I had the time of
my life seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Manchester’s Etihad
Stadium on Friday. 27 storming songs in three and a half hours of pure,
unadulterated rock n roll! I challenge anyone not to say he isn’t the greatest
live act around. I think many of the unconverted think Bruce is going to be a
quite earnest act, with his songs of broken dreams and promises populated by
often lost and desperate characters, but they couldn’t be further from the
truth. A concert by Bruce is such good fun! The way he swings his guitar around
his neck like a teenage rocker, hangs upside down from his mike stand, climbs
on Professor Roy Bittan’s piano to dance, and feigns exhaustion collapsed on
the stage only to be revived by Little Steven’s magic sponge is all so hammy,
yet just so great. So uncool it’s totally cool. And he’s 62!
He also has the
ability to make playing in enormous stadiums feel like he is playing in your
front room just for you. How does he do that? It’s an art he has perfected for over
40 years, and he is often quoted as saying that when fans come up to him, many
years later after witnessing the live spectacle that is Bruce, that it was the
best night of their lives, how great that makes him feel because that’s want he
wanted it to be. That may be the only concert you ever go to, or something you
have spent all your wages on, it needs to count. I can’t think of any other
rock star that has such respect for his fans, but also for his own craft and
music. I think that’s why he is held in such high regard by those fans,
including me. This is how I felt after only fairly recently being converted to
him in 2004, by a friend who encouraged me to go see him on ‘The Rising’ tour.
I had never seen an act like it, and felt like I never would again. I was
basking in a Boss like glow for months, as I bought all the records one by one
and followed the story of his development as an artist. I recommend you do the
same!
It would be good to
write an extended piece about Bruce and his relationship to my painting (I kid
you not!). My ‘Stolen Car’ drawings are titled after one of his bleaker songs,
and his presence lurks behind many of my recent nocturnal motorway paintings….
Here’s a link to a
recent terrific and moving interview with him where he talks about his music,
craft and current (brilliant) ‘Wrecking Ball’ album, his website, and another
blog I found that discusses why Bruce’s music is so great better than I could
hope to articulate….
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/06/25/155710461/springsteens-american-dream-beautiful-and-bleak
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