Tonight's surprise song in Detroit

[AMIW]

Was JACKSON cAGE

[AMIW]

the rest of the songs so far
1. Radio Nowhere
2. Night
3. Lonesome Day
4. Gypsy Biker
5. Magic
6. Reason to Believe
7. JACKSON CAGE
8. She's the One
9. Livin' in the Future
10. Promised Land
11. I'LL WORK FOR YOUR LOVE!!!!!!!!
12. Tunnel of Love
13. Workin' On the Highway
14. Devil's Arcade
15. The Rising
16. Last to Die

[JAG]

Once again, no 'epic' in the epic slot. Mr. S. starting to shift things around... which, btw, he has done since the beginning of time... go back to setlists from the 70s and you'll see his evolutionary style is essentially unchanged since that time... there were just no internet chat boards to dissect the sets in real time.

[AMIW]

17. Long Walk Home
18. Badlands
19. Girls in Their Summer Clothes
20. RAMROD
21. BTR
22. DITD
23. American Land

[Mo Riley]

Andrew,
Are you kidding about RAMROD?!@#!%!

[AMIW]

no p.s check your email for details of where the MoRiley travel club will be in March and April...

[August Blues]

I bet Ramrod sounds great now with this tighter, more intense E Street Band.

[FindMyWay]

I would die to get an mp3 of Ill work for your love live!

[JAG]

Kitty's Back was setlisted where he played Ramrod. (BS.net).

[CRACKMYTHUNDER]

Ramrod instead of Thundercrack----that is a bad tradeoff and my major protest is that song has closed out the last two tour's. Use Thundercrack(preferably), Kitty's Back, maybe even LITF. But let's not roadhouse this tour!
P.S. Also heard Thunder Road many times and while I love that song, i would rather that be in the main set on a few occasions then staple.

[Sportsdoc]

Once again there was a 10-year old in the pit with a Ramrod sign, Ramrod instead of Kitty -- who are that kid's parents and what are they teaching that young man

[eagle8487]

Once again there was a 10-year old in the pit with a Ramrod sign, Ramrod instead of Kitty -- who are that kid's parents and what are they teaching that young man

My ten year old niece plans to be in the front row in Boston and to ask for One Step Up....Ya gotta like the power of positive thinking, right?

[JAG]

This thing with the kids and the signs is getting ridiculous.

At least they're not asking for Pony Boy...

[ThunderRoadrunner]

Back from 6-hour ride home from Auburn Hills...

Amazing show, lacklustre audience behind pit according to others. Crowd in the pit was up to high standards, and young, 6-year-old Noah with his hand-lettered 'Ramrod Please' sign was a star of this fine outing by the E Streeters and their maestro

Correction: Noah didn't ask for Ramrod instead of Kitty, he simply asked for Ramrod, politely, and it was a great tour moment. Bruce noted they hadn't played it in five years and little Noah was all over the song, keeping beat with his ever-moving arms, playing air guitar like a pro, and giving Bruce the devil sign which Bruce returned in kind as the tyke charmed the band to pieces with broad grins all night on Steve, Patty, Soozie, Bruce, Clarence, Nils, and, well, you get the picture.

The Ramrod sign made several appearances before Bruce held it up for all to see (and heavily applaud, you armchair QBs) and when Bruce saw it during the sonic start-up of Tunnel of Love he looked right into Noah's eyes and gave a subtle, positive nod -- as Noah was immediately to my left at this point I was able to easily decode the nod and pronounced locally that Ramrod was a lock (like it wouldn't be?)

Noah wasn't a parental prop or put up to it, he is a bonafide little 'tramp' and knew the songs and all the air-punching required through the night. Even after the show, in the lobby, he was in mode playing with the drumsticks Max bestowed at the end of American Land. Any other 6-year-old would be asleep after a night like this.

This may have been noted elsewhere (just home, have not read elsewhere) but the soundcheck included Back in Your Arms, Bobby Jean, You'll Be Coming Down and 2X I'll Work for Your Love -- which were all very audible to most GA waitees because Jerry Fox put his foot down and over-ruled the Palace folks who had decreed that the GA line-ups would be outside in the cold and rain and lined up the hundreds of folks inside on the staircases so all could be warm and dry before the show. The man is a saint! In the cities and their suburbs.

And when you're in the backyard of the Chrysler Technology Center and in a building so-named, the line from BTR "beyond the Palace, hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard" takes on an entirely new, yet fully appropriate context.

This was a keeper and in a pairing with Cleveland's wunder-crowd and masterful Saint and Kitty, it was a fine Great Lakes two-turn by this ensemble with ever-tighter renditions (oops, bad word).

BTW another pit sign requested Rosalita to come out to play.

