Listening to E Street Radio on Sirius right now … awesome. They also play alot of rare and unreleased stuff including concerts. He just introduced Mad Dog Vinnie Lopez and they are doing Blinded by the Light. It’s a recent benefit concert.
Besides the opportunity to turn somebody on to something on the net, I wanted to dealve into Bruce’s politics just a bit …
Been a fan since 1979 and still buy everything released. I’ve always liked the rockers the most. Didn’t care for Nebraska as much at the time but it’s grown on me and I still listen to it. Bought Joad and listened a couple of times. Wasn’t going to buy the last release but I saw the VH1 Storytellers he did two days before it was released and he had me. Listened to it once and haven’t yet watched the video portion.
Besides just not caring for the slow stuff as much, he and I just don’t have much in common politically, I do respect him for his principles and appreciate that he doesn’t shove his views down one’s throat. (As an aside, politics clearly does not trump rock and roll for me … I took two of my teenage daughters to see Green Day last spring and it was the best concert I’ve seen in a long long time).
Anyway, I’m curious whether …
any fans are so turned off that they have quit him entirely (hope not)
there are any fans who didn’t care for him at all untill recently whether you just like the slow stuff better or maybe saw him with John Kerry
Q: How do you send 25,000 people to the bathroom or the snack bar?
A: "Thank you… and now I’d like to play some songs from ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad.’ "
*
I think, whether he cares to face it or not, Springsteen is now a nostalgia act, like the Beach Boys. He’s still a great showman, and as long as he plays his old favorites, he can still pack in huge crowds. But practically nobody wants to hear anything he’s done since the mid-Eighties.
I’m not much of a fan. But, strangely enough, I was on allmusic.com looking for information about a live CD that I know he released back in 1986 or so when I was in high school. It isn’t listed.
Please tell me I’m not crazy and it is just an oversight.
One of the local PBS stations played a Springsteen concert from NYC a few years back (2000?) I’m one of those who said Bruce lost his fire when he wasn’t hungry anymore, but this show changed my mind. He had the old drive, the old passion. Wow.
It was a pledge-week thing, and if your local station plays it, I recommend it to your attention.
My daughter would disagree. She’s been to a bunch of his concerts, including two from his most recent tour, where he doesn’t do any of his mid-80’s stuff. Both concerts sold out in minutes. She thinks he’s still relevant, and it looks like she’s not alone.
[hijack]If you’re looking for a nostalgia act, how about Paul McCartney? He played Des Moines a couple of weeks ago. My daughter went, and she said after every song he raised his guitar in the air and didn’t continue until he’d gotten a standing ovation. After every song? Hey dude! Act like you’ve done it before![end hijack]
I’m just wondering whether or not you were really listening to a recent benefit concert. Lopez hasn’t played with the band since their second album, as far as I know. Am I wrong?
After further review, I realize my comparsion was unfair- to the Beach Boys, who’ve had a #1 single more recently than the Boss has.
The Rolling Stones are a nostalgia act. NOBODY wants to hear anything they’ve recorded in the past 20 years, but they can still sell out football stadiums when they play “Satisfaction” and “Brown Sugar.” In the saem way, Springsteen can attract big crowds whenever people believe he’s going to play the popular favorites.
You REALLY think people would pay $100 a ticket to hear him play anything from “Devils and Dust”? Guess again.
Sirius generally lists the songs played but since much of the stuff they are playing on the E Street channel has not been released it doesn’t always make sense.
While they were displaying “Asbury Park Nights part 3” or something like that, the audio changed such that it was pretty obvious that it was a dif show. Then he mentioned the snow in Syracuse where they presumably were. And I thought I heard him introduce Lopez in part because of the crowd reaction to his name. Now I could be wrong because I was trying to type some posts at the time. Hope this helps.
As an aside … shaortly after I posted the OP, when the aforementioned “cut” ended they played a pre-song bit from a show in CA a long time ago re Prop 209. Then they didn’t even play any more of the concert but went on to a generally released tune. So much for somebody (not sure who) trying not to push politics down the fans throats.
Having been raised in Asbury Park, I basically must worship the ground he walks on and defend my love of him passionately, but I’m not going to bother doing that.
I just wanted to quote a bumper sticker my mom saw around this time last year: “I’m for Bush and the Boss.”
Her head nearly imploded.
So, to answer the OP’s question (kindasorta), some people would love him no matter what his politics. He represents New Jersey and the working man and will sell out concerts till the day he retires. And having a number one hit does not make one a good artist, and not having a number one hit lately does not mean his artistic skill is any less, especially when one looks at the shite that’s number one these days.
> BLAM! BLAM! < ::: Moderator pounds gavel for attention ::::
Breakdancing Duck, your comments are out of line. The rule in this forum is that personal insults against other members are NOT allowed. You can insult the performers, artists, entertainers, celebrities, etc all you want… but not the other posters.
You can listen to the other viewpoints, you can learn from them, you can share your viewpoints, and you can disagree strongly, but you may NOT insult other posters for holding a different opinion.
You’re fairly new, so I’m not gonna beat you about the head or anything. We’re glad to have you here, we’re glad to have you sharing your opinions and participating in lively discussion, but please: no personal insults. OK?
I’ve been a fan since Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. The first time I saw him in concert was Towson State University in 1976, the last time on The Rising tour in Columbus, OH. I’ve been to at least one concert on every tour in between. I wasn’t able to get to a Devils and Dust show. I’m a conservative. Bruce’s politics don’t bother me. I went to the show during The Rising tour to hear everything he played, but was most interested to hear the new stuff. I’m sure there were people there who wanted to hear Born To Run or Rosalita and little else, but I think that type of person is at almost any concert, and they were not a majority of the crowd, as far as I could tell. The posters who have asserted that Springsteen is a nostalgia act are mistaken. He has a huge fan base who eagerly await each new release, and that base is big enough to sell out tours, year after year.
