So last night, Aardvark Jr. took me to the Springsteen show in DC. (A good son, that one.) A few reactions:
1. First, the demographics. I honestly don't think I've ever seen an older crowd at a rock and roll show. Jr. was clearly below the 5th percentile in age, and he's nearly 25. While the crowd certainly brought it for the show in terms of energy, one wonders whether it might soon be time for the Boss to monetize the catalog for some ginormous lump sum payment as his demographic becomes less show-capable.
2. As always, the show was fantastic, and I certainly would recommend seeing this tour. I'd rank the show as being comparable to the Rising tour, but not as good as the River 25th tour. Will be interesting to see how it evolves as they move outside for summer.
3. Started with a lot of really old/compositional anthem stuff (which Jr. loves), moved to some soul covers which were really good, and then used Wrecking Ball to pivot to the standards/encore.
4. For a 73 year old, Bruce's stamina is remarkable. About a three hour show - comparatively short for him - but literally no breaks, at all. Not even for the usual "story time". And it's not like he's sitting on a chair singing folk songs and strumming an acoustic guitar.
5. Had a full horn section which really added a lot of warmth to the songs.
6. Text exchange with my canadian/naturalized American friend who is profoundly illiterate on matters of American popular culture:
Me (with photo): The Boss
Him: The Boss of What?
Me: Sigh
Him: ummmm....okay.
Him: Oh just googled it. That's Bruce Springfield, right?
Him: *stein
Him: Typo
Me: (Haha reaction)
Him: Does he still have that fat black guy on clarinet? Cleveland?
Me: His son. Akron
7. Always funny when the house lights come up and you think, "oh shit, the encore already?"...and then the encore goes for another hour, including what is always the identifiable emotional high point of the show ("highways jammed with broken heroes...")
1. First, the demographics. I honestly don't think I've ever seen an older crowd at a rock and roll show. Jr. was clearly below the 5th percentile in age, and he's nearly 25. While the crowd certainly brought it for the show in terms of energy, one wonders whether it might soon be time for the Boss to monetize the catalog for some ginormous lump sum payment as his demographic becomes less show-capable.
2. As always, the show was fantastic, and I certainly would recommend seeing this tour. I'd rank the show as being comparable to the Rising tour, but not as good as the River 25th tour. Will be interesting to see how it evolves as they move outside for summer.
3. Started with a lot of really old/compositional anthem stuff (which Jr. loves), moved to some soul covers which were really good, and then used Wrecking Ball to pivot to the standards/encore.
4. For a 73 year old, Bruce's stamina is remarkable. About a three hour show - comparatively short for him - but literally no breaks, at all. Not even for the usual "story time". And it's not like he's sitting on a chair singing folk songs and strumming an acoustic guitar.
5. Had a full horn section which really added a lot of warmth to the songs.
6. Text exchange with my canadian/naturalized American friend who is profoundly illiterate on matters of American popular culture:
Me (with photo): The Boss
Him: The Boss of What?
Me: Sigh
Him: ummmm....okay.
Him: Oh just googled it. That's Bruce Springfield, right?
Him: *stein
Him: Typo
Me: (Haha reaction)
Him: Does he still have that fat black guy on clarinet? Cleveland?
Me: His son. Akron
7. Always funny when the house lights come up and you think, "oh shit, the encore already?"...and then the encore goes for another hour, including what is always the identifiable emotional high point of the show ("highways jammed with broken heroes...")
