Day 13: Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

“When the change was made uptown, and the big man joined the band”

Tonight was a show for The Big Man. At least that’s the feeling I got. It started off like a mid 80’s set, opening with Born in the USA. Then rarities in Roulette and Lucky Town. Then something happened. The teleprompter screwed up. Bruce screamed backstage about it and while they were trying to fix it, he sat down and told us a story during the intro to Growin’ Up. About how his Grandma would let him stay up until 3am at the age of 5 so he could watch Superman. How after 3am TV went off and there was nothing on! How this routine meant that when he started going to school he was still staying up until 3am. And how after leaving school he got a job (rock star) where he could still stay up until 3am. He described this as a “little victory”.

A few standards followed; Wrecking Ball, Death to my Hometown, High Hopes, Just Like Fire Would. Then BAM Lost in the Flood, BAM Spirit in the Night. And then it happened. Born to Run. Start to finish.

Bruce has been closing gigs on this tour with a solo acoustic Thunder Road. I love the song more than anything, but I’m not a fan of the solo acoustic version. So hearing the full version last night was incredible. The band adds so much to that song. I sung every word. And hearing the proper version last night reminded me why I have those lyrics framed on my desk at work. It truly is something special.

Then Tenth Avenue. The regular tribute to The Big Man and Danny. During the intro though, Bruce shouted “Take it Clarence!” right before the horns came in. Then during the video montage on the screen he stared and pointed at the image of Clarence for a long time. This was for him. Night was next. Jake went to go back to where the horns stand, but Bruce told him to stand directly to his right. Clarence’s spot. Seeing Bruce Springsteen, Max Weinberg, Steve Van Zandt, Garry W Tallent, Roy Bittan and a Clemons directly to Bruce’s right all playing that album was…life completing.

Another incredible performance of Backstreets. Roof raising one of Born to Run. Nils ripping it up with She’s The One. The oft forgotten Meeting Across the River was absolutely magical with just Bruce, Roy, Garry and Curt Ramm on stage. And then it happened again Jungleland. This time with an extended solo. Bruce telling Jake to keep going. For The Big Man? One can only guess. And then as is tradition, the members of the band who made that album took a bow. Bruce, Max, Stevie, Garry and Roy. And Bruce made Jake come up and join them. Again, directly to his right. Clemons. Springsteen. Weinberg. Van Zandt. Tallent. Bittan. It could’ve been 25 years ago. All that was missing was Danny.

It was a night that showed us what songs Bruce knows without the teleprompter. There was a couple of interesting moments. Bruce wanting to start Sunny Day but Steve not having his guitar ready in time. “Come on Steve…oh Steve!” then Bruce’s guitar tech Kevin Buell joining in the “1 2 3 4!”. An EPIC solo on Tom Joad by Tommy Morello, this came after he took High Hopes to another level and was forced to dump his guitar when Bruce wanted him out near the crowd with him during Wrecking Ball.

Just before the encore started Bruce referenced the troubles of last night. “Got a note saying we’ve got 20 minutes left, you can all hitchhike home can’t you?”. We Are Alive got us off to a start then Ramrod and Bobby Jean showed everyone Bruce had no interest in any curfew. An extended Dancing in the Dark and Twist & Shout, before finally winding up with “This Hard Land” meant the gig had gone on a full 50 minutes after Bruce told us he had 20 minutes left. The whole gig totalled 3 hours 48 minutes. Supposedly one of his longest ever. And nobody who stuck it out to the end was complaining. We’d just seen something incredible. Something special. Something for The Big Man.

 

Day 12: Born in the U.S.A.

Okay let’s get something out of the way: I am not a big fan of the BITUSA album. No Surrender, Glory Days and I’m On Fire are fantastic. The rest is middle of the road for me.

That said, what a night. Going from tiny Adelaide Entertainment Centre to AAMI Park was actually quite shocking. It was HUGE. I’m told the “Front Zone” pit held 6000 people. It was crazy big. Actually too big I thought, there were massive empty areas and a lot of flogs everywhere sadly. It’s inevitable in a crowd that big, but still disappointing to see in my hometown. A lot of the floggish behaviour was from people with “E Street Lounge” passes on too. Maybe something for Springsteen management to think about.

What made the night amazing though was that even in a stadium that size (35,000 or so were there) it didn’t feel like Bruce was any less connected to us at all. It was still the same incredible, mindblowing E Street Band show. From two songs at the start with Eddie Vedder, to a really powerful, hard rocking Seeds to the full album, it was just great. Particularly special was a sign request for Factory for all the people that have lost their working lives lately in Victoria (three major car companies based in Victoria have announced they’ll be shutting down over the next few years). Bruce telling the band not to come in until the second verse. He really is for the working class people.

