BS Can Be Good! Excellent, Even!*

I guess yesterday was a nice relaxing Sunday…well other than one of the best evenings of my life, that is!

You see, I love rock music, and there is a particular sound of rock that can’t help but make me feel really, really good. I’ve talked before about how I like “layers” of sound, and the “wall of sound” effect that was so hard for Bruce Springsteen to achieve on the Born to Run album is the pinnacle of the type of sound I love. And I got to hear it live last night. For me, it’s a spiritual experience to listen to the E Street Band perform certain songs (and, well, all the other ones are pretty good, too!).

Yeah, Lee and I were really lucky to get the chance to see Springsteen last night. I hadn’t seen him since the 80s—once I had the kids I either wasn’t comfortable leaving them alone that long or couldn’t afford modern concert ticket prices. Plus, it’s so hard to get tickets! The ones we had, which were scored by our hostess, were very high up, and sort of to the side, but tickets had only been on sale 20 minutes and those were the best available! Wow! I guess the “in crowd” has other methods (as I have seen on some fan sites), but us regular people have to fight and scratch. Still, after what I saw last night, I think I’d spend the bucks again for a select few artists.

But this wasn’t “one of my favorite bands.” This was one of two bands that I love above all others (Bruce is tied with the Who—I wore my Who shoes to the concert). Two of our party had never seen Springsteen before, and I am pretty sure they both liked it (perhaps too noisy for Lee), but Dan and I were quite obviously rapturous. There are some songs where the sound just fills you up and you have no idea where you are, what you are doing, or who you are with. You become part of the experience. I realized after “She’s the One” that I’d cried through the whole song. I also cried the first time Steven van Zandt appeared on the big screen with Bruce. It was just so nice to see them.

I loved the “theme” of the concert. It was hope, and the set list did focus on hopeful songs for the most part (thankfully not ALL of them, or we’d not have had “Outlaw Pete” or “The Wrestler”). He gave a talk about turning pain to joy, hurt to healing, etc., and how music can do that. I swear Obama gave him an agenda!

I’m not going to review the whole thing, since that’s easy enough to find online. But, here’s a song or two to enjoy, and under that are some highlights and lowlights for me.

Here's "Sherry Darling," which someone filmed while they shouldn't have been.



And this is a snippet of the beginning of Born to Run, just to show you the sound I'm talking about.

• I loved it when Bruce took a request on two gum wrappers from someone and showed it to the camera. It was "Sherry Darling," and as you might be able to tell from the clip, not all of the band remembered it completely.
• Another wonderful highlight was when he brought a little girl, like 9 years old, on stage to sing along with him on “Waiting on a Sunny Day.” She did admirably, and was seen onscreen jumping up and down with glee afterward. He even gave her a harmonica. He also had a little boy sing with him—and that kid did great--sang right into the microphone. It’s so obvious Bruce likes kids (his are around the ages of mine, by the way).
• Miami Steve’s guitar solos were a bit on the screechy side—rather overly loud and on some way distorted setting. Nils did all sorts of cool stuff, though, and I enjoyed his work.
• At one point there were TWO accordions on stage. And Steve on mandolin. Quite the folk scene. One song had FIVE people playing tambourine, too. I do like the jangly parts of his songs, though.
• Clarence needs a chair, but he can still blow, as long as he remembers what the song is. He also did a neat whistle part on the folky ending song…"Land of Hope and Dreams.”
• [added later] I forgot this part until just now--Bruce had an acoustic guitar, in black, with a tarot symbol on it, the 3 of Swords. The one that means a broken heart. Of course, this further endeared him to me. So, I Googled his name and "tarot," and lo and behold, I found this video on Bea Nettles, the person who designed the image on the guitar. And I realized that Springsteen uses tarot a lot--he has the Devil on the cover of his Devils & Dust album, and the 3 of Swords is on Magic. I guess I'd forgotten this.
  

We had a great time, and enjoyed talking with our fine hosts on the way down and back. (So if you live near me, consider buying your next musical instrument, strings, accessories or lessons from the fine folks at Danny Ray’s Music. They make Suna happy. End of unsolicited testimonial.) The traffic wasn’t even too awful getting in and out of the Erwin Center. I have no complaints, and I dreamed of the beautiful music all night. I will hear it for months and months now. Any hearing damage I experienced from refusing to wear my earplugs is worth it.


*Lee said that in his Facebook status today. And Bruce Springsteen is the best BS there is!

