AFTER SEEING BRUCE PLAY THE RIVER SEEING ALBUMS PLAYED IS AN UN BELIEVABLE EXPERIENCE

foodboy

last night in toronto getting to to see Bruce Springsteen play the river in its entirety was memorable to say the least, but truly unbelievable. seeing songs not heard literally for decades was a concert experience i will never forget. i wish pearl jam would do more of this. imagine you are at home listening to your favorite pearl jam album. song after song plays in order only this time your favorite listening area is at the concert. to me seeing pearl jam play full albums would be just as memorable. even more so now after seeing the river. i was lucky and saw the river tour 4 times. brought back a ton of memories.

RS65573

I couldnt agree more. I think in the future, every band will do this.

ckravitz

Just to offer a contrary point, I saw Bruce Sunday (in NJ) and while I'm sure the cover to cover thing was enjoyed by the most devout fans, at least half the place was seated for half the time. The place just didnt have the energy that a spontaneous (and quasi-known) setlist seems to bring. I think those cover to cover events are good for smaller "core fan" events, but I think in large arenas it just doesn't play all that well. Of course with Pearl Jam I'd appreciate it more without a doubt, but still I don't think the energy level would be the same. Granted, the River has a million songs, haha, and no PJ album does, so with PJ you'd still get more than half a concert.

mcgruff10

no thanks. playing an entire album in order is lame. what if you don't like the album? (i hate the river).

EnterThanman

mcgruff10 said:

no thanks. playing an entire album in order is lame. what if you don't like the album? (i hate the river).

I also think it kills the charm of a concert. I like not knowing what's coming, and hearing the start of the next song is always exciting. The predictability of an album from front to back eliminates a lot of what I like about concerts.

guitar101

I tend to disagree. I saw the tragically hip perform Fully Completely and it was kind of anticlimactic. Knowing what was coming next just felt a little empty. With a group like bruce or pearl jam where half the fun is having no idea what is coming at you next, i just feel like it wouldnt be the same. That being said, im very jealous that you were at the show last night. I would have loved to have been there. Ive also seen weezer do the blue album and pinkerton cover to cover and it was fun, but again just felt like something was lacking. Granted ....weezer is not bruce springsteen.

JR86440

Honestly, except for Pearl Jam, when I go to a concert I want to hear the "hits". I really have no desire to see a band and hear 10 songs that I have never heard. For us, that is what makes PJ great...because we are all die hard fans. For the casual PJ fan, I would have to guess, it would be kind of a bummer to not hear Jeremy or Daughter or Betterman. Glad I am not a casual PJ fan!!

lexicondevil

I think a lot of it comes down to if you like the album being played. I am really looking forward to seeing him on this tour. I would be even more excited if he did Nebraska front to back, in a small dive bar. Just Bruce and his guitar. I can dream.

buck502000

I would like for PJ to play all of their albums straight through on consecutive nights at the the same venue. (Steely Dan) Or the whole of their catalog on consecutive nights no repeats. (Wilco)

nycrats

i agree with the poster that said it is anticilmatic.

you arrive at the venue and for 10 to 20 songs, you know exactly whats coming. i tend to see bands that mix up their setlist, and thats part of the fun of a live music exeprience for me that anything can be on the table. when i saw pj do no code live, that was completely out of left field and by the time i realized it, it was a third over and i thought it was so cool. but if i knew ahead of time, it may have lost some of its luster. especially if they did the same album all tour.

that said, i saw bruce at msg and had a great time, but i did miss a little bit of that spontaneous element..

pjhawks

personally i think it's hokey and lame and don't understand why bands have started to do it. Also i don't think it really works in concert because most albums don't have a long enough flow so there are too many starts and stop (e.g. two fast songs, one slow, then fast again, slow). and to me the spontaneity of what is being played next just makes the experience better, especially when songs just connect on a certain night. hey that's just my opinion.

