When I listen to Springsteen on my IPOD I play things in order -- first album, first song, second song, etc. Never have I ever heard of a concert that follows that method...until now.
In something Springsteen described as "something we've never done before and you're not gonna see anywhere else" the Band played their benefit gig for the Count Bassie Theatre in Red Bank and it was just that, Darkness and Born to Run in their entirety...and in sequence:
Setlist:
Badlands
Adam Raised a Cain
Something in the Night
Candy's Room
Racing in the Street
The Promised Land
Factory
Streets of Fire
Prove It All Night
Darkness on the Edge of Town
* * *
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (w/ horns)
Night
Backstreets
Born to Run
She's the One
Meeting Across the River (w/ Mark Pender)
Jungleland
* * *
So Young and in Love (w/ horns)
Kitty's Back (w/ horns)
Rosalita (w/ horns)
Raise Your Hand (w/ horns)
Wow, to have been there...just couldn't come up with the $1000 a ticket.
May 8, 2008
Darkness and Born To Run...THE concert
Apr 25, 2008
Springsteen's Eulogy for Danny
Wow.
An amazing remembrance, delivered by Bruce Springsteen at Danny Federici’s funeral on April 21 in Red Bank, New Jersey:
FAREWELL TO DANNY
Let me start with the stories.
Back in the days of miracles, the frontier days when “Mad Dog” Lopez and his temper struck fear into the band, small club owners, innocent civilians and all women, children and small animals.
Back in the days when you could still sign your life away on the hood of a parked car in New York City.
Back shortly after a young red-headed accordionist struck gold on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour and he and his mama were sent to Switzerland to show them how it’s really done.
Back before beach bums were featured on the cover of Time magazine.
I’m talking about back when the E Street Band was a communist organization! My pal, quiet, shy Dan Federici, was a one-man creator of some of the hairiest circumstances of our 40 year career… And that wasn’t easy to do. He had “Mad Dog” Lopez to compete with…. Danny just outlasted him.
Maybe it was the “police riot” in Middletown, New Jersey. A show we were doing to raise bail money for “Mad Log” Lopez who was in jail in Richmond, Virginia, for having an altercation with police officers who we’d aggravated by playing too long. Danny allegedly knocked over our huge Marshall stacks on some of Middletown’s finest who had rushed the stage because we broke the law by…playing too long.
As I stood there watching, several police officers crawled out from underneath the speaker cabinets and rushed away to seek medical attention. Another nice young officer stood in front of me onstage waving his nightstick, poking and calling me nasty names. I looked over to see Danny with a beefy police officer pulling on one arm while Flo Federici, his first wife, pulled on the other, assisting her man in resisting arrest.
A kid leapt from the audience onto the stage, momentarily distracting the beefy officer with the insults of the day. Forever thereafter, “Phantom” Dan Federici slipped into the crowd and disappeared.
A warrant out for his arrest and one month on the lam later, he still hadn’t been brought to justice. We hid him in various places but now we had a problem. We had a show coming at Monmouth College. We needed the money and we had to do the gig. We tried a replacement but it didn’t work out. So Danny, to all of our admiration, stepped up and said he’d risk his freedom, take the chance and play.
Show night. 2,000 screaming fans in the Monmouth College gym. We had it worked out so Danny would not appear onstage until the moment we started playing. We figured the police who were there to arrest him wouldn’t do so onstage during the show and risk starting another riot.
Let me set the scene for you. Danny is hiding, hunkered down in the backseat of a car in the parking lot. At five minutes to eight, our scheduled start time, I go out to whisk him in. I tap on the window.
“Danny, come on, it’s time.”
I hear back, “I’m not going.”
Me: “What do you mean you’re not going?”
Danny: “The cops are on the roof of the gym. I’ve seen them and they’re going to nail me the minute I step out of this car.”
As I open the door, I realize that Danny has been smoking a little something and had grown rather paranoid. I said, “Dan, there are no cops on the roof.”
He says, “Yes, I saw them, I tell you. I’m not coming in.”
So I used a procedure I’d call on often over the next forty years in dealing with my old pal’s concerns. I threatened him…and cajoled. Finally, out he came.
Across the parking lot and into the gym we swept for a rapturous concert during which we laughed like thieves at our excellent dodge of the local cops.
At the end of the evening, during the last song, I pulled the entire crowd up onto the stage and Danny slipped into the audience and out the front door. Once again, “Phantom” Dan had made his exit. (I still get the occasional card from the old Chief of Police of Middletown wishing us well. Our histories are forever intertwined.) And that, my friends, was only the beginning.
