Bruce last nite- freind of mine sent this too me

goodrocgoodroc Posts: 118
edited May 2008 in The Porch
Last night went to the count Basie Theatre Bruce and E Street Band played a 1500 seat theatre and played the entire Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born to Run albums in sequence plus an encore. Bruce and the band very into it. Bruce going into the crowd on 10th Avenure as the fans lifted him up. I think I am officially retired from going to shows.

May 7 / The Count Basie Theatre / Red Bank, NJ
Notes: Ah, the stuff that dreams are made of... or at least the stuff that fan rap sessions are made of: "They should do the Darkness album start to finish!" Well, they just did. And it wasn't just a Darkness 30th anniversary celebration -- they tackled the full Born to Run album in order, too, for what Bruce described at the outset as "something we've never done before and you're not gonna see anywhere else." An E Street Band theater show -- finding them packed tighter than ever on a small stage like this, with Nils, Patti, and Soozie all added to the line-up since the theater days -- would have been exceptional enough, but the four Perfect Album Sides of the setlist put this one over the top.

The evening began with the Basie's Rusty Young describing the benefit show's mission, to raise money for the restoration of this 80-year-old theater to its original glory -- "when the ceiling wasn't covered in netting" -- and this night alone brought in more than three million dollars. Young noted that Patti Scialfa is the "honorary co-chair of our capital campaign," and after he asked her for ideas... "tonight is her answer." Generous donations also made it possible, Young said, for 37 wounded veterans to attend the show, talking the bus in from Walter Reed.

Patti came out next to a mighty standing ovation -- "I'm supposed to welcome you, and you're welcoming me!" -- speaking of her and the rest of the band's history at the Basie, and of the importance of saving venues like this one. She was followed by NBC anchor Brian Williams, who goes back a long way as a fan and was clearly psyched just to be talking through Springsteen's mic ("the first and last time that will ever happen"). He recalled hitting the Stone Pony and the Tradewinds back in the day, ever on Bruce-watch; he also touched on the recent loss of Danny Federici, saying that "Great families endure. And great, great bands endure." "The netting is just to keep the larger pieces of debris from falling down," he added, "and if there's an entity that could cause the big ones to fall, it's this group here.... Ladies and gentlemen, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!"

And with that, it was Darkness, side one, to start the show. "We're gonna start with Darkness, so we don't send you home suicidal!" Bruce quickly aborted "Badlands" seconds in, after a rough start: "We fucked it up already! I knew there was a reason why we didn't do this," he laughed. "Maybe we shouldn't do it!" But they did it. And man, they did it. From track to track, for the first time live, it was Darkness sequenced Bruce originally intended it to be heard, full of intensity from the howls on "Something in the Night" to the seemingly never-ending coda of "Racing in the Street," a straight-ahead "Factory" (not the Bruce/Patti duet of recent years) with Steve on mandolin, the modern twist on "Prove It All Night" as Nils rocked the new solo, and at the end of "side two," a hugely powerful vocal on the title track. Loads of guitar from Springsteen, too -- every solo except that Nils spectacular, in fact. Bruce offered a solo to Steve at one point, which was respectfully declined.

After an only-fitting intermission, Born to Run got the same sequential treatment, offering a distinct reminder of what a freakin' masterpiece it is, as well as of the difference in tone between the two records. After the ferocity of the first set, here Bruce was having a blast, jumping into the crowd on the "Freeze-out" and even being held up by the crowd -- did we mention this was a theater show? Several clambers up on the piano throughout this second set, too. "Tenth" also brought a full horn section to the stage -- "The Mighty Max Horns," as Bruce later called them -- consisting of Mark Pender on trumpet, LaBamba on trombone, Jerry Vivino and Ed Manion on saxes. Pender came back out for "Meeting Across the River," giving his own spin to Mark Isham's original trumpet part for a few minutes of absolute magic, also thanks to the beautfiul accompaniment from Roy and Garry. "Jungleland" had Steve stepping up for a soaring solo, and of course Clarence -- invigorated, up and around for much of this night -- did his thing and did it well.