A fantastic night, even with a full album show of an album that is far from my favourite. And a night he apparently got fined $300K for due to breaking curfew. Does that bother him? Of course not. It’s curfew breaking Boss time!

Days 10 and 11: My Hometown

(Oh come on that title was always coming)

So I’m back home in Melbourne. After a delayed flight out of Adelaide (after two days of 40 degrees it rained so much there was floods, can you believe it?). Humidity. Flies, Rude, slow walking people. It was like I never left! My flight was a midday flight so I got back around 2pm.

I heard of some people from the show at Adelaide were getting flights as early as 6am and then racing to AAMI Park to get a number. That just strikes me as utterly stupid and nonsensical. Why? Is it really that important to be half a metre closer? No matter where you are in the pit you’ll have a great view. Why not stop and smell the roses sometime? You’re traveling around Australia and not working for weeks. Take the time to enjoy it.

Yesterday (Friday) people were racing around to get numbers and roll call etc. Me? I went and saw RoboCop. (It’s okay, not great). Then I popped into work to see some people and play some table tennis. Then sat down in my hotel room to watch the Cricket and Craig Ferguson. Not the most exciting day but enjoyable and relaxing. On a tour of this magnitude if I was go-go-go all the time I’d be so tired I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the shows. And that’s why I’m doing it. To enjoy them. Not just to be able to say “I was right up the front for ALL of them!”.

Seems stupid to me. But whatever makes people happy I guess.

Day 9: Heat Wave

(I’m writing this a few days later)

Talk about ridiculous. As Bruce said, “I thought it was hot yesterday. What the fuck is going on?”. 40+ degree heat for a second roll call in a row made the wait to be let in rather unpleasant. As soon as we were all ticked off and wristbanded we all scattered under the car park seeking shade. Once we were let in, Adelaide Entertainment Centre’s air conditioning was a god send.

And what a show. Well worth the wait. Backstreets AND Jungleland. In the same show! Better Days. Long Walk Home. The first ever live performance of Hunter of Invisible Games. Just incredible. Bruce seemed a touch off, apparently he was absolutely stuffed the night before. 3.5 hour show + 40 degrees isn’t going to end well for anyone, even Bruce. But even Bruce at 95% is still infinitely better than almost anyone.

Again, stood up the back. Dead centre between the fender speakers this time. Great view. Got to have him crowd surf right over me too. Fantastic night. Now, off to Melbourne!

Day 8: Human Touch

Better writers than I could tell you about last nights gig, Bruce’s first in Adelaide. All the superlatives would be justified. Amazing. Incredible. Life changing. All of it. But I’ll leave that to them to describe. Instead I wanted to write about the other side of being at a Bruce gig. The Bruce fans.

So, as Bruce noticed, it was VERY hot in Adelaide yesterday. 40 degrees (105 Fahrenheit) while we were queuing outside. As soon as we got wristbanded I, along with others, retreated to the shade of the nearby car park. It was much cooler in there, since the concrete had been in the shade all day. While I was there I got talk to the people around me. A woman named Linda was also from Melbourne, Kinglake so right near me. We got talking about Adelaide and the heat and then the bushfires back in Melbourne. She talked about Black Saturday (for those not familiar with this day, it was a severe day of bushfires in Melbourne. 3500 buildings destroyed and 173 people killed) and how she’d lost her home and everything she owned that day.

She told me how they’d only left 10 minutes before the firefront came through. It was 4 in the afternoon but due to the smoke the sky was pitch black. They fled to Yea (a nearby town) and that waiting there was the worst. All the families there weren’t being told anything, they were in the dark. But that family members and friends were ringing/texting them with news and rumours of what was going on and that just made everything worse. They couldn’t go back to see the former site of their home until the Tuesday, and that everything was gone.

She said the thing that really got you was the little things you can’t replace. Things you’ve had all your life. A toy from when you were a child. Things your children played with growing up. Things you never really think about until they’re gone. Included in this was a massive collection of Crowded House memorabilia and and equally large collection of Bruce Springsteen things. But that the word had gotten to Crowded House and Springsteen fan clubs and the like, and people had donated things from their own collections to her. For no cash return or incentive or anything. Just because it was someone in need who needed help. What Linda learnt from this, she told me, was that while there will always be people who make you question if there are any good people left, in times of need the goodness in the human race will always come through.

Inside I sat down next to two guys. A guy who looked to be in his 50’s/60’s, and his son. The father was a massive Springsteen fan, had traveled around Australia seeing him but never thought he’d get the chance to see him in his own hometown of Adelaide. The son meanwhile had seen a couple of Bruce DVDs but had never actually seen him live. The father showed me pictures of his Springsteen collection including a Born in the USA era guitar, signed by the whole band including Clarence and Danny. He also told me about seeing him in Sydney last year and how Bruce opening solo with Devils & Dust had brought him to tears.

