From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #86 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Sunday, September 15 2002 Volume 09 : Number 086 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: Great Bruce quote about 9/11 in latest Rolling Stone ["Jon Greer" ] GA / The Pit ["Wollersheim, Thomas" ] Thunder Road ["M. Conens" ] Wembley sold out in 45 mins [SVParker@aol.com] The Failure of The Rising [Jim Ritchings ] Re: LuckyTown Digest V9 #83 [Eeeestreetband@aol.com] Tired of The Rising ["Curtis, Robert L. LT (NASWI)" ] Springsteen on 9/11 at my High school ["Yan, Peter" ] Warren Zevon Diagnosed With Untreatable Cancer ["Alex Catt" Subject: Great Bruce quote about 9/11 in latest Rolling Stone The latest issue of Rolling Stone has reflections on 9/11 from several notables, including Bruce: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid637 I took my kids to Ground Zero in July. I hadn't gone before. We just walked out onto that public-viewing platform. What's very moving down there are the photographs and memorials. All the smiling faces. Pictures of people with their families on a sunny afternoon in the yard. People in their uniforms. They're a reminder of the life that's gone. I found that sight to be deeply, deeply moving. Just the sense of sacrifice. Especially when you look at the dirty greed and selfishness that's in the news right now -- it's shameful, criminals walking away scot-free. I think one of the things that shocked people was the size of the sacrifice made on that day. There's nothing that I think could prepare people -- I mean, whatever they're paying you to be a fireman or a policeman, they're not paying you that. And that goes to some central point about how people experience their duty, their place in the world, their connection to the people alongside themselves and to complete strangers. If you look at the past twenty years, people might say, "Oh, that's disappeared from America." But if you look closely, it's there every day. And it casts a great contrast to what you see going on at the corporate level right now, and the acquiescence of the current administration, the willingness to look the other way. Jon Greer ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 00:03:14 +0200 From: "B.M. Oskam" Subject: Ticketsales in The Netherlands Dirk Willem Poot wrote: "Until the lady at the counter informed us at 10.15 that the show was sold out, and that they were able to sell 3 pairs of tickets. When the surprised number 4,5 and 6 (me) pointed out the 3 other pairs we were informed that those tickets were 'for themselves' " Ticketsales in Holland were pretty disasterous. I waited half night in the queue as nr 17. At 10 o'clock the tickets went on sale. After 10 minutes the rumour spread that they had 50 tickets printed so I had my hopes up high. But after the 15th customer (you were only allowed to buy 2 tickets) the man said it was sold out. So I was (and still am) pretty dissapointed. Too say it polite... All this made me wondering who decided (and why) to sell only 9000 tickets in a country where Bruce has a regular fan base of about 50 to 60 thousand punters. This means that from every six fans there are five fans heavily dissapointed. (at ten o'clock the queue was more than 100 fans long.) I find it very very hard to swallow that I have to miss the show. The more Bruce made one of the best albums of his and my life. But at the moment listening to it tears my heart out. Counting on a miracle he sings... Bert [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 11:41:23 +0200 From: "Wollersheim, Thomas" Subject: GA / The Pit I apologize is this has already been discussed, but I have found no discussion of how big the pit is. If only 300 people fit in, wouldn't you be reasonably close at the front of the "general" GA ? Or is the barrier really wide ? I'd really like to know, because it'd influence how early I'd have to show up at the venues (I would call myself a hardcore fan, but lining up at 6 a.m. in October doesn't really sound like my cup of tea)... Just if anyone's interested, the start of the ticket's selling in the Netherlands wasn't really great if you were in another country, as the (only ?) website (I could find) selling tickets broke down and wasn't online again until the show had sold out and the phoneline couldn't be reached from Germany, either. At least there's Paris and Berlin - I really feel with the poor scandinavian fans who don't have another option in their area. Thomas in Germany [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 22:14:31 -0700 From: "M. Conens" Subject: Thunder Road Who said Thunder Road is about losing? "It's a town full of losers. I'm pulling out of here to win." To me, that's the cry of someone who doesn't want to be surrounded by people who bring him down. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 18:12:43 EDT From: SVParker@aol.com Subject: Wembley sold out in 45 mins from Q online (www.q4music.com): Springsteen sells out Wembley in 45 minutes 9 September 2002 Interest in Bruce Springsteen's Wembley Arena gig proved the biggest the venue has ever seen, even topping giant acts, U2 and Madonna. Tickets for the sole UK show on 27 October - one of only 7 European shows Springsteen is playing for his current tour the support his album The Rising - sold out in 45 minutes. A spokesman for Wembley Arena said: "This is the biggest event we've ever had enquiries for, we've had more interest and calls for this event than past shows for Madonna and U2." He added, "It's because there is only one date and this makes people more passionate about getting tickets. But our agents are sick of hearing Bruce Springsteen's name now." Hundreds of fans started to queue two days before tickets went on sale to ensure seats for the Boss' first UK date since 1999. However, the fan atmosphere was not entirely peaceful as scuffles between teenagers, elderly people (hired by ticket touts to sit in the queue and buy tickets) and fans created tension. Annoyed fans, thinking the presence of touts would mean poorer seats for them, took to confronting them. One fan who queued for over 24 hours said: "At about 3am one of the kids pulled a blade on a irritated fan who questioned him and he had to be taken away by the police. Near the end some touts were blatantly trying to push in and another teenager was taken out for being verbally abusive to a woman in the queue." A reassuring police and steward presence ensured matters did not escalate. Giving queuing fans a blue wrist band and issuing a receipt rather than actual tickets also helped to deter touts. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 08:13:00 -0700 From: Jim Ritchings Subject: The Failure of The Rising This is a reply to the post from M. Conens , subject above. I don't believe for a minute that Bruce is writing and singing FOR his audience. I think that, like most good artists, he is sharing his own thoughts (in the body of his work) on subjects that are relevant to the world we live in or at least on his mind. He has said that he wrote these songs for The Rising because "it was in the air". And it still is. Maybe it is a "west coast thing" but I can't believe that you can't see the changes brought on by the 9/11 attacks. Sure gas prices are not sky high and the war might be "over there" but we are at war and our citizens are putting their lives on the line to fight it, the stock market sure has changed much either has it, and what about those people who still can't sleep at night or get on airplanes out of fear and anxiety and what about increased security at airports, on planes, in and around buildings and how about the application of our tax dollars to anti-terrorism measures and programs and how about the things that are on countless children's minds that keep them up at night even one year later. If I actually took another 5-10 minutes to think about other changes I could fill this page. Maybe it's an "east coast thing" for me living in New Jersey but there has not been a single day that has passed since 9/11 when an unexpected reminder of what happened that day greets me in some fashion. A lot has changed and I really don't even have to go looking for it. Things might be normal in your back yard or even mine but they are not normal in our country, or the world. Back to your comment about Bruce singing about rock and roll, girls and cars to underpin your point that he should only write about what he lived. If his writing and singing were confined to those things only because he lives them then he would be have been done a long time ago. Take a moment to think about how many of his great songs would not fit into your categorization of his work. What if Dylan only wrote about what he lived, how about Shakespeare? How narrow would their work be? He doesn't have to be a migrant worker to write about them. Nor did he have to be a VietNam vet to write Shut out the Light. He didn't have to be laid off to write Johnny 99 and he didn't have to contract aids to write Streets of Philadelphia. Tell me that those songs are shallow. Dylan didn't have to be a boxer or convicted murderer to write about Hurricane Carter, I could go on forever. So therefore in The Rising I don't think that Bruce had to be a fireman or the spouse of a victim to write songs that touches the emotions and thoughts of those individuals. This is what makes great artists. They have the ability to capture, then portray, things in a meaningful and powerful way despite the fact that have not personally experienced that which they are writing (or