While driving back from Foxboro the morning after the Springsteen Seeger Sessions event, me and TheWife were listening to Pete Seeger's "We Shall Overcome, The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert". I was struck by the sense of community in that audience. Seeger would begin a tune as simple as "Skip To My Lou" and the crowd would not only join in but seemingly invite their communal past experiences with the song into the hall as an extra participant.
Looking back at those times (Seeger's Carnegie Hall appearance was June 8, 1963), perhaps that sense of togetherness shouldn't be surprising—"We Shall Overcome" was a very important song for the civil rights movement.
But what to think of Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions concert experience? It was a communal happening. A surprisingly intense one at that. But what we don't have today is a tight connection to most of this music. How is it that we were all singing along as though our lives depended upon it?
You'll get no straight answer from me—I'm still trying to parse just what the hell happened on Saturday night. I mean, I don't sing along to anything. You can't even get me to go along with "Happy Birthday". Yet here I was belting out the chorus to "Pay Me My Money Down", "Jacob's Ladder", and "Buffalo Gals". I even shouted out "It Blowed Away!" during "My Oklahoma Home". Go figure!
One thing is certain: musically, Springsteen pushed all of the right buttons. The Seeger Sessions live band packs quite a punch. Folk music? Yeah...jazz, blues, and soul too—all filtered through the spirit of New Orleans. Bruce's own songs, obviously reworked for the tour, surprised and delighted. "Open All Night" done as a bluesy raveup. An upside down (Or was it sideways?) "Cadillac Ranch" giving way to "Mystery Train". Ah, and then there's the "Polka/Mariachi/Ska" version of "Ramrod".
Article comments
1 - Mary K. Williams
Sounds like a great great time.
2 - Lisa McKay
Great take on the show, Mark. I sang, too, but then I always sing.
I also was pretty surprised by the extent of the audience involvement, given that this was the first US show, and the album is still relatively new. I have a feeling that by the end of the tour, most of this music will have become a part of the Springsteen live concert folklore.
3 - Mark Saleski
by the way, i'm not bitter that you had better seats than me.
honest!
4 - Lisa McKay
Hee. As usually happens at these things, Sasquatch had the seat in front of me.
5 - Mark Saleski
we had two really weird things happen.
1. two woman behind me to the left yakked incessantly during the whole show. why the heck would a person spend their hard-earned dollars for something like this and then actively ignore it?
2. somebody a few rows back complained to security about the people in front of them standing. even more amazing, the staff actually asked us to sit down. what....the.....hell?!!!
6 - lori
I passed up this tour because of the ticket prices. As of early last week, I was able to get tickets fairly close up, but they were $92 face value before all the Ticketmaster fees.
That's just bullshit. How does Bruce justify that price? (That's a rhetorical question.)
7 - Lisa McKay
Sadly, the ticket prices seem pretty much in line with what everyone else is charging these days. They're actually pretty reasonable for an artist of his stature if you compare them to ticket prices for the likes of The Rolling Stones, etc.
But, yeah, they do take a nasty bite out of the budget.
8 - Mark Saleski
i only go to one or two "big" shows a year, so i'll take the hit. and honestly, he's not charging any more than any of the other major artists.
9 - Glen Boyd
I haven't experienced the "Seeger Sessions" band in a live setting (and will only do so if the tour reaches Seattle...knock wood...). But the communal experience you describe is pretty common with any Bruce show. The singing along etc. is just part of the overall experience.
It always feels like you are at a great big party with about 20,000 (well I guess to closer to what 10,000 with these shows?) of your best friends.
From what I've seen and heard about this show, the raucous atmosphere and "bignesss" of the band, combined with Bruce's unique "preacher" brand of showmanship, lends itself very much to that "communal" feeling.
Great review Mark.
-Glen
10 - Mat Brewster
Very cool review. I've got a different Pete Seeger live disk somewhere and it's pretty much the same thing, everybody sings along. Sometimes so much that you can hardly hear Seeger.
Everybody is raving about this Springsteen disk, guess I'll have to lay down the cash for it.
11 - Glen Boyd
Time to lay you your money down Mat
12 - tim, Spring Lake, MI
I saw the show in NYC and expecting to see Bruce doing what he does best which is acoustic, but instead I got a combination of River Dance and A PBS fundraising special. Which is real funny because tonight wouldn’t you know I flipped on PBS and there was Bruce dancing in step with his 30 piece band.
I dig Pete Seeger and I dig Woody G. but this was not tribute, it was an indulgence for the big B. What is the world coming to when folk music is a 30 piece band with a brass and string sections.
Perhaps some people want to see Bruce dance with his new friends but I was expecting to hear Bruce play his guitar and hear him sing. You could not hear his voice over this 6 so call back up singers who don't understand the concept of backup singing.
I have not heard played the CD but I've seen the concert and the PBS special and both were contrive and unspontanious.
I'm going to see Dylan in about 4 weeks and I can only hope he leaves the horn section at home and that folk can be performed without the River Dance PBS fundraising production.
Give me Nebraska. Give me my cash back. Give Seeger his songs back.
13 - Macca
Tim - U don't understand ANYTHING. Bruce's Tour has gone down a storm especially in Europe. I'm from England and tickets for Manchester sold out in 6 Minutes flat. Similar in Germany Spain etc etc. Absolutely superb. How can anyone take you seriously when u can't even count?? since when does an 18 piece band become 30?? Bizarre statement man. Pure Music Genius. The Horn Section is amazing.
Tim Boyo are you perhaps tone deaf??
Get Real Tim - Check out the free AOL Live performances - this is great stuff
14 - Lannie Walker
I bought the Seeger ALbum thinking that it was a video of the concert, which I saw. Does that Video
exist? The sight of the players AND the audience added immensely to the experience. I want that video.
Any suggestions? Thanks.
15 - Mark Saleski
just wait lannie. i'm pretty certain that a dvd release of one of the shows will come out at some point.