The gig got underway and the father was loving it. He even got a handshake from The Boss when he was standing up on the walkway in the middle of the pit. He looked absolutely thrilled. Meanwhile the son looked somewhat like me at my first Bruce gig last year. Kind of a stunned, “what in the name of god is happening to me” look on his face. No doubt he’ll now become the kind of Bruce diehard we all are.

And that was just three stories from that pit. Anywhere you turn at a Bruce roll call or in the pit you’ll probably be able to find people and stories like this. Hopefully for Linda and the two gentlemen I was in the pit next to, the gig was everything they imagined it would be.

Day 7: Night

Quick one. Got to Adelaide yesterday. My hotel, the Sebel Playford, is an absolute palace. Complete with free tram right out front to take me to the Entertainment Centre. It’s perfect. Ummed and ahhed about roll calling before finally heading down at 9pm to get a number. Now just staying out of the 40 degree heat as much as possible before final roll call at 4pm today.

Adelaide’s quite nice although little things freak me out. Like when you’re crossing the street the Red Man is replaced by a timer counting down how long you’ve got left. And KFC is served in a paper bag, not plastic. Little things. But they completely throw me.

Day 6: Something In The Night

So it’s come to this. My final night in the glorious city of Perth. Tomorrow I fly out to Adelaide (at 8.30am in the morning, what idiot booked a flight that early? Oh right. Me.) and 40 degree roll calls. Obviously not much happened today besides packing, and a moment of outrage upon discovering nothing opened in Perth until 11am on Sundays, so I thought I’d use this time to reflect on my time here.

I’ve been to Perth a couple of times before, both for football. But both were very quick visits. Here and back again basically. So this is the first time I’ve had the chance to look around and get to know the people of Perth. And it’s been glorious. I made a joke on Twitter when I arrived about it being a suburb that got made a city by default, because it is SO much less busy than Melbourne. But I’ve really grown to like that. Melbourne is so hustle-and-bustle, which I’ve grown accustomed to, that my time here was really a nice change. From the pleasant weather to the friendly people, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here.

Also it was my first experience with real die hard Springsteen fans and the roll call. As I said the other day, a wonderful experience. People who just “get it” the way I do. Before I left people back home thought I was crazy doing a tour this big. But in just a few days here I’ve meet a heap of people who are doing the exact same thing, and people who wish they could. They get it.  The spirit (in the night), the camaraderie, and the respect everyone shows each other has been the most rewarding aspect of it. And this is only the start of the tour! So those of us doing most of/the whole thing will only get to know each other better and have more great times in the weeks ahead.

So this is it. My farewell (for now) to Perth. I need to give shout outs to Perth Arena for being a fantastic arena. To the Springsteen WA Facebook page, who after all are the reason he came here in the first place. To the Pensione Hotel, a very nice hotel that’s served me well these 6 nights, I’d recommend it. And finally, to the people I’ve met. To Rob, Tino, Verity, Paul, Cameron, Sam, Ted, the gentleman from Milan, the two gentlemen I stood next to last night whose names I never actually got, the countless others whose names I’ve forgotten (get used to that) and those who I’ve interacted with on Twitter but am yet to meet due to not doing the last two roll calls. To those I’ll see later on the tour, I eagerly await seeing you then. To those who are only doing these shows, you’ve made my time in Perth a pleasure and hopefully we’ll meet again sometime soon.

Day 5: The Promised Land

The legendary “Night 3 rule” is alive and well.

The rule is this: Night 1 in a city is your standard hit based set for the most part. Night 2 is the other 15 big name songs he didn’t do the night before. Gives everyone an even spread across the two nights. However, if he does a THIRD night in a city, then the legend says that all bets are off and you’re in for something amazing. That’s what we got.

Stepping into darkness. Asking if Perth was ready for round three. Then launching into his first ever cover of AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell’. It got the place rocking straight away. Who got Angus Young’s lead part you ask? Why all four of them of course. Then if that wasn’t enough we got a FOUR shot from Darkness; Badlands, Adam Raised a Cain, Streets of Fire, Candy’s Room. Bruce has stated that it’s unlikely he’ll do any full album shows on this tour, but 4 songs in a row from an album like Darkness is a more than adequate substitute.

Then into songs from the new album; High Hopes, Just Like Fire Would. However following that Perth got asked “just one question”, could they feel the spirit? It was answered with a rousing “yeah yeah” while Bruce and Jake went and sat on an amp in the middle of the rise in between the pit and the floor seating, Bruce conducting Jake with his hand. Jake Clemons really has come into his own of late. While he’ll never be, nor ever want to be, The Big Man, a fitting nickname for him may be “The People’s Champion”. Watching Jake on stage you can see how much he feeds off the band as a whole and the crowd. Coupled with that is Jake’s love of the fans off-stage. Jake “The People’s Champion” Clemons.

