art predator

The Big Monkey’s Top 10 Springsteen shows

April 14, 2008

tags: Anaheim, Bruce Springsteen, Springsteen Top 10 best shows, Top 10 Shows

The Big Monkey has been to 100 Bruce Springsteen shows, more or less, since 1981. We’ve been to a few shows together since 2002, and every time, he says, Wow, that was so great, that made the Top Ten! So after he said that about the Tom Morello guest appearance on the Magic Tour in Anaheim, I put it to him: what are your Top 10 shows???? At least today’s list

#10 Magic Tour, 2008, Anaheim. “The Ghost of Tom Joad’ with Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine was that good.

#9 Devils and Dust Tour, 2005, Pantages Theater, LA. Went with the Art Predator, he played lots of different instruments, mandolin, pump organ, piano, and it was a powerful record.

#8 Seeger Sessions Show, 2006, Greek Theater, LA. Fun music, great band, everyone was having so much fun playing those songs, and went with the Art Predator.

#7 Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, Wiltern, 1996. Won front row tickets from a LA radio station; had to name the song from 2 notes. The song was “E Street Shuffle”. His first acoustic tour, just him and the guitar.

#6 Night 2 Tunnel Tour 1988 Mountain View. Sat halfway up right in the middle. Really good show. Had to be there. The energy, the sound, the performance, all came together.

#5 Sat Night, Tunnel Tour, LA Sports Arena, 1988. Roy Orbison’s birthday 10th row seats. Before Bruce sang “Born to Run” he told everyone how Roy Orbison influenced him and everyone sang happy birthday to Roy Orbison. “We waited after the show and no one was recognizing him and we went over there and talked with him. He was the happiest guy. This was before his new records came out before the Traveling Wilburies, before he became popular again. I took his picture and he signed my ticket stub on his birthday.”

#3 & # 4 The Chrystic Shows for the Chrystic Institute, 1990, Shrine Auditorium, LA. Bruce played a lot of songs which ended up on his next records, Lucky Town and Human Touch, so no one had heard them before. He blew off his best friend’s bachelor party to make the show. no regrets. The memories of that show lasted much longer than the marriage (it made it 2 months).

#2 The Bridge Show 1986, Shoreline Amphitheater Mountain View CA. Bruce acoustic, all by himself, likely the first time he’d ever done that, and the first year of the Bridge shows, and the first year for the Amphitheater.

#1 The River Tour, 1981, LA Sports Arena. It was his first show, what caught the fish, what turned him on.

And what are your Top Ten shows of all time? By Bruce Springsteen or anyone? I too will think about this one! Or Festivals??

Bruce Springsteen San Jose Magic: review and set notes

April 12, 2008

tags: Bruce Springsteen, Magic Tour, San Jose

Ron Wells wrote these notes for friends and fellow fans following the San Jose Bruce Springsteen show Sat. April 5:

Sometimes after a Springsteen show, your mind just wanders off into areas you might not otherwise think about. This happened to me as I flew home from San Jose while staring down at the sometimes desolate strata of rock formations that one can occasionally see in parts of California. For whatever reason, the late, great Lester Bangs came to mind with his quote: “In a time of squalor and belittled desire, Springsteen’s music is majestic and passionate with no apologies.”

He wrote this in 1977. Over 30 years have come and gone and Bruce continues his own passionate, personal fight against the desolation that life sometimes provides.

In San Jose on Saturday night, Bruce and his band brought their roaring, snarling,and often quiet form of majesty into the lives of 18,000 or so people. He made his case for fighting back against the squalor with nothing but sweat drenched desire, his own personal fight to open the door and let people dance away their own demons with a physically demanding show that was touched with stirring intellectuality and spiritual hope, all in guise of a rock and roll show.

From the opening connection of Out in the Street, the audience knew you couldn’t just sit back and enjoy the performance, as Bruce used the echo and call to get them to respond to him. Lonesome Day may not have been everyone’s favorite song, but again Bruce sang, “It’s all right, it’s all right, it’s all right,” and the audience threw up their hands and yelled back “yeah,” a positive confirmation to counter this world of pain and negativity.

