My Bruce Journey - Part 2

"I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies"

Originally posted on 17th January 2010

So who knew that, today, 26 years burning down the road, I would be looking back thinking that buying ‘Born in the USA’ was a pivotal moment in my life.

The electronica of the 80s did nothing for me. Mike’s taste was more American rock music - Bob Seger, The Eagles, Don Henley. Springsteen was a natural choice for him. I was starting to reject the stuff I had always listened to and needed to find some new music to get me interested again.

I had actually fallen out with the pop charts in the late 70s. I had always listened to the radio and like most people of my generation watched TOTP every week. I was still steeped in disco and soul when punk hit the main stream charts and I turned instead to Northern Soul which I still love today. Northern Soul is often obscure, usually not top twenty material so the charts became a no no for me and I got out of the habit of following the latest music trends.


I still listened to Radio 1 in the morning. I woke up with Noel Edmonds for years, then DLT (Dave Lee Travis) and Mike Read. Mike and I were seduced by Breakfast TV for a while and by the time we came back to radio we had become old gits so Terry Wogan was perfect. I am now a radio 2 listener through and through.


Getting back to the matter at hand our BITUSA was a cassette so if ownership is important it belonged to Mike. If I had been buying it for myself I would’ve bought vinyl. I am guessing we bought the album after hearing ‘Dancing in the Dark’.


I love the mystery of buying albums. The fact that I only know one track and the other 10 or 11 are going to be completely new to me is what it’s all about. There has been many a time when I have bought a LP/CD because of one track and hated all the rest. That’s a risk I am happy to take because sometimes I come across something I will love forever. BITUSA - love? or hate? You decide!


I can only recall four other albums we bought that year - Tina Turner’s Private Dancer: Barbara Streisand Emotion: The soundtrack to Mack and Mable (because I had loved ’I won’t Send Roses’ since seeing Torville and Dean do an exhibition dance after the Winter Olympics in 1984)  and Jane Fonda's Workout.

Jane was the exercise guru of the time. I went to a Jane Fonda Workout class at the local gym and this record described the same exercises. Later when we rented a video recorder from Radio Rentals I bought a tape which was much easier to follow.

This was the first of a long line of tried and failed exercise routines. I had a Jane Fonda step in the early nineties.  A friend suggested ’Great Bums and Thighs’.

I had a great bum and thighs then and still do:- celebrated?, distinguished?, eminent?, exalted?, excellent? No:- big, bulky, colossal, enormous, extensive.

A contraption to help us do sit ups didn’t last long and a cross trainer has been languishing unused and unloved in our friends’ garage for over a year.

Now I have a Wii Fit which told me last week that it was 376 days since I had last visited and I am now a bit of a porker.  Needless to  say I didn't reach the weight loss target I set for myself - presumably over 376 days ago.

All this springs to mind because I did much of my Jane Fonda workout whilst listening to BITUSA. and I got quite a good routine going. I have to say jogging on the spot in time to ‘Working on the Highway‘ was hard work… It still is - I‘ve just tried it!

We practically wore this tape out we played it so much. The CD we have now has hardly been played. Have I become a bit of a Bruce snob poo pooing it because it was so popular with the hoi polloi? I think so. It’s playing as I write this and it really is very good.

Did we rush out and buy the back catalogue? - no: but a friend taped Nebraska and The River for us and that will be my story for next week…

Random fact - one of my favourite tracks on BITUSA is ‘I’m Goin’ Down’ and this is the only track I have not heard live.

Updated: I finally heard this live in Paris on 5th July.

When you visit my Blog please post a comment and tell me your favourite BITUSA track.

Thank You and Goodbye

I have often been asked why I started writing this blog. In truth I never intended to write a blog at all but Mike had decided he would have a go. Our friends bought him a book to help him along. I read it and was inspired to start this. That was at the beginning of 2010 and my first post was published on 9th January that year.

At first the blog fitted around our lives but then, especially during the tour last year, our lives started fitting around the blog. The balance shifted a bit too much and the writing that I had so enjoyed became a chore. Bruce should never be a chore so, as long ago as May, I decided to end the blog after the Wrecking Ball tour. At that time the tour was due to end around August 2012.  It went on into September and then until December, and as we all know, it is carrying on into 2013.

I, however, am not. This will be my last post.

