Maybe I wasn't paying attention back when The Rising came out, but there appears to be an insane pre-release buzz going on with Bruce Springsteen's Magic. Whether the "leak" of the "Radio Nowhere" single was truly that, or another piece of the plan, there's no denying that there's some crazy rock and roll entropy building.
The pre-tour rehearsal shows have been the subject of much Internet yakkery. I'll admit that I did read the live updates of the setlists as they were born, texted out a song at a time from the Asbury Park Convention Hall floor. There were so many people following that thread that the server crashed several times during the show. Crazy. There were also hilarious and pathetic complaints about the setlists. What the heck is wrong with these people?!
Yes, I did purchase Magic on vinyl a week early. Yes, I did spend the better part of an evening up in my insanely hot listening room allowing the music to soak into me. Yes, I did make an analog to digital conversion because there was no way in heck I was going to wait another week to hear this stuff in my car.
As I'm typing this, Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera are interviewing members of the E Street Band on a stage set out in Rockefeller Center. Good gawd, that Lofgren fella is short! Sorry Nils, you are a fabulous guitar player. Steve is his usual cuttin'-up-in-the-back-of-the-classroom self. Patti looks great. Max is his usual classy self. And Clarence, always good to see the big man. Anyway, previous to these conversations, Bruce and the band had been warming up with what Josh Hathaway sez is "God's favorite song" — "The Promised Land". Woo!
Matt got Meredith to step up to the mic and say "Hello New York City… are you ready to rock and roll?" (or something like that). It was kinda silly. I laughed anyway, bein' in this giddy mood.
Now, as the weather guy (sorry, I don't watch the Today Show often so I don't know his name… what happened to Willard Scott?) is interviewing some of the crazies in the crowd. You know, one of those crazies should be BC's own Lisa McKay, who said to me in an email just a few minutes ago, "Since I'm home from work today, I'm wondering why the hell I didn't drive down. Geesh."
Yeah Lisa, geesh!!
Okay, me and TheWife™ are out of coffee. I've gotta go make another pot…
The band is finally hitting the stage:
First up it is indeed God's favorite song! The camera draw back for a long shot. Look at all those people! Uh oh… here comes the break… first Steve and Nils… and Clarence!! Listen to him belt that solo out, you dimwitted naysayers!
Holy smokes, I'm sweating.
Wow, they're taking a station break. That's weird. Oops, they forgot to cut the live mic feed.
Oops again, they cut back into the middle of Bruce and Matt talking about the common theme that holds Magic together.
Here we go… "Radio Nowhere". Ah, lookit all those people dancing. That's what I like to see, people just giving in to the moment. They just hit my favorite line, "I want a million different voices speaking in tongues" and boy, are Bruce and Steve leaning into it. Clarence! Woah, they're hammering out the ending.
Station break again…
And now they're busting into "Livin' In The Future". Bruce jokes about how desperate he must be to sell some records if he's up there playing songs so early in the morning. Ah, and here's the intro and explanation of what the song is about. This is of course what people will complain about. My gawd, why's he preaching like that? I didn't come here to be lectured to. Hey, whatever. You know, rock and roll used to be about rebellion. Did somebody revoke that rule and not tell me? Live with it.
I've gotta say that I do love the bouncy vibe of the song pushed up against the serious nature of theme… and then there's the bridge, and again Clarence! Let's have us some "sha na na"'s now!
Station break. Weird to go from a rock song to a Perdue chicken ad.
And now… Regis and Kelly? Wait, it's not even Regis, it's Pat Sajak. Ah crap, that's commerce for ya!
Have a nice weekend everybody. I'll be reporting from the Springsteen tour opener in Hartford, Connecticut on Tuesday evening.
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