I think I am turning into a grumpy old man before I grow old. Bruce Springsteen has now been touring in support of his 16th studio disc, Working On A Dream {review link}, for over a month. Part of me is jaded because Springsteen is such a phenomenal performer, but the last four weeks of shows have let a lot to be desired.
I'm not a fan of Dream, upon repeated listens, I've found the album to have even bigger holes than I had anticipated. It's semi-painful to give it repeated listens. However, I was hoping that when Bruce hit the road, that he would prove me wrong. One of the most interesting aspects of a Springsteen tour is the sheer amount of new material. However, with that being said, I've also found the biggest hindrance in his shows since 2002 to be the fact that he has relied far too heavily on that material when it's obvious that it will never work live (ex. "World's Apart", "Empty Sky", "Into The Fire", "Reno", "Girls in Their Summer Clothes", "Magic"). Considering that the E Street Band were able to perform every song from the 1973-1988 catalog to near perfection, it's surprising to see them struggle with a large bulk of Bruce's new work in the new millennium. So maybe it's a blessing in disguise that Bruce is only performing three or four songs a night? I'm not sure.
It's almost as if Springsteen knows that the album he put out isn't that good because he has no confidence in performing the material. Or even worse, has he truly jumped the shark and is attempting to please anyone and everyone? I'm not sure, only he truly knows, but considering that I do not hold a single ticket for the entire tour and I have no desire to seek one out, that's alarming to me as a few years back I would have traveled continents to see this man and this band and now I don't even feel like listening to the bootleg or Youtube clips. Despite the lack of new material, the warhorses that make up the rest of the set leave a lot to be desired.
"Waiting On A Sunny Day"
Kill me. Performed every night of the 2002-2003 tour, this song can be permanently retired. No one needs to hear this song and no one wants to hear it.
"Land of Hope and Dreams"
I remember what a hard-on I had for this song back in 1999. Every Bruce fan did as well. But as I hear it now, I hear a very incomplete song and one where Springsteen had no idea where to end it. It's overlong at 8-minutes and really only elicits big responses from those in the pit and we must remember, there is more to a concert than those in the pit.
I remember what a hard-on I had for this song back in 1999. Every Bruce fan did as well. But as I hear it now, I hear a very incomplete song and one where Springsteen had no idea where to end it. It's overlong at 8-minutes and really only elicits big responses from those in the pit and we must remember, there is more to a concert than those in the pit.
"Working On A Dream"
One word; insufferable. I listen to Bon Jovi and John Mellcancamp and get major amounts of shit for it. If either of them had recording a song this wretched, the east coast elite would be poo-pooing their songs. "Dream" makes Mellencamp's "Our Country" sound like "Born in the USA". This song gets played every night while "My Lucky Day", a song made to be played live by the E Street Band goes unplayed?
One word; insufferable. I listen to Bon Jovi and John Mellcancamp and get major amounts of shit for it. If either of them had recording a song this wretched, the east coast elite would be poo-pooing their songs. "Dream" makes Mellencamp's "Our Country" sound like "Born in the USA". This song gets played every night while "My Lucky Day", a song made to be played live by the E Street Band goes unplayed?
"Youngstown"
Performed every night on the reunion tour and it worked splendidly as part of a tear the house down five-pack ("Youngstown", "Murder Inc", "Badlands", "Out In The Street", "10th Avenue"). It worked magnificently in that context, but rotating it now with a fully fleshed out version of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" is a mistake. Let "Joad" be a nightly staple and leave "Youngstown" on the warm-up bench,
"10th Avenue Freezeout"
Performed every night on the 1999-2000 tour, the version was terribly long, but if you saw only one show on the tour, it was a highlight. Therefore, for the multi-nighters on that tour, we forgave him. But please, it was played so much back then, no one is really pining to hear it again. If you want to include a Born To Run song nightly, add "Jungleland" or "Backstreets", two songs that virtually never get old no matter how often they are performed.
"Out in the Street"
My daughter will probably never see the E Street Band, but one day I will show her the Live in New York City DVD and cue up "OITS" and show her what the E Street Band was all about. The performances on that tour were engaging, never old and fresh every night. Now this song works on certain nights and not on others. The River is Springsteen's most underperformed album from his classic period and there are plenty of raucous songs we all want to hear and this isn't one of them.
What is shocking to me is that Bruce could make a really epic and focused set pulling in some older songs, especially those from his 1992 albums. However, virtually none of these songs have been performed the last few tours to my amazement. I wrote an extensive piece pinpointing fifteen songs in 2007 that can be read here.
