS a great piece of work. It's not weak like some suggested. It's going to be with us for a long time....a long, long time. Thanks for reading....to me, this is one of those great days..hence, the rambling. Some of you will have another great day next week in Jersey. I'll be waiting until Cleveland...but I can almost imagine how emotional this show will be. It's the right time for Bruce and the band...at least for me. Cheers and enjoy the music. Hazey Davey [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 17:44:12 +0100 From: "Perkin, Richard" Subject: Review from UK newspaper 'The Guardian' Published on Friday 26-Jul-02: Plenty of accurate background, but the reviewer (one Alexis Petridis) was not overly impressed. Here's a sample: While Nashville's songwriters started churning out glutinous tributes before Ground Zero had stopped smoking, rock's response to September 11 has been muted. Now the man they once called The Boss has stepped into the breach. Those in search of rabble rousing are likely to be disappointed by The Rising. Eight of its 15 tracks deal with September 11 in exactly the same way: the lamentations of people whose lovers died in the attacks. Springsteen's limited metaphorical palette has been noted before - he spent 15 years writing songs in which unemployed Vietnam vets called Gary tried and failed to escape their destiny by driving down the highway - but here the repetitions are highlighted by their proximity. A song in which the streets are cloudy with dust and flowing with blood, and the sky is empty and crying, is followed by a song in which the sky is cloudy with dust and raining blood, and the streets are empty and crying. ... The Rising is heavy-handed. Its lyrics are repetitious, its sound wilfully dated, its messages straightforward. But perhaps heavy-handedness is the point. The last time Springsteen made headlines, in 2000, the head of New York's Fraternal Order of Police was calling him a "fucking dirtbag" for writing American Skin, an oblique song about the police shooting of West African immigrant Amadou Diallo. There is no room for interpretation here, which makes it a perfect record for an America where ambiguity's stock has crashed. They may even start calling him The Boss again. Richard Perkin richard.perkin@atosorigin.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 12:49:25 -0400 From: "John Fix 3rd" Subject: You're Missing The song I keep coming back to on the new CD is "You're Missing". I love the production sound...definitely one of the songs that Steven must have been referring to when he described some of the material as "Beatles-like" (or similar wording). The cello sound is great, and so is the organ solo at the end of the song. However, it's the vocal performance that hooks me each time I hear it, especially when Bruce's voice cracks a bit (second "You're missing" after the line "Your house is waiting, for you to walk in"). The final lines also make a great counterpoint to the "The Rising" which immediately follows the track. "God's drifting in heaven Devil's in the mailbox Got dust on my shoes Nothing but teardrops" Unlike God's strong presence via his "fiery light" in "The Rising", here he's drifting somewhere in heaven. At the same time, the devil is threatening, possibly referring to the anthrax threat or some bad news that arrives via the postman. Either way, evil is right outside the door while God is drifting somewhere far away and doing nothing while the family is being threatened. Not sure about the final two lines...I'm leaning towards it expressing the intention of the family to stay put (When people leave town they often get rid of the dust from the old town) and dealing with the loss (mourning and shedding tears). John ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 13:17:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Bill Andruss Subject: St. Paul, MN - September 30th Show - Tickets to go on sale 8/10 @ 10:00 FYI - This was just posted on the xcel energy website. Tickets for the September 30th show at the Xcel Center go on sale August 10th via Ticket Master. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 18:43:40 EDT From: Jmcerra@aol.com Subject: Rising in the Mail Sat. Anyone else order "The Rising" through BruceSpringsteen.net? I received the album in the mail Saturday, 7/27, and have been listening non-stop since. [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 01:51:34 EDT From: OmanIV@aol.com Subject: Mann made Hit Ever wonder about Manfred Mann's "Blinded by the Light"; mebbe hiim calling Bruce up way back then, and perhaps the portentious Super Session that could have evolved. From the lips of Manfred himself: http://www.platform-end.co.uk/html/pe19.html "semi-detatched suburban Mr. James" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 19:24:29 EDT From: WiseBloodC@aol.com Subject: Let's Be Friends Someone wondered what Let's Be Friends is doing on the album. It's rockin' my WORLD (and my bedroom ;) ), that's what it's doing! Rave On, Al ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 00:03:39 -0700 From: "Roger Harness" Subject: Bruce on Sacramento radio For anybody in the Sacramento, CA area: "Sunday, we'll give you "The Essential Bruce Springsteen... A to Z." Every incredible piece of music, including songs from "The Rising," only on 96.9 The Eagle....and our Artist Of The Week" `Show a little faith...` - -Roger Harness ps...can't afford tix this time, but i'll be there in spirit!! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 19:05:08 EDT From: JohnnyBilo@aol.com Subject: Thank you, Mr. Springsteen You've done your job well. I'm sorry I questioned you. Please forgive me. David in NYC [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 00:25:50 -0700 From: "M. Conens" Subject: Bruce homework this printed in the Contra Costa Times Monday (along with Britney Spears flipping of some photographers): BRUCE DID HIS HOMEWORK: Bruce Springsteen did some research for his new album, "The Rising," written largely in response to Sept. 11. Two widows of men killed in the terrorist attacks told Time magazine that Springsteen called them to learn more about their husbands and their loss. "When you're putting yourself into shoes you haven't worn, you have to be very ... just very thoughtful, is the way that I'd put it. Just thoughtful," Springsteen told the magazine. "The Rising" goes on sale Tuesday and it is Springsteen's first work of entirely new material in seven years. His 46-city tour with the E Street Band starts Aug. 7. Springsteen's home county, Monmouth, lost 158 people in the World Trade Center bombing, more than any other in New Jersey. He noticed from reading The New York Times obituaries how often his songs, from "Thunder Road" to "Born in the U.S.A." were played at memorial services. "This was one of those moments when the years that I've put in and the relationships that I've developed and nurtured with my audience -- this was one of those times when people want to see you," the 52-year-old said. