Concert Review/Pictures

SHOW A LITTLE FAITH, THERE'S MAGIC IN THE NIGHT.....

Another concert you ask? No, two more. I went to the back to back Bruce Springsteen concerts on Sunday and Monday at the United Center. Those of you that know me, realize this is not at all odd. My sister and I are huge fans and will take every opportunity to experience the ultimate in musical performances.

To begin, I have to say I have never liked attending concerts at the UC. It's fine for hockey and basketball or ice shows, but for a concert, it is a poor venue. The first night our seats were behind the stage, which was not as bad as it may sound, since Bruce acknowledged the viewers behind him plenty of times, and we were pretty close. There were screens set up the worked ok.

The second night we were so far away from the stage, we couldn't quite touch the ceiling, but almost. The viewing screens weren't nearly large enough (unlike the Van Halen set up). Parking was expensive and a pain to get out of the lot. The concessions were costly and the floors were very icky as usual and the place always smells like warm beer to me. At one point Kathy turned to me and said she tried to tap her foot, but couldn't, cause it stuck to the floor! Yuck.

Ok, enough complaining, down to the good part. Night one was great. He played 24 tunes, 9 from the new CD. The encore was jammed packed with rocking energy, but the earlier stuff was just ok. The show seemed formulated, and lack spontaneity, but the quality of the performance was still good. The new CD called MAGIC was just released this month, so I do not fault him for playing a lot of songs from there, which for the most part, were good. We are so used to Bruce putting on shows for 3 plus hours, but maybe age has set in a bit, and he only played for a bit over 2 hours both nights.

The second night was even better than the first. It had more whimsy, and he replaced some of the songs from the previous night with much better ones. Bruce and the band seemed more relaxed and playful.

Kathy had hoped for "Candy's Room" and got it. He had played it on this tour before, so it wasn't a huge surprise, but it made her night. I wanted "Thunder Road" which would be a long shot. Then for the encore, some kid in the front row said something and Bruce talked to him. He said "what are you, 12? There are a lot of youngsters here. Ok, I'll play you a song from my younger days, I haven't played it in 5 years, but we'll give it a go." Then he proceeded to play THUNDER ROAD. It was truly a fantastic moment for yours truly. That song is my all-time favorite so just hearing that performed live again, was an ultimate concert highlight.

The crowd was mixed, there were quite a number of families with kids at both shows. I'd say the age ranges went from 6 to 60. The crowd knew all the songs and sang/clapped along at all the right parts. If you have never been to a Bruce concert and heard how he and the crowd together perform songs like "Born to Run" and "Badlands".. then there is noway I can describe it. It was simply....incredible.

Bruce is the BOSS, and if he wanted to sit there and read the phone book, as far as I'm concerned, that would be just fine by me. He's my guy!

You could check out the set list and more info at the web site of "Backstreets" by clicking here
.....YOU AIN'T A BEAUTY, BUT HEY YOU'RE ALRIGHT
OH AND THAT'S ALRIGHT WITH ME