'Still we sing with our heros 33 rounds per minute. We're never going home until the sun says we're finished. I'll love you forever if I ever love at all. With wild hearts, blue jeans and white t-shirts'
In the middle of writing this blog something happened that made me realise in all honesty, I am not a true, die hard Springsteen fan. Or is it that I do have a life outside Bruce?
The Hyde Park DVD was announced and shock horror no ‘Rosalita’ on the track listings. The Lakers and BTXers were aghast! Seething! How could they NOT do a complete show and if they were going to miss something off how could it possibly be ‘Rosalita’?
I didn’t even notice - in fact - I couldn’t have told you whether or not Bruce sang Rosie at Hyde Park and I was there!! So… not a true fan?
Anyway it turned out there had been a mistake and ‘Rosalita’ had simply been missed off the press release.
This wasn’t the only controversy about the DVD. The consensus of opinion was that it was a poor performance and not typical of the tour. Of course it was a festival gig and in that sense not typical. I couldn’t tell you during a live gig, whether Bruce is good or not. I am still so chuffed just to be there, he always seems amazing to me. Please let me always have this feeling.
So on Saturday 19th June we sat in front of the TV. We’d made enough time to watch it in one sitting - it‘s an effort to try and re-create the real thing. I enjoyed it. The performance seemed fine to me but we probably spent as much time trying to spot ourselves in the crowd as we did on the gig itself. No sightings to report.
It’s at this point that I have to admit we don’t really do DVDs. If I had an hour to spare I probably wouldn’t put on a music DVD - I’m more likely to play a CD. So whilst we have all Bruce’s official DVDs - and a couple of boots - I don’t think we have watched them more than two or three times each. The DVD just doesn’t go anywhere near re-creating the live thing. I thought Hyde Park might feel different, because we had been there but can’t say it did - perhaps the Blu-ray might be better - more of that next week.
There were other important things on our minds. The following Saturday we were off to see The Gaslight Anthem at Brixton Academy.
We had been in two minds when we booked this. Were we too old to go to Brixton Academy or to be in a crowd watching a young band like The Gaslight Anthem? We had doubts right up to the gig itself. On the other hand it seemed like a good opportunity to see a band before they moved on to larger venues. We missed out on seeing Bruce in the early days and don’t want to make that mistake twice.
Looking forward to meeting up with Ceinwen and Hywell again (Our New Jersey Bruce buddies) and Elaine (we had met her for the first time in New York City) together with Elaine’s husband Richard and Dyfed and Iestyn, Ceinwen and Hywell’s boys who were going to their first gig.
Had a great chat over a meal in Pizza Express. Got to know each other a little better then made our way to Brixton on the tube. Now I have to say Brixton isn’t necessarily a place to which I would choose to go but I had an open mind and perhaps it’s reputation was unfair. As it turns out we didn’t see much of the area anyway - the Academy was only fives minutes from the tube station.
We had decided to give the support bands a miss (by all accounts their language wasn’t suitable for young ears) so by the time we arrived the venue was pretty full. This is a place that has seen a lot of action - and it shows - in a good way. Over the last few years, we have been to a few smaller gigs and I think these old, less than pristine, venues have much more atmosphere.
There was only standing room at the back when we got in but in any event, we never intended to get into the thick of it. I really enjoyed the show but blimey if you think the sound at a Bruce gig is bad this was awful. I surprised myself by recognising all but one song. I got my favourite - The Backseat and Mike got two that he really likes - Blue Jeans and White T shirts and Old White Lincoln
The audience was youthful but covered all ages and I would say had a male bias - very much like an early Bruce crowd I assume. We definitely weren’t the only wrinklies there. In any event I don’t think anyone much cares how old you are - everyone has a common factor in the music.
Spoke to a chap on the Underground on our way back to the hotel. When he found out where we had been, the chat naturally turned to our Mr Springsteen - well of course it did!!
Another great night and cemented friendships thanks to Bruce.
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