Welcome to my blog, I'll be posting articles about my travels, restaurant and hotel reviews and U2-related stories here, plus anything else that's going on in my life that I feel like blogging about! Hope you'll enjoy reading them and please feel free to add your comments.
Showing posts with label Bruce Springsteen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bruce Springsteen. Show all posts
September has flown by and I've neglected my blog, I've been busy with all kinds and the weeks just slip away. I celebrated my 60th birthday on the 20th and had a fantastic day, I was thoroughly spoiled. For a while I wasn't looking forward to becoming 60, (after all not that long ago I would have started receiving my State Pension at that age). But as the date approached I changed my view and embraced it, each year is to be treasured and lived to the full and I've got lots of things to do on my bucket list.
I certainly don't feel 60 inside, sometimes my body does tell me I'm not as youthful as I was, but my spirit is still young, the essence of you doesn't change with the years. And besides the wisdom you gain by living life, there are also are other benefits - I can now get 1/3 off rail fares, free eye tests and my B & Q Diamond Card to get 10 per cent off every Wednesday LOL!
Mind you, my 60 celebrations are not over yet, I've had my real birthday, but I'm having my official birthday (who says only the Queen can have two birthdays?) in Dublin with a party in the penthouse of The Clarence Hotel on October 9th - as well as a long overdue weeks holiday in the city. Soooo looking forward to that.
So here's to a new decade, and also a Happy Birthday to Bruce Springsteen, 64 today and still rockin', what better role model for over 60's people can there be than him?
In September I've got a special birthday coming up, I can hardly believe it, but I'll be 60! The strange thing about getting older is that inside you feel much as you did decades earlier, it's just your body getting older, and it feels odd to think I'm the age I am now lol! I'm having a little birthday bash in Dublin in October and have invited various people close to me. I asked my friend Dