From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #113 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Sunday, December 29 2002 Volume 09 : Number 113 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: Toronto, December 5, 2002 [Matthew Orel ] Lonesome day cd singles [William.Blaik@xfab.com] Bootleg questions... [John Deacon ] 30 th Anniversary ["Clement Schvartz" ] Re: Setlist opinion ["Magnus Lauglo" ] Great Show and Thanks ["Matt Butcher" ] SSJ NYE ["Bill King II" ] Re: 30th Anniversary Tribute Concert [Vitrarius@aol.com] Paulie and Bruce [Thom Engel ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2002 21:12:09 -0500 From: Matthew Orel Subject: Toronto, December 5, 2002 I touched the guitar. Last night, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played an outstanding show at Air Canada Centr in Toronto. A 5-song opening salvo of The Rising, Lonesome Day, Candy's Room, No Surrender and Night, all knockout performances, basically killed us right at the start. Candy's Room was one of the few older standards that I'd never heard Bruce play, so I was pretty psyched. I touched THE guitar. The emphasis of Bruce's set has changed somewhat since we last saw him in Auburn Hills back in August. At that time, The Rising dominated the set, with an array of older songs seemingly picked to coincide thematically with it. Last night, while the set still included 10 of the 11 songs from The Rising that were in that first set ("The Fuse" having been dropped), and still in the same basic order, the pacing and feel were totally different. I touched the GUITAR. Several older songs were audibles, and the results could be chaotic and exciting. For Cadillac Ranch (which replaced Darlington County on the setlist), Bruce went through multiple false endings; after one such ending Nils, apparently thinking the song over, got out his banjo to start "Worlds Apart." When Bruce launched back into "Cadillac Ranch," Nils was left there with a "what do I do now??" look on his face, and Bruce just shouted over, "play the banjo!" So we had "Cadillac Ranch" with a banjo. I PLAYED the guitar. Loose endings and wild antics continued throughout the night. Bruce took stage-long slides to both sides of the stage, faked out Steve and Max at least once each during song endings, and goofed himself on at least one. It was all a zany splended mess. Not to mention that Bruce's voice and guitar playing were in top form; I've never much cared for the guitar solo as machine gun effect, but during "Worlds Apart" he made a believer out of me. I TUNED the guitar. Highlights weren't just in the antics and looseness, though. Nils contributed a stirring acoustic introduction to "Counting on a Miracle," and the extended vocal introduction to "Into the Fire" by Patti (along with Max and Bruce, in particular), was dramatic and effective. And "Born in the U.S.A" - outside the USA presented simply as a "prayer for peace," was downright scary, with a thunderous bass boom coming in not from Garry but from Roy. BOING. It is also apparent that Bruce has been working on his piano playing. Last night, he turned in a lovely rendition of "If I Should Fall Behind," with an introduction that was eerily reminiscent of "The Price You Pay" - a song that, alas, remains unplayed. The guitar. The encore set has become a strongpoint on this tour - first with the triple release of a high-octane "Dancing in the Dark," an insane roadhouse "Ramrod" in which Bruce proves yet again that he can't dance (but it doesn't matter), and then "Born to Run" in which the folks in section 306 are up just as surely as the lunatics down front. The guitar is mine. In the end, lunacy prevailed. With seemingly half the front row having brought santa hats for the band, Bruce, Clarence, Roy and Nils all put on hats (Clarence brought his own) and ripped out the traditional holiday tune, with Bruce going into another crazy dance and faking out the band again, a perfect ending. I touched the guitar (the saxophone is next). - --Matt ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 16:19:47 +0000 From: William.Blaik@xfab.com Subject: Lonesome day cd singles Firstly, thanks for an excellent posting regarding cd/dvd singles Ferdinando Ametrano. I have a question, the current 2 track single has an "Exclusive" live version of Land of Hope and Dreams from MSG. So this is different from the Live in NYC version? Thanks Will ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 18:37:37 +0000 (GMT) From: John Deacon Subject: Bootleg questions... Hi all - i've just received a couple of bootlegs in trades (as SHN files as it happens) 21-Sep-1978 The Bosses Birthday Party 05-Nov-1980 Heart & Soul (the "improved" version) they're fine, but the track listings are different to those on the artwork and on Rich Breton's CD "Brucelegs" Discography site (http://www.mv.com/ipusers/richbreton/brucelegs.htm) The Bosses Birthday Party has Disc 1: 1. High School Confidential 2. Badlands 3. Spirit In The Night 4. Darkness On The Edge Of Town 5. Sweet Little Sixteen 6. Independence Day 7. The Promised Land 8. Prove It All Night 9. Racing In The Street 10. Thunder Road Disc 2: 1. Meeting Across The River 2. Jungleland 3. Santa Claus... 4. Fire 5. Candy's Room 6. Because The Night 7. Point Blank 8. Kitty's Back 9. The Fever Disc 3: 1. Incident On 57th Street 2. Rosalita 3. Born To Run 4. 