And that wasn't the end -- as the needle hit the runout groove, Bruce said, "Let's bring out the horns! We've got a few more for you!" And they used the horn section to maximum effect for the entire encore, four bonus tracks starting off with Darkness outtake "So Young and in Love." "Kitty's Back" was next -- "and she's got somebody with her!" Bruce teased at the end, "Kitty's back, and she's got somebody with her!" That somebody was "Rosalita," and finally, Eddie Floyd's "Raise Your Hand" made sure we got an R&B cover in there for the full effect of this '70s theater revival.

It was a particular bygone era brought back to life, a celebration of the band's history and just one of its heydays, and a tip of the hat to a couple of 30th anniversaries... yet as ever with Springsteen, it was most notably moving forward and trying something new at the same time. And playing for a take-'em-all-in-with-one-glance crowd from the orchestra to the balcony, a packed theater practically on top of Bruce and the band (at least compared to where they have been and will be playing in this new millenium), it was the perfect crucible for revisiting the passion and the power of these classic records. An experiment, no doubt -- and an electrifying success.

Setlist:
Badlands
Adam Raised a Cain
Something in the Night
Candy's Room
Racing in the Street
The Promised Land
Factory
Streets of Fire
Prove It All Night
Darkness on the Edge of Town
* * *
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (w/ horns)
Night
Backstreets
Born to Run
She's the One
Meeting Across the River (w/ Mark Pender)
Jungleland
* * *
So Young and in Love (w/ horns)
Kitty's Back (w/ horns)
Rosalita (w/ horns)
Raise Your Hand (w/ horns)
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • pjsteelerfanpjsteelerfan Maryland Posts: 9,897
    Thats awesome, wish I could have been there.
    ...got a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soul...
  • JenfarrJenfarr Posts: 677
    That's so cool...
    "McCready played on, lending credence to the theory that he was actually built in Stone’s basement from spare truck parts and vinyl records." - Glide Mag. review of MSG 7/8/03
  • JenfarrJenfarr Posts: 677
    That's so cool...
    "McCready played on, lending credence to the theory that he was actually built in Stone’s basement from spare truck parts and vinyl records." - Glide Mag. review of MSG 7/8/03
  • chromiamchromiam Posts: 4,114
    If only I had a grand to blow... I would have been there.
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    Social awareness does not equal political activism!

    5/23/2011- An utter embarrassment... ticketing failures too many to list.
  • JP2026766JP2026766 Posts: 1,125
    WOW. Just wow. Woulda killed to be there. Reminds me of when I saw Bruce in 03 at a warm up show for the Rising tour at the convention hall in Asbury Park. What a fucking show!

    Mansfield II '08

    EV Solo Shows:

    NYC I
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    I. LOVE. YIELD.
  • UnkeptUnkept Posts: 65
    Wow. incredible. I live for bands that do these kinds of shows...no matter how rare...It just adds to the legend...Saw Springsteen about a month ago or so...Decided it was the best show I'd ever seen...

    Can't wait to hear this...hopefully someone out there captured the evening and is gonna share it...

    Awesome...

    That's why he's The Boss
  • illegal pantsillegal pants Posts: 13,471
    ohhhhh sweet!! hope it was recorded!!!

    haha don't it make you smile.. :)
    wah
  • SoybeansSoybeans Posts: 256
    Every ticket to this show was auctioned off. I don't know what the average seat went for, but it had to be worth it. I can't imagine the emotion of the night. They just lost a band member and cranked out two early albums in succession. Imagine someone from PJ passing away and the band does a small gig to save a theatre and plays Ten and No Code back to back. Just amazing.
    90 shows and counting...some of my favs: Randall's Island night 2, Milwaukee '95 night 2, Hawaii '06, St Johns '05, PJ20!
  • chromiamchromiam Posts: 4,114
    Soybeans wrote:
    Every ticket to this show was auctioned off. I don't know what the average seat went for, but it had to be worth it. I can't imagine the emotion of the night. They just lost a band member and cranked out two early albums in succession. Imagine someone from PJ passing away and the band does a small gig to save a theatre and plays Ten and No Code back to back. Just amazing.

