From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #82 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Monday, September 2 2002 Volume 09 : Number 082 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: Tour statistics [Virta Jyrki ] Thoughts On the Set List [JerzykB@aol.com] The House Party in St. Louis ["X X" ] Rise Up? The Failure of The Rising [mendez@comcast.net] SF Chronicle review of San Jose 8/27 [jsavage@concentric.net (Johnny Saul] chaos in NL ticketsales [karin.s@btinternet.com] Paris still available [karin.s@btinternet.com] Re: A DISGRACEFUL Stockhom ticket release! [Svein Karlsen ] Darkness as 2 LP's ["Eric Douglas" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 22:36:30 +0300 From: Virta Jyrki Subject: Tour statistics Now when the first stint of shows is over, here's little tour statistics after 12 shows. MTV Music Video Awards show isn't included in the stats, as well as the rehearsal shows. A B 1 The Rising 12 100 % 2 Lonesome Day 12 100 % 3 Prove It All Night 12 100 % 4 The Fuse 12 100 % 5 Darkness On The Edge Of Town 9 75 % 6 Empty Sky 12 100 % 7 You're Missing 12 100 % 8 Waitin' On A Sunny Day 12 100 % 9 The Promised Land 12 100 % 10 World's Apart 12 100 % 11 Two Hearts 1 8 % 12 Badlands 12 100 % 13 Mary's Place 12 100 % 14 Countin' On A Miracle 12 100 % 15 American Skin (41 Shots) 8 67 % 16 Into The Fire 12 100 % 17 Born To Run 12 100 % 18 Glory Days 8 67 % 19 Thunder Road 12 100 % 20 My City Of Ruins 12 100 % 21 Born In The U.S.A. 12 100 % 22 Land Of Hope And Dreams 12 100 % 23 Bobby Jean 11 92 % 24 Viva Las Vegas 1 8 % 25 Atlantic City 2 17 % 26 Backsteets 1 8 % 27 Dancing In The Dark 5 42 % 28 Ramrod 4 33 % 29 Downbound Train 1 8 % A times the song is played B portion of shows the song is played 29 different songs were played avarage of 22 songs per show Songs devided by their original album C D E % F % 3 Born To Run 8 38 10,34 4 Darkness On The Edge Of Town 10 40 13,79 2 The River 20 10 6,90 1 Nebraska 10 10 3,45 5 Born In The USA 12 42 17,24 2 Live In New York City 2 100 6,90 11 The Rising 15 73 37,93 1 Cover 3,45 C number of songs played from the album D number of songs in the album E portion of songs from the album played F portion of songs played live ...'cause tramps like us keep on rockin' Jyrki PS. Saturday 21st September, 2002 will be the date of the third annual Bruce Party in Finland. It will take place in Herne&Nauris, Munkkisaarenkatu 16, Helsinki. Doors will open at 8 PM and the program will include acoustic and electric live music, Brucequiz, live videos from the past, photos from New Jersey etc. For further information, please contact me at jjvirta@nic.fi. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 16:47:46 EDT From: JerzykB@aol.com Subject: Thoughts On the Set List In criticizing Bruce's setlist selection and urging him to play more to the established (and loyal) fan base, Steve wrote: > I appreciate the new songs -- bring 'em on; > he can play all 15 of them, if that's what he wants to do. But in the other > 10 > or 12 spots, I've heard or can think of no explanation why he doesn't award > his > true fans with variety, surprises, and a thoughtful, exciting event, An artist like Bruce has to satisfy the rabid fan base (us, and I'm including myself in that) as well as the more casual fan (discussed a bit in Steve's post) at a concert. He must do it, the show, for both. Yes, I'd prefer if the current tour had a lot of obscure numbers in addition to the new stuff. But to me, the real treat to a fan is new music. Bruce has given us a new album (one that I think is excellent, and I'm still discovering new things about it although I've now heard it a few dozen times), and as far as I'm concerned, the real treat to fans in the current concert tour is the amount of new music being played. The typical casual fan only wants to hear the familiar hits. They don't want to hear the new stuff, except perhaps for the new "hit" and perhaps one or two other new ones, but only if they're catchy, lively, and short. We fans are being rewarded big time with a concert set list that is so heavily weighted to the new material (and even more so if you add in LOHAD and American Skin). If I was a casual fan, I'd be very disappointed in the shows. If the rest of the set list were made up of other unfamiliar material, the casual fan would be cheated. Given the amount of new, unfamiliar -- and, frankly, hard -- material in the set list, Bruce HAD to fill the rest with the safe hits. Jerry [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Sep 2002 22:28:05 +0000 From: "X X" Subject: The House Party in St. Louis St. Louis marked my