There was the time Danny quit the band during a rough period at Max’s Kansas City, explaining to me that he was leaving to fix televisions. I asked him to think about that and come back later.
Or Danny, in the band rental car, bouncing off several parked cars after a night of entertainment, smashing out the windshield with his head but saved from severe injury by the huge hard cowboy hat he bought in Texas on our last Western swing.
Or Danny, leaving a large marijuana plant on the front seat of his car in a tow away zone. The car was promptly towed. He said, “Bruce, I’m going to go down and report that it was stolen.” I said, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
Down he went and straight into the slammer without passing go.
Or Danny, the only member of the E Street Band to be physically thrown out of the Stone Pony. Considering all the money we made them, that wasn’t easy to do.
Or Danny receiving and surviving a “cautionary assault” from an enraged but restrained “Big Man” Clarence Clemons while they were living together and Danny finally drove the “Big Man” over the big top.
Or Danny assisting me in removing my foot from his stereo speaker after being the only band member ever to drive me into a violent rage.
And through it all, Danny played his beautiful, soulful B3 organ for me and our love grew. And continued to grow. Life is funny like that. He was my homeboy, and great, and for that you make considerations… And he was much more tolerant of my failures than I was of his.
When Danny wasn’t causing chaos, he was a sweet, talented, unassuming, unpretentious good-hearted guy who simply had an unchecked ability to make good fortune and things in general go fabulously wrong.
But beyond all of that, he also had a mountain of the right stuff. He had the heart and soul of an engineer. He learned to fly. He was always up on the latest technology and would explain it to you patiently and in enormous detail. He was always “souping” something up, his car, his stereo, his B3. When Patti joined the band, he was the most welcoming, thoughtful, kindest friend to the first woman entering our “boys club.”
He loved his kids, always bragging about Jason, Harley, and Madison, and he loved his wife Maya for the new things she brought into his life.
And then there was his artistry. He was the most intuitive player I’ve ever seen. His style was slippery and fluid, drawn to the spaces the other musicians in the E Street Band left. He wasn’t an assertive player, he was a complementary player. A true accompanist. He naturally supplied the glue that bound the band’s sound together. In doing so, he created for himself a very specific style. When you hear Dan Federici, you don’t hear a blanket of sound, you hear a riff, packed with energy, flying above everything else for a few moments and then gone back in the track. “Phantom” Dan Federici. Now you hear him, now you don’t.
Offstage, Danny couldn’t recite a lyric or a chord progression for one of my songs. Onstage, his ears opened up. He listened, he felt, he played, finding the perfect hole and placement for a chord or a flurry of notes. This style created a tremendous feeling of spontaneity in our ensemble playing.
In the studio, if I wanted to loosen up the track we were recording, I’d put Danny on it and not tell him what to play. I’d just set him loose. He brought with him the sound of the carnival, the amusements, the boardwalk, the beach, the geography of our youth and the heart and soul of the birthplace of the E Street Band.
Then we grew up. Very slowly. We stood together through a lot of trials and tribulations. Danny’s response to a mistake onstage, hard times, catastrophic events was usually a shrug and a smile. Sort of an “I am but one man in a raging sea, but I’m still afloat. And we’re all still here.”
I watched Danny fight and conquer some tough addictions. I watched him struggle to put his life together and in the last decade when the band reunited, thrive on sitting in his seat behind that big B3, filled with life and, yes, a new maturity, passion for his job, his family and his home in the brother and sisterhood of our band.
Finally, I watched him fight his cancer without complaint and with great courage and spirit. When I asked him how things looked, he just said, “what are you going to do? I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” Danny, the sunny side up fatalist. He never gave up right to the end.
A few weeks back we ended up onstage in Indianapolis for what would be the last time. Before we went on I asked him what he wanted to play and he said, “Sandy.” He wanted to strap on the accordion and revisit the boardwalk of our youth during the summer nights when we’d walk along the boards with all the time in the world.
So what if we just smashed into three parked cars, it’s a beautiful night! So what if we’re on the lam from the entire Middletown police department, let’s go take a swim! He wanted to play once more the song that is of course about the end of something wonderful and the beginning of something unknown and new.
Let’s go back to the days of miracles. Pete Townshend said, “a rock and roll band is a crazy thing. You meet some people when you’re a kid and unlike any other occupation in the whole world, you’re stuck with them your whole life no matter who they are or what crazy things they do.”