    Actually there were tickets available after the auction for $1000/pair. Plus for $100 you could enter a raffle to win a pair of tickets.

    "The ticket auction has ended for Springsteen's May 7 benefit show in Red Bank, and the Count Basie Theatre reports: "Due to the overwhelming generosity of our sponsors and the success of the Make Your Best Offer Auction, we have met our financial goal for the concert."

    But some balcony seats still remain, and they're now available for the set sale price of $1000 per pair -- that's half-off the auction's minimum bid.

    Tickets will be sold only in pairs; 200 pairs are now available, with a two-pair limit (four tickets) per person. No internet sales -- these special offer tickets are only available through the Box Office by phone (732-842-9000) or in person."
    -April 9, 2008
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    Admin

    Social awareness does not equal political activism!

    5/23/2011- An utter embarrassment... ticketing failures too many to list.
  • ledveddermanledvedderman Posts: 7,761
    Amazing. Truly amazing. Wish I could have been there.
  • Steve DunneSteve Dunne Posts: 4,965
    wow. that's a historic night right there for any bruce fan!
    I love to turn you on
  • QballQball Posts: 283
    Like everyone else said.....WOW!
    What a great night and I wish I could've been there. That show is every Springsteen fan's dream. Darkness and B2R....WOW!
  • JaneNYJaneNY Posts: 4,438
    oh.my.god. how amazing. how cool. thanks for posting about it.
    R.i.p. Rigoberto Alpizar.
    R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
    R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
  • PJ_LukinPJ_Lukin Posts: 2,050
    Even at 1k per ticket, that was worth the money. I have seen Bruce live at least a dozen times in the last 30 years and he has never, never disappointed me. DVD please.
    ~!~ Peace ~!~ Love ~!~ Pearl Jam ~!~
  • LedZepFanLedZepFan Posts: 1,009
    i just read a write up about this on rollingstone.com

    that would have been a religious experience right there
    I've faced it, a life wasted, and I'm never going back again.

    Some die just to live.
  • given2fly10given2fly10 Posts: 485
    wish i would know bout this i woulda blown everything i had for this good cause. wonder if bathgate66 went, fucker is probably still on that concert high
    And he still gives his love, he just gives it away, The love he receives is the love that is saved, And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky, A human being that was given to fly

    no bed=no brian

    coke sucks
  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 29,615
    yeah that has to go down as one of the best if not the best show ever from any band just mind blowing ....lucky fans ..
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
    just amazing. can't believe it.... magic in the night for sure.
  • milanmilan Posts: 447
    The May 7th Count Basie show with review

    Darkness
    http://www.megaupload.com/nl/?d=2SW7HWNV
    BTR
    http://www.megaupload.com/nl/?d=5R61R1RA
    Encores
    http://www.megaupload.com/nl/?d=2J2TVKXF

    256 link
    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DHJ12C2I

    Description:
    This historic Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show features the Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born To Run albums in their entirety, plus encores. The band has never performed these albums in their entirety before.

    The Count Basie Theatre holds about 1500 and this was the band's first performance in a venue this small in 30 years.

    The show was a benefit to raise money to renovate the historic Count Basie Theatre; it raised $3 million, with auction ticket prices ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 per seat.

    The recording sounds quite good for an audience recording from the back of the orchestra. There is some crowd clapping, yelling, singing along, and a little talking, but it's not too obnoxious. The band drowns out the audience during most songs. I'd rate it 8.5/10.

    Opinion of the taper.

    Milan
    '06 Milan
    '07 Madrid
    '08 Virginia Beach / Washington DC
    '09 Shepherds Bush / Berlin / Manchester / London
    Perth / Sydney / Brisbane

    '10 London / Berlin / Lisbon
    '11 Rio de Janeiro / Buenos Aires / Lima
    '12 Manchester I / Manchester II / Berlin I / Berlin II
    '13 Baltimore / Charlottesville / Charlotte
    '14 Perth / San Siro / Berlin / "Live at Leeds" / MK
    '15 Rio de Janeiro / Bogota


    '18 London I / Berlin / London II


    '22 Berlin / London I / London Ii

    (37)
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