The Portland crowd — which on past tours has been somewhat notorious for sitting on their hands — was also absolutely amped on this night. There were signs everywhere for requests, and Bruce was all too willing to accommodate, calling audibles for "For You," "Lost In The Flood" and a letter perfect "Jungleland" in the encore. When Nils Lofgren completely shredded Bruce's usual guitar solo spot during "Prove It All Night," the roof was just about blown off of the building.
My only real complaint about Portland is that trying to find an aftershow burger and beer was nearly impossible, as the town seems to pretty much shut down at about 11:00, even on a Friday night (at least in the Rose Garden neighborhood). I eventually fell asleep watching the movie Borat courtesy of free hotel HBO.
The next night in Seattle began with an attempt to upgrade our reserved seats to another shot at the pit with GA tickets. This proved to be a hopeless task as even the scalpers were having a tough go of it finding buyers.
We did see numerous folks from Portland though, who recognized me as "Sopranos guy" in the pit (I wore the hard-to-miss Sopranos jacket I got as a former Comcast employee both nights). Anyway, my partner was pretty bummed at our failure to secure GA tickets. I did my best to console him by telling him I had a feeling we would be getting an even better show in Seattle than we did the previous night in Portland.
And damn if Bruce didn't prove me right. From the opening notes of the tour premiere "Trapped", it was immediately clear this night would be special. This great beginning continued with a flawless segue into "Radio Nowhere," "Lonesome Day," and a particularly high-energy version of "No Surrender."
The Seattle crowd wasn't quite as up as Portland was, but the E Street Band was absolutely on fire — particularly Nils Lofgren and the Mighty Max on drums. Speaking of Nils, he continued the previous night's trend of taking Bruce's solos, with a blistering guitar break during "Because The Night."
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
"Trapped".
damn. i saw that on the setlist update and swore a fricken' blue streak.
really great.
2 - Glen Boyd
I came pretty close to pissing myself when he started with that one, Mark.
-Glen
3 - Donald Gibson
Music always affects people on a personal level, but Springsteen is that rare artist who affects people on a personal level collectively. You did a great job of illustrating how that sense of community among the fans enriches the live experience.
This will be my first time with GA tickets. I've only been on the floor for Bruce once, for the D & D tour (14th row and we sorta rushed the stage at the end), but we were sitting for most of the night. I'm really looking forward to experiencing this up close.
Great piece.
- Donald
4 - Glen Boyd
Make sure you get there early to maximize your chances at drawing a good number Donald. Seeing Bruce and the rest of the E Streeters do their thing right freaking in front of you is a concert experience like few others. You're in for a treat my friend...
-Glen
5 - slider
Fans of Bruce Springsteen are not only devoted but articulate about why they worship the Boss. The book 'For You: Original Stories & Photographs by Bruce Springsteen's Legendary Fans' is the work of disciples from Boise to Barcelona. The mayor of Delray Beach, Fla., says it best: 'Bruce fans are a fraternity - we share something deep and special, a relationship with the artist and with each other.'
6 - Paul J. Marasa
Thanks for sharing your perspective with another longtime fan--my first Springsteen concert was in December of 1975, at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia. I remember the sound guy was freaking out--threw his headphones at one point--and Springsteen had a ball covering "Mountain of Love." I'm originally from NJ, so it's more or less state law that we keep going to that party.
7 - alessandro
I got into the pit here in Montreal on March 2nd. It was damn fricken cold but worth it in the end. I think it was one of the best shows I have ever attended in my life. And I've been to a few.
As some of you may or may not know, Montrealers are probably the most energetic and loud fans in North America - for sports or music concerts.
It was only my 4th Springsteenian baptism but my buddy had been to 16 and considered Montreal to be one of the most thunderous he's seen.
Springsteen noticeably fed off this.
Glenn, I also met Lawrence who published the book. He ended up going back stage for his efforts.
8 - charlie
34 times you've seen Bruce? And I thought seeing him (with or without his E Street band) 6 times was cool enough!
Glad you had a great time (up close you lucky son of a gun, though I got 3rd row seats to see Bruce when I was 11 years old back in '92 in Worcester, MA) and put the experience into a good review.
9 - charlie
And you got to meet Bruce! You know, the closest I got was at that Worcester Centrum show when I was 11; he went into the crowd with his guitar for a brief period and as he went by me (again, I was in the 3rd row, dead center), I got to touch Bruce's shoulder. Like your experiences, that one was one I'll never forget.
10 - Glen Boyd
Thanks for all of the great comments you guys. A couple of quickie responses here:
Slider (Comment #5): I not only know of the For You book, but you'll find my own contribution to it on page 32...and speaking of that...
Alessandro (Comment #7): I exchanged email with Lawrence today and he told me the whole story. He was back there as a guest of Landau and Carr for 90 minutes, and presented Bruce with a copy of the book, got pics taken, etc. Lucky bastard! LOL...
Thanx for the coments everybody.
-Glen
11 - El Bicho
"trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll?"
Just play the stranger Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode."
12 - Donald Gibson
Bruce played "The Price You Pay" in Vancouver tonight.
Proceed to curse like a sailor...
- Donald
13 - Donald Gibson
Scratch that. It appears I've been duped by Backstreets on April Fools. (I started suspecting something was up when they said he played "Crush On You" and then brought out Anne Murray for a duet).
Sorry if your blood pressure is through the roof.
- Donald
14 - Glen Boyd
Yeah I read that and about fell outta my chair at first. But by the time he's bringing out Geddy Lee and the Guess Who, I started to figure out that something was up.
He did play Trapped again tonight, as well as Atlantic City and a toue premiere of None But the Brave. The show was also really long I heard. 20 songs in the main set, and another 5 in the encores.
And thats NOT an April Fools joke...
-Glen