According to the internet the tickets for Old Trafford, Emirates night 1 and Cardiff went on sale on 5 December 2007. Presumably Dublin went up at the same time.
We already had our O2 tickets so decided to try for Old Trafford.
In 1972 I watched my first Wimbledon men’s tennis final. Stan Smith beat Illie Nastase in a 5 set match - I was hooked. For years I looked forward to Wimbledon fortnight. I bunked off school to watch it and later took time off work - sometimes the whole two weeks. Housework got left and Mike had to cook his own tea.
Eventually in 1994 we got tickets for No 1 court. On a beautiful hot and sunny day in June as we sat down in our (restricted view) seats I was really emotional. This was a dream come true for me and I could hardly believe I was there at last.
We were lucky enough to get tickets for both Number 1 and Centre Courts for several years after that. Tickets are always oversubscribed so each year, if you want a chance of a seat on a show court, you have to put your name forward to go into a ballot. When the ballot is drawn you get offered a pair of tickets for a particular court on a particular date.
I was happy to sit anywhere on any day for a while but then it wasn’t such a novelty any more and I rejected tickets because the seats weren‘t great. What had once been such a thrill had now become commonplace.
I never want a Bruce gig to be like that. I don’t ever want to get like the die hards on the forums who have been to hundreds of shows and always have something negative to say. I always want to be amazed and thrilled just to be there. I always want to feel that hunger for more. I always want to sit at home watching a set list and wish I was there.
Can you think of anything more depressing than not looking forward to seeing Bruce? …than leaving a gig and being relieved you weren’t going to another?
I felt four Seeger concerts were enough for me. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t have missed any of the shows but I didn’t go away from the last one wishing I was going again next day. To keep it fresh we made the decision to only do two gigs this tour. So only Old Trafford on the stadium leg.
I think the Emirates night 2 tickets went on sale on the day of the O2 gig. We went home next day and we bought two tickets... then we bought two more - from Badlands because they were better seats. We decided we were prepared to give the extra tickets away if we couldn’t sell them.
Then a week later we bought tickets for Paris!! … Ha! So four gigs after all - my reasoning for less was probably a little flimsy anyway. We would, no doubt, have to go to far more than four shows a tour to get bored.
We got our tickets from Badlands. There was much controversy about tickets. Greasy Lake was steaming for weeks. If I remember rightly some people who had seats near the front were moved to the back because the position of the stage had to be changed. We were on the right hand side and couldn’t see the side of the stage at all. We only saw Steven if he moved to the front. People to the side of us in a block nearer the stage probably could only see half the stage at best. There were lots of complaints afterwards although I didn‘t get the impression when I was there that anyone was unhappy.
On the plus side we were probably as near to stage as we have ever been - about half way up the pit and not too high. When Bruce came over to the platform at our side he was really quite near. We had no complaints about our position.
It was piddling down with rain but being in the stands we were undercover. We had arrived in the afternoon and spent much time walking around the stadium trying to find the Badlands party which was supposedly being held just around the corner from the ground. As it turned out it was over the road and a few hundred yards away. We only found it when we went to meet Jane and Nigel at their hotel and by then it was too late to go in.
Jane was crocked. She had just had an operation on her legs and was on crutches. She managed to stand for most of the time though.
This was our first time hearing, live, the Holy Grail that is ‘Rosalita’. It was never my favourite song but the veteran concert goers bang on about it all the time - you know the ones - I saw Bruce in the 1970s when he always closed with Rosalita. Why doesn’t he play it now? Jane who had been going since the very early days knew all the words and was singing along happily beside me. I just pretended. The song has grown on me now but I’m not devastated if he doesn’t play it and I still don’t know all the words.
We got a fairly rare ’I’ll Work For Your Love’ which I love and ’Trapped’ - a favourite. He opened with ’No Surrender’ which seems to follow us around …or maybe he just plays it a lot. There were a couple in the set list that aren’t up there in my top twenty and if I am honest ‘Mary’s Place’ does go on a bit, but all in all a great great night. There aren't really any good you tube clips but here's one anyway.
A very wet journey home followed during which we wished we had decided to book a hotel. Already booked for Emirates trip in three days time. Taking Springsteen virgins with us.
Set List
No Surrender
Radio Nowhere
Night
Lonesome Day
The Promised Land
Magic
Trapped
Adam Raised A Cain
Darlington County
It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City
Because The Night
She's The One
Livin' In The Future
Mary's Place
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
Growin' Up
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
Born To Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Dancing In The Dark
American Land
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