10th Ave 5. Jungleland 6. Rosalita 7. Devil w/ Blue Dress 8. Quarter to 3 the order's correct but the original listing had 8 tracks on Disc 1, 10 on Disc 2, and only 5 on Disc 3... the last 4 on my Disc 3 are bonus tracks from i don't know where or when... can anyone shed any light on this...? is it a tree'ed version of the show that someone's re-ordered and added extra tracks to ? Heart & Soul is exactly as the expected track listing except that the two bonus tracks at the end of Disc 3 are missing. did these go AWOL when the show was remixed ? is that what the "improved" version is ? i'll be putting the shows up on my server sometime soon so any info would be appreciated... thanks, john http://albert.star.ucl.ac.uk/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 09:46:03 +0100 (Heure d'hiver Paris Madrid) From: "Clement Schvartz" Subject: 30 th Anniversary Al wrote : "Do you think Sony will spring for a "30th Anniversary Concert Celebration" for Bruce, the way they did for Dylan at MSG in '92? Would make nice a conclusion to the 2003 Tour, don't ya think? ;) If so, who would you like to see perform?" Sure ! Great idea, what about The Red Hot Chili Peppers (big fans), John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan himself, Pearl Jam, Neil Young, U2 of course, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, Counting Crows, Wallflowers, Melissa Etheridge, Badly Drawned Boy, SSJ etc ? But I'm sure Bruce would go for youngsters or desperados (which I like) like Joe Gruschecky, John Wesley Harding & co. ! Rock on, Clem' ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 16:17:40 -0500 From: "Magnus Lauglo" Subject: Re: Setlist opinion Hi all, Bruce is on the road with The Rising, and it is great. But we all have different opinions on justy how great it is, and how much greater it could be. I think being open and tolerant of others' opinions is very important, and the discussions on LTD have generally been of a very high quality, due to a general acceptance that people's opinions will be different. If we all agreed, it wouldl be boring to discuss this kind of stuff anyway. JLPCM@aol.com writes; >In response to the setlist discussion: >1. I really can't believe the people who have the nerve/arrogance to >complain about the supposed rigid setlist. It is notable that someone who complains about fans having "the nerve/arrogance to complain about the rigid setlist" does it in such an arrogant way him/herself. >Has anyone been paying attention to the last 4 weeks of this tour? I have been paying attention to the setlists for the last 4 weeks. And while it has been very cool to see and endless slew of oldies played live again, very few of them complement the new material. What do For You, or Where the Bands Are have to do with the theme of the new tour? I would far prefer to see the likes of Chimes of Freedom, Reason to Believe, Across the Border, Souls of the Departed, Long Time Coming and Living Proof. I am not ungrateful to Bruce, I think he is putting on the best rock show there is right now. But I think it could be better. I know Bruce is capable of putting on a better structured show. He has done so in the past. >2. I do a fair amount of public speaking and many times I have to the same >presentation to different groups on different days...similar to Bruce and the >band. There is a need to have a certain order in the presentation/setlist to >allow for continuity in the message and a cohesiveness in the show..both for >Bruce and the band. Yes, but the exiting order is still not what it should be. The set is still suffering from some of the problems which were evident back in August. Into the Fire just doesn't work to end the main set. Counting on a Miracle is a terrific song, but needs to be put earlier in the set. There is still no reinvented older song which works in the context of the new material, which has become a setlist standard. The 88 tour had great revisitings of Be True and You Can Look. The Joad tour had reinvented versions of Darkness and BUSA. The closest we get to this kind of thing this time around is a rushed version of DITD, which is neither a significantly different from the original nor (IHMO) a superior version. And it has nothing to do with the themes of struggle, loss, hope and faith. This tour has been full of shows equivalent to the Asbury Park shows back in 96, which were so chock full of old rarities which didn't complement the new material, that the theme of the Joad tour was almost lost. I would personally prefer a themetically better structured setlist with less variety from night to night. That is just my personal humble opinion. I agree with a post in a recent digest that points out that shows on this tour seem to have less individual character, compared to shows in the past, but I don't know quite how Bruce could change taht, or if he even wants to. >3. I just returned from Miami's show...it was fabulous!! Bono absolutely >nailed Because the Night and he and Bruce had a great time doing it. I was >in the pit and the show was a knockout from the first note to the last. If >the setlist is too set, then stay home and give your Bruce music to someone >who can appreciate it. It is insulting to him after he consistently gives >night in and night out more than any performer in the history of rock and >roll. If you think the setlist should be different, then put a band together >and start