well the winter games are over...so let the FIRST ANNUAL BRUCE-LYMPICS BEGIN.....

[dari]

...and the good thing is you don't have to get your butts out of the chair in front your computer to participate. in fact you don't have to train for years, endure endless practices at 5 am or even suffer financial hardship while keeping your amatuer status. of course it also means that you don't get your face on a box of wheaties either but hey, let's face it...that was never gonna happen anyway. so dream on.

now here's the good part... guess what...you're a judge! there will be, however, no collaborating with other judges from other states/countries as this will mean banishment from all future BATs.

here's how this works: you get to vote on a different event in this special "bruce-lympics" every day. be sure to vote for the:

bronze
silver and
gold medals in each category.

all votes must be in by 9pm pst and the winners of each medal in that event will be posted the following morning when i get my lazy ass out of bed. and a new category will appear. so get those score sheets ready cause we need to award the medals in the following competition by tomorrow morning (which of course will be immediately followed by the playing of the national anthem "born to run")...

first category

best bruce move on stage (all years on stage and moves are eligible for every medal)

please remember to award all 3 medals.

dari

p.s. in case of a tie, i will act as chief judge....or maybe i should ask thejudge to be " the judge".

[John B]

Gold: The Piano jump on early tours (and for the girls on the last tour, tearing off of the shirt atop said piano)

Silver: The "flamenco" dance during the older performances of Rosalita

Bronze: The "Train" with Bruce as the engine and the rest of the band following him

Honorable mention: The Slide, where Bruce slides halfway across the stage and usually into a liplock with Clarence. (Sheesh Bruce, couldn't you at least have pulled a girl out of the audience? :rolleyes:

[New Timer]

A fight breaks out among of couple of fans in the stands on the 1st level of the Spectrum during the show. Seconds later (and I do mean SECONDS), Bruce is right in the middle of the action with microphone in hand singing. The fight ends and the show continues without further incident. To this day I still haven't figured out how he got up there that quickly. Maybe Jagger should have tried that trick back at Altamont.

Fighting? Amongst Springsteen fans? Who would believe it?

Carrier Dome/Syracuse, NY 1985
The earliest of what would later become "The Stadium" shows featured a somewhat larger stage with 2 very long extension ramps jetting out of each end into the crowd. During "I'm A Rocker" a girl jumps onto the ramp and pretty much corners Bruce while he's out there all alone. Unfrazzled, Bruce begins dancing with her. He takes her all the way back the ramp, across the stage, all of the way out on the other ramp, back across the stage, out the first ramp, and returns her to her seat. An extended dance with a extended "I'm A Rocker". Fantastic! Unplanned. Spontaneous.


Your Hometown/Several Different Tours

The volcanic mouth-spurt with the water during "Workin' On The Highway" (last tour)..."10th Ave. Freezeout" (Tunnel tour) and various other songs throughout the history of E Street.

Bronze II: Hey if THEY can have 2 Golds, WE can certainly tolerate 2 Bronze...

Saratoga Performing Arts Center/1984:
While the rain continued to pour down (as it had all day), Bruce (dressed in a newsboy's cap & leather jacket) takes the stage for a late-afternoon soundcheck. "Who'll Stop The Rain"...Bruce did, that's who. I'm just glad that it stopped raining. BTW: This show ("Badlands"), and the one that I caught in Hartford, CT("Rave On" for Buddy Holly's birthday) later that year were the only 2 on the entire tour where I didn't see him open with "Born In The USA".

[Krissy from GL]

Gold: The microphone bendy thing

http://www.unicornpoint.com/auction/item202.jpg

Silver: The sliding soul kiss

http://www.unicornpoint.com/auction/item203.jpg

Bronze: Whenever the band "choreographs" their moves (ie: Cadillac Ranch from the BUSA tour)

(photos copied without permission)

[Incident]

I'm gonna try but this will be hard to describe:

Gold: the Slouch -- Old days when he used to do songs like the Slow Estreet Shuffle he used to just kinda lean with his arm resting on th microphone like he had no bones in his body. If anybody saw Spirit in the Night on the last tour kinda like that but not really.

Well that should be clear enough

Silver: The Guitar flinging around thing he does to close the show.


Bronze : Kinda liked that loping skip thing he did during Light of Day or Ramrod on the last tour.

[Dirty Annie]

Damn Krissy...you nailed it!!! A picture is worth a million bucks.That back bend is GOLD. Why it starts the mind a racin. Silver.....the piano leaps....done throughtout the years...and I never get tired of it. Bronze...yes,yes,the slide across the stage. Makes me wanna be a catcher and tag that baby out in my own unique fashion!!!~Annie

[bossmom]

Ok, this is a lot harder than it looks!

