"Come on up for the rising"
We had a few beautiful sunny relaxing days in the Cotswolds in August 2002 and played ‘The Rising’ constantly in the car so we were very familiar with all the tracks by the time the tour came around.
I taped live in Barcelona when it was on TV but was determined not to watch it until after we had been to Wembley - didn‘t want to spoil the surprise. There was an interview with Bruce before the live show, a few comments from the band and some of the video anthology. I still have my tape although no video recorder to play it on.
We have since bought the DVD of course but worryingly I couldn’t find it when I looked yesterday. Have we lent it to someone? - don’t think so - we don’t know any Bruce fans who haven’t already got it.
Drove down on the day of the concert in a hurricane - police are advising you not to travel unless absolutely necessary and all that - but of course it was absolutely necessary. The storm turned out to be very nasty indeed http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2367089.stm
We stayed in a rather soulless hotel in Luton. Checked in during the afternoon then on to Wembley Arena.
I had never been to Wembley before - either the arena or stadium. The stadium was being pulled down at the time. The twin towers were still there though and I was pleased I got to see that little bit of our heritage before it went forever.
Mike wanted me to tell you he has been to the stadium three times - once to see Leeds United beat Arsenal in the League Cup final in 1968, in 1972 to see England play Northern Ireland in the old Home International matches and once to see Leeds Rhinos in the Rugby League Challenge Cup final.
I like the new Wembley Stadium - haven’t seen it in the flesh but it looks spectacular in the aerial shots on TV.
I understand the arena has had a bit of a makeover too. It looked just like a big old warehouse when we were there so an update was probably no bad thing.
We joined a queue but then decided this was the wrong queue and went round the other side of the building to another equally long line. It was absolutely freezing cold. Chap behind us had only just bought his ticket from the box office - he had come on the off chance and dropped lucky. Easy done when you live nearby.
We sat on a raised platform behind the standing area, so a long way back but OK.
Being low down and a long way back isn’t too bad. High up and near is often a great view. High up and a long way back and you can be too far away to generate any atmosphere.
You rely on the people around you to get into it. Sometimes they do sometimes they don’t. It used to spoil my enjoyment but I don’t let it bother me now. When you go to more than one show per tour it gives a different perspective. One day you can be up and buzzing the next you can sit, look, listen and let the music just wash over you. I have come to accept either as good - hell just being there is great!
This time I was determined I wasn’t going to walk out and forget what he sang. You know how it is after a show when you are trying to remember the set list. You get the first two or three songs then can’t remember what came next or in what order.
There I was with my little note book and pen. I think by this time we had most of the back catalogue but to be honest we hadn’t played the early stuff much so….. I was OK until we got to 'Incident'.
Now, I know, there are people out there who would kill to hear this song live but we didn’t know what it was! On my set list I had 'Puerto Rican Jane'.
Think we probably had 'Land of Hope and Dreams' down on our list as 'This Train'. In fact Mike called it 'This Train' for years.
This was the first time we heard someone shout ’I love you Bruce’. Just before 'Empty Sky' when Bruce asked for quiet this guy shouts out. The whole of the crowd shushed him - the loudest shhhhhhhhh I have ever heard - and Bruce says 'too much love drives a man insane'
For a long time this was our favourite show. Certainly we could get into it more because we knew most of the songs. By this time I had purposely learnt the words to “Born to Run” by playing it over and over again. There were 11 tracks from “The Rising” which were as familiar to us as they were to a lot of the audience. In fact for the first time we felt like old hands.
We weren't the only ones who loved the show - The Guardian newspaper gave it five stars http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2002/oct/29/artsfeatures.popandrock1
Then all too soon it was over and we were heading back up the M1 to Luton and another couple of years wait until the next show - or so we thought.
Set List
The Rising
Lonesome Day
No Surrender
The Fuse
Jackson Cage
Empty Sky
You're Missing
Waitin' On A Sunny Day
Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?
Worlds Apart
Badlands
She's The One
Night
Mary's Place
Countin' On A Miracle
The River
Incident On 57th Street
Into The Fire
Dancing In The Dark
Ramrod
Born To Run
My City Of Ruins
Born In The USA
Land Of Hope And Dream (AKA This Train!)
Thunder Road
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