Torontonian

With Pearl Jam, I would love to be surprised to hear them play all of Yield like they did in Milwaukee but I don't want to have a Tour where they advertise each show will be playing Yield. I want to go a couple different cities and don't want to hear the whole album every show.

nycrats

ok i take that back. if pj advertises theyre playing lost dogs front to back, im there

CantKeepmedown

It would be one thing if it wasn't a 20 song album. I'm not a huge Bruce guy, but I think I'd pass on this. It's one thing with Wilco (where it's 10 songs, maybe 40 minutes tops) and they play another 20 songs. And credit to Bruce for playing 30+ song sets. But when the first 20 are scripted, I'm not sure I'd be into it.

Mignelli14

I was there. Thought it was horrific. Of the 18 bruce shows I've seen that was the 18th best. No spice in it whatsoever. I think I've had more fun at funerals than during Point Blank. There wasn't any life in the building from start to finish, and even the hit-set after he finished the river were songs that get played at every concert and thus did nothing for me. And this is coming from a guy who has fun 99% of the time regardless of circumstance. It takes something very special for me to not enjoy myself or find the fun in something. Bruce - shockingly, disturbingly, heartbreakingly - did it last night.

Please PJ for the love of all things keep us on the edges of our seats. If you want to wheel through No Code or Yield like you did in 2014 - great! but keep it a surprise! To announce ahead of time you're going through a double album at each show? Oof. Kills the excitement of the whole show.

weddingparade

i was at the bruce show last night and loved it. seen him 12-15times now
nothing will top the 1st ESB reunion tour for me but bruce still at the top of his game and having sooo much fun.
not sure how point blank could ever be considered a "fun" song...wow...
point blank was one the songs i wanted to hear the most. it was perfectly nailed IMO
the crowd in our section was great. standing for the rockers, sitting for the slower nuggets
knowing the setlist allowed planning of piss/beer breaks. what's not to love about that?
loved hearing the songs off the river that i have never heard EVER and for that alone i love the concept of what he did on this tour. the river is one of my fave bruce albums.
jake playing the spirit of his uncle better than ever on this tour. loved the striped back ESB
anyways i've been a fan of this concept since joel plaskett played 5 nights at the horseshoe tavern(2007) and did a different cd every night. that was incrediblex10. and that's also something no other band/musician has ever done...sure do 1 cd but joel covered 5 different cds from start to finish
also loved that gabriel did it with so as that is also one of the greatest cds ever made by anyone
http://joelplaskett.com/a-plaskett-prescription-for-the-shoes-birthday/

CantKeepmedown

weddingparade said:

anyways i've been a fan of this concept since joel plaskett played 5 nights at the horseshoe tavern(2007) and did a different cd every night. that was incrediblex10. and that's also something no other band/musician has ever done...sure do 1 cd but joel covered 5 different cds from start to finish
also loved that gabriel did it with so as that is also one of the greatest cds ever made by anyone
http://joelplaskett.com/a-plaskett-prescription-for-the-shoes-birthday/

My Morning Jacket did 5 albums over 5 shows back in 2010

weddingparade

cool on MMJ. i did not know that
also read here wilco did it...dunno when
guess joel's still the first to do it on that scale(he played 6 nights and the first 5 nights was a diff album each night)
1 album is easy

ST66483

Enjoyed the show last night, but my first Bruce show so no frame of reference.

On the topic of bands doing full albums the band Sparks did a stretch of 21 shows where each night it was a different album played. Listened to an interview with one member of the band who recounted the horror of having to go back and re-learn all 21 of their albums.

PeterED

Mignelli14 said:

I was there. Thought it was horrific. Of the 18 bruce shows I've seen that was the 18th best. No spice in it whatsoever. I think I've had more fun at funerals than during Point Blank. ...

Are you talking about the ACC show on Feb 2nd, or one of his other dates?

PJ_Soul

I'm not a huge fan of it. I'm not super against it at all either. I guess I just like to be surprised by a setlist (when it's a band that changes them each night). I saw the Tragically Hip play all of Fully Completely, and while it was a super awesome show, I would have preferred a varied setlist where I didn't know what was coming next. I'd feel the same about PJ (and judging from the boots where they did it, I feel justified. Just like someone said for Bruce above, I think playing a full album in sequence takes some "spice" out of the show). But I can still thoroughly enjoy a show where a full album is played. Of course one album isn't ALL they play anyhow, so it doesn't completely ruin the element of surprise for the show.