Gold: The way he moved (during the entire song) when he sang "Fire"

Silver: The backbend at the microphone, center stage

Bronze: This is a tie between:

a) The taking shirt off on top of the piano; and
b) (Solo) Hip thrusts

Honorable mentions: The slide/flip to Clarence move; the on their backs w/feet kicking in air during Rosie; the butt shaking during Ramrod - oh there's too many to mention.

Dari - I think I'm gonna have to practice this event all day long and, therefore, may endure financial hardship because I won't get any work done! LOL

[BruceNut]

Gold: any time he jumped off or onto Roys piani :D

Silver: the slide into a waiting Bigmans arms, then the kisssssss

Bronze: when he would sing "Mickey+Silvia" with Patti during TOL.

[piwi]

OK - right now I only can think of the last tour, this posts before make me nervous :D

Bronze: somersault at the end of the show in Indy, jumping up for the sign of the last notes, jumping high up in the air and down on his knees

Silver: backbend wherever whenever :)

Gold: Dancing from the left to the right side of the stage during 10th Ave., right before the introduction of Clarence (At Bustedsisters house while watching the DVD the first time: "Jesus made that the blind can see and the lame can walk... But please, Jesus, I pray: don't let this man ever learn how to dance")

[HeldUp]

Gold: that time in Phoenix when he ended up OVER the amps and busted a rib

Silver: his little dance during Light of Day on LINYC when he talked about New Jersey being the home of the Statue of Liberty and world champion NJ Devils...

Bronze: back in the old days, when he'd fall against the base of the drum kit, saying he was too old (he was 30) to go on...

[LJK]

Gold: The backbend at the mic

Silver: (had to change this) During The River tour, during Crush On You, throwing the guitar through the air to his tech to catch. A heart-stopping moment.

Bronze: During the Darkness tour at the end of 10th Ave, punching into the air like Ali training for a fight.

[DiamondJacquie]

Ok, ok....

Gold...the "guitar flinging to his back" thing...oh, how I love that move

Silver....the part of Rosalita where the girls run up on stage and the security people chase them and then Bruce goes chasing after the all of 'em...I think that's just too cute and hilarious

Bronze...them pelvic thrusts in 10th avenue...so uncharasteristic (I think) and yet so befitting...

[PattiM]

Gold.......backbendy move at mic stand ......at start of 10th ave or any other approriate time

Silver......Pelvic thrust....... anywhere/anytime

Bronze......whenever he bends over and belts out the lyrics with every ounce of his soul..... with guitar on his back, style points taken away for no guitar.

[Toots]

Gold:

[Toots]

Gold: The backbend at the microphone

Silver: Pelvic Thrusts during 10th Ave.

Bronze: The cute little dance he does during Light of Day.

I'm going with things from the Reunion Tour because that's what I can remember!

Dari..once again you prove you are the best!

Toots

[Cindy]

Here are my spiritual moments:

Gold: The outstreteched hand whenever he sang the word, Faith. (I can't ever hear the word "faith" now without raising my own hand.)

Silver: Fist pumping during Clarence's solo in Jungleland.

Bronze: Pocoing at the end of Land of Hope and Dreams.


And my lusty moments:

Gold: The backbend at the microphone.

Silver: On top of the piano, the second night in Cleveland, when he used the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe away the sweat on his face, giving us a beautiful view of his abs.

Bronze: The pelvic thrusts.

[imabrucefan]

Gold: Jump off piano with feet kicked up behind him (sadly, I believe those days are over)

Silver: Sliding kiss with Clarence (still remember laughing with delight the first time I saw that)

Bronze: Back to audience with guitar slung around his back, one arm up. I love that!

[texasbossfan]

Gold: Backbend thingy (eat your heart out Sting)

Silver: pelvic thrusts during Reunion 10th

Bronze: Raising his arms up and swaying when he sings 10th Ave "all the little pretties raise their hands". He didn't do that on the reunion tour, but I loved it when he did it on the past tours and yelled at the crowd to raise their hands.

All I have to do is watch him sing 10th Ave and I will be one happy camper.

[BruceNut]

I think the French judge was approached by the Ruskie judge to vote a certain way :p

great thread :D

[John B]

A couple more "moments" (don't know if they can be called "moves" :
Bruce being brought onstage in and coming out of a coffin to open the Halloween show in L.A.