If we didn’t play together, the E Street Band at this point would probably not know one another. We wouldn’t be in this room together. But we do… We do play together. And every night at 8 p.m., we walk out on stage together and that, my friends, is a place where miracles occur…old and new miracles. And those you are with, in the presence of miracles, you never forget. Life does not separate you. Death does not separate you. Those you are with who create miracles for you, like Danny did for me every night, you are honored to be amongst.
Of course we all grow up and we know “it’s only rock and roll”…but it’s not. After a lifetime of watching a man perform his miracle for you, night after night, it feels an awful lot like love.
So today, making another one of his mysterious exits, we say farewell to Danny, “Phantom” Dan, Federici. Father, husband, my brother, my friend, my mystery, my thorn, my rose, my keyboard player, my miracle man and lifelong member in good standing of the house rockin’, pants droppin’, earth shockin’, hard rockin’, booty shakin’, love makin’, heart breakin’, soul cryin’… and, yes, death defyin’ legendary E Street Band.
Apr 21, 2008
Apr 17, 2008
RIP Danny Federici
Danny Federici, for 40 years the E Street Band's organist and keyboard player, died this afternoon, April 17, 2008 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City after a three year battle with melanoma.
Apr 7, 2008
And another Springsteen convert
This is happening more and more often now. This time it is Jim Harrington over at Live Daily.
Read his full article here.
But there's no denying it now: I was an idiot. Now I know what seemingly every other rock fan in the world already knows: A Springsteen concert isn't to be missed.
Love it!
Apr 1, 2008
Classic April fools fodder on Backstreets.com
Kudos guys! View it all here.
My fav:
Mar 29, 2008
Seattle Ticket drop now!
Thanks to a regular SpringsteenEsque contributor - Victoria - for this nugget:
Seattle ticket drop via ticketmaster has begun. Tickets were unavailable online prior to this afternoon.
Go go go!
Mar 28, 2008
Springsteen to rock Syracuse?
Thanks to Umpy for this one:
Original article here.
Springsteen in Carrier Dome? A definite maybe Posted by Mark Bialczak March 27, 2008 3:10PM
Categories: Did you hear this one?
This one never really dies completely from local discussion, but it's gotten red-hot again of late.
Is Bruce Springsteen bringing the E Street Band for another visit to the Carrier Dome?
I just got off the phone with Dome managing director Pat Campbell, and he says of any specific Boss dates agreed to for a show under the Syracuse
bubble:
"Not particularly, no."
However, Campbell says, he has been talking with Springsteen representatives about several possible dates, including early in September and in October.
"We'd love to have Bruce in the dome," Campbell says. "We've had some conversations. We're waiting to hear. They have a number of places they're looking at. We'd love to do it. They haven't been able to tell me anything."
It's been a long walk down the Thunder Road since the last Bruce show in the dome. The last Springsteen date there was Nov. 13, 1992.
Coincidentally, the last time he played in Syracuse was a solo acoustic show in the Landmark Theatre exactly four years later, Nov. 13, 1996.
Keep your fingers crossed. Again.
Mar 19, 2008
You spin the tunes in San Jose
Radio station KFOG out of San Jose/San Francisco is holding a political rally of sorts where democracy WILL rule the day. They have a list of 20 "rare" songs that we, the people as a majority will chose a single request for Bruce to play when he hits the stage in San Jose April 5th.
I'm not sure that they have followed this tour because some of these are mainstays in the current setlists...hate to waste a vote and hear Because the Night twice :).
The nominees are:
This Hard Land
Trapped
Saint In The City
NYC Serenade
My Love
Spirit In The Night
Factory
Something In The Night
Sherry Darling
Meeting Across the River
Open All Night
Murder, Inc.
Blood Brothers
Be True
Rendezvous
Souls Of The Departed
Man At The Top
Code Of Silence
Fire
Because The Night
Vote here.
Mar 18, 2008
Quick, I need to borrow $1000
Tickets for the Count Basie Theater solo show hit the auction blocks on Thursday (through April 2) with a minimum bid of $1000 (that's $998 Canadian). If that is too expensive for you non-fans out there ;), there is a raffle for tickets with a price tag of $100 per ticket.
More information can be found at the Count Basie Theater website.
Mar 13, 2008
Ouch...I'm a fan but not this kind of fan
Worst line of this story: I mean, who doesn't like Bruce Springsteen? Thanks to Rob from Ottawa for this.