second show of the tour and my first GA experience, and it was fantastic. We joined the GA line after the 1:00 roll call and were marked in the 250s. Everyone up to #344 made it into the pit. The crowd was extremely friendly. I did not see a single pushing incident. The Savvis personnel honored the fans' system and were very pleasant and cooperative. We stationed ourselves in front of Clarence, about four rows back. Most of the crowd was sitting, sprawled out on the floor, socializing, relaxing, taking up a lot of space. When the lights went out, the crowd rose, tightened up and moved forward. We ended up in the second row. It was a great spot and the closest I've ever been to the stage. Clarence made a lot of eye contact. (Maybe it was because my friend Jeff and I mouthed every word to every song and we looked like freaking idiots...) At one point, I held up my index finger to Clarence to signal "You're number one," to which he mouthed "thank you." I mouthed back, "No, thank you!" and he shook his head with a big grin and said, "No thank YOU!" I wasn't going to argue with him after that. With one exception, Bruce stuck to the setlist. Downbound Train was audibled after The Fuse, replacing Darkness/Candy's Room, which were setlisted together in the #5 slot. The band was very loose and having tons of fun. One of the most priceless moments ever happened during the acoustic opening to Thunder Road. After Bruce sang, "Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays," it sounded like something crashed onto the piano keys. It startled everyone, both on and in front of the stage. Bruce stopped playing his guitar, looked over his shoulder in Roy's direction and said, "What the hell kind of radio was that?" It took a few moments for Bruce to stop grinning and pick up with, "Roy Orbison's playing for the lonely." Then he stopped again, laughing, and said "Roy Orbison's rollin' over in his grave!" Then he finally kicked in and the band joined him. It was choice. At one point between songs, Bruce called for all the guitars to come down front and center on stage. Clarence, with a mischievous grin on his face, ran over behind Little Steven, reached around in front of him and gave Steven's guitar a big old strum. This got a laugh from everyone, and Bruce said something about how it "looks like Clarence wants to play guitar, too!" When Bruce introduced Patti (once again as natural Viagra), he got down on one knee and whined, "Come on baby, I'm on my knees begging, the kids aren't here tonight!" She just looked at him like he was insane, backing away and shaking her head with a sly "no way in hell" smile. Speaking of Patti, her voice was exceptional, particularly on Empty Sky. All of the naysayers who think she can't sing need to hear this. On a related note, I hope that someone eventually coldcocked the morons who insisted on screaming at the top of their lungs during You're Missing and Empty Sky. Show a little respect, people. My personal highlight came during Mary's Place. Bruce meandered over in front of us. Jeff's wife had given me a bag of cookies labeled "Born in the USA Snack Crackers," which she found in the vending machine at her office. The St. Louis show was my 22nd concert since 1980, and even though I've been within spitting distance of Bruce, I've never been able to make eye contact with him. I think he's mastered the art of looking into the crowd without ever really looking at anyone. Well, as Bruce stood in front of me, I held up the red, white and blue package. Bruce leaned forward with a "What the f*ck?" look on his face", squinted, read the package, looked right at me and cracked up with a big laugh. Later during Born to Run, he stood right above us and played guitar while looking right down at me. It was only for a few seconds, but I felt like I had won the lottery. See you in the pit in Chicago! Elise _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2002 01:07:10 -0400 From: mendez@comcast.net Subject: Rise Up? The Failure of The Rising "It's a town full of losers And I'm pulling out of here to win." Remember those words? Remember that sentiment? Remember that optimism? Remember what Bruce Springsteen means? I remembered the other day (more on that later). Remembered why I fell in love with the songs. Remembered why I fell in love with the "Sprit in the Night." Because that is what it is all about. Spirit. Bruce's meaning as an artist...at least to me was about the undeterminable human spirit. Just so happens it's the same spirit that made this country what it is. That not at all mythical "American Way." Yes, that IS what Bruce was about...at least to