painting, or sculpting) about. Sometimes every day people can't understand what others are going through and sometimes songs and music helps them to better understand. Also, if you are looking for Bruce to be that flag waving, USA pride stirring type of musician to help us do something about that happened I think that you are looking in the wrong place. People have mistook him for that but that's not his game. Maybe Charlie Daniels or Lee Greenwood would fit the bill based on the songs they wrote around the Gulf War. [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 07:19:22 EDT From: Eeeestreetband@aol.com Subject: Re: LuckyTown Digest V9 #83 In a message dated 9/7/02 11:22:09 PM Central Daylight Time, owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org writes: > And last, the very funny exchange during Thunder Road - Something > went wrong and there was crash on the piano just as Bruce sang "Like a > vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays", he stopped playing > looked back and said something like "What the hell radio was that? Fix that > motherf***", grinned and went on with "Roy Orbison's singing for the > only..Roy Orbison's rolling over in his grave (big smiles all around) > before > they all kicked in. > he said actually " Elvis is rolling over in his grave....not roy... cheers Larry [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 09:36:50 -0700 From: "Curtis, Robert L. LT (NASWI)" Subject: Tired of The Rising Greetings Tramps, On my way to work this morning, I need some Bruce-Juice...I felt the obvious choice was The Rising. I listened to Empty Sky and then Into The Fire, and I just didn't feel good. I'm afraid that this CD is going to end up the way I said it would in a post I wrote before the tour began, in my CD rack collecting dust. I liked the CD when it first came out, read every review I could find, read the LTDG religiously to see what you all felt about it...I thought it was a good CD. But, knew it could be better. I went to two concerts, and I'm glad I'm sitting down while I type this, but, don't plan to go to any more this tour unless the setlist changes and the 9/11 theme goes away. Dont get me wrong, the concert made me like the CD even more, I was VERY impressed with the bands performance, but if you hear them play Empty Sky once, you've heard it enough, if your hear them play Waiting On A Sunny Day once, you've heard it enough, if you hear MCOR once, you've heard it enough. It was a great concert...but, we need a better concert. I was cringing when people were complaining about the setlist being played, how they felt that he was playing too mush stuff off the Rising, but I think they may be right. I know Bruce 'needed' to write these songs and perform them for us, part of his healing process, the way he delt with this whole mess, how he felt, etc. The guy that told Bruce, "We need you!" was right, but I think what we need is the 'Re-Union Tour' Bruce now. If I go to a concert, I want to hear new material, especially if it comes off a new CD, that's what I expect. But, in this time of refection and sorrow and mourning, if I go to a concert, I want to let my hair down, forget about life for a while, and rock n roll!!!!! We need to hear and feel classic Bruce Springsteen. I know you all know what I'm talking about, even if you don't agree with me. I felt GREAT at the concert when the band played Backstreets, Dancing In The Dark, Atlantic City, Promised Land, Prove It...I felt pretty down when he played stuff off the Rising, because of the theme by which it was written. Going to see Bruce is INCREDIBLE....but that feeling slowly slips away when he sits at the piano and plays MCOR. "Oh, but he's sitting at the piano, playing solo, I've never seen that live!", you say? Well, it's a SAD song, you saw it on the telethon, got it on the new CD, I'm tired of hearing it and you're not missing that much. Seeing them play Blood Brothers in NY last tour was what you need to see! What I want to see again. Unless the setlsits change tempo, I don't plan on going to another concert this tour. This is not a threat, I know there'll be someone else glad to take my ticket, but the magic, the mystery, the ministry of rock n roll is fading. What Bruce-Camp needs to do is get this one show per town, 9/11 theme concert over with, get this out of their system, and release another CD with the other stuff we know he has lying around, the stuff that he would've released if 9/11 never happend and tour next year and pick me up back on my feet, after he knocked me on my ass with the Rising tracks. Thanks for the LINYC DVD, that's all I need right now. Bob This train... PS - And what's with this 'personal rights of others' crap he's preaching now? I hope he's not talking about holding suspected terrorists, and