First Show Last Night

[SpringsteenMagic]

So I joined here a week or so ago and said I'd be seeing my first Bruce show... and I did, last night at the ACC in Toronto. I'm not going to pretend to do some great review, cause I can't... all I can say is that it ****ing rocked. Even Patti's song had me going along. My hands are swollen from clapping and my voice is gone from screaming. We were in the early 200s... awesome seats. 'Incident' was amazing, and 'For You' was such a surprise. I wasn't sure what I would think of the finale, but hearing 'American Land' live was AMAZING. It brought the house down. I couldn't pick out a flaw in the whole damn show... everyone was spot on. Bruce was funny (letting us know we could purchase E Street sex toys... all sizes), energetic, and just amazing. The show is running over and over in my head. No dobut I will be seeing him again in the second leg.

[eagle8487]

Glad the show was everything that you expected and more.

Sounds like you may become one of the many people here on the board who have to answer questions like, "you're going where to see him again????"
:D :D

[Phillyfan1]

good for you Springsteen Magic and welcome to the board - it's addicting , kind of like potato chips,
you can't have just one :)


Dee

[SpringsteenMagic]

Very addiciting... and after getting my first taste last night, I get kinda jealous hearing about other shows. Damn it was amazing. I also forgot to say how awesome 'Devils Arcade' was live. So much better than the album version - it came together perfectly.

[bsdegrees]

It's the gift of the Magi© isn't it?
My first stop this tour was Philly and below is my take on it.
I've been meaning to drop a note of thanks to those in the pit on 10/5 during "American Land" whom during a sudden medical crisis assisted me with great compassion and care.
Thank you all very much.
Kathleen

I don't tend to write what one might call a proper review of a show. It's just not me.
Not bearing musical training, I'm ill equipped to judge a show on the technical merits. So I can't speak to those issues.
Critique-the art or practice of criticising....not only can I not speak to that about Bruce's shows with any real authority, I just can't be assed frankly to go on a fault finding mission.
But, for every 25 of those comes along 1 like a beacon of light.
Someone like you or I who was just beaming because we are once again on tour.
For that alone I am so grateful.

Philly will always be home to me. My family is originally from Reading and my best friend who I will cherish forever lives in Phoenixville.
The ties that bind...and happen to bring out the best in me.
The thing uppermost about this show for me was to become engaged and immersed in the new music.
I'd only sat down in the quiet of night with the album on one occasion-the day it came out. It was important to have that ritual. Wasn't important that I learned all the words to the songs, rather, how did it feel? What images, thoughts, passions would the words and the sounds evoke? And then how does that translate in a live setting?
So that was the discovery I looked most forward to making in Philly. Didn't matter what was on the setlist, although coming home to find I am still 0 for 17 in reguards to "Adam Raised A Cain" cracked me up, LOL! It taunts me so....Ha!

Have I mentioned OMG!!!! We're on tour again!!!!
It is the coolest, goosebump inducing moment to watch the calliope slowly rise up from the stage and I get a very distinct feel for the shore, the boardwalk, a carnival when I hear "The Man on the Flying Trapeze" coming from it. Oh, I would love to examine that calliope up close. It is gorgeous.
So for a moment, you feel like you're just strolling along the boardwalk and then "Slam!" reality check....trust none of what you hear, and less of what you see....this is what will be.
I love, love, love, "Night" as an opener. The transition from that to "Radio Nowhere" really works well.
Van Zandt really shines on the new material and has some amazing solos. Look for him doing the heavy lifting on "Gypsy Biker" and "Last to Die", two of my favorite cuts off the album. The trade off riffs between he and Bruce will make your jaw drop.
Soozie has some beautiful, haunting work in "Magic" and "Devils Arcade".
Patti, who I like, does some nice harmony on "Magic"...when it's on. For me, it would work better with Nils backing on vocal much like the "dream of life" sequence in "The Rising".
"Town Called Heartbreak" was very sexy between Bruce and Patti. She has fun with it and Nils has a sweet solo. Prefer it better as a band treatment than acoustically because of Nils. Danny does some nice organ work here although the first few notes will throw you thinking he's launching into "Spirit in the Night"....

[bsdegrees]

cont'd...
Lots of harp this go round, which I love. You can never have enough. The re-worked "Reason to Believe" will cause atoms to split. This version with the John Lee Hooker "Boogie Chillin"/Norman Greenbaum "Spirit in the Sky"/ZZ Top "La Grange" licks is hands down THE highlight of the show. Makes ya wanna hurt somebody, I tell ya!!!!!!
He continues to amaze me with the re-inventions, especially of his own material.
"Long Walk Home" guts me. Admittedly, I tear up.
Will search for the why, if I care to.

I just keep coming back to the same point...OMFG, We're on tour!!! Every fiber of my being is alive...ecstatically charged.
The new music is awesome.
Being in the pit certainly lends itself to catching certain nuances you might not experience otherwise, but so did taking my place at the soundboard. So, when asked which show was my favorite, honestly I enjoyed both perspectives equally for their own merits.
It's now your turn in the devils arcade....
"The girls in their summer clothes, by the cool of the evening light, the girls in their summer clothes, pass you by....."
We sang those words through the final set of glass doors out into the night.
Days later, I could still hear the Big Man wailing in my ear....
The beat of your heart
The beat of your heart
The beat of your heart
The beat of your heart

The beat of your heart....

[Patter]

Hey Kathleen

No one needs be a musical genius to "get Bruce" and your perspective was really refreshing!!! "AND YEAH....WE'RE ON TOUR AGAIN!!!!!!!"

Really great posts....Thanks

[Daddy-O]

Beautiful, heartfelt post...thanks for sharing that Kathleen

[GEEBOSS]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/30/arts/30scot.large3.jpg

[ThunderRoadrunner]

Great posts. Thanks. And welcome aboard the train to a fellow Canuck!

I rank the Toronto show second overall on the tour, just below Ottawa, of the first 7. (I'm not in NYC for either show so can't comment on their respective ranking.) And I thank SpringsteenMagic for his/her spot-on observations. I also thought 'Devil's Arcade' was nailed!

Bill Daverne

[Rising Boss]

I went to my first Bruce concert when i was 12 at convention hall. It was the show after the morning show. The last show i went to was the second night at caa and that was my 30th show. Very addicting indeeeeed