me. Until "The Rising." Let's just look at the titles from the The Rising: Waiting on a Sunny Day, Countin on a Miracle, Empty Sky, Lonesome Day, My City of Ruins, You're Missing ...certainly not brimming with the optimism and confidence of titles like; Prove it All Night, Born to Run, No Surrender, Promised Land, Open All Night, Living Proof. On "The Rising" Bruce's characters are lonely, nothings. They sit around waiting and hoping and praying for a miracle. They look out at emptiness with nothing but teardrops in a city of ruins. This is the antithesis of everything Bruce has meant to me as an artist. In Bruce's work the theme that has carried throughout his work is that people find reasons to believe. They spit in the face of the Badlands... where it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive. They don't retreat. They don't surrender. "We've got this moment now to live, then it's all just dust and dark." Bruce Springsteen 2002 "Someday girl I don't know when we're gonna get to place we really want to go, and we'll walk in the sun." Bruce Springsteen 1975 I had my "epiphany" after reading the August 18th Week in Review section of the New York Times lead article "The American Way of Death Becomes America's way of Life" by Jack Hitt. Hitt's article about how this country memorializes its dead was filled with comments like; "Memorials used to be simple ways in which the natural sorrow of death was transformed into hope for the future. They were places where people were reminded of a past loss by dedicating themselves to some other purpose." "...the difficult work all great memorials attempt, binding the meaning between two temporal realms-that they died and why we live." Reading this I realized this is the failure of "The Rising." Bruce too has changed the way he memorializes life. When that now famous inspiration yelled out his car window to Bruce "Hey we need you.." it wasn't because he wanted Bruce to depress him with more death, prayers, funerals and tears. I maintain it was because he wanted, err expected Bruce to write songs filled with characters that had the determination, confidence and spirit to overcome this tragedy. Characters that found their inspiration not in death and dying but in living. There is and was so much inspiration in the events of 9-11. Why didn't Bruce find it. Why didn't Bruce chose to show that to us? Remind ourselves about what we are as a country. Isn't that what art is supposed to do? Be a mirror. Who would have expected anything other than that from Bruce? This was his stock in trade. And it was much needed. Unfortunately, it still is. Looking back on the Madison Square Garden show it was cemented for me. At such an important show the song that most affected me about 9-11 was not anything from The Rising but it was Badlands written 24 years ago. Paradise and possibly Nothing Man are the lone exceptions on the disc (I will not count Mary's Place because I'm not convinced and I hate it so much).Yet he chooses not to include either of these songs in the live show. Coincidence? I think not. I guess this songwriting vein goes back to "My City of Ruins." Bruce characters of the past wouldn't just pray with their hands to have their city rise up. Hell, they would have put on their tool belts and built the damn thing by hand! Is The Rising a good record? It is the best work Bruce has done in 20 years. Do I walk away feeling more positive about life after listening? No. I say it is a just flat-out depressing record and this is a feeling I would have hoped never to have received from listening to Bruce... and never have in the past. As someone greatly effected by 9-11(I worked off and on at the WTC for 10 years and my wife lost a friend) maybe I am ultra sensitive. As I said, these are my opinions and my emotions. The Rising did not do for me what I hoped it would. I have given it many, many listens and it just makes me more and more depressed to the point now where I'm done with it. I need happy music. Listening to music is supposed to make you happy. That's Blues 101, the foundation of Rock N Roll. So Bruce if you're listening...I still need you. Stay Hard, Stay Hungry, Stay Alive, Jon Mendez Secaucus, NJ [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 20:15:16 -0700 From: jsavage@concentric.net (Johnny Saulovich) Subject: SF Chronicle review of San Jose 8/27 The SF Chronicle's Neva Chonin, who praised The Rising CD, caught the tremendous show Bruce gave in San Jose, CA on Tuesday evening. Her excellent review is below. Johnny Albany, CA - ----- RISING HIGH Springsteen takes crowd on majestic journey of despair, uplift and catharsis