a tour yourself. I suspect that Bruce would disagree with you. I don't think he feels insulted that fans of his have constructive and honest feedback. And to be honest, if he does feel insulted, that says something about him. Are we fans just supposed to be by automatically grateful and free of any kinds of contructive criticism or suggestion for improvement? We fans who have seen Bruce play over and over again are the world's best experts at what works and what doesn't work in the live setting; and we are more distanced from it than he is. If he didn't at least listen to our input, he would be doing himself a disfavour. But he does seem to listen. He takes requests and decided to shake up the setlists after the initial dozen shows or so. the shows are much better than they were in the beginning, but they still arent perfect, and they still aren't in my opinion, anywhere in the same league with the best shows he has put on in the past. This is just my opinion, and you are perfectly entitled to your own. But please don't tell other fans how they should or should not respond to the music. Magnus ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 22:16:12 -0500 From: "Matt Butcher" Subject: Great Show and Thanks Hey Everyone! My husband's been a member of Lucky Town Digest for 7 or 8 years now although he's never written in. He reads it religiously, but is in awe of everyone else so he hasn't written yet. I've kidnapped his e-mail so I could write about my Toronto experience! It was the first show of this tour for us, we saw him in Auburn Hills and TO last tour. Matt (hubbie) and I didn't get to the line for GA until 1:30 (missed being in the pit by 5 people). Waiting in line you meet so many great people. One of the best was Steven who was behind us around 2 in the afternoon and his cell phone rings. All I hear is 'No, I don't have those papers in front of me. I'm not at my desk right now, but go ahead and ask me any questions you have.' The ambulance roaring by in the back troubled his client a bit. I just laughed and we got to talking after his call. Singing Robin Williams does Elmer Fudd doing Bruce signing 'Fire' was also a memorable experience. The great thing was that the great group around us in line was also the great group around us at the show. And for the show we did make the first row against the barricade. It was only my third show, but I just can't get over how much energy and charisma he has. He is, hands down, the BEST musician out there. He just blows my mind. And all his fans are incredible. I just wanted to thank the lady behind my husband who gave him the bottle of water while I was passing out during 'Into the Fire'. I guess that's when I missed Pink Cadillac and Never Surrender!!! We missed the entire first encore while I was being revived (I did get free orange juice and candies though). So here's my advice to all future GA's (It was my first time for GA, never been to any shows with it before). Don't be afraid to eat and drink, apparently your body needs that stuff and take off all extra layers once you get in to the venue 'cause once Bruce gets on stage and Clarence shakes his maracas it gets HOT and you do not want to miss a millisecond of the show. I don't recommend people faint to do this but in the end I got us into the Pit. We were allowed only at the very back and because it was the only place we could go. We were planning on going to the EBM after to meet everyone, but I was feeling weak still so we went back to the hotel instead. Hopefully now my husband will write in once in a while, who knows. At least now you guys know that there is another Bruce fan out there. Just so you guys know, it's great living vicariously through your descriptions of all the shows. Keep it up! Paula [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 08:25:43 -0600 From: "Bill King II" Subject: SSJ NYE We're havin' a New Year: Long Branch becomes Jukesville this New Year's Eve Published in the Asbury Park Press and the Home News Tribune 12/27/02 By ED KAZ! Correspondent As far as we can tell, Southside Johnny Lyon is the only harmonica-totin', blues-shoutin' hipster ever to hail from Ocean Grove -- a town known more for its spirituality than for its funk. Since the release of their first album (1976's "I Don't Wanna Go Home," a criminally overlooked gem showcasing songs penned by Steven Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen), to their most recent "Going to Jukesville," Lyon and the Asbury Jukes have been carrying the banner for genuine American rock and soul music all around the world. Fresh from tour dates in Europe, they're coming back home to the Jersey Shore to do what they do best: Ring in the New Year with their trademark brassy bang. It's become a Garden State tradition. And who knows? This year he may even get the timing right. But don't count on it . . . JERSEY ALIVE: Southside Johnny, you are a New Year's Eve fixture. How does it feel to be a fixture? SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: (laughs) I like it. New Year's Eve is amateur night for me. I usually don't drink on New Year's because all the amateurs are out there gettin' drunk. It is a great night to play and people are really up and have a great time. It brings its own set of problems; All that counting down to New Year's, I never get it right. I never get any help with it either. But I do like