From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #99 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Sunday, October 27 2002 Volume 09 : Number 099 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: Paris, Barcelona and Bologna (long ish) ["Russ Farmer" ] Lonesome Day Video ["Gene Lazo" ] Rehearsels Night [Andrea M ] Re: Thomas Bernardo's post in LTD #94 [Edward Miller ] Stockholm ["Anders Blomkvist" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 19:08:19 +0000 From: "Russ Farmer" Subject: Paris, Barcelona and Bologna (long ish) Greetings, Forgive me for any repetition, but I have not read the digests in the past few months (camping and travelling in Europe can do that to you), so I was unsure what to expect with the shows. My brother and I have just finished a 2,500 mile driving tour to the concerts in Paris, Barcelona and Bologna and back to the UK. Words cannot really describe our enjoyment of the experience, but I'll try.... We tried a different tactic this time to get tickets. On previous tours we've tried the official route and invariably ended up with poor to average seats. This time we thought we'd risk it and try the touts and we found no problem whatsoever. We ended up with vg seats in Paris, good seats in Barcelona and fantastic seats in Bologna. Prices were $80, $80 and $125 respectively and we were happy with these prices. I suspended my moral opinion of touts to secure seats, in a similar way to bootleg CD's, because I needed to see/hear these shows. Wow, what concerts! I would go to touts again and again and again if I can end up with the seats we had. Lots of tickets available in Paris and Barcelona, less so in Bologna, but still some. If Bruce is touring in Europe next Summer and any of our American brothers and sisters wish to tie in a vacation with a concert, my experience is that there will be little problem getting tickets and to experience the magnificent Italian, Spanish and French fans is an absolute joy. I've seen Bruce in seven countries and, I may have been lucky with the people directly around me, but I found these audiences to be the best I've enjoyed, are considerate and create a fantastic atmosphere (IMHO). I love the album and I loved these concerts. I enjoyed them significantly more than the last tour. There are many reasons this may be so. We had better seats this time. We both thought the audiences were better. But more significantly, I think nothing beats hearing Bruce and the Band perform lots of new material (granted the last tour had some new material - but these were exceptions). It creates an expectation, an energy and vitality that I thought was sometimes missing on the last tour. Don't get me wrong, I am not disparaging the 99/00 tour, it's just different levels of excellence. I also don't know if I've ever seen Bruce and the Band look so relaxed and happy, completely at ease with this music and the overall show. And I will never, never, forget my amazement, joy, jaw dropping, rushing of blood, shaking, shuddering and "Oh My God's" when Bruce went to the piano and played Spirit in the Night, Incident and For You. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Worth the trip for one of those songs alone, or as my brother put it "f*****g hell". They are not perfect shows, but that is part of their appeal. And the way Bruce handles these little "departures" is pure brilliance. I guess the crowd is putty in his hands, anyway, but everyone seems to love these incidents. They make each show special, irrespective of the songs played. Anyone who has not seen the concerts, it is worth every penny and more to experience a magnificent 2.5 to 3 hrs of pure wonderland. We have good tickets for London on Sunday.and we can't wait. Regards, Russ Farmer England PS I've never noticed so much camera work at Bruce concerts # at all three venues (I had been to Paris Bercy before). Is there a plan afoot for a Live In Europe DVD? Paris, 14-10-2002 On at 8.20 pm, Off at 10.45pm Forgot my pen + paper for the setlist...Remember Bruce commenting on "..a beautiful audience." and they were...drop dead silence in all the right places (IMHO). Video Screens showed a B/W Video of Bruce playing a country/bluesy 'Countin on A Miracle' after the band finished. Elliot Murphy on for Born to Run People were queuing about 1pm for the standing areas. The standing crowd was right up to the front of the stage. Barcelona, 16-10-2002 On at 9.00 pm, Off at 11.45pm 1. The Rising / 2. Lonesome Day / 3. Prove It All Night / 4. Darkness on the Edge of Town / 5. Empty Sky / 6. You're Missing / 7. Waiting on a Sunny Day / 8. Promised Land / 9. Worlds Apart / 10. Badlands / 11. She's The One / 12. Marys Place / 13. Dancing