Wednesday Wonders #4: Bruce Springsteen

Yeah, I know, I picked someone who has a new album out, so it's predictable. Well, sure, but I started this to write about whoever was causing wonder in my life each Wednesday. To remind myself weekly that there IS wonder in my life, every danged week. And folks, he's it this week.

(Yeah, yeah, I know he has a funny voice...so do lot of my faves...I like Dylan, too...and I know that he's no longer "mainstream" if he ever was. Everyone's taste is different, which is why there are so many artists to choose from!)

It was a rare privilege to listen to Working on a Dream for the first time as I drove Beccano to guitar practice yesterday. We both enjoyed listening to all the "stuff" that goes on in an E Street Band CD (wow, what a bass line...hey, that's a supermarket checkout beep...goodness, there's a chorus hiding in the background...Mom, are those bells?). Then we talked to Dan the guitar shop owner, who agreed that a Springsteen concert IS a religious experience. I got to hear the rest of the CD at home with Lee, and that was good, too. Sharing the love...

Bruce Springsteen has been an important part of my life since I was 17 years old, so I've had a lot of chances to feel wonder--why not honor it today when I just listened to some music in a style that never grows old with me?

The first time I saw him live was my first real "date" with my High School Boyfriend. He'd introduced me to the album, which blew us both away. We spent many hours memorizing it as we did our hormonal teen activities. But, that evening...I remember so much of it. We ate at the Lov'n Oven pizza place. I spilled sauce on my white pants. We drove to Miami, me hoping Bruce wouldn't see my pants in the audience (it was dark, no problem). We listened. At that point, in 1975, you could SEE performers at rock concerts. We weren't all that far from the band. And it was loud. And in between he talked. Mesmerizing. I remember the smells (mmm, pot and cigarettes, INDOORS...not a highlight for this nonparticipant). And I remember driving home and getting rear-ended at a stop sign, 'cause the kids in the car behind us were high and didn't see it. The car was OK, so we kept going, but no doubt some of my adult neck issues stemmed from that little case of whiplash!

We saw him a few more times over the years. Every time was wonderful. I am sure he has memories as good as mine--we both loved rock so much, and this was our pinnacle (OK, I share it with the Who--which we saw twice, once after we broke up, even). I didn't need drugs when listening to that music. The densely layered sound with those deep grumbling bass and sax sounds and those tinkling piano and guitars...that took me to my happy space all on its own. Still does.

When I was a college freshman, The River came out. I sure was glad. I slept in a bunk bed above a girl who coughed and spit all night (when she wasn't out doing every fraternity member at the school). I am a light sleeper. I listened to side 2 of The River every night to get to sleep. The song "Drive All Night," which was long, loving and repetitive, put me to sleep. "I would drive all night again, just to buy you some shoes..." Thanks, Bruce. I still cry when I hear that song...not a greatest hit, just something that impacted me.

As Bruce moved into his "dry" period, I mean, the solo years, the music didn't put me into that trance like the wall-of-sound E Street Band stuff did, but I learned a lot about song structure, politics and conviction from the music. More important, I saw how Springsteen did not make a big deal out of his political and social beliefs. He just LIVED them. Later, when he finally started talking more, I was really touched to learn how much we have in common in how we feel about issues, family, love and life. Heck, I just saw a photo of the warm, comfortable and slightly cluttered room he writes in. It looks like a room I'd decorate, and in it is my favorite Stickley chair, too!

Have you ever been disappointed to learn a favorite artist had beliefs that you disagree with, or that a favorite actor/politician made a lot of bad choices (can you say Clinton, Edwards...? I can.)Bruce has not disappointed me. Even when he married the starlet and they got divorced, I understood. It has to be so hard to be suddenly THAT famous. You do things you are expected to do...date starlets, hang out with the rich and famous, turn on your old friends...but Springsteen didn't stick with that stuff. He still has his friends from his youth (where would he be without Miami Steve?), he values his family and prioritizes them over so much, even with his incredible touring schedule. And he is true to himself. He makes the music that's in him, not what a label says to make.

There's a nice article on him in the current Rolling Stone, the one with him on the cover. It's worth reading, especially reading how he treats his band members. He treats people like they'd want to be treated. And you know, that right there is enough to instill wonder in me.

Who are your musical wonders? Who takes you to your happy space? Beccano says Radiohead does it for him: "They have all those layers, too, Mom." I'm glad he has that music, and hope it stays with him always, like Thunder Road does for me. Want me to sing it for you right now? No? OK. Go read something else now.

References

Rolling Stone issue 1071
Bio on Wikipedia
Backstreets Magazine: All Bruce, all the time!
Fairly Balanced Review of Working on a Dream (as usual, people either love it or hate it)