playing at New Year's and I remember when Guy Lombardo used to play every New Year's. He said, "When I die I'm takin' New Year's with me." That's the way I feel. When I die I'm takin' New Year's with me. JERSEY ALIVE: Can you operate a harmonica under the influence of alcohol? SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: I think that's the only way. (blues man) Jimmy Reed used to soak his in gin. JERSEY ALIVE: Have you ever done that? SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: Before the Jukes started we were the Blackberry Blues Band, and we were playing at that little place in Sea Girt . . . I can't think of the name of it. Me and David Meyers and Paul Dickler. I thought, 'Well, I'll try that tonight.' So I got a glass of cheap gin from the bar and soaked the harmonica in it. And when we got to the song which I played that key of harmonica in, I reached in, pulled it out, shook off the gin, put it in my mouth, took a deep breath and fell right off the stool. It was like free-basing gin. (laughs) I thought I had caused permanent damage to my lungs. I fell right off the stool, I was in such pain. JERSEY ALIVE: I guess the kids shouldn't try that at home. SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: I would say, children don't do that. JERSEY ALIVE: What's the craziest New Year's show you've ever done? SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: We played for years at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic. I remember one time I said, "Look. Every time you get me a clock for New Year's something goes wrong. This year get me a digital clock with big numbers so that I can see it!" So they get me the digital clock. Now it's gettin' to be a minute to New Year's and they turn on the red lights, and the numbers disappear because the LED readout doesn't work under certain light. I looked at it and it was blank. And I went, "That's perfect." (laughs) JERSEY ALIVE: Every year they mess it up. SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: You know? I don't even give a --------! It's New Year' whenever we say it is at that point. . . JERSEY ALIVE: . . . and everyone will adjust to what you make New Years become, and it could possibly throw off the whole time-space continuum. You have an awesome responsibility. SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: That's right! A huge black hole might open in the front of the stage. And if it does, you better believe I'm steppin' right into it. JERSEY ALIVE: That's something to look forward to. Maybe it will happen this year. SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: I'm hopin'! SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & THE ASBURY JUKES NEW YEARS EVE SPECTACULAR Doors open at 7 p.m. Tuesday Ocean Place Resort and Spa Ballroom Ocean Blvd., Long Branch $68 for show and party only $118 package includes 7:30 p.m. reception, buffet and two-hour open bar 'I Don't Wanna Go Home' packages including overnight accommodations range from $219-$442 (732) 571-4000 "Going to Jukesville" is available at www.southsidejohnny.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 22:22:12 -0500 From: Vitrarius@aol.com Subject: Re: 30th Anniversary Tribute Concert In LTD V9 #112 Al or makes a provocative suggestion wondering whether Sony might stump up for a 30th Anniversary Concert for Bruce as they did for Dylan back in 1992. Much as Bruce fans might like to believe that such a celebration would be meretricious and a good night out, Pay For View show, DVD and double album opportunity, even Landau and the money-grubbing suits at Sony might scratch their heads at the possibility of manufacturing an even mildly distracting entertainment. Let's start with the NJ contingent. Jon Bon Jovi as Master of Ceremonies? Hopefully not. Fellow Sony stalwart Billy Joel might be expected to turn out an impassioned version of something that might not suck. But then we would be left with wheeling out the old buddys like Southside Johnny , Joe Grushecky et al. None that could sell out the bar at MSG in their hey day let alone the main arena. What of the folks that have earned a crust by covering Bruce tunes? Back in the day almost every Greg Kihn album had at least one Bruce cover. And did Manfred Mann not replicate his success in the sixties with Dylan covers by polishing up Blinded and Spirits? But are they still alive and does anyone care? Doubtful. Patti Smith is a good turn and might reliably dish up a fine Because The Night. And then the other problem with a show like this might be that a pick-up band, even one as fine as Dylan's Booker T., The MGs and Jim Keltner would not be able to do justice to the material. The crowd would be clamoring for the E Street Band from the get go. So what of the younger generation of bands who might be supposed to have a learned a thing or two at the Boss's feet about showmanship and rocking a crowd? I'm sure Eddie Vedder would be convinced that this was an important enough event for him to grace with his presence. And Badly Drawn Boy is fond of citing the inspiration that Bruce provided. But neither they nor anyone else who has emerged in the 80's or 90's has enough firepower to interpret Bruce's material in a way that would sound like anything other than a cheesy cabaret. And that would not necessarily be the fault of the performer. Truth is, our hero's legacy has less to do