in the Dark / 14. Countin on a Miracle / 15. Spirit in the Night (Bruce on piano) / 16. Incident on 57th Street (Bruce on piano) / 17. Into The Fire 18. Night / 19. Ramrod / 20. Born to Run 21. My City of Ruins / 22. Born in the USA / 23. Land of Hope and Dreams / 24. Thunder Road No Video shown Comments The standing crowd was right up to the front of the stage. Bruce, solo on piano for Spirit in the Night, forgot the lyric; '.hazy davy got really hurt..err nope that's not it.err... hazy davy got really hurt..err nope (big laugh).err..ok, ok." and he restarted at the beginning of the verse to get it ".he ran into the lake.". Very funny. Said that Incident was "by request' After Into the Fire he came back on changed into a T-shirt. It was hot. Said that Night was "by request' Seemed almost certain after LOHAD that was it. But a MASSIVE chant of 'Ole, Ole' Ole' and Bruce seemed to mouth "lets do one more" and we got Thunder Road. A Massive 12 ft x 12ft flag was unfurled from the top level "Don't Change Ever, We Are With You, As You Know You Are The Boss, Come Back As Soon A s Possible, Thanks', which Bruce read after LOHAD Bologna, 18-10-2002 On at 9.16 pm, Off at 00.07am 1. The Rising / 2. Lonesome Day / 3. Night / 4. Something in the Night / 5. Empty Sky / 6. You're Missing / 7. Waiting on a Sunny Day / 8. You Can Look / 9. No Surrender / 10. Worlds Apart / 11. Badlands / 12. She's The One / 13. Marys Place / 14. Countin on a Miracle / 15. Backstreets / 16. For You (Bruce on piano) / 17. Into The Fire 18. Stand On It / 19. Dancing in the Dark / 20. Ramrod / 21. Born to Run 22. My City of Ruins / 23. Born in the USA / 24. Land of Hope and Dreams / 25. Thunder Road Video Screens showed B/W Video of Bruce playing a country/bluesy 'Countin on A Miracle' after the band finished Comments The standing area did not have a fenced off front section (as in Paris and Barcelona). Bruce told everyone to "look after each other". Quite a few people passed over to the front during the show (there was a 5 ft gap between the crowd and stage). Soundcheck was at about 6.05 pm. Heard The Rising and Lonesome Day, but had to look for tickets so unsure if he played other songs The Italian fans like their flags. Counted many ("This Hard Band", "Grazie Bruce", "God Bless You Inner Brother", "Bruce Forever In Italy", " Today We're Rising For Bruce. Peace!", "War, What Is It Good For, Absolutely Nothing"). After LOHAD, Bruce and Steve checked out all the flags, pointing things out to each other and laughing at some. Dancing in the Dark: Changed the lyric ".change my clothes, my nose, my face" Instead of just Clarence and Bruce wiggling their bums, it was all seven (excepting Max, Roy + Danny). On For You, Bruce was at the piano.."Err, Patti, Soozie, Nils, I need some help here". When no one turned up he turned towards the back of the stage and we heard him say "Hey Pats, come on up here and help me". Pretty funny..seemed like source material for a Rich Kortz Behind the Scenes story. Elliot Murphy on for Born to Run ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 11:22:01 +0200 From: "mark van atten" Subject: random notes from (not: in) Rotterdam Hi alll, Saw last night's show in Rotterdam, you will have seen the setlist by now, so I'll treat you to some rambling instead. Although I had seen and enjoyed the first part of Barcelona on MTV, it was, predictably, even greater to see the act myself again (this was my 8th show). Bruce's voice seemed in pretty good shape. I agree with the soul who wrote earlier on this Digest that some of the Bruce/Steve solos might with some benefit be traded in for work by Nils. (But Bruce shows an intensity of a different kind.) I had put on my `Flip' T-shirt in support of him. During his beautiful acoustic intro to `Counting on a miracle' he corrected the tuning of his instrument while playing. It also seemed to me that throughout the concert, he was more worried than the others about his monitor, walking over to it regularly. Maybe someone in the front rows saw more? When introducing what would turn out to be an acoustic `The River', Bruce mentioned he did this for a girl who he knew is a Metallica fan. Apart from recognizing it for what it was, I couldn't hear Bruce's intro to LoHaD very well. He also changed his guitar immediately after that. What had happened? That pony tail looked great on Patti. mark. - --- Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven Kardinaal Mercierplein 2, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium phone ++ 32 16 32 6343, fax ++ 32 16 32 6311 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 19:36:18 +0200 From: "CS" Subject: ROTTERDAM SHOW - INCIDENTS IN E STREET Dear Tramps, The show started with a warm welcome and a E Street Band obviously in a good mood. And after a few seconds... the 1st incident... followed by other incidents... which all made the band loose and this show absolutely great! 