Neva Chonin, Chronicle Pop Music Critic Thursday, August 29, 2002 2002 San Francisco Chronicle. Page D - 1 URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/08/29/DD68374.DTL After 25 years spent at the pinnacle of stardom, Bruce Springsteen would be forgiven for wanting to chill a little and coast on past glories. Instead, chilling is the last thing on his mind. In fact, at age 52, he's on fire. "We're in the midst of a rollback of our civil rights," he announced during the final encore of Tuesday's San Jose concert. "It's a good time to be vigilant and responsible. That responsibility comes with the turf when you're born in the U.S.A." Vigilance, responsibility and faith are the cornerstones of Springsteen's new album, "The Rising," his response to Sept. 11. The first musical statement to strip off the patriotic blinders and view those events through a timeless social and spiritual eye, it held the No. 1 position on Billboard's album chart for two weeks. His tour with the E Street Band takes those themes into an emotionally charged live environment. The result is a 2 1/2-hour show that pulls the audience on a journey through despair, euphoria and reflection. Unlike the 1999-2000 E Street Band reunion tour, it isn't always an easy, or fun, ride. To Springsteen's credit, he doesn't mean it to be. Tuesday's show was shorter and less casual than a classic E Street performance, less a barn-busting party than a narrative intended to inspire and uplift through the cathartic quality of music. And, thanks to some recalculating of the set list, it succeeded. The stiffness and faltering dynamics reported during the tour's opening shows were gone, replaced by a smooth flow between new and old material and dark and light themes. Without their lush album arrangements, many of the new songs took on a renewed, rocking urgency. Revered saxophonist Clarence Clemons and an E Street newcomer, violinist Soozie Tyrell, combined forlorn figures to take "My City of Ruins" to an emotional apex. Guitarists Steve Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren transformed "The Rising" into a surging, midtempo anthem. Ululating vocals by Springsteen's wife, guitarist Patti Scialfa, merged with the melancholy keyboards of Danny Federici and Roy Bittan to give "Into the Fire" the air of a mystical elegy. Drummer Max Weinberg and bassist Garry Tallent held it all together with an ease that belied the new music's complexity. Conducting band and audience alike, Springsteen was, as always, the music's emotional nexus and driving force. His first appearance on the spare stage set the tone for the night: Arms uplifted, he exhorted crowd members to "Come on up to the rising" like a secular preacher awaiting rock 'n' roll rapture. They responded like faithful pilgrims, whether mouthing lyrics word for word or filling the Compaq Center with familiar howls of "Bruuu-uu-uce!" "I know I'm from New Jersey, and I know what my name is," he mumbled gently, then asked for silence during a hushed rendition of "Empty Sky," his song examining profound loss through the lens of Sept. 11. Unfortunately, not all complied, with some mooks greeting lyrics about "blood on the streets" with happy, oblivious whooping. They eventually caught on, and "You're Missing," with its aching piano and violin, played to a mostly silent house. "Worlds Apart," a song extolling cross-cultural understanding, received a majestic workout, with the band using everything from an accordion to finger cymbals to create an Eastern ambience as recorded Qawwali singers provided a spiritual backdrop. With notable exceptions such as "Thunder Road," much of the evening's older material came from 1978's "Darkness on the Edge of Town," whose visions of hope amid a disrupted life segued perfectly with "The Rising's" motif of love among the ruins. The audience, for its part, was just happy to hear old favorites like "The Promised Land" and "Badlands." Springsteen's roaring guitar solo on "Prove It All Night" nearly caused a collective swoon. Other selections were riskier. Bravely, considering the times, Springsteen performed "American Skin (41 Shots)," about the 1999 shooting of unarmed African immigrant Amadou Diallo by New York police officers. The song added depth to the night's portrait of the American experience, offering a social justice perspective that's often been overlooked in the past year. There were party numbers aplenty to balance the heavier moments. Sometimes the need to inject an upbeat mood felt forced, as when the Boss all but hauled people from their seats and danced on the piano during "Mary's Place." But others, like "Ramrod," were sheer, rowdy fun. An encore rendition of "Born to Run" was greeted with expected, and deserved, cheers. Impressively, Springsteen can still make it rock -- perhaps more so now that its longing for happiness within a "runaway American dream" feels, like the Boss himself, especially timely and timeless. E-mail Neva Chonin at nchonin@sfchronicle.com. 2002 San Francisco Chronicle. Page D - 1 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 09:35:11 +0100 (BST) From: karin.s@btinternet.com Subject: chaos in NL ticketsales Hm... so tickets went on sale this morning in the Netherlands for the Ahoy show in Rotterdam. People have been camping since Thursday night to get tickets, and I honestly hope *they* at least managed to get tickets. Being in the UK, I had set my hope on my broadband connection and my phone, but no luck. Managed to get through to the reservations page 10 minutes past and it was already sold out, even though it didn't show it as such for the 1st and 2nd tier tickets. Now what I am extremely pissed off about is the corruption and bad organisation of the post office outlets! I just got off the phone with my mum (who btw is the ONLY one from our whole group of friends who tried to get tix who managed to get 2 - good on you mum!) and she told me that, while a whole group had been queuing there since the early hours of the morning, when the doors opened, quite a number of people were escorted in, and got supplied with tickets before anyone else in the (numbered) queue. My other friend just told me that at another post office, they were so late with opening the doors that NOONE managed to get tickets to Bruce from them, and another friend said at the office he was queueing only 4 people got lucky Karin PS.In the meantime, I hope there is someone out there with a spare ticket who would love to invite me back to my home town to relive my first couple of Bruce shows ever so many years ago ;-) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 10:02:54 +0100 (BST) From: karin.s@btinternet.com Subject: Paris still available apparently there are still some "behind the stage" tickets available, so hurry! http://www.bercy.fr/testok.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 13:32:40 -0700 (PDT) From: Svein Karlsen Subject: Re: A DISGRACEFUL Stockhom ticket release! My friend started calling the ticket agency at 9, got through at 9:20 and got 4 tickets. At 9:25, when he finished his transaction finally went through, the show was sold out. The tickets will arrive COD in a few days. We live in Norway, and experienced no limitations on purchases due to that. Meet me in Stockholm on 10/24! ====-- Svein __________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 18:07:43 -0400 From: "theboss" Subject: Instant Live CDs I Beg Bruce to learn a lesson from THE WHO!!!!!!!!!!! I just bought online the Who concert that The Who just played in Detroit less then a week ago. The web site is WWW.THEMUSIC.COM The web site says The Who wants to stop the bootlegging. If the Who are worried about the number of people bootlegging there concerts, then Bruce must be beside himself, pissed. I would much rather pay bruce a bit and get a soundboard of the show i just walked out of than wait and get a shitty mp3 version off the web. It does not seem like rocket science, even if only 18,000 cd's sell for each show played it would equal alot of dough. If The Who are doing it it would only make sence for Bruce to Also. I was happy to pay $22.00 for a perfect live disc. We all need to Rise up and get the discs pressed. Brad ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Sep 2002 17:46:32 -0700 From: "Eric Douglas" Subject: Darkness as 2 LP's Jon Mendez writes: < In it's own right that list stands with Bruce's greatest work. >> Well, I consider Darkness to be Bruce's best album as it stands, without the extra songs you'd like to add. In fact, I think some of those songs are among his not-as-great songs. Most of the songs you mentioned don't really fit it with the Darkness album so much. The Promise and Iceman aside (both of which I find to be musically boring, although lyrically brilliant), the songs you listed are great live songs, that didn't go with the theme of the album as it was released. I'd bet good money that Bruce had the final say on the track listing for this album, and at the time, he made certain choices that reflected his feeling at the time. Eric. ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #82 ****************************** ********************************************************************* ** 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.