with his material and a lot more to do with his mercurial stage presence. So, as well as the fact that the bill would not be weighted with the kind of enormous talents the Dylan show had, a crowd would not be able to sit through the tributes in their impatience to see the main event. So Al, I may be wrong, but I suspect this is a non-starter. Vitrarius ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 12:56:47 -0800 From: Thom Engel Subject: Paulie and Bruce I caught the McCartney special on commercial television last night. It didn't take me long until I began making comparisons between Paul and Bruce. (Sorry, I can't help it. It seems like the natural thing to do.) Anyway, for what it's worth, I have found in the past few months that McCartney is a shameless self-promoter, and his "Back In the US" concert on NBC last night was a testimony to my belief. Not only that, but I feel as though his televised concert was proof positive that Paul McCartney pales in comparison to Bruce Springsteen. The show started fantastically with three fabulous songs, and I felt I was in for a treat. I even got excited, if not nearly teary-eyed, when he sang "All My Loving." But naturally, as Paulie has been known to do so often over the years, he let us down, and things went straight downhill after he returned from the extended commercial break. I was embarrassed when they cut "Let Me Roll It" half way through to go to a commercial. Whose idea was that? Why the silly singing to gorillas? Who cares? The placards with the hearts and Paul's unnecessary explanation of why he sang poorly at the beginning of "The Long and Winding Road" was embarrassing. The constant, lengthy commercial breaks often after one or one and a half songs was drudgery. Why not a long one halfway through. Why not just do HBO? The continuous audience shots of Michael Douglas and Jack Nicholson! What was up with that? Wasn't one enough? Michael Douglas hardly appeared to be into it. Jack was smiling. But, yes, again, so what? I enjoyed the shots of the audience crying, singing, enjoying. But I enjoyed the band more! He had a great band. His lead guitarist was a kick, his drummer was fantastic and a blast to watch, and his bass/guitar player was fun, as well. We only got to see them in quick flashes, to the point of annoyance. And finally, what went beyond annoyance and just pissed me off was when he did "Something" playing a ukelele. Why did that bother me? "Something" is a genuine masterpiece, and George Harrison's shining moment as a Beatle. To take that song and introduce it with a silly story about George being a lover of the ukelele and then to play that beautiful song with nothing but a ukelele (particularly after his painstakenly accurate renditions of his own Beatle tunes) is appalling (if not a Paul-thing). Do I sound cynical and critical and like a whiner? Yeah, I suppose I do, but trust me, it bothers me more than it bothers you. I've enjoyed McCartney since he sang "I Want To Hold Your Hand" on the Ed Sullivan Show back in 1964. It was the moment my life changed. The man let me down. As my wife pointed out, Paul was the executive producer of that program and his end result sucked. He made the decisions that marred that show, and most of those decisions were made to gratify Paul's status as some sort of god (lower case intentional). It appeared to be, as one RMAS writer put it, a long commercial for the DVD, and that's a "low down rotten, dirty shame." Having said that, I believe that his concert itself was probably extremely good. In fact, it appeared to have been fantastic, and I wish I had seen it live. But Paul McCartney is not going to get $300 from me to support his megga stage presentation or to further his status as the richest man in music. On the positive side. That show did one thing if nothing else. It has reinforced my appreciation of Bruce Springsteen's ethics as an artist. For Bruce's Live In New York City" HBO special, we got a show and nothing else. No self promotion, no b.s., no singing with animals, just a damn good show. Sure it was late in coming, and it took forever to come out on DVD. But you know what? It looks less and less like some huge effort to capitalize on his fans. Bruce has tried to be as honorable as possible. While it may be true that his management engaged in extensive promotion for The Rising's release, at least it was done with as little self-ritualizing as possible. In fact, during all of that promotional barnstorming, I not once heard Bruce refer to himself in grandiose terms, unlike Paul in his Larry King interview and continuously through out last night's television special. Bruce seems as though he just wants to get his message across to as many people as possible, not so much to make money, but to get the message across. I have to believe that, not only because that is the way it appears to me, but also because when compared to other artists, Paul McCartney for one, Bono for another, he doesn't make statements and appearances that smack of self-promotion. What can I say? I love Bruce Springsteen's music, and I appreciate his persona and what he does with his art. I'm done. Thanks for listening. ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #113 ******************************* ********************************************************************* ** 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.