I must thank Ceinwen and Sinead for their great support and encouragement in the early days and for everyone who has commented on my posts, or simply, told me how much they enjoyed them.

Biggest thanks need to go to Mike for not complaining when all my spare time seemed to involve writing about Bruce. He was also a great critic and the best proof reader ever.

And lastly I have to thank Mr Springsteen because without him there would have been no blog.

So that was Wrecking Ball 2012

I last wrote a Sunday post on 22nd July 2012. Finding time when I was doing the tour blog was just impossible. Although the shows thinned out a bit towards the end of the year I just didn't have the enthusiasm to start writing on a Sunday again.

Anyway as this is the last Sunday in 2012 here I am.

The 2012 Wrecking Ball tour was a bit different for us, as it was the first tour since we had made friends with other fans.

We went to the two UK shows in Sunderland and Manchester and both Paris shows. All the gigs came within two weeks so a bit like Christmas - I spent months looking forward to it and then... it was all over in the blink of an eye.

The weather is the first thing that springs to mind when thinking back to the UK shows. Sunderland was a bit mizzly and it poured down in Manchester. Sunderland was a bit of a disaster all around really - we were late so we didn't get time to spend with friends before the show, we parked miles away from the venue and the show was a bit flat. Apart from the rain Manchester was better and our best friends, who were at their first show, are now fans and will be coming with us in 2013.

My stand out moments were both during Paris night two.  Mike and I have been lucky enough to hear many rarities.  We had Incident at only our third show when we didn't even recognise the song!  We were at MSG in November 2009 when, of course, a few rarities were played both nights. But... I'm Goin' Down the second night in Paris was really an OMG! moment for me. Not one of THE songs from 'Born In The USA'  but my favourite track, and the only song from the album we hadn't heard live.

The second moment was when Mike tapped me on the shoulder to dance with him during Dancing In The Dark.  He doesn't dance so it was a great surprise.

I think Paris night two is considered one of the best shows of the tour. It certainly was for me.

Mexico City 10th December 2012 - show 86

Mexico City is built on top of an underground pool. Because water is regularly drawn, it is sinking at a rate of six to eight inches a year.

Well no reviews out there. The only one I can find is here in full.

“The Boss” Rocks Mexico City

MEXICO CITY – Bruce Springsteen performed some of his greatest hits for about 12,000 fans in Mexico City’s Palacio de los Deportes.

Springsteen, known as “The Boss,” thrilled the audience Monday night with his performance of “The River,” which drew the most ovations during the concert, one of the stops on the Wrecking Ball Tour.

The singer performed a string of his oldies and spoke a few words in Spanish, drawing cheers from the audience.

Springsteen high-fived with people in the front row and climbed off the stage, walking through the crowd and landing in their arms at one point.

The Boss, who was backed up by his E Street Band, kept the audience on its feet for most of the concert.

Springsteen also performed, among other songs, “My City of Ruins,” “The Promised Land” and “Hungry Heart.” EFE

Here's the set list.  

	Glendale 6/12/12 Time 8.18 to 11.23	Mexico City 10/12/12 Time unknown
1	Surprise Surprise (1)	Badlands (78)
2	No Surrender (23)	Out In The Street (41)
3	I’m A Rocker (6)	Hungry Heart (43)
4	Hungry Heart (42)	We Take Care Of Our Own (86)
5	Prove It All Night (27)	Wrecking Ball (86)
6	Trapped (16)	Death To My Hometown (86)
7	Lost In The Flood (7)	My City Of Ruins (86)
8	We Take Care Of Our Own (85)	Spirit In The Night (51)
9	Wrecking Ball (85)	E Street Shuffle (25)
10	Death To My Hometown (85)	The Promised Land (40)
11	My City Of Ruins (85)	The River (30)
12	Be True (4)	Because The Night (37)
13	Light Of Day (5)	She’s The One (31)
14	Darlington County (29)	Darlington County (30)
15	Shackled And Drawn (69)	Shackled And Drawn (70)
16	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (85)	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (86)
17	The Way You Do The Things You Do (29)	The Way You Do The Things You Do (30)
18	6345789 (29)	6345789 (30)
19	The Rising (68)	The Rising (69)
20	Badlands (77)	Land Of Hope And Dreams (60)
21	Thunder Road (48)	Thunder Road (49)
22	Incident on 57th Street (7)	Born In The USA (30)
23	Born To Run (85)	Born To Run (86)
24	Dancing In The Dark (85)	Glory Days (21)
25	Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (8)	Dancing In The Dark (86)
26	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (84)	Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (9)
27		Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (85)
28
29
30
31
32
33

Glendale 6 December 2012 - show 85

When I hear/see Glendale I always think of Jessie James robbing the Glendale Train.  The Seeger Sessions were quite educational it seems!!