what's going on in Afghanistan. Bruce, our country is at war, I'M IN UNIFORM FIGHTING IT!! [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 23:18:27 -0800 From: cynthia orlando Subject: 9-11 & Bruce Wanted to share a couple of things. On CNN today, Ashley Banfield's program ended with a visual collage of images of remembrance from around the nation. The song used for the backdrop was "My City of Ruins," nicely done. Also, today I attended a memorial service at Oregon's capitol building in Salem at noon. It was about an hour long and probably a lot like others around the country. Ended with a couple of jets flying low over the crowd (a little too close for my tastes). But at the culmination as the crowd dispersed, "The Rising" came up over the loudspeakers. Don't know how else to put it but it sure felt great to hear that song amidst a crowd like that! - Cynthia ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 12:50:41 -0400 From: "Yan, Peter" Subject: Springsteen on 9/11 at my High school Hello fellow LTD'ers In my Catholic High School by Toronto, we had a 4 minute moment of silence and prayer and to introduce the prayer they played the telethon "City of Ruins" ...."with these hands" was very powerful and all the students (mostly into RAP) wanted to get a copy of the song.... Bruce transcends generations and musical fashions...and has kept his integrity by being true to the rock and roll muse...and allows music to be spirtual medicine..better than any Chicken Soup for the illiterate... yours Peter ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 10:32:03 -0400 From: "Deborah Robinson" Subject: HELP SAVE TILLIE AND THE PALACE Many of you have asked what you can do, now, to help Save Tillie in its ongoing efforts to save the Palace Amusements building from the wrecking ball. We need your help now, with a big shout from the crowd. > > The next really big fight over the Palace and the other > waterfront landmarks is going to take place not in Asbury > Park, but in Trenton, the state capital of the great state of New Jersey. > > Before even the first shovel of dirt is turned in Asbury, the > administration of NJ Governor James McGreevey must grant > permits to the developers. One aspect of the permitting > process is designed to protect historic buildings, but already > state officials are under intense pressure from the developers > to get out of the way of the bulldozers. > > Some officials, including those in the State Historic > Preservation Office, are fans of the Palace. We are, however, > unsure how New Jersey's new governor, James McGreevey, > will handle the pressure from the developers. > > MagicBus.com has created an online way for friends of the > Palace and of Asbury Park to share with Gov. McGreevey > their opinions on preservation of the Palace and other > waterfront properties. It's easy. Go to: > http://www.magicbus.com/savetillie/ > click the "5 minutes" icon, add personal comments and send > your message to Gov. McGreevey. > > This is the time for Gov. McGreevey to hear from fans of the > Palace and Asbury everywhere. It is literally impossible for > him to receive too many messages. Please take a few minutes to express yourself to the Governor and help us in our fight to save the Palace. As always, we thank you for your thoughts and support. If you are not now on Save Tillie's email list, but would like to be added in order to receive periodic updates, please give us a shout at pbjcrane@erols.com. Thanks for your help in saving Tillie and the Palace! Debbie Robinson, for the Save Tillie board > > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 21:30:05 -0400 From: "K" Subject: GA Help...Please I have GA tickets for the Lexington show, and my 12 year old son is going with me (as well as a KY friend and his girlfriend). My son has been to 3 Bruce shows on the last tour, so he's a vet, but I'm not sure how the GA procedure is working at the arenas. I've heard snippets of what people have been saying, but I haven't gotten the big picture. Could somebody that's been in GA please describe the process from start to finish? Is the first wristband process a lottery or is it first come, first served? Can I be sure of staying with my son (and hopefully my friends)? How early is it recommended to be there before the show?? I've been to may Bruce shows over the years, but never had floor tix before. My son's thrilled to be on the floor. Just gotta make sure I don't screw up, ya know?? :-) Thanks Johnny in Atlanta PS: I hope they start playing Further on up the Road. I've loved that song since he debuted it in the ATL on that magical Jume night [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 12:03:42 -0500 From: "Alex Catt" Subject: Warren Zevon Diagnosed With Untreatable Cancer From pollstar.com: Sardonic singer/songwriter Warren Zevon has been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. According to his publicist, Zevon, 55, received the news last month and is spending time with his adult children. He is writing and recording as many songs as possible in the coming weeks. As one would expect of the artist whose songs frequently explored grim themes with a wry twist, Zevon has applied his trademark wit to the situation. "I'm OK with it, he said, "but it'll be a drag if I don't make it till the next James Bond movie comes out." Zevon's more than three-decades long career began with Wanted Dead or Alive in 1969. His 1976 album, Warren Zevon, produced by Jackson Browne earned critical acclaim and his career soared with 1978's Excitable Boy, featuring the single "Werewolves of London," which became his most popular song. Over the years, Zevon collaborated with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Chick Corea, Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, George Clinton, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Hornsby, David Gilmour, and Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry of R.E.M., among many others. Zevon's most recent album, My Ride's Here, released this year, features contributions from Irish poet Paul Muldoon, journalist Hunter S. Thompson and author Carl Hiaasen, as well as a cameo from David Letterman. Zevon performed regularly on the "Late Night" show. Rhino Records will release a career retrospective, Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon, on October 15th. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world's largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 16:52:58 -0700 (PDT) From: Gary Dunaier Subject: Bruce Springsteen saved someone's life Is Bruce Springsteen God? Are his concerts religious experiences? And what's all this with the Ministry of Rock & Roll and the Church of Bruce anyway? In some form or another, this topic comes up every so often. I've had the good fortune to attend ten Springsteen concerts so far, but while I did enjoy them I never really felt an epiphany or anything like that... no Springsteen equivalent of Benny Hinn touching you and you fall to the floor. But that's just me. There was a letter to the editor in a 1980s issue of Backstreets that stuck in my mind for a long time, even though I must have disposed of the magazine years and years ago. Even though it didn't directly address any of the "Bruce Is God" themes, I thought it was relevant to the discussions. Unfortunately, since I no longer had the magazine, I couldn't quote the letter. Thanks to a VERY fortunate purchase on Ebay (a bound volume of Backstreets #10-26, produced by Backstreets and originally sold for $60; I was the only bidder and got it for the bargain basement price of $5.00 plus postage), I re-acquired the issue, found the letter and am now able to share it with you. From Backstreets #20, Spring 1987: "Dear Editor: "This letter is in response to Susan Gibby's letter (Backstreets #18). Everybody's got their own story; here's mine. "Two weeks before my 18th birthday, I truly believed my life was hopeless. I had dropped out of school; I was unemployed; the fighting in my house was unbearable; and I was depressed and lonely. My decision was to slit my wrists. "As I sat on my floor, in a big, dark empty house, I cried until the black eye my mother had given me was bright red. I took the pieces from a broken coffee mug I had thrown at my brother, and began to carve at my wrists. After a few minutes, the thing that dominated my life for the past few years, came to my mind... music. I stuck Born To Run into the tape deck and went back to concentrating on my wrists. "I was very light-headed, almost delirious by the time Bruce sang 'Born To Run'. But I heard every word to that song and I knew I was doing the wrong thing. I managed to call a friend who found me semi-conscious, clutching the cover to Darkness On The Edge Of Town. Needless to say, I am here to write this letter. The reason I am is because of Bruce. "While it's true that I made the decision, and I worked out my problems Bruce's words made me want to do it. My life could be better, but it has been a lot worse. Bruce Springsteen indirectly saved my life. I am forever in his debt. "Thanks Bruce, for giving me a 'Reason to Believe'. "Shirleen Firouzan, Brooklyn, NY" Very powerful, don't you think? Gary Dunaier __________________________________________________ Yahoo! - We Remember 9-11: A tribute to the more than 3,000 lives lost http://dir.remember.yahoo.com/tribute ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #86 ****************************** ********************************************************************* ** 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.