1) Bruce forgets the 1st solo in The Rising => Garry & Max stunned. After 1 sec. Bruce realized and jumped into the wildest and most original The Rising solo I've ever heard, Steve was hilarious, so was Bruce... 2) Bruce crashes into Clarence during Waintin' on a Sunny Day => the big Man forgot to step off the lower part of the stage, Bruce didn't notice, slipt on 20 meters and crashed into Clarence's legs - who obviously didn't move an inch - but Bruce enrolled himself around the Big Man and almost fell off of stage (small security zone, hence no fan to help!), huge moment! 3) The Band enjoys the show, deconcentrates and hits a really weird part during Waitin' on a Sunny Day => Bruce noticed, turned around, walked for a few sec. and then starred at Max and stopped the band. "We gotta get this one right!" He launched the crowd into the sing-along again and the band jumped in - right this time - and finished the job properly 4) the crowd sings along "Badlands" during "Mary's Place" => Bruce slapped his forehead grinning "You guys really don't follow me up" and had us sing louder and louder, the crowd went nuts 5) the violin mike falls dead during Soozie's solo in My City of Ruins => she 1st thought she hadn't switched it on, so she checked, but it didn't change anything - all that in like 2 seconds - so Roy starred at her and the Boss and jumped in, filling the "blank" with a soft and great piano solo 6) Kevin, on his 43rd birthday which we early-comers celebrated by singing to him before the show, mixed the guitars up and gave the wrong one to Bruce on Land of Hope => the song had already started, so when Bruce realized, it was too late, Kevin was devastated, Bruce stepped up to the mike and started to play (Stevie was once again laughing his heart out) and during the 1st mandolin solo, Bruce and Kevin swapped the guitars) Many didn't notice all that but God I enjoyed this and felt like an insider from the 2nd row on the ground! This is the E Street Band: the best band ever together, able to rebounce from everything! Besides all that, Bruce's voice was once again pure magic, The River was played on the 12-string and dedicated to a Dutch fan whose husband just got laid off (I think, not sure), Nils was much more used (extended solos on No Surrender, intro on Countin' etc.), Max was on fire screamin' "Come on Baby" at Bruce during his life-time achievement part at the end of BIUSA etc., Bobby Jean, For You, Thunder Road, this fantastic Into the Fire etc., great extended sing-alongs during Badlands, screams during Ramrod etc. Only a few dumb Dutch fans pissed me off at the front (defending the fence like it was their property and not interested at all in talking with other fans, they were even very aggressive and barely knew the words to the songs... What were they doing here? I don't know. New fans brought by The Rising ?). But most of the Dutch audience was a treasure, you guys are great and I will come back to see Brucie in Spring in your country (cheers to the group who sung happy b'day to Kevin!). Rave on, Clement Nancy, France [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 06:19:07 -0400 From: "Gene Lazo" Subject: Lonesome Day Video I just saw the Lonesome Day video for the first time on the VH1 website and I've got to say that the imagery is very striking. The thing that jumped out at me though was the vocal phrasing. On the album version, it seems that Bruce is trying to convince US that its gonna be all right. On the video, he's trying to convince HIMSELF. Interesting bit of nuance that changes the song somewhat. Gene Lazo [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 22:02:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Andrea M Subject: Rehearsels Night If you get a chance to get the "Rehearsels Night", a new title from Crystal Cat it is very good. Besides it being a real good sounding show, the packaging was made on a "high glossy" paper. Very nicely done Crystal Cat. I just hope they put out more American shows, read that they will have out "Opening Night" soon and next is "Stockholm Night". Which would be a drag if thats the end of the American show releases. Andrea __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Y! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your web site http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 23:26:08 -0400 From: Edward Miller Subject: Re: Thomas Bernardo's post in LTD #94 Any doubts I had about Springsteen's reluctance to take political stands were snuffed out when I read Thomas Bernardo's response to my post. Whenever anyone responds by using the words he does (calling my explanation "ridiculous," "inane," having "no appreciation for the distinct styles of these two artists" and having "no sense of what the musicians are trying to convey through their music.") I have even more faith in my opinion -- after all, when you can't beat the argument, you attack the speaker. Bernardo opines that Steve Earle strained to pen a controversial song to generate interest and album sales -- and then inexplicably states that "anyone who claims that genuine writers like Steve Earle and Bruce Springsteen gauge commercial and controversial impact when they sit down to write a song has, at the very least, little grasp of the writing process and, worse, ascribes to these two artists dubious and dishonorable motivations wholly nonexistent in their respective careers up to this point." Despite that internal inconsistency, Bernardo, and others, are ignoring history. To say that Springsteen has not guaged commercial impact is ludicrous. One need only remember the story behind the decision to "commercialize" "Dancing in the Dark" to ensure a top-40 hit on BIUSA to know that commercial impact has driven Bruce's decisions. "Hungry Heart" is another example. Finally, remember that one of the reasons Steve left the band a decade or so ago was his dissatisfaction with Bruce's avoidance of overt political statements. To say that commercial motivations are "nonexistent" in Springsteen's career is, I think, the hopeful wish of someone who refuses to see the whole person, warts and all. Facing those facts does not, as Bernardo says, show "little grasp of the writing process." In fact, it recognizes a sometimes important element of the writing process (or more likely, the song selection and production processes). That's not to say the existence of commercial awareness automatically creates a bad end product; in fact, there's often very good product that comes from bending to commercial goals (hey, I like Dancing as much as the next person). But I just wonder how great this latest album would have been if he had put commercial interests aside; it might even have come close to Tom Joad (an album that is far more political than Nebraska, by the way). ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2002 19:33 GMT From: Mannherz@t-online.de (Uwe Mannherz) Subject: Bruce in Berlin 2002 Hello Luckytowners, just returned from Berlin. It'll be my only Bruce concert this year, sigh... The concert itself was terrific for me. I heard for the first time The Promise ("especially for Berlin") and Incident live, Bruce and the Band were in a very good mood. Happy moments with Waiting On A Sunny Day, No Surrender. The sound was poor (too 'screamy'); my ears are still aching. I stood about 10 m from the front, half-left position. Does anyone have a CDR from this concert? I have lots to trade. Greetings from Essen (about 550 km from Berlin, but every km was worth it) Uwe. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 10:03:37 +0200 From: "Maarten de Leeuw" Subject: The Rising vinyl Hey! I heard about "The Rising" being available on a vinyl double album as well. Could anyone who has this tell me how the songs are split up. In other words... what's the first song on side 1,2,3,4? This in order to update my Springsteen discography. Thanks for the help! MM [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 07:38:19 +0000 From: "Anders Blomkvist" Subject: Stockholm This tour I have not "cheated" as much as on earlier tours, reading every setlist, listening to bootlegs and so on. Ok, I watched the MTV broadcast # but I did not know what song would come next and exactly how it would sound. It felt good not know what to expect. It took a long time to fill the arena (problems with the subway) and the crowd was pretty quiet before the show #as it turned out, they were just holding back the eruption. Sound was not very good in the beginning. But who cares when you hear No Surrender and Jackson Cage? The crowd did not recognise (or had never heard) Jackson, so it was not as much cheering as it should be. And the version was not the best the band has done. The song that suffered the most from the sound was The Fuse. I guess it really is beautifully arranged, but with muddy sound you could not distinguish one instrument from the other. But after the Fuse, the sound got better and we got Candy's Room. We could not believe our luck! I think Bruce should have done another fast song before Empty Sky, since you do not want to switch the "on-off button" of Rock to many times. But Empty Sky and You're Missing are