For the reviews I'll start with examiner.com :-

Normally when an artist plays songs from their latest release, it’s time for that bathroom or get another beer break. Not so when Springsteen launched into “Wrecking Ball’s “ “We Take Care of Our Own,” Wrecking Ball,” and “Death to My Hometown.” The new songs were greeted with the fervor of the old, with fans singing along. Of course listening to the poignancy of Springsteen’s lyrics, it’s difficult not to remain transfixed.

This reminds me of 10 Things Mick Jagger has learned  His number 10 is - Nobody wants to hear songs from your new album. Well perhaps your fans only want to hear the old stuff, Mick, but Springsteen Fans embrace the new alongside the classics.

Anyway back to the review from examiner.com and their final paragraph:-

There is nothing ordinary about Bruce Springsteen and his concert performance along with the E Street Band only proves it. Given how often he ventures fearlessly into the crowd and tolerates their hugs and handshakes, how he embraces the audience’s song requests, how he gives it his all for over three hours and how he can lead those in attendance as an evangelical preacher one moment and be one of their own in the next, it is easy to see why Springsteen holds the appeal he does. Besides, somebody has to keep breaking the rules for us.

Always good to get a review from a laker on Greasy Lake. He finishes with:-

There's not much else for me to say.  The first time I saw Bruce in 1975 at my college in Oswego, New York, was probably the best concert I ever saw, and a life-changing event for me.  Other shows I've seen have been almost as great, some may even have been better.  But I don't think any of them since that very first time have been as special for me as Thursday night in Glendale was.  I didn't know I could still feel that way at the ripe old age of 54.  But I was wrong.  Thank you, Bruce.  

Hmmm - what about this then? The review is OK but I'm not sure about :-

This wasn't as intense as some performances I've seen. I heard one of those obnoxious hardcore fans who travel show to show (Springsteen jokingly called them "stalkers" on Thursday) complain that the Anaheim show earlier in the week was better. 

Oh dear! Does he mean us?

On to the set list with the Surprise opener - sorry couldn't resist it.

	Anaheim 4/12/12 Time 8.23 to 11.47	Glendale 6/12/12 Time 8.18 to 11.23
1	Land Of Hope And Dreams (59)	Surprise Surprise (1)
2	Adam Raised A Cain (7)	No Surrender (23)
3	Streets Of Fire (5)	I’m A Rocker (6)
4	Hungry Heart (41)	Hungry Heart (42)
5	We Take Care Of Our Own (84)	Prove It All Night (27)
6	Wrecking Ball (84)	Trapped (16)
7	Death To My Hometown (84)	Lost In The Flood (7)
8	My City Of Ruins (84)	We Take Care Of Our Own (85)
9	Spirit In The Night (50)	Wrecking Ball (85)
10	The E Street Shuffle (24)	Death To My Hometown (85)
11	Long Time Coming (1)	My City Of Ruins (85)
12	Reason To Believe (2)	Be True (4)
13	This Depression (6)	Light Of Day (5)
14	Darkness On The Edge Of Town (11)	Darlington County (29)
15	Bad Luck (1)	Shackled And Drawn (69)
16	Because The Night (36)	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (85)
17	Darlington County (28)	The Way You Do The Things You Do (29)
18	Shackled And Drawn (68)	6345789 (29)
19	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (84)	The Rising (68)
20	Raise Your Hands (13)	Badlands (77)
21	Ghost Of Tom Joad (7)	Thunder Road (48)
22	Badlands (76)	Incident on 57th Street (7)
23	Thunder Road (47)	Born To Run (85)
24	Jungleland (8)	Dancing In The Dark (85)
25	Born To Run (84)	Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (8)
26	Dancing In The Dark (84)	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (84)
27	Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (7)
28	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (83)
29
30
31
32
33