Woman stabs partner to death after fight over Bruce Springsteen
An Australian woman pleaded guilty Thursday to fatally stabbing her boyfriend because he objected to her listening to Bruce Springsteen's music.
Bruce Springsteen is an award-winning American singer-songwriter.
The national news agency, Australian Associated Press, reported that the Supreme Court in the city of Brisbane sentenced Karen Lee Cooper to eight years in prison.
Cooper told arresting officers she "just got tired" of her boyfriend, Kevin Watson, bossing her around during their two-year relationship.
"I couldn't even play Bruce Springsteen on my stereo. Can you believe that? Can you believe that?" Cooper told police, according to the Courier Mail newspaper.
Later, in a formal police interview, she repeated her claims: "I mean, who doesn't like Bruce Springsteen? I am 49 years old and I want to play my own music."
Springsteen is an award-winning American singer-songwriter, best known for his lyrics about the struggles of the common man.
The couple had been drinking at their rental home the night of the stabbing two years ago when they began arguing over Cooper's choice of music, the Australian Associated Press said.
Cooper's lawyer told the court she experienced a "brain snap." She ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and stabbed Watson, 49, after he said he didn't want her to listen to a Springsteen CD, the newspaper said.
Cooper took a handful of pills before calling police. She told officers she hoped the pills would kill her before they arrived.
According to the press reports, Cooper regretted the stabbing and did not think her boyfriend deserved to die
Mar 12, 2008
The dates keep coming (well, no dates yet but...)
According to Backstreets.com:
The Boston Globe reports: "Don't be surprised if Bruce Springsteen announces plans to play Gillette Stadium this summer. The Boss, who kicked off the Fenway concert series a few years back, is hitting the road with the E Street Band but so far hasn't scheduled any Boston dates. Word is Bruce will play Gillette on Aug. 1 and 2..."I'm still hoping for the other 7 shows in New Jersey...I might actually get a ticket this time around!
And from the mouth of Silvio... asked by the Kansas City Star if the tour would be continuing past July, Steve says: "As far as I've heard, we’ll be out through October. We'll probably hit Europe and then come back (to the U.S.). I haven't seen the schedule, but we're going to be out quite a bit for the rest of the year."
Mar 6, 2008
Springsteen to play benefit for Count Basie
Springsteen will play a benefit show at the Count Basie Theatre on May 7th during his 3-week break between the end of the North American leg and the start of his European leg for Magic. There will be tickets available for fans through an auction.
Head over to www.countbasietheatre.org for more information.
COUNT BASIE THEATRE HOLDS FUNDRAISING CONCERT FEATURING
AN EVENING WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Bruce Springsteen will perform a benefit concert at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ on Wednesday, May 7th.
Proceeds from “An Evening with Bruce Springsteen” will benefit the historic Count Basie Theatre and help offset the cost of the renovation and restoration of the theatre that will begin this summer. A portion of the concert proceeds will also support other programs and operations at the Theatre, such as the Cool School. Patti Scialfa serves on the Board of the Basie Foundation and as Honorary Chair of the Capital Campaign.
Tickets will be made available to the public through an online “Make Your Best Offer” Auction beginning March 20th at www.countbasietheatre.org. Instructions on how the auction will work will be provided at www.countbasietheatre.org on March 20th. Concert information can also be found at www.brucespringsteen.net and www.backstreets.com.
Rusty Young, CEO of the Count Basie Theatre Foundation, said, "We are excited that Bruce Springsteen will be performing a benefit concert and deeply appreciate his willingness to help preserve and restore the Basie."
Mar 3, 2008
We're looking for writers!
Are you going on the road with Springsteen? Have you got an opinion on Springsteen and his music? Do you know where he stays while in Hamilton? Have you been burning to have your words read by someone other than your mother? Well then, we are looking for you!
Seriously, if there is anyone out there who would like to contribute to this blog during this leg and beyond, flip me an email (info @ springsteentracker.com) and let's chat!
Hamilton Tickets Dropping!
Reports all over that great seats for the Hamilton show are dropping all over the place. Head over to www.ticketmaster.ca.
Feb 28, 2008
RollingStone magazine coverage for 'For You'
Feb 27, 2008
The media machine ramps up
Ahead of his first show of the 2008 leg of the 'Magic' tour, there is a good little article in tomorrow's USA Today. You can check it out online now here.