very good. After that the party began. Bruce began working up the crowd behind the stage # and the concert began looking and feeling like a "normal" Bruce concert. I do really believe that Bruce thinks that Worlds Apart rocks # but in my book it does not. If he had thrown in another song in the line Waitin' on a Sunny Day/The Promised Land/Worlds Apart/Badlands/Gloria/She's the One/Mary's Place yesterday # it would have left the crowd gasping for air. Not that I am unhappy when the crowd just went on and on after Badlands. Bruce could not make any more false endings # so he turned to Gloria (full version). What a blast! And then, one of my favourites, She's the One! At the beginning of Mary's place Miami disappeared. Bruce began searching the stage, looking under the piano and asking everyone where Steve was. "We may have an international incident here", he said to the crowd (or something similar). But he began the song anyway and after awhile Steve appeared (bathroom break). Bruce said "I was going to introduce the band in this song, but I couldn't # since my band was not here". After the song Bruce goes over to the piano # I could not believe my luck. Incident!!! I did not catch it on the last US Leg of the reunion tour, so this was the highlight of the evening for me (not for a guy behind me who talked on the cell phone # I moved out of hearing distance pretty fast.). After the song, great version # but where was Suzie?, he did not rise # and said "I need some singers here". Suzie and Patti came up and help him on For You. The sound was more crisp on Incident (or was it that Bruce sang louder on this one). He finished the main set with Into the Fire # beautiful version, but I think the main set should end with rockers. But who am I to complain when Bruce plays Incident? First encore with Dancing/Ramrod/Born to Run # great party. Absolutely fantastic version of Dancing!!! Great interaction between Steve and Bruce on Ramrod. I wish the concert would end with these songs plus Raise you hands, or something similar. I want to leave the show exhausted from dancing and singing, I do not think the ending with Land of Hope and Dreams/Thunder Road does that. Land of Hope and Dreams is a great song, and so is Thunder Road # but they do not rock as much as the new Dancing! The electric Born in the USA is good, but I could live without it # but the crowd loved it! After the concert Bruce said "See you next spring", the newspapers heard "See you next summer". Sounds great to me! But the rumour is that he will play at the same arena that the Swedes rocked to destruction (Ullevi in Gothenburg). The arena could not take 65 000 fans rocking to Born in the USA, Born to Run and the other songs. They had to renovate the arena after the two concerts. I think the arena is too big for this tour. But maybe Bruce decides to change the setlist even more than he has done between the US and Europe this tour. After the concert Clarence said "It feels fantastic, Sweden is really wonderful. The audience in Stockholm is superb. I am happy to return here again. I have spoken to Bruce and I can reveal that he sends his word that we will come to Ullevi in Gothenburg. And there it has worked well before, if I do not remember it wrong". So we have confirmation both from The Big Man and media # sound good. In another interview he says "I had a crisis when I became 50. But I went to the pub, got drunk and got over it. Now I am getting younger and younger". Sorry for the not so great English, but I need to get some work done # instead of proof reading. If you have any question regarding the Bruce quotes, the songs or anything else # to not hesitate to contact me. We I write is not always what you want to hear. For instance, I have not mentioned the Talibans, if Bush is cute, if I like paying high taxes or if US fans complain too much if Bruce does not play in their living room every weekend. Enjoy the concerts, be glad to be alive and do not blame the Swedes for everything bad in the world! Setlist: The Rising/Lonesome Day/No Surrender/Jackson Cage/The Fuse/Candy's Room/Empty Sky/You're Missing/Waitin' on a Sunny Day/The Promised Land/Worlds Apart/Badlands/Gloria/She's the One/Mary's Place/Countin' on a Miracle/Incident on 57th Street (solo piano)/For You (solo piano)/Into the Fire Encore no 1: Dancing in the Dark/Ramrod/Born to Run Encore no 2: My City of Ruins/Born in the U.S.A./Land of Hope and Dreams/Thunder Road Forza Bajen! Anders Blomkvist Sodermalm Sweden ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #99 ****************************** ********************************************************************* ** 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.