After 15 years away, the Boss and the E Street Band return to their SoCal stomping grounds with a vengeance.
By BEN WENER
The Orange County Register
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
This may seem an odd place to start discussing yet another exhilarating performance from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, but let's address the choice of venue first – for though some have been quick to bag on the place as rundown and undesirable, the fact is Los Angeles Sports Arena is immensely significant in the Boss' SoCal history.
You can understand why a portion of his local fan base might have grown less than keen on seeing Springsteen back at this old stomping ground. It's been 15 years since he last played here, during which time his predominantly boomer-age audience has been spoiled by newfangled arenas glutted with expensive creature comforts.
Often willfully old-school when it comes to picking concert locations, Springsteen nonetheless has spent time at these shiny arenas in the recent past – opening (and instantly disliking) luxury-suite-laden Staples Center in October '99, then stopping the following year for two nights at the then-Pond, to date his only headlining appearances in Orange County in almost a quarter-century of coming to California. (Bit of trivia: The only other time he's performed in O.C. was when he turned up at a John Mellencamp gig at Irvine Meadows in May '88 to sing "Like a Rolling Stone.")
But the Sports Arena – it's by far the venue he has headlined the most out this way. After this pair of shows passes, in fact, his tally will have risen to 28. Just for kicks, it breaks down like this: two now, four in September '92, five in April '88, seven in '84 behind "Born in the U.S.A." (he returned the next year for a staggering four dates at the Coliseum next door), and there were six shows in August '81, after he and the band played four nights there in October (including Halloween) and November '80 just after "The River" came out. That run ended the day before Ronald Reagan was elected president, and a little more than a month before John Lennon was killed.
By comparison, Springsteen has headlined the Roxy 16 times – and every other spot you can name ranks in the single-digit column. Including the Forum, where he has played exactly twice, once apiece when "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "The Rising" came out.
If all this seems like minutiae, it probably isn't to Springsteen, who surely didn't hesitate to visit the Sports Arena again after (as unconfirmed logic holds) he opted not to play the Forum because the venue's concession workers are still striking. Hmmm … doesn't dig the newer arenas, can't play the former Lakers home in good conscience … honestly, it's a good thing we still have the Sports Arena for him to fall back on.
And after his latest resolutely rousing set there, I'd argue he and the E Street Band should consider never playing anywhere else in SoCal – unless it's smaller, of course. This far-from-decrepit, remarkably intimate hot box (the sweat-soaked star sponged his brow repeatedly) is as much home turf as the storied Jersey gang can claim out here. Perhaps because of that, Monday night they came across like kings (and two queens) of the city, seamlessly weaving roughly half of the strong new album "Magic" into about two hours filled with roaring moments of genuine rock 'n' roll magic.
With no "Jungleland" or other such rarely-aired classic on offer, every Springsteeniac undoubtedly would select different songs as galvanizing favorites here – time-honored chant-alongs like "Badlands" and "The Promised Land," perhaps, or maybe "Backstreets" (chosen over "Tunnel of Love," according to the handwritten setlist on brucespringsteen.net). My fist-in-the-air, lung-emptying moment of bliss was a storming "Candy's Room" that led straight into the Bo Diddley stomp and swagger of "She's the One."
But many longtime fans, I bet, were delighted to hear "Thundercrack" after dozens of years away. A former live staple eventually issued on the 1998 box set "Tracks," it has become a regular part of this tour's encore, typically followed by "Born to Run" (here at a more leisurely pace), sometimes "Dancing in the Dark" after that, then the closing immigrant's dream "American Land," a song of promise and tribute Springsteen unveiled toward the end of last year's "Seeger Sessions" outing.
This night, however, he had tour history on his mind as well. After looking pleasantly surprised by how many cheering minions, especially on the crowded general-admission floor, knew the chorus to the Spectorian "Magic" track "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," Springsteen recounted how he and the guys played "Thundercrack" during their first show together in L.A – May 1, 1973 at, strangely enough, the Ahmanson Theatre.
"No member of the E Street Band had been on an airplane before," he noted. No one knew who they were, either, appearing as they were as part of a weeklong CBS Records showcase, opening for Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show and New Riders of the Purple Sage. "Twist and Shout" was their fifth number – and encore. "Thundercrack" was "our big showstopper. Unfortunately the show had stopped long before we played it."
Here, the Boss and Little Steven and the Big Man and Mighty Max and the rest were cresting atop an elongated peak that easily could have extended another hour at least. That's my only quibble with this set: From a guy who used to do upward of 30 tunes a night years ago at the Sports Arena, 22 cuts (plus wife Patti Scialfa's spotlight, "Town Called Heartbreak") can seem like scrimping, although at 58 Springsteen is certainly entitled to scale back some. It could also be argued that in spots the E Street Band was noticeably out of practice, this being their first outing in four years; "Working on the Highway" was all over the place tempo-wise, for instance.
And, yeah, the Sports Arena tends to rumble when treated to thick bass and pounding drums. To which I say: So what? The old hall brought out the best in the seasoned showman-troubadour, who has returned with a vengeance after shaking off some lethargy and solemnity with all those rollicking "Seeger Sessions" shows. This gig wasn't quite the euphoric experience Jon Pareles described last week in The New York Times; great, absolutely, but not the most jaw-dropping I've ever seen this bunch be. I bet Tuesday night is better, actually, and sports a few dusted-off gems.
But I've come away so elated and inspired I hardly care what I might miss by seeing Neil Young further up Figueroa Street instead. Did I hear someone (again) call Springsteen our greatest living rock 'n' roller? The guy's got my vote, anyway.
Contact the writer: 714-796-2248 or bwener@ocregister.com
SET LIST
Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason to Believe
Candy's Room
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
The Promised Land
Town Called Heartbreak
Backstreets
Working on the Highway
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Thundercrack
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
American Land
No comments:
Post a Comment