Something in the Night was a fan’s request, and everyone can relate to at one time or another finding “the things we loved/They were crushed and dying in the dirt.” It’s the same darkness of the night that covers up the deathly horror of The Gypsy Biker and leads into the broad daylight of lies that is “Magic.” With that, he swiftly kicked into the powerful and dramatic Trapped, a song that acknowledges the prisons that somehow hold us as he sings, “Seems like I’m caught up in your trap again /Seems like I’ll be wearing the same old chains / But good will conquer Evil /And the truth will set me free /And I know someday I will find the key /I know somewhere I will find the key.” The stage goes from dark to brightly lit as he sings softly and then screams his defiance as the audience sings and pumps their fists in defiance with him.

Bangs would then have been proud of Bruce reaching into the primal blues of Reason to Believe, kicking ass as he ponders why in the hell anyone would put up with all of this stuff life throws at us if weren’t for that goddamn beat that keeps us shaking our hips and moving forward whether we want to or not. Yeah, so let’s see if you can Prove It All Night, and just in case you don’t think you can, you better listen to Nils, who now has been freed to shred his guitar, bend the notes, and basically play guitar for the gods as Bruce encourages him on. The shriek of understanding splits the arena like lightening bolts.

She’s the One, and she better be, as that mythical beat handed down from Zeus to Bo Diddley has everyone up on their feet, because this one never goes out of style. Promised Land offers enough hope that during Fire, Bruce and Clarence face off in dead silence after the music stops in mid-song, and the joyous screams of the audience fill the void. Hey, maybe there’s some fun around here after all. This seems certain for Bruce too as he runs back three times throughout the show to douse himself with water and then goes up on Max’s drum kit and squeezes the water down the back of Max’s neck, surprising even the drummer.

Bruce acknowledges his audience all night long, connects with them, talks to them, as they grab his legs and he grabs their signs and so we get Spanish Johnny riding into town, a song Bruce once said was about “the search for redemption.” In the spiritual church of Springsteen this better be true because in the Devil’s Arcade you’re going to “lie adrift with the heroes of the devil’s arcade,” where the only redemption that matters is the “Beat of your heart, the beat of your heart, the beat of your heart,” with Max pounding this understanding as the lyrics fade away.

Come on up for The Rising where there’s a “sky of blackness and sorrow ( a dream of life)” and ends in a “sky of fullness, sky of blessed life”. Wow, how did he do that? How did he take us from that hell to this blessed life. Maybe he’s just showing us the possibilities.

And now it may be time for a Long Walk Home through a town where things aren’t as they once were, and thus one must take this walk alone, so loved ones needn’t bother waiting up. But Lester Bangs could have predicted what would come next as Bruce and the band bring forth the anthem for all souls here on earth to “spit in the face of these badlands” and the choir sings along in approval and fills the building, fists raised, hearts pounding,

But the show’s not over. Bruce and his magnificent band of blood brothers (and sister) return and respond to a request for the Detroit Medley by way of Mitch Rider and before that, Little Richard. He then squeezes in his own Born to Run so that even the casual fans can feel they’re part of the larger group, a member of the community. Glory Days reminds many in the crowd that they may not be as young as they once were, but what the hell, it’s bouncy, you can dance to the beat, and some guy wrote the song title on his bald head so he must really want to hear this. Bobby Jean follows and seems to take some of the wind out of the arena, coming after such an adrenaline rush of the previous three songs, but Bruce looks especially determined as he sings this song of friendship that lives on no matter what the circumstances. To him, it matters a lot.

American Land rings in my ears as I look down and see the land about which he sings, a land holding men and women split into factions, fearful of what may come, a land once filled with such hope and dreams and now a land splitting like the fissures I see below. Yet into this land steps Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band trying to hold us all together with their music and passion, asking us to the see this country, this continent, this world, as one we can believe in if we’ll only believe in ourselves and each other.

As Lester Bangs might have said, “What could be more majestic.”

———————–

Could not find a good video for Trapped, so here’s Paris ‘85:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K2eE9H7Nzww&feature=related

(I tried to post the video but the new wordpress dashboard is still causing me problems with posting video and images!!! argh, the art predator)

Bruce Springsteen in Anaheim: Magic Tour set list & notes from a 30 year & 90 shows fan

April 12, 2008

tags: "Ghost of Tom Joad", Bruce Springsteen Anaheim shows, notes, review, set list

The Big Monkey’s friend Ron Wells went to both Anaheim shows as well as San Jose (see subsequent post) and this is what he wrote for friends and fellow fans:

“I figgered, ‘maybe it’s all men an’ all women we love; maybe that’s the Holy Sperit-the human sperit-the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’ Now I sat there thinkin’ it, an’ all of a suddent-I knew it. I knew it so deep down that it was true, and I still know it.” —Jim Casey, in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