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 02:15:51 +0100 From: Subject: UK Reviews of The Rising Hi Are America critics unwilling to appreciate Springsteen these days? I'm thinking of the grudging tone of the notices of The Rising in The NY Daily News and Newsweek, particularly the comment that Nothing Man's tune is 'ordinary' -- an opinion so off the mark that one wonders whether the guy actually listened. Contrast the American notices with those in the British press, particularly the five-star review in The Times which calls The Rising '[a work] of magisterial dignity'. Other quotes from The Times: 'simply overwhelming'... 'modern, guitar-driven sound'... 'heartfelt lyrics'... 'irresistible vitality'... 'subtly nuanced'. From The Daily Telegraph: 'The lyrics are spare and profound, the attention to musical detail magnificent'. From the Daily Mail: '[with the E Street Band], Bruce is on imperious form.' Yours Al Creed [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 20:17:14 -0400 From: Gennel T Zimmerman Subject: What we owe to Bruce Well, I got my listen on WMGK out of Philly on Sunday night, and my better listen now that I bought the CD. Man, $10 what a deal !! I'm sure the rest of you just keep hitting play over and over all day just like me. Unfortunately I missed what looked like a heck of a party on the boardwalk in Asbury Park this morning, it looked like SUCH fun on TV !! I understand my friend Patricia was there on the Today Show bus, how cool is that, and I saw some friends in the front row (Frank !!) at Bruce's show, gotta say I'm feelin jealous, but my overall feeling from what i saw on tv is that what we'll all owe Bruce (whether we live in NJ or not, Asbury or not) is that when his city of ruin rises up, (and it will), we will owe it to him. I can only imagine what my friend Dale Ahearn is feeling as she sees him champion her beloved city over and over, and this morning in such a big way. Congratulations to Dale and to the many who have worked so hard to see Asbury Park rise from the ruins. Gennel Zimmerman, lurker ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 12:47:03 -0400 From: Jon Boroshok Subject: The Rising, Coal Miners, and The Fever For anyone who may have been worried about songs on The Rising sounding too topical about September 11, listen to the title track (The Rising) and Counting on a Miracle again now that those nine Pennsylvania coal miners have been rescued. The Rising (track) can certainly be interpreted differently - to being about survival. Wanna bet Bruce dedicates one of those two songs to the miners and/or their rescuers? Youngstown as a follow-up? Also, put Tracks on your CD carousel along with The Rising CD. Now Listen to "The Fever" somewhere in the middle of the mix (maybe before You're Missing), and see how it fits it. I'd bet it changes the whole context of The Fever, and the song fits right in! :-) Might be an interesting "one off" for Bruce to add in concert! JB - ---------------------------------------------------- Jon Boroshok, president TechMarcom, Inc.: Marketing communications for emerging technologies http://www.TechMarcom.com Download our brochure at http://www.TechMarcom.com/techmarcom.ppt BiotechMarcom: Public relations and marcom for the life sciences http://www.BiotechMarcom.com Westford, MA 978-502-1055 jb@TechMarcom.com or jb@BiotechMarcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 23:02:28 EDT From: Enders@aol.com Subject: Hustlers and thieves My apologies if this has been covered already, but does anyone know what happened to the "hustlers and thieves" line from "My City of Ruins"? I can understand that Bruce didn't want to include it at the Tribute to Heroes concert, but I was hoping it would reappear on "The Rising." That was my favorite line in the song. Interestingly enough, Bruce also axed my favorite line in Land of Hope and Dreams -- "tomorow there'll be sunny skies" -- from the official release of that song. Eric ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 05:43:04 EDT From: Johnedwin17@aol.com Subject: The new album Bought two copies yesterday - one for the office and one for the car. Magnificent stuff. Well worht the wait. Now I must get tickets for the UK show. Sadly I hear there is only to be one UK show at Earls Court or Wembley Arena but no-one can confirm. Meanwhile, back in the office, let's listen to the album again. John ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 00:35:13 -0700 From: "M. Conens" Subject: Who disaster Reading the discussions about the GA/Who stampede, it makes me realize how much we concertgoers put our trust/lives in the hands of those who run the venues. From what I have read about the accident, it seems to have been a combination of factors. Of course, all it ever takes is being in the wrong place at the right time. I think banning all GA seating is a good step since any venue employee has the potential to make a fatal mistake. In regards to a memorial, speaking as an outside, I doesn't surprise me that there isn't one. I wouldn't consider that event monument worthy in the historical context. Not to mention the venue owners/operators probably wouldn't want one! I know I get tired of seeing those memorials along the side of the road. MC ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #51 ****************************** ********************************************************************* ** LuckyTown WWW URL ** The LuckyTown FAQ, back issues, web-based subscription/unsubscription, and many other things can be found on the LuckyTown WWW Page: http://www.luckytown.org ** LuckyTown mailing list addresses ** You can send email to go into the next LuckyTown Digest to: luckytown@luckytown.org You can send email to go into the next LuckyTown-Ads Digest to: luckytown-ads@luckytown.org Any questions for the list admin should be emailed to: owner-luckytown@luckytown.org To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@luckytown.org with message body: unsubscribe luckytown-digest To get further information on how to subscribe/unsubscribe/change your subscription address, as well as the other available commands, send email to majordomo@luckytown.org with message body: help ********************************************************************* The contents of this digest are not necessarily approved by the list admin.