The Boss: Springsteen in Cincinnati

While the hot cross buns are rising...

Let's talk about Bruuuuuuuce...

Spent last night alone in the US Bank Arena with Bruce and the E-Street Band. I've never gone to a concert alone. Jon and I went out to dinner first, watched Xavier just about put away Purdue, and then listened to the rest of the game on the radio as he drove me downtown. Jon dropped me off, texted me the results of the game and went to a movie while I partied with the "born in the 1950's and 60's" crowd.

Of note: I showed up in Springsteen style—black top, jeans and boots. 7 in 20 women were wearing the identical look... and so was the Boss-man.

Next to me was a couple in their early 30's and they looked out of place. When I told the husband I saw Bruce for the first time in 1981, he calculated quickly and told me he was four years old "back then." Uh huh.

Two women in front of me were old friends. They now live in Boulder CO and Cincinnati. They had seen Bruce together in college and hadn't seen him again since. They'd planned this night together for months and were giddy when the lights went down, danced and sang to every song. Made me think of my college Srpingsteen friends... and miss them!

Bruce was great... he always is. His message could easily have stood in for the Democratic platform wherein he addressed blue collar workers (who used to race cars), immigrants who were beaten up (or worse killed) for building the railroads, cities and machines of America (Bruce's Irish jig version of U2's "The Hands that Built America"), and his announcement that the last eight years amount to "magic tricks" (title of his newest CD: "Magic"). He quipped, "I think someone's been riflin' through my passport..." Vintage Bruce.

He stunned me when he broke into "Candy's Room." Apparently it's been on the set list earlier in the tour, but I had never heard it live. What a great song. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" is still my favorite Springsteen album and he gave us three songs off of it.

Like a U2 concert, he has such an extensive back catalog that there will always be songs you wish he'd played and delightful surprises you never thought to guess he'd play. "Candy's Room" was the latter for me. Made the whole night.

Bruce stunned the crowd when he played "Lost in the Flood" off his very first album, "Greetings from Asbury Park." Not even sure how many people knew that song. The whole night was designed for long term fans and in that sense, it was well worth the trip.

Clearly his voice was tired and he drank gallons of water to keep things going. As a result, he was a lot less chatty than in previous concerts. Also, the band played many musical interludes (which were awesome - we are so lucky to see the E Street Band after 30 years of skill development) and Bruce shared singing honors with the audience or Steven Van Zandt.

The encore featured "Glory Days" which may be my least favorite Springsteen hit. It kills me that in other shows he played the "Jungleland/Thunder Road" combo as this is my favorite set that Springsteen does. Sigh. The encore seemed to end quickly and we were all done at 10:25. Lights came up, everyone packed their gear back into bags, all around me fans were saying, "That's it? Oh well. Bruce is getting old. Gotta give him a break." They began the long shuffling descent to the bottom....

When suddenly the band burst through the tunnel into the fluorescent lights and Bruce yelled on mike: "What time is it? I said, what time is it? Is it time to go home? Nooooooo. It's Boss time!" Lights kicked off (as fans tumbled down stairs - j/k) and suddenly the room was filled with music again while fans streamed back to their seats as best they could.

Startling! They played a long version of "Kitty's Back," got us singing along and THEN sent us home closer to 10:45. :) The three hour+ concert is a thing of the past, but just as well. For all the beer being drunk by middle-agers, I think it was time for everyone to go home, too.



Set List:

March 22, 2008
Cincinnati, Ohio
U.S. Bank Arena

Darlington County
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason To Believe
Candy's Room
Prove It All Night
She's The One
Livin' In The Future
The Promised Land
Be True
Lost In The Flood Tour Premiere
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

Glory Days Tour Premiere
Born To Run
Dancing In The Dark
American Land


Kitty's Back

Bruce Springsteen tickets

I bought myself a Christmas gift this a.m.: a single ticket to the Boss's concert on March 22nd in Cinci. I was online right at 10:00 a.m. as the purchasing terminal opened. I got in fairly quickly and noticed that my tickets were for the floor (no seating). Being 5'2" and female, I already knew what a challenge that space is for watching concerts (having barely lived through it at a U2 concert a couple of years ago). So, as I've done countless times in the past, I asked to be shown different tickets.

Unlike those countless other times, this time I was booted to the back of the line and had to start my search over. I was shocked! Usually you keep your place and they simply shuffle the seats to give you a better look at what's available right then. There were no choices apart from "Best Available" so I couldn't define my search up front.

After giving up the floor, I wound up in the rafters. Grrrr. I have a nice angle to the stage and I know there will be big screens etc. But still. I'm just mad that I gave up the floor. Should have bought them and suffered up close rather than suffering at a distance.

Okay, now that I got that out....

I can't wait for March!!!

And the plot thickens... Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen made an interesting comment on 60 Minutes last week when asked how his band took it when he disbanded them and went solo artist in the middle of his career. Springsteen remarked:

"And I think what happens is sometimes you got to break your own narrative."

"We all have stories we're living and telling ourselves," he says, laughing. "And there's a time when that narrative has to be broken because you've run out of freedom in it. You've run out of places to go."

He explained that he could see where he was headed but knew that growth included disrupting the expectations and going into new territory. He eventually reunited with the E Street Band (they are touring right now for his new CD), but the break enabled band members to also explore avenues they may not have (such as Steven Van Zandt in "The Sopranos" etc.).

The idea of "breaking my narrative" deliberately has been playing around the edges of my thought life all week. Ruts can be comfortable but they can also be confining. And while a change of pace is sometimes helpful in re-energizing your experience of daily life, it struck me that a narrative break raises the stakes. It's a deliberate exile of self from the comfort zone, perhaps even relationships and beliefs.

He continued:

"I was probably one of the smartest kids in my class at the time. Except you would've never known it," Springsteen says, laughing. "You would've never known it. Because where my intelligence lay was not, wasn't able to be tapped within that particular system. And I didn't know how to do it myself until music came along and opened me up not just to the world of music but to the world period, you know, to the events of the day. To the connection between culture and society and those were things that riveted me, engaged me in life," Springsteen says. "Gave me a sense of purpose. What I wanted to do. Who I wanted to be. The way that I wanted to do it. What I thought I could accomplish through singing songs."

"It's not just the singing. It's the writing, isn't it, for you?" Pelley asks.

"Of course. Every good writer or filmmaker has something eating at them, right? That they can't quite get off their back . And so your job is to make your audience care about your obsessions," Springsteen says.

I got to thinking about the connection to a "narrative break" and "obsessions" and those things that "eat" at writers.

What a great way to see the dramatic moves we make in life. And how curious that our brilliance is sometimes confined by the system designed to free it.