“Tom laughed uneasily, “Well maybe like Casey says, a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but only a piece of a big one–an then—. Then it don’t matter. Then I’ll be all aroun’ in the dark. I’ll be ever’where.” —Tom Joad, in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The “Ghost of Tom Joad” was the heart and soul of both Anaheim shows. It was the be all and end all, the past connecting to the present with Bruce bringing Steinbeck’s Oversoul by way of Walt Whitman and tying into an arena rock concert for the masses. With homes being blown away by foreclosures and people making similar treks as those of the Joad family, on comes Bruce Springsteen with Tom Morello to remind us of those whom we’re losing connection with. It’s hard times and people are out on that road again seeking food, gas, shelter. And it doesn’t play in the media because homeless, desperate people don’t make for good photo ops, but the Joads are out there again on that long and desperate road and this time they got company once again. Morello uses his guitar, Hendrix style, to scratch out that dirty truth that America’s roads are crowded with the teeming masses searching for a job, a home, a lifeline of hope. The song brazenly screams out from the band all the rage and anger that it can muster in the face of this American Land. The sleeping ghost of Tom Joad comes forth cursing with his own rage and despair, even into Orange County, that bastion of conservative America where the poor are despised for nothing more than being poor. Still, amidst these haunting, proud, Okie ghosts, Springsteen searches for that One Big Soul that Tom and Casey spoke of.

Some of us were fortunate to get glimpses of it in Anaheim.

Thirty-something years later after seeing my first Bruce show, and I’m seeing friends I’ve known from the beginning. People who love Bruce , but love other musicians, films and anything creative this world has to offer. Friends who have stayed out into the wee hours of 1978 or 1980 and talked of life and all that that entails. Friends who have had babies who then grew up into young adults. Friends who have had parents die. Friends who waited to talk to Bruce Springsteen and got their wish. And yes, some friends who are now gone, but remain within us still. All of us sharing the joy and pain that life has to offer, and here we are once again under that all encompassing, vital force that Bruce sings about and is also a part of.

Both nights blend into one big heartbeat, one dream of hope and faith amidst a country struggling for connections. And so Bruce starts off in the dark talking to his friend Steve about seeing the coming Light of Day because “things can’t get any worse /They got to get better.” But it ain’t long until we find that there’s a bad world out there of Murder Incorporated, where you better not look too closely or you’ll realize “everywhere you look life ain’t got no soul,” which really seems correct, but which then begs the question about where those wonderous and profound connections he so often sings about are living or hiding.

Once again, “Trapped” and “Reason to Believe” present that dichotomy of “prisons” inflicted upon us as we find ourselves trapped and lost in this world, and yet we somehow, someway, find a reason to believe.

“Devil’s Arcade” presents death front and center, and haven’t we all seen enough of that in these past few years. Bruce sings that it is the beating of the heart that we must believe in, and yet Max pounds those final haunting beats until one last big bang, and then the heartbeat stops. Just like that. And the ghosts come forth.

But Bruce, like Tom Joad, never gives up. He never gives in. “Blow away the dreams that tear you apart/Blow away the the dreams that break your heart/Blow away the lies that leave you lost and broken hearted,” he sings in Promised Land. There’s a better place. You just must continue to search for the soul of the universe and become a part of it by finding all that is good within you and then connecting with that which is good in others.

On the first night, I watched closely as the band began to return for the encores. Bruce patiently waited until all had entered the stage except Clarence. The Big Man finally struggles up the stairs with Bruce’s help, and they hug. It is a touching, fitting moment of love and compassion and friendship.

With the band all on stage, Bruce rocks the arena with “Rosalita”, “Born to Run” and “Ramrod”. This is the counter balance to all the despair that has come before it. It is the connection that Bruce throws out into the arena for everyone to latch onto, as if to say, “Here are the ties that bind. Grab on to them and pass them along.”

The second night begins with the hope that we’ll “show a little faith, there’s magic in the night,” as we start off down Thunder Road. But the ghost has not left the building and it is again Tom Joad’s soul that anchors this show.