Feb 26, 2008
Report from the rehearsal stage
Well, we are DYING for the next leg to start. Here's a report from the rehearsal from today as found on backstreets.com:
The second and final day of rehearsals by Bruce and the E Street Band at Asbury Park's Convention Hall was a good one.
For those worried about Bruce having a stale setlist, today should get you excited that he'll play some things we haven't heard in awhile.
Bruce had the band rehearse several "rare" songs. It was also a great day for autographs as Bruce again stopped for a second straight day to sign.
The band started playing at 9:35 a.m. Again my thanks to Jeremy for filling me in on the songs played before I got there.
1. Loose Ends (played it twice).
2. Radio Nowhere
3. Loose Ends (again). Patti did some of the lead vocals with Bruce.
4. Lonesome Day
5. So Young and In Love.
At one point during the song Bruce stopped to say "Welcome to this beautiful city. Are you ready for some sexual healing?"
They played this a couple of times.
6. Rendezvous
Sounded great They worked on the end of it a couple of times.
7. Take 'Em As They Come.
Really glad to hear this one again. I enjoyed this when Bruce played it on The Reunion Tour.
They again worked on the ending of the song a couple of times.
8. Tunnel of Love
Sounded real good. Patti worked on her part a few times.
That was it for the music for the day. They were done by 11 a.m.
Garry Tallent was the first to leave and he stopped to sign autographs. Also signing and posing for pictures today was Little Steven, Clarence Clemons, Max Weinberg and Soozie Tyrell. They signed for anyone who aasked. There were about 30-40 fans around.
Bruce left at 12:15 p.m. and he stopped to sign just as he was pulling out from the side entrance of Covention Hall before he headed down the ramp behind the Paramount.
He signed a few autographs, moved forwad a little bit more, signed a few more and then left. He probably signed about a dozen things.
Not everyone got an autograph but it was nice to see Bruce stop for the second day in a row and sign.
Charles Giordano was there again. Danny Federici was not there.
The trucks were all set to take the equipment out and now Bruce and the band head to Hartford for Thursday's show and begin their world tour.
Once again, I want to give a shout-out to Bruce's security and the security at Convention Hall. They are the best at what they do and they treat the fans with the utmost respect.
Thank you to Jerry Fox Sr., Gil, Gary, Jerry Fox Jr.,Rex, Brian and the rest of the crew.
Feb 19, 2008
Event Alert: NYC
For those of you lucky enough to be in the vicinity of NYC you should check this out on March 7th.
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live in Barcelona
Rock out with your friends as Bruce and the band play classic Springsteen tunes and hits from his 2000 album The Rising in this rarely screened, critically acclaimed concert film recorded live in Barcelona.
Bruce Springsteen has generously made this film of his 2002 concert in Barcelona available to Symphony Space. All proceeds from the screening benefit Symphony Space’s specialty film programs.
A high definition digital surround sound screening. Recorded October 16, 2002.
Features classic Springsteen, plus songs from his then-new CD, The Rising.
Food, wine and $3 beer available during the screening. All ticket holders get 10% off food & drinks after the show at the unWINEd bar & lounge.
More information can be found here.
Feb 15, 2008
Next leg to begin in 13 days
The next leg of the Magic Tour is set to begin in 10 short days from now when Springsteen and his troupe visit Hartford.
Here is the complete next leg as a refresher.
2/28 Hartford, CT HC C Arena
3/2 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
3/3 Hamilton, ON Copps Coliseum
3/6 Rochester, NY Blue Cross Arena
3/7 Buffalo, NY HSBC Arena
3/10 Hempstead, NY Nassau Coliseum
3/14 Omaha, NE Quest Center
3/16 St. Paul, MN Xcel Center
3/17 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center
3/20 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Fieldhouse
3/22 Cincinnati, OH U.S. Bank Arena
3/24 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
3/28 Portland, OR The Rose Garden
3/29 Seattle, WA Key Arena
3/31 Vancouver, BC GM Place
4/4 Sacramento, CA Arco Arena
4/5 San Jose, CA HPPavillion at San Jose
4/7 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
4/8 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
4/13 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
4/14 Houston, TX Toyota Center
4/18 Ft Lauderdale, FL Bank Atlantic Center
4/19 Orlando, FL Amway Arena
4/21 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
4/25 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
4/27 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Bobcat Arena
4/28 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
4/30 Charlottesville, VA John Paul Jones
Hope to see some of you out there.