Bruce having a washer and dryer delivered onstage for (I think it was) Max's birthday

[John B]

A couple more "moments" (don't know if they can be called "moves" :
Bruce being brought onstage in and coming out of a coffin to open the Halloween show in L.A.

Bruce having a washer and dryer delivered onstage for (I think it was) Max's birthday

The Elvis cape to open the Las Vegas show

[Tooth Fairy]

Oh goodie I still have an hour to vote.

Bronze- any and all of the moves during Ramrod but mostly the ones he does with Clarence, ending with the somersault. Love it, love it, love it!

Silver-The sliding kiss. A sight to behold. Would love to see that again.

Gold- The pelvic thrust. No comment necessary. :)


Honorable mention: Denver's second night when Bruce starts whipping the tail of the coonskin cap in Steven's face. What a crack up!

[ForYou]

If there was ever an artist with moves it's Bruce. He's always put his whole body into it even sitting to do "Fire" or hanging limply over the mike as Incident described. The Clarence slide and piano jump are Hall of Fame classics so I'll just go with stuff that moves me at the moment.

Gold-the mike backbend. You can't beat that from close range.
Silver-The guitar flung on the back. Also that first breath into the harmonica sure moves me.
Bronze-the whole visual of "You Sexy Thing"

[Marsha]

What time is it out West?
Deadline or not, too many moments in my head.
Too many years.

Gold: The spits in the air. The old ones that were preceeded by a whole head bucket dunk. Still, the newer spits have still got it.
http://pstr-m02.ygpweb.aol.com/data/005/15/42/F1/37/gkFKOaLrN+NTTNdMXFF+RKukkOv7vLaT0180.jpg
Silver:The running slides half way across the stage under Clarence for the kiss.

Bronze: The old 10th Ave. dance. Take your arms, move them in front, swim them backwards, one at a time. 10th, 10th, 10th, 10th...10th Ave. feezeout.

Great thread, great answers coming in.
More medals needed.

[Flory Days]

Dari - you come up with the best threads. Since I haven't seen results posted I will still try to get my choices in:

gold - I would have missed it without Marsha pointing out the head bucket dunk and spits in the air. That symbolized the passion that got me hooked.

silver - the sliding kiss with Clarence which symbolized the bond of the E Street family

bronze - got to have one from the reunion tour so I will pick the Cincinatti bra toss - where a fan tossed the bra and it landed on Bruce's head.

My newspaper always showed 4th and 5th place for Olympic results so here are two more:

4. Piano jumps
5. Little "New Jersey" dance during the MSG shows.

[young again]

Whoops, was there a deadline? I'll put in some votes anyway.

Gold - piano jumps

Silver - backbend

Bronze - water spits

But if I were judging in the olympics I would be sure to have a scandal so that an additional medal could be awarded to "guitar on back."

I'm sure if I had seen any previous tours during which Bruce kissed Clarence, I would have it on my list, but I didn't, so this is the place where I will ask... 2 heterosexual guys in a big ol' smooch? Whassup with that? I am assuming there is some kind of socio-cultural context I am missing here. I'm not arguing it isn't a cool move, together with the knee slide across the stage... just wondering where it came from.

[Flory Days]

YA - I don't know where it came from, but there is a socio cultural thing here. When two guys obviously hetero and also macho are secure enough with themselves and each other to kiss, it is cool. The only guys I could kiss were my dad, my uncles and my kids. Just haven't been close enough to anyone else I guess.

[BruceNut]

not only kiss, but do it in front of 20,000 people possibly knowing there will be video and photographic evidence :D

I think the California judge was out late last night. Wheres day 2 of our Bruce-lympics ?

[dari]

well i am fairly functioning after only 1/2 a cup of coffee..but i have to say GREAT MOVES! i forgot so many of these that it was fun to read them all.

here is how the judges (you guys) votes were tabulated:
1. one point was given for a bronze vote
2. 2 points for a silver vote
3. 3 points for a gold vote

and now taking the podium to receive the bronze medal is:

the slide and kiss with clarence

the silver:

those pelvic thrusts

and the GOLD:

(big surprise)...the microphone backbend....

thanks to all other competitors. some great movements and memories here.

and the next competition is the best single note/scream competition.since the BRUCE-LMPICS is all about performance, this should also be a live onstage one though it is not necessary to name the show/year of any one note or scream unless it is so burned into your brain that you will never forget it. it is necessary to name the song obviously.

side notes to a few judges:

cindy...counted the votes for your lusty choices as opposed to your spiritual choices. both were great but we are pretty lasicivious as a group here to begin with and let's face it those voting for the backbend were not thinking along spiritual lines....

john b .....don't get ahead of me and spill the beans on an upcoming competition..:+)

oh yea. and will you please all rise for the singing of our national anthem..... at your computer with your hand over your heart....(now this i would love a visual of!)

