bruce springsteen & the e street band, 10/17/07, msg, nyc, ny

i found myself uninspired write this review while also writing about bruce for the top 40 videos show. i know i know... laaaazy.

so, i attended this show by odd coincidence. at some point during the day of 10/16 i got an email saying that the music department was changing the list of top 40 videos on our show. they were taking away 2 of my videos and so i had to choose ones to replace them with. i lost a carlos santana song (wasn't his best song, didn't mind it so much) and brandi carlile's, "the story", which i had never heard before the show started and really didn't mind losing- she screeches a lot. i had landed that one in the draft in the round that was literally the "i'll choose anything that isn't avril lavigne" round. anyways, i had the fortune of them nixing those two vids, and i ended up choosing bruce springsteen (why not!? he's the boss!) and some other vid.

immediately i emailed my buddy gabe, he's a huge bruce fan and my most reliable source of bruce information. i told him that if he had any pressing questions or interesting points about bruce's "radio nowhere" speak now or forever hold your tongue. he provided me with some insight about the song and then said that by an odd twist of fate, he just found out he had an extra ticket for the next night's bruce show, and would i be interested in going? i'd never seen bruce before. the next night was gabe's 75th bruce springsteen show on his path to 100 bruce shows before his birthday next year. gabe is from jersey- i suppose all jersey boys go through this rite of passage. my first bruce show? e street band? msg? gabe? how the fuck could it get any better? needless to say i was pretty psyched.

i met up with gabe after work and we were herded into msg with the rest of the bruce fans. i have memories of bruce springsteen from when i was a little kid- my sister's best friend karen had posters of him all over her walls- when he got married (the first time) she cried. i do remember that. he's a fucking legend. i mean, it's bruce effin springsteen. not only that, but back with the e street band? the legend before me is so great it was hard to wrap my head around. without a doubt i would be witnessing some sort of history.

the show in a nutshell was like every bruce springsteen music video you've ever seen. the man and the band were rockin' it out onstage. the crowd was eating that shit up. they knew every word, they sang along. not only was bruce conducting the e street band, he was conducting the crowd. he shushed them, he sped them up, he got them screaming. it was pure showmanship. he threw his guitar (not just tossed- but THREW) his guitar over his head backwards and his guitar tech was THERE and caught it, spot-on. it was good stuff. having gabe there was essential as he was able to give me some quick insights on songs, history, musicians--- in between him standing there with a shit eating grin on his face of course. there was a sign language interpreter to our left on the floor with a light shining on her and she was signing all the lyrics to someone- proving that even the deaf enjoy the boss.

all in all it was pretty frickin' cool. i would see him again, sure. have i drank the kool-aid? i'm not so sure about that. it was more about witnessing the man, the rock legend, performing in front of me, doing what he does best- being bruce springsteen. the e street band were top notch- clarence clemons wailing, little steven rockin' it out, max weinberg pounding the skins with perfect posture- no joke. it was a really great rock show. i won't lie- at some point as i was enjoying said rock legend (gabe, don't hate me), i DID think to myself, damn, it'd be so cool right now if i was watching neil young... but, that's for another time!

and it was actually- it was a mature audience. in an odd moment, i went to pee and some woman was in the bathroom on her cell phone saying goodnight to her kids and reminding them to brush their teeth before bed... i had a flashback to not the last time, but two times ago when i was at msg to see the beastie boys, just completely FACED with some friends, aaaaaaahahahahhaa... anyways, i just enjoyed the juxtaposed moment. i suppose you had to be there.

sooooo... last minute bruce springsteen and e street band show? kickass seats? ending the show with a lovely irish ditty? gabe, you're the man! a bonafide rock legend live before my very eyes: 8.5 HUZZAHS! why not?

(oh, and at some point i realized i was calling gabe "nuts" for the 100 bruce shows thing, but realized there are bands i've seen well over 100 times, so it's okay then... neither of us are nuts... right?)

setlist: http://weblogs.variety.com/thesetlist/2007/10/set-list-bruc-1.html