This is a travelling salvation band worth experiencing night after night after night... Now to bed... with visions of a plumb Ramrod and Dancing in my head...

Bill Daverne

[eagle8487]

Great review, Bill. Thanks.

[Paulie]

Once again there was a 10-year old in the pit with a Ramrod sign, Ramrod instead of Kitty -- who are that kid's parents and what are they teaching that young man

Hey, not surprising someone of that age would choose Ramrod over Kitty. Hell, there are people with a quarter century or more on the kid who'd make the same choice! :D

Hope this doesn't mean Ramrod won't make an appearance Sunday in DC.

Paulie

[flap]

Hey Bill, Good story. Love it! Thanks for sharing.

[Scorcher]

Ramrod instead of Thundercrack----maybe even LITF.

LITF does not work anymore as an acronym--could be either Lost in the Flood or Livin' in the Future. The latter I would not want in an encore and personally i'd rather see the first LITF in the main set every night other than the Mary's Place replacement playin' now.

[JAG]

Amazing show, lacklustre audience behind pit according to others.

Nice review Bill. Seeing a pattern here -- when you're close enough to get the full emotional impact of the show, it rocks. When you're up in the boonies, the show loses quite a bit of its force. And compounding the problem, I'm sorry to say, is that Bruce continues to insist on playing obscure deep album cuts (Jackson Cage) over more recognizable cuts.

Don't flame me with hungry heart nonsense -- i'm talking about major cuts from the Bruce songbook: The River, Darkness, 10th Avenue, Rosie, Lucky Town, Growin Up. These are the kinds of tunes that casual yet committed Bruce fans are looking for, imo, not just the simplistic things like HH and Glory Days.

PS -- I love Jackson Cage (esp. the JW Harding version) and would love to have heard it (esp. in place of 2 Hearts in Oakland -- snooze).

[Flory Days]

I would die to get an mp3 of Ill work for your love live!If that happened you would not have to "work for your love" any more.:D ;) :laugh:

[Flory Days]

This thing with the kids and the signs is getting ridiculous.

At least they're not asking for Pony Boy...Now don't go giving them any ideas, Jag!

[downsdway]

This thing with the kids and the signs is getting ridiculous.

At least they're not asking for Pony Boy...


It doesn't always work, A young girl was front & center in Cleveland with a sign that read Jungleland PLEASE, but he did not play it.

[douger]

Awesome review Bill, thank you. Great job!:cool:

[downsandiegowy2]

It is so great to have you back, commenting on shows Bill. I really love your reviews. Thanks for taking the time to do them.

It's going to be fun next spring when they bring the tour west again. I would love to hear Ramrod again.

[bobfrombob]

Was JACKSON cAGE

Howard, was Humphrey there?

[Daddy-O]

Nice review Bill. Seeing a pattern here -- when you're close enough to get the full emotional impact of the show, it rocks. When you're up in the boonies, the show loses quite a bit of its force. And compounding the problem, I'm sorry to say, is that Bruce continues to insist on playing obscure deep album cuts (Jackson Cage) over more recognizable cuts.

Don't flame me with hungry heart nonsense -- i'm talking about major cuts from the Bruce songbook: The River, Darkness, 10th Avenue, Rosie, Lucky Town, Growin Up. These are the kinds of tunes that casual yet committed Bruce fans are looking for, imo, not just the simplistic things like HH and Glory Days.

PS -- I love Jackson Cage (esp. the JW Harding version) and would love to have heard it (esp. in place of 2 Hearts in Oakland -- snooze).

Interesting observation. I don't necessarily disagree with you, and I do think that there are "major cuts" that could be/should be brought out. But as I looked at the Detroit setlist, Jackson Cage was the only "obscure deep album cut" I could find in there. One song does not bring a whole show down by itself (and I'm not even sure the show was brought down anyway).

Of the songs played last night:
10 were new songs (incl American Land)
7 were major cuts (Night, STO, PL, TOL, Badlands, BTR, DITD)
2 were fairly well known 'party songs' (Workin, Ramrod)
1 was Bruce's artistic statement this tour (RTB)
1 was an "obscure album cut" (JC)

Which leaves 2 songs from the Rising (LD, Rising). I'm not sure where those fit in the broad categories mentioned above. But they are certainly well known from the last 5 years.

So I'm not sure what you change up in that setlist to kick it up a notch. And from looking at other setlists this tour, each show has 1-2 songs at most that fall into the "obscure" category (to the casual fan).

I think Bruce is getting pretty much what he wants to out of this tour so far. He is showcasing his new album. His long-time hardcore fans are getting some decent rarities. They are {mostly} getting into the pit or main floor. And the casual fan is sitting in the seats, hearing the new album and enough familiar tunes so as not to leave early. Besides, the casual fan is probably not going to stand and dance for 2+ hours anyway.