Tonight though, Bruce seeks different answers, with the possibilities of sex, relationships, and love, or at least some semblance of the love we all seek. But even in “Candy’s Room” “there’s a sadness hidden in that pretty face.” In Because the Night the one lover pleads with his partner that “Desire and hunger is the fire I breath/Just stay in my bed until the morning comes,” but eventually ends up begging “to forgive me now.” The ties that bind, those connections of the heart, aren’t easy to find. So in “Brilliant Disguise” he painfully sings, “So when you look at me you better look hard and look twice/Is that me baby or just a brilliant disguise.”

Then here comes the “Ghost of Tom Joad”, yet again, in it’s same screeching, haunting, soul stirring rendition as the night before with Bruce and Tom Morello once again tearing the guts out of that song with all of its anger and rage filling both the living souls listening intently and the ghosts of the Dust Bowl hovering nearby.

And then I saw that connection that Bruce so adamantly believes in, preaches about, and tries to convey on a nightly basis. After the joyous “Out in the Street”, the band leaves to a thunderous ovation as the arena goes dark with thousands of flickering lights dancing like stars in some finite galaxy. Being close to the stage, I notice that Clarence does not walk off with the rest of the band. Instead, he sits and waits patiently for their return. Finally, Bruce comes back and sings a quiet, piano driven “Meeting Across the River”. The arena, rather than exploding, goes quiet, mesmerized by the story of a desperate man who’s about to connect with his pal Eddie so that “Cherry won’t take a walk” out of his life. Bruce sings it as if the guy has just lost his home, his lover, and may now lose his soul.

But an amazing thing is about to happen. The piano starts anew and “Jungleland” begins in all of its splendor, a place where “lonely-hearted lovers struggle in dark corners/Desperate as the night moves on, just a look and a whisper, and they’re gone.” And the Big Man walks slowly to the center of the stage and proceeds to blow his sax like his life depended on it. The horn sends notes of hope, despair and beauty out into the night-like darkness of the arena. Soon, it quiets and Clarence stands strong and proud at center stage. Bruce waits and then walks over in the darkness of the back-lit stage and puts his arm around his friend and whispers something into his ear. I can barley contain myself. Time stands still and all the friendships this life has presented come roaring back into focus with this one embrace. Souls connecting into the One Soul that we all share.

Bruce finishes the song, “The poets down here don’t write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be.” Words no longer suffice, as humans look for that connection, those eternal moments that transcend time.

People say it’s only rock and roll, but an autistic boy begins to speak after listening to Springsteen songs. A mother takes her son, who is undergoing treatment for a terrible disease, to the show because she understands that you can’t put a price on one’s attempts to heal the body and spirit. A little girl dances on stage with Bruce, timeless in its simplicity and joy. Yes, it’s only rock and roll, but it’s also the redemptive power of muisc.

As the band leaves the stage, Max grabs a poster and holds it up for all to see. It reminds us to think of Danny Federici, a soul not with us tonight, but with us all the same.

I walk out into the night of thousand chattering voices, all filed with the exhilaration this life can provide, withg the power of Bruce Springsteen and the E street Band. I look up into the night sky and somewhere John Steinbeck is looking down, knowing that we are all in this together, and its our responsibility to rescue those in need, to rescue each other, for starting on the day we were born we are all enveloped in this One Soul for all eternity. You see, there are no ghosts. There are just spirits of that Soul moving around us, moving within us.

Bruce moves off into another city with Steinbeck’s Tom Joad along for the ride, while I head off in the night to meet up with my friends. The same as it’s always been. In some way, the same as it will be forever.

————-

“I will provide for you and I’ll stand by your side

If you need a good companion for this part of the ride…”—-Bruce Springsteen (The Land of Hope of Dreams)

Seeing Springsteen after the Show & Anaheim Night 1 in Top Ten of 100 shows

April 9, 2008

tags: after the show, Anaheim, Bruce Springsteen, Magic Tour, Morello "Joad" makes Top Springsteen shows, Morello & Springsteen Ghost video, review

The Ghost of Tom Joad was that incredible, the Big Monkey says. This version of the song with Bruce and Tom Morello singing and playing together, and their raw power, put this show (Magic Tour, April 7, 2008, Anaheim’s Honda Center) in his Top Ten Bruce Springsteen shows (he’s seen about 100).

See Bruce almost never has guests. Over the years he’s had a few guests like Eddie Vedder a couple of times, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan. But it’s few and far between.

So it was quite a shock to have Bruce call out for Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. Rage has been performing “The Ghost of Tom Joad” since right after it came out (see 1997 video below).