In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on highway 9,
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs round these velvet rims and strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
Will you walk with me out on the wire
`Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta find out how it feels
I want to know if love is wild, girl I want to know if love is real

Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard
The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
I wanna die with you Wendy on the streets tonight
In an everlasting kiss

The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight but there's no place left to hide
Together Wendy we'll live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday girl I don't know when we're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go and we'll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us baby we were born to run

dari

[Marsha]

The whoa's have it:

Gold:
Whoa: Jungleland

Silver:
Whoa: She's The One

Bronze:
Whoa: Born To Run

pick a show, any show!

[swamptramp]

Hey, hey wait a second for some last minute entries.

The ladies can have the microphone gymnastics, but my votes

Gold: The fake endings on "She's The One"; Nothing better in concert than Bruce signals the band to keep it going.

Silver: The Cadillac Ranch Shuffle. Then bent at the back, chorus line if you will to the front of the stage.

Bronze: Any fake heart attack scene. Garry waving a towel, Steve
& Clarence struggling to lift a lifeless Bruce

Nickel: On top of Paul Schaffer's piano on Letterman's last night at
NBC.

Chromium: Wading into the audience. Before there was a mosh pit! He's missed whole verses of Ramrod one night, because the ladies wouldn't give him back.

Iron Ore: The "disgusted, not good enough" look for the audience when he thought their particpation in some songs was not up to snuff

There are a million more, but not enough corrupt French judges to award enough medals.

[Boss MD]

(which is typical)...but

Gold-Yup the mic moves. Most notable was teh Philly Birthday show ('99) during Spirit.

Silver - Somersulats in many forms and places (although our favorite was the end of Ramrod in Cincy '00)

Bronze - The signature leap in the air with is right leg behind hime and guitar almost straight up in the air, body kinda arching back.

[bossmom]

Gold: The "whoa" at the end of Jungleland

Silver: The "whoas" at the Intro to Something In The Night and throughout the song

Bronze: The scream in the middle of Human Touch


Again, there are so many that I just have to honorably mention some more:

the "whoa" in Born to Run; the "youngstown" in Youngstown; the high pitch "murder incorporated"; "town" in Darkness ont the Edge of Town and the "Is There Anybody Alive Out There?" scream


dari - maybe this should be a new thread so they don't get all mixed up?? just a thought:)

[Incident]

Gold: "You Lied " forom Sad Eyes during Backstreets

Silver : Whaaaa-aaaaaa-aaaa-awwww at the beggining of Something in the Night

Bronze: The End of Jungleland the combination of scream and low organ note.

[DiamondJacquie]

Gold - From LINYC, in the acoustic BITUSA, there were those couple times when he held really long notes. I think it's the part when he says "...they're still there, she's all goooooooooooone..." Then he does it again at "...I'm 10 years, 15 years, 25 years burning down the roooooooooooooooooad..."For whatever reason, these have stayed with me. Gives me chills.

Silver - Again from LINYC, the notes he sorta hums, sings at the end of The River...haunting.

Bronze - The wailing during Something In The Night

[Toots]

Gold: The wailing at the end of Jungleland

Silver: I'm going with Incident here, the "You Lied" during the 78 version of Backstreets.

Bronze: Something In The Night. There's some pretty primal screaming going on there.

Toots :cool:

[Dirty Annie]

This is hard: I've been partial to Jungleland forever...it always reminded me of an animal caught in a trap...primal to the core....who can resist singing along at the end and just letting go? I give it Gold. For Silver....Something in the night....anguish...very cool. Bronze: have to go with the rest,"You Lied"part. So many others...I like Adam Raised a Cain....all the way through.

[orthy]

Gold: the last thirty seconds or so of Jungleland
Silver: The scream at the begining of She's the One especially back in the Mona/She's the One days.
Bronze: The end of One Step Up

[Boss MD]

Gold - You Lied
Silver - Youngstown
Bronze - Jungleland

[Incident]

I forgot completly about the Fiery Furnaces of Heeeelllll in Youngstown.

Good one

[Flory Days]

Gold - Backstreets
silver - Born to Run
bronze - Jungleland

[PattiM]

Gold.......Youngstown...(gut wrenching)

Silver......Backstreets...(total despair)

Bronze.....Human Touch....(don't laugh....I like it and I'm gonna stick with it)

[New Timer]

Capital Theater/Passaic, NJ "Streets Of Fire"
Crescendo:...Streets....Of....Fire.....Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! !!!!!!


