Bosston- As a Long Islander, New Jersey has always been very
important to me. Without the NJ, I might not have developed the
personal confidence and pride that can only come from being raised
in the second-most insulted place in the country (or in the
Northeast anyway, because there's always Pittsburgh- the 'Cadillac
of Cities' may not have the mall acreage, but it doesn't mess around
when it's time to get boring).
So thank you, New Jersey. Thank you for making my Strong Island
second-worst. Thank you for calling yourself the Garden State and
filling your most visible areas with belching heavy industry. Thanks
for being the Velcro sneakers, the calculator watch, the portly kid
of the Eastern Seaboard riding around the neighborhood on the Huffy
that wasn't quite a dirt bike, in corduroys, in the middle of
August. In your un-mintness, you were always mint to me.
This past Sunday, I realized the only greater thing you did than
save my childhood was produce Bruce Springsteen (and Jovi, but that
is for another day, and only Slippery When Wet counts anyway). After
lucking into some last-minute tickets, I experienced my first Bruce
show on the previously untouched-by-rock-and-roll grounds of Fenway
Park. It was truly something special. Almost as special as Newark.
The Boss put on nothing short of the big summer rock evangelism
show, and I am now a true believer in the man from Asbury Park.
The set-list (27 songs!), the band, the venue, the crowd were
awesome. He played the big songs, threw in a few unexpected nuggets,
gave the crowd some things to think about and offered respect to
Boston both subtly and openly, performing some Boston home-grown
tunes and expressing his honest affection for the city. In what
might have been a little advance thanks, Boston even offered up one
of its 5 annual days of nice weather for the occasion.
Taking the stage a bit after 8 PM, the band walked out to "Take Me
Out to the Ballgame" played by E-Street Band organist Roy Bitten and
sang back by the crowd. The first of many choruses shouted over the
evening, it reminded you where you were and that this was going to
be a damn good time. After a brief hello, Bruce launched the band
into "Diddy Wah Diddy" a cover of a classic rock and roll tune by
Boston-based band Barry and The Remains.
With
baseball and Boston squarely acknowledged, Bruce took a little time
to play two tunes off of his latest album The Rising: the title
track followed by "Lonesome Day". Although more cerebral and moody
than the energized frustration or nostalgia of classic Springsteen,
the tracks were solid reminders that Bruce is still writing great
songs, not just working through the classics like some other 'older'
rock stars. Mick and Keith take note.
After "Lonesome Day", he teased the crowd with what was to come with
"Adam Raised A Cain". With the band lockedinto the simple groove,
Bruce absolutely exploded on lead guitar. You forget that this guy
plays the electric guitar. You get lulled into thinking he's a coal
miner misplaced on the Jersey Shore, some singer-songwriter acoustic
troubadour, and then he just bangs the hell out an electric guitar
solo. As amazin as the guitar work was seeing the E-Street band,
after who knows how many years of witnessing these outburts, shaking
their heads along with the audience at his unexpectedly powerful
solos.
After pulling back a bit with a few more tracks from The Rising, the
gloves came off for good withthe swaggering anthem "Spirit of the
Night". From there, they cruised through "For You", "Because the
Night" (which was not written by 10,000 Maniacs), "She's The One",
"Badlands", "Mary's Place" , "Jungleland" and "Thunder Road" before
the first break.
Wincing and rasping his way through every vocal, with the crowd in
consistent support, he covered every inch of the stage, sliding
across the front stage on his knees like James Brown, and even
hanging upside down from the mic stand at one point. This guy is 52
and can run faster singing than I can, well, running.
It was in "Mary's Place" that Bruce played up the spectacle of the
evening, and showed he was really just having a lot of fun being
there.
Over an extended jam by the E-Street Band, he launched into a mock
religious revival speech, introducing the members of the band and
evangelizing their collective power to perform rock and roll
exorcisms of any kind. This being Boston, and Fenway Park, there was
of course only one exorcism that needed to be addressed: the evil of
that city, the one with the pinstriped ballplayer,s to the south.
The the evil seat of greed, inconsideration and Red Sox frustration
whose name would not be spoken. As the Boss put it.... New... New...
New... New-port, Rhode Island.
With the crowd now fully in his hands, Bruce went on to finish the
show with two encores which included "Glory Days", "Born in the
U.S.A", "Dancing in the Dark", "Born to Run", and "Rosalita." Amidst
the onslaught of hits, Bruce took time and thanked the city of
Boston, for its support through the years and the opportunity to
play the first, and only, rock concerts ever held at Fenway.
Going beyond simply saying thanks, Bruce left the evening with one
more tip of his hat to Beantown, closing with the song "Dirty Water"
accompanied by Peter Wolf of Boston-based J. Giles Band. After
nearly 3 hours of music, and much respect paid, Boston was
unquestionably owned by Bruce last weekend. As for myself and Long
Island, our obligations go deeper still: thank you, New Jersey.
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