Tom and Bruce traded verses and did the third one together, then they went into that incredible guitar duet, he says. Tom went off and Bruce was standing there watching him, playing along, and then when the song was over, the tech guys who work for Bruce, they were just applauding like crazy.

You can get the feeling a little bit from the video, he says, of the rage, and of the feeling of being there. But it’s not the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJT1EdKRF2g (this is a pretty good amazing of it, just uploaded to youtube–Morello’s guitar gave me the chills so I hope you’ll check it out if you haven’t already! sorry but it doesn’t want to load from my Mac onto wordpress’s new do)

Tom was a really nice guy afterwards when he came out and shook our hands, he continues. He walked up the long ramp outside and started talking to us, about 10 of us. He thanked us for saying how fantastic he was, and signed a couple autographs.

But the Big Monkey is not an autograph guy, so he didn’t get Tom’s, just shook hands and talked a bit…he just wants Bruce to sign the mat of his picture, and he’ll die a happy man.

When Bruce came out, at first we didn’t even think it was him, he says. My friend Ron and I were talking and waiting and this big SUV came up and it was Bruce sitting in the front seat. There were none of those people with booklets of shit to sign like we saw last time at the Pantages Devils and Dust shows in LA , those people who hang out after with pictures waiting for celebs to sign them. No these were real fans, a couple of European guys. a gal who was in the front row in the pit, a young girl, a few more.

So he signed a few autographs, shook and few hands, said “I gotta go” and his driver drove him off.

I was talking to my friends, he says, hanging out like they have for years, waiting for the boss. I blew it, he says, I really blew it. I kicked myself in the ass all day today. I should have been paying more attention and been a little more aggressive.

He thinks it’s his last chance, but he’ll get another one. I mean, how many of his fans have met him, seen him after a show, had a picture taken with him?

Next time I’ll hang out with him. We’ll get that autograph, you’ll see, and we’ll post it on the blog.

Coming soon: The Big Monkey’s Top Ten Bruce Springsteen shows. What are your Top Ten shows??

Springsteen & Morello: Joad Video from Anaheim

April 8, 2008

tags: Anaheim, Bruce Springsteen, Joad, Magic Tour, Morello, video

more about the show later…but here’s the video of one of the highlights!

ok so it doesn’t have the amazing guitar work there toward the end–but you get a nice taste, don’t you? the videographer said on you tube that the camera nozis caught him filming; lucky for all of us he got this much and we’ll see what else surfaces on the net, eh?

btw, were you there? what’d you think? post your comments below! let the Big Monkey hear from you!

Springsteen & E Street Band, April in Anaheim w/SURPRISE! Morello of Rage!

April 8, 2008

tags: "Ghost of Tom Joad", Anaheim, April 7 2008, Bruce Springsteen, Magic Tour, rarities, review, show report, Tom Morello

Waiting at the back door, yes he is, the Big Monkey is standing outside the door with about 10 old friends, fellow fans and die-hards waiting for Bruce to come out. The Big Monkey hopes the Boss will sign the picture of them from the Tunnel Tour show back in 1987 (see below).

He just called on his cell, his voice hoarse and excited. Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine came out a few minutes ago and shook everyone’s hands. Earlier he played “The Ghost of Tom Joad”; later, a bunch of musicians from the Seeger Sessions came on and played at the end of the show.

“When we were standing in line, we heard it, during sound check,” he said, the thrill still in his voice. “They were playing “The Ghost of Tom Joad. When I came back about a half hour later, they were still playing it. The guard said they’d been playing it over and over the whole time. I could here someone singing but it wasn’t Bruce. About half way through the show, they called him, Tom Morello, up. It was phenomenal–the guitar work–the place was going nuts.”

Time for the Art Predator to hit the sack (someone had to go to work today and be with the kid!) Will have to post more details later…

Do you think Bruce ever came out? Did he shake the Monkey’s hand? Did he sign his photograph? What other rarities did he play? Tune in tomorrow and find out!

to tease you a bit more…here’s a Bruce version and RATM version…you will notice a difference… will watch out for the one from the show to post

to find Bruce’s clip, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DEtA5fhk4k (just in case Bruce’s version isn’t loading for you–it wasn’t working today when I checked but it worked last night right after the show and it works if you go to you tube–good luck–it’s a beautiful vision of a beautiful song)

Preschool Share Day Blues

April 7, 2008

tags: family, growing up, life, love, preschool, red head boy, share day, skiing, Yosemite

Preschool Share Day Blues

My preschool son asks
is it my share day?