Main Point/Bryn Mawr, PA "Kitty's Back"
"Here she comes...here she comes...Here she comes...here she comes...Here she comes.......WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Kitty's Back In Town!

I nominated 2 Bronzes in the first event, so I'll skip one here to keep things even.

I'm looking forward to the "whisper" event. Some of Bruce's greatest moments have transpired with just a whisper. "Baby, we can slip away".

[young again]

Gold - Jungleland
Silver - Born to Run
Bronze - Backstreets

[ForYou]

Gold-The end of Jungleland
Silver-meet me tonight in Atlantic City as he repeats it over and over
Bronze-whoop at the end of State Trooper

[Magic Rat]

Gold:Jungleland
Silver:Kitty's Back
Bronze:State Trooper

[Diamond D]

THIS is a hard one... after much deliberation I have temporarily settled on this order:

Gold: JUST LOOK INTO MY FACE, Backstreets insert of Roxy Night '78...

Silver: She's The One, so many yells there, fantastic, especially with Mona intro

Bronze: Gotta have Jungleland here, even though I like BTR just as much, I can't get over Jungleland's screams, and the way he sings "as we take our stand, SAY IT NOW!!!! [down, in, jun, gle, lannnnnnd]"

[Phillyfan1]

best note/scream competition:

Gold Backstreets

silver LOHAD (from last tour..end of song..say YEAAAAAH !)

Bronze Youngstown (from the last tour-love the screaming)

[
could probably think of many more, but these 3 come to mind at the moment

[dari]

have to admit that i thought that this would be a walk for jungleland. but the voting got to be pretty neck and neck there for awhile. there is the first tie in the history of the BRUCE-LYMPICS though(yea,yea, i know...not a long history but hey we're tryng to introduce some drama here to please the advertisers...)

so taking the podium for the bronze we have:

a tie!
with 8 votes each...
she's the one
something in the night

and the silver goes to:

backstreets (my personal favorite being the "blow it all away" from boston music hall'77)

and the gold goes to:

what else? jungleland.

and as a judge's aside...
let me just say that having seen bruce do this more than quite a few times in concert since the 70's, it amazes me that he can still hit that note. i was very scared for him when it came to the first show of the recent tour when he went to hit it at the meadowlands....but it was still right on the money. and i think dirty annie said it best. a wild animal caught in a trap

and honorable mention goes to new timer who i have to totally agree with on "streets of fire" my most underated song and performance of same.

so in honor of our new gold medalist we shall rise and all hit that note together...are you standing? can anyone hit that note? that's what i thought...you can sit down now. we'll let bruce keep that one for himself....

The rangers had a homecoming in Harlem late last night
And the Magic Rat drove his sleek machine over the Jersey state line
Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge
Drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain
The Rat pulls into town rolls up his pants
Together they take a stab at romance and disappear down Flamingo Lane

Well the Maximum Lawman run down Flamingo chasing the Rat and the barefoot girl
And the kids round here look just like shadows always quiet, holding hands
From the churches to the jails tonight all is silence in the world
As we take our stand down in Jungleland

The midnight gang's assembled and picked a rendezvous for the night
They'll meet 'neath that giant Exxon sign that brings this fair city light
Man there's an opera out on the Turnpike
There's a ballet being fought out in the alley
Until the local cops, Cherry Tops, rips this holy night
The street's alive as secret debts are paid
Contacts made, they vanished unseen
Kids flash guitars just like switch-blades hustling for the record machine
The hungry and the hunted explode into rock'n'roll bands
That face off against each other out in the street down in Jungleland

In the parking lot the visionaries dress in the latest rage
Inside the backstreet girls are dancing to the records that the D.J. plays
Lonely-hearted lovers struggle in dark corners
Desperate as the night moves on, just a look and a whisper, and they're gone

Beneath the city two hearts beat
Soul engines running through a night so tender in a bedroom locked
In whispers of soft refusal and then surrender in the tunnels uptown
The Rat's own dream guns him down as shots echo down them hallways in the night
No one watches when the ambulance pulls away
Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light

Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz
Between flesh and what's fantasy and the poets down here
Don't write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be
And in the quick of the night they reach for their moment
And try to make an honest stand but they wind up wounded, not even dead
Tonight in Jungleland



dari

p.s. as per bossmom's suggestion please see the new thread for the 3rd day of competition.