Last night I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Frank Erwin Center here in Austin. It was the first concert I've been to since 2003, when I saw Simon & Garfunkel at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, before I had left for Taiwan. I had seen Bruce Springsteen in concert before, and this time, just the like the last, it was not disappointing. The guy still knows how to put on an amazing show.
I've probably been to about a hundred concerts since my first one back in 1985. Some of them bring back really good memories, and some bad ones. Some I can't even remember going to. I remember my first concert, which was "Foreigner" back in October of 1985. They were still famous back then, riding high on the success of the single "I Want to Know What Love Is." I remember the show was at Irvine Meadows, and when the first chords of "Feels Like the First Time" came on, I felt a slight chill. It wasn't necessarily because I was in the presence of greatness (as Foreigner certainly is not), but I was having a new experience....a concert!
Over the next 20 years or so, I would see much better bands, even most of the legendary, classic bands I grew up adoring. I saw Pink Floyd (several times), The Rolling Stones, The Who (before John Entwistle died), Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney, U2, Eagles, Elton John, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, Guns N Roses, Rush, Neil Young, and many others, some not so legendary.
I remember the Guns N Roses show pretty well because it was the time when they were the opening act for the Rolling Stones. Before lead singer Axl Rose began the first song, he went into a long rant about how this would be the last show because too many of the band members were on drugs. I remember the Metallica show at the Forum in L.A. It was during the "Black Album" tour and my ex-wife and I were nearly hit by flying chairs. It was almost like being in a controlled riot. U2 was probably one of my least favorite concerts. It was at Dodger Stadium, it was freezing cold, and the sound system sucked. I never want to go to another concert in a baseball or football stadium. They just aren't fun to me in any possible way.
I saw Pink Floyd at a football stadium once. It was the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1989. My only memory of that show was when the band played "Comfortably Numb." The entire football stadium literally became lit up by thousands and thousands of lighters. It was an incredible sight.
This leads me back to the Springsteen show Sunday night. After Bruce played his anthem "Born to Run", and left the stage before the encore, the theater became lit up just like the Pink Floyd show. However, this time it wasn't lighters. It was....illuminated cell phones!
It's amazing how things have changed in the last 20 years. Cell phones have replaced the lighters at concerts now. Whenever a great song comes up, you hold up your cell phone, or iPhone, or whatever electronic gizmo you're carrying. Sign o' the times, people.
The show itself ran 3 hours. Not as long as the marathon shows Bruce used to play in his 80's heyday, but still pretty long for someone his age. He played most of the songs I wanted to hear: Born to Run, Jungleland, Because the Night, Badlands, 10th Avenue Freeze Out, Glory Days, The Promised Land, and even a rarity from his Live 1975-85 album, Seeds.
I've probably been to about a hundred concerts since my first one back in 1985. Some of them bring back really good memories, and some bad ones. Some I can't even remember going to. I remember my first concert, which was "Foreigner" back in October of 1985. They were still famous back then, riding high on the success of the single "I Want to Know What Love Is." I remember the show was at Irvine Meadows, and when the first chords of "Feels Like the First Time" came on, I felt a slight chill. It wasn't necessarily because I was in the presence of greatness (as Foreigner certainly is not), but I was having a new experience....a concert!
Over the next 20 years or so, I would see much better bands, even most of the legendary, classic bands I grew up adoring. I saw Pink Floyd (several times), The Rolling Stones, The Who (before John Entwistle died), Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney, U2, Eagles, Elton John, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, Guns N Roses, Rush, Neil Young, and many others, some not so legendary.
I remember the Guns N Roses show pretty well because it was the time when they were the opening act for the Rolling Stones. Before lead singer Axl Rose began the first song, he went into a long rant about how this would be the last show because too many of the band members were on drugs. I remember the Metallica show at the Forum in L.A. It was during the "Black Album" tour and my ex-wife and I were nearly hit by flying chairs. It was almost like being in a controlled riot. U2 was probably one of my least favorite concerts. It was at Dodger Stadium, it was freezing cold, and the sound system sucked. I never want to go to another concert in a baseball or football stadium. They just aren't fun to me in any possible way.
I saw Pink Floyd at a football stadium once. It was the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1989. My only memory of that show was when the band played "Comfortably Numb." The entire football stadium literally became lit up by thousands and thousands of lighters. It was an incredible sight.
This leads me back to the Springsteen show Sunday night. After Bruce played his anthem "Born to Run", and left the stage before the encore, the theater became lit up just like the Pink Floyd show. However, this time it wasn't lighters. It was....illuminated cell phones!
It's amazing how things have changed in the last 20 years. Cell phones have replaced the lighters at concerts now. Whenever a great song comes up, you hold up your cell phone, or iPhone, or whatever electronic gizmo you're carrying. Sign o' the times, people.
The show itself ran 3 hours. Not as long as the marathon shows Bruce used to play in his 80's heyday, but still pretty long for someone his age. He played most of the songs I wanted to hear: Born to Run, Jungleland, Because the Night, Badlands, 10th Avenue Freeze Out, Glory Days, The Promised Land, and even a rarity from his Live 1975-85 album, Seeds.
There was one moment during the show I thought was a bit funny. During a quiet break in the show, he told the story of the first time he and his band came to Texas.
"This was back in 1974." he told the mostly young crowd. "Was anyone in the audience even alive in 1974?"
He noticed a couple of teenagers in the very front row.
"When were you born?" Bruce asked.
"1990." the kid replied.
"1990?? I was already old by then."
Yeah, just another reminder that our musical heroes are getting old.
If I had any gripe about the show, it's that whenever Bruce talks to the audience lately, he acts like he's a preacher in some old time gospel revue, instead of just talking. He didn't always do that in the past. Also, he took the great song "Johnny 99", a stark, acoustic piece on his all-acoustic album "Nebraska", and turned it into a 50's style rocker. I didn't dig that. I also didn't particularly like seeing how much concert T-shirts cost these days. $35 to $40 bucks for a simple T-shirt you can probably buy at any store for $10. That's just insane.
Still, overall it was a fun night, and I should thank my wife for giving me time away from the kids to get out and enjoy myself. Well, whenever Jolin Tsai comes to town, I'll let her go to the show.
If I had any gripe about the show, it's that whenever Bruce talks to the audience lately, he acts like he's a preacher in some old time gospel revue, instead of just talking. He didn't always do that in the past. Also, he took the great song "Johnny 99", a stark, acoustic piece on his all-acoustic album "Nebraska", and turned it into a 50's style rocker. I didn't dig that. I also didn't particularly like seeing how much concert T-shirts cost these days. $35 to $40 bucks for a simple T-shirt you can probably buy at any store for $10. That's just insane.
Still, overall it was a fun night, and I should thank my wife for giving me time away from the kids to get out and enjoy myself. Well, whenever Jolin Tsai comes to town, I'll let her go to the show.
(Picture: Bruce in action. For a clip from the show, plus the complete set list in Austin, you can visit www.brucespringsteen.net)
I was one of those teenagers in the front row. Kelsey was the girl whose birthday is in 1990. Bruce was playing to us all night long, getting down on his knees right in front of my face on three separate occasions during the show, and us 6 kids would like to take partial credit for the longest, most energetic set of the tour so far. It's hard to deny the energy when you're five feet from him and he's pointing, singing, and smiling at you. Thanks for the review!
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