I am that kind of mommy
who doesn’t know
and must admit this to h

im
and the school: I ask and am told
it is posted right there where we sign in.

Well where my husband signs him in
and my sister signs him out on Tuesday
and I sign him out on Thursday and Friday.

We miss it, we miss it, we miss share day.
We miss it again.
I am picking him up and
my son asks, when is it my share day?
I look on the board: Today.
Your share day was today.

He is dashed
then recovers with
that’s ok, I can do it
another day
can’t I?

Can he?
I look at Teacher Amy hopefully.
No, she says, his group may not
have another share day.
Preschool will be out soon, she says.

He stands up to my waist,

red hair boy short,
curls long gone.
He will go to kindergarten next fall.
He will have missed out
on preschool share day.

Oh no I think, I failed again.

She gives us permission
to bring something tomorrow

which is now today
and he doesn’t know what to bring.

It is time to leave for school,
time for my husband to be at work:
What to bring what to bring?

I want to bring my green car, he says.
The fast green car from
last Saturday’s birthday party
which he rolls swiftly down
the corner of the raised carpet.

I groan.
Don’t you want to share
something more special?

This green car is special he says.

His dad and I decide on pictures
we just got back from our trip to Yosemite.

He likes that idea. We rummage
for a small photo album to place them in
work together to order them.

.He rushes around for things

to share: he collects
the green car from Leon’s birthday party
a ducks tattoo and sticker from the hockey game he went to with his dad and cousins
a pinball maze toy from Monday’s trip to Trader Joes
a Diego and Dora

cd of games we’ve never played
a Sponge Bob Squarepants book “Ice Cream Dreams.”

I have six things, he says,

one two three four five six things to share.

We have the photos from our trip see
in this little book I explain
you get to bring one thing;
this is what we’re bringing.

Just one thing he wails,
I only get to bring one thing??

Look, I say, it’s full of pictures!
Let’s count one two three four…
see here’s the pictures of us skiing

and rock climbing
our friends
our campfire
see lots and lots of pictures.

You can tell everyone about our trip.

When I pick him up,
I ask how share day went.

It wasn’t his group, he says,
so he didn’t share, but
Teacher Amy asked him
at the last minute
and he shared the book

of pictures.

Next time, maybe I should just
let him share his green car and
know that what really matters

is not the thing he shares

but our life experiences
–teaching him how to ski

to climb to explore to love–
that shapes how he moves
and grooves in the world.

For more about our trip to Yosemite, go to staynplay.

Visit other participants in the Poetry Train

Visit other participants in the readwritepoem

I hope to upload some other pics from share day soon…(have you read yet that I hate the new WordPress Dashboard??)

what rarity will Bruce play next?

April 7, 2008

tags: "None But the Brave", "Something in the Night", "Trapped", 2008, Anaheim, Bruce Springsteen, Magic Tour

During last week’s stop in Vancouver, Bruce and the Band dug out “None but the Brave” a song from the Born in the USA sessions in 1983-84 that never made it onto an album until the Essential Bruce Springsteen LP which came out in 2003.

This song had never been played live in a concert setting with the full band–until the Vancouver show.

The big question on everyone’s mind as they gear up for the shows in Anaheim is: what rarities are in store for us in the upcoming shows????

On the Bruce boards, people argue and debate all the time about which songs he will play and why. Bruce is a master of harnessing the crowds energy, of building them up to a frenzy, and quieting them down. So what he chooses will fit in to the theme or the mood of the show he is creating that night for the blessed few there.

Which brings us back to the question of–what rarities will we hear in Anaheim?

Will it be “Something in the Night”? This 1974 gem from Born to Run has rarely been played in concert., but he played it last night in San Jose, CA.

Will it be “Trapped”? This song was part of the USA for Africa album, and has not shown up on one of Bruce’s, and while he played it a lot in 1984, he hasn’t played it much since–until the Portland and Seattle shows.

Will it be “Held Up without a Gun,” the 1981 B side of the Hungry Heart single? That’s the number one heartful hope of the Big Monkey. But he would settle for “Take It as They Come” an outtake that showed up on Tracks, the 4 disc box set that was out in 2000.

What’s in store for us?? What rarity do you want to hear? Post your comments below!

a cauldron of dolphins

April 7, 2008

tags: Channel Islands, humpback whales, whale watching

and 5 humpback whales too!

We went whale watching today in the Santa Barbara Channel out toward the Channel Islands, mostly Anacapa, with Island Packers. We spent much of the time hanging out in a cauldron of 2500-3000 dolphins–leaping, diving, bow riding, you name it, joyful, playful dolphins. We were also teased with exceptional views of 5 different humpbacks whales feeding among and near the dolphins. Flukes and fins waved and splashed back in the water as cameras snapped. The skipper said it was an exceptional day–fine, clear, calm weather and marine mammals galore!

We’re going to come back some day, asks my son, okay? We’ll leave and go hiking and climbing somewhere. That’s what I want to say, he says, referring to this post. Yes, I assure him, we will. We will travel across the Channel on a boat with our backpacks and gear in a month or so, when school get out. We likely see more humpbacks, and maybe a blue whale or two. Who knows what else?

And if we have any luck, we will defeat the new wordpress dashboard (which I HATE) and figure out how to load some images and maybe video too. (no we didn’t take the photo above–and I seem to have lost the link)

The Boss & The Big Monkey: 27 year obsession with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

April 6, 2008

tags: Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen, E Street Band, LA Sports Arena, Little Steven, Magic Tour, New Dashboard, obsessions, OC Register Springsteen article, Vancouver show, Wordpress

As you can imagine from the post below, The Big Monkey in my life is HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan.

He has been to over a hundred shows all over the US since in the early 80s, and made it to almost every show in SoCal, Las Vegas, and the Bay Area.

He knows people who know people. And he knows people who go to show after show after show. Like his friend Christine, pictured above on the Magic Tour with her mother, her dad, and Little Steven from the E Street Band.

Like his friend Ron, who wrote in to the OC Register about his favorite Bruce experience.

Having now seen eightysomething shows since 1975, the ’78 Forum show, was one of the most amazing nights of my life. First, I drove to Inglewood on the day tickets went on sale. About 200 people were there. They lined us up in the parking lot and then randomly picked someone near the middle of the line as No. 1. Then they started coming my way. I was No. 6. When tickets went on sale, I got in the front row (Clarence’s side).

The show was unbelievable. You have no idea the power and passion this man exudes until you see him up close. He ran past me quite few times after jumping off the stage and then climbing the side risers. I was in a state of shock. The show left me more exhilarated and drained than I have ever been in my life. For me, “Darkness” was THE tour, and that night was the best show ever.

It gets better. After the show I waited outside with about 15-20 others. Celebrities and others kept coming out of the Forum Club and said “Bruce is gone.” Still, we waited. It must have been about 1:45 or so and Jackson Browne came out. He told us Bruce was still inside. What I learned much later was that Bruce was doing one of his first TV interviews. Sometime after 2 a.m. he came out and said “Hi” to everyone. He sat down on a low, concrete wall and talked to us for about 20 minutes. Someone asked him how come he didn’t play Santa Barbara anymore, and he laughed and said, “They tell me I’m getting to big for that place.” He just sat and chatted with the few of us remaining like it was no big deal.

I had him autograph a couple of things and shook his hand. About 2:30 a.m., he left and so did I. It was the perfect night. I have no recollection of driving back to Orange County. I think the car flew home on auto pilot.

Ron Wells

Corona del Mar

Hooking up with me, having a child together, and remodeling a house together has severely limited the amount of time, money, and energy he expends on his Bruce obsession. But he will of course be at the show tomorrow, low-top sneakers on (a la Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run promo thing).

I have asked the Big Monkey to share some “Bruce” inside info for those readers who may be heading to some of these upcoming “Magic” shows. Unless you’re an afficionado, there is a lot you will miss. The psot that follows will provide you with a “cheat” sheet, which you should study in the ensuing hours before the show.

And be sure to come back here after Monday night’s Anaheim show for the post game post!

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The Big Monkey’s Top 10 Springsteen shows

Bruce Springsteen San Jose Magic: review and set notes

Bruce Springsteen in Anaheim: Magic Tour set list & notes from a 30 year & 90 shows fan

Seeing Springsteen after the Show & Anaheim Night 1 in Top Ten of 100 shows

Springsteen & Morello: Joad Video from Anaheim

Springsteen & E Street Band, April in Anaheim w/SURPRISE! Morello of Rage!

what rarity will Bruce play next?

a cauldron of dolphins

The Boss & The Big Monkey: 27 year obsession with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

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