“Wrecking Ball” led into a powerful “No Surrender”, Mighty Max doing his finest work of the night thus far. “Bobby Jean” got everyone waving their hands, while “Because The Night” featured Nils’ most stunning solo of the tour thus far. Perhaps compensation for Bruce forgetting him in the roll call last night? “Downbound Train” was rocking, “Heaven’s Wall” predictably got the crowd to raise their hands, and the 30 second rule was in full force in “Open All Night”.

“Shackled and Drawn” and “The Ghost of Tom Joad” sandwiched a tour premiere “Radio Nowhere”, which amazingly meant that tonight we wouldn’t see “Waitin’ On a Sunny Day”. Almost always a certain lock, I’m happy to see it missing occasionally. The main set was closed by “Land of Hope and Dreams”. The People’s Champion coming up front with his sax to round out the set.

A sign request of “The Promise” kicked off the encore with Bruce alone on the piano. The band shortly returned for a roof raising “Born In The USA”, with the houselights up next for “Born To Run”. The crowd wasn’t given the slightest breather, with a proper rock-and-roll killer “Seven Nights to Rock” keeping the mood high. Reliable duo “Dancing in the Dark” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” rounded out the night for the band. Bruce returning for a solo encore of “Terry’s Song” (a song he’s only performed live 4 times in his entire career), and Thunder Road to say goodbye to Perth after three amazing nights.

Day 4: “Steve, pay attention!”

4 songs in, Bruce was already pulling out his second sign for the night. Stevie thought it was fine to quickly turn around and grab a drink. But Bruce stood there holding the sign for “Two Hearts” for about 30 seconds trying to get Steve’s attention before finally yelling “Steve, pay attention!”. That pretty much set the tone for one of the most incredible E Street Band nights there’s been in this country.

The second the band came out, you knew it was going to be a good night. Garry W Tallent had been restored to his rightful place at the front of the stage, and everything just seemed “on”. Badlands is a standard opener, but then Out In The Street? Two Hearts? Light of Day? Wow! And we’re only 7 songs in! People around me were just looking shocked at the songs he was pulling out.

It took him an hour to get to the crowdsurfing. Nils’ spinning solo was during an amazing Youngstown. Bruce destroyed the solo during Light of Day. Stevie was on fire all night. And during the roll call for the band, Bruce completely forgot about Nils! Everything about the night was just unpredictable and completely off the wall. They were doing what the E Street Band does best. Classic rock and roll where you have no idea what’s coming.

Sadly, as I thought it would be, last night was the night with the most flogs in an audience I’ve seen at a Bruce gig. With it being the first gig in Perth ever to go on sale, every man and his dog bought a ticket. I saw people being thrown out for fighting (who the hell fights at a Springsteen gig?) and a lot of the “PLAY GLORY DAYS” crowd. Unfortunate, but inevitable. Hopefully the audience tonight is more civil.

So that’s 55 songs in 2 nights, and only 14 of them being played both nights. Anyone still wondering why I’m doing the entire tour!? Also after last night I went and got a number in the roll call for tonight, a good one too. But after getting back to my room my right foot still sadly isn’t up to it. I could’ve tried but I’m mindful of the long game and the fact I’ve still got 11 more gigs to go. There’s time. Plus standing up the back again last night has let me start a new list:

E-Street Band Members I’ve High-Fived/Patted on the back:
Bruce Springsteen
Nils Lofgren
Jake Clemons
Curtis Gates
Cindy Mizelle
Curt Ramm
Clark Gayton

How long will that list be before the end of the tour? Only one way to find out! Bring on tonight!

Day 3: Nothing Man

That’s what yesterday involved. Nothing. Solely about recovery. Stayed off my feet all day in order to ensure I’d be good to go tonight and it’s worked a treat.

It did however reinforce one thing. Springsteen shows are like a drug. Wednesday I hobbled out, exhausted and beaten but having loved every second. And yesterday, all I could think about was getting more. Needing more. It got worse during the day. A day of nothing after THAT? Now today I cannot wait until he comes back out.

Gig wise, I’m obviously hoping for a few different songs and know we’ll get them. Walking off stage on Friday night he saw a sign for Jungleland and said something to the person holding it, so maybe we’ll get that? I imagine Born In The USA, Glory Days and the like will get a run at some point in Perth. I’ve seen Bruce live 3 times without seeing either of those songs actually. Wonder how many people can say that?

No roll call, I might even hang up the back again and high five Bruce and anyone else that walks past. Who can say no to high-fiving the Boss, right? Either way, I cannot wait until tonight. What time is it? BOSS TIME.