[JAG]

Interesting observation. I don't necessarily disagree with you, and I do think that there are "major cuts" that could be/should be brought out. But as I looked at the Detroit setlist, Jackson Cage was the only "obscure deep album cut" I could find in there. One song does not bring a whole show down by itself (and I'm not even sure the show was brought down anyway).

Good point -- made me go back over the setlists so far and pick out what i would consider deep if not obscure album cuts that could be replaced by bigger names:

Adam
Be True
Workin' (one of the weakest songs from BITUSA)

And as i've said else where, Thundercrack

[ThunderRoadrunner]

I think Bruce is getting pretty much what he wants to out of this tour so far. He is showcasing his new album. His long-time hardcore fans are getting some decent rarities. They are {mostly} getting into the pit or main floor. And the casual fan is sitting in the seats, hearing the new album and enough familiar tunes so as not to leave early. Besides, the casual fan is probably not going to stand and dance for 2+ hours anyway.

Good observations here.

And I have to say that the Cleveland audience was outstanding, bottom to top, front to back. The kind you love to be and are proud to be part of. And while many come from elsewhere -- you see them each time at the R 'n' R Hall of Fame pre-show -- it was a very Cleveland audience. It was a group not out of place in Boston or Philly at their crowd best (and those two hit some of the crowd high points almost every tour). Bruce can do a killer show, but a Toronto audience, for example, while appreciative doesn't physically respond the way the "best" audiences do such as in Cleveland and that adds a whole other communal dimension.

When you're deemed pitworthy by the lottery elves, or the re-emerging force of MIB-dom, you never see a show weighted down by a tired, unsavvy, quietly contemplative or otherwise non-steamrolling audience in the rest of the building because the excitement of the pit is real and uncontainable. But that weight is never enough to diminish the joy, magic, mystery and majesty on stage night after night. A rock 'n' roll audience can pick its leaders but not those at the next parking meter.

Had a great conversation pre-show in Auburn Hills with a chap from the west coast who wanted my take on how east and west coast shows and audiences compare. Are the North East shows that much better? The simple answer is no, of course. Stunning shows and crowds with a different vibe in in Oregon, Washington and California and Bruce may drive a tad differently because of that different vibe, but shows not lesser, and sometimes reaching new heights -- I don't have the west coast show experience others here do, but the audience is the biggest difference. Less overlap. Snobbery is common and like every stereotype there can be kerrnels of truth somewhere, but not every time or all the time, and the opposite can likewise be true.

Bill Daverne

[downsdway]

Good observations here.

And I have to say that the Cleveland audience was outstanding, bottom to top, front to back. .....


Had a great conversation pre-show in Auburn Hills with a chap from the west coast who wanted my take on how east and west coast shows and audiences compare. Are the North East shows that much better? The simple answer is no, of course.

Bill Daverne

Bill,

I felt St. Paul was louder then Cleveland but I had a different standing spot for each. But I liked Cleveland better even though I witnessed Incident (in St.Paul)which was a top notch moment.

I spoke with a girl from Cleveland and she told me she was at all 4 California shows and that the 2 LA shows were the loudest of the 5 shows she has attended and that included Cleveland but I think where you are in the arena has a lot to do with how the crowd noise sounds. But the St. Paul crowd did the Whoa-oh part of Badlands the whole time that the band was off the stage and in Cleveland they stopped when the band left and started up agian upon there return.

[imabrucefan]

no p.s check your email for details of where the MoRiley travel club will be in March and April...

Where's my email?

[AMIW]

don't know where is it?

[ThunderRoadrunner]

Bill,

I felt St. Paul was louder then Cleveland but I had a different standing spot for each. But I liked Cleveland better even though I witnessed Incident (in St.Paul)which was a top notch moment.

Part of my respect for the Cleveland audience -- and I observed this show from immediately to the right of the soundboard -- was that everybody seemed to be grooving to every song, no matter where you looked, and they made sounds at the "right" spots. May not have been the loudest I've heard this tour but I feel comfortable saying it was just a GREAT audience in a whole bunch of tangible and intangible ways. And a great audience always adds a little to what Bruce gives back, too...

And everybody I talked to post-show also talked about audience being solid, which isn't something you see all the time (unfortunately, and I won't mention names because all of your points are well-put about the locational factors and I don't want to slag any city in particular, some cities appear to have much less-responsive audiences than others).

Bill Daverne

[HeldUp]

Great conversations. Certainly, the best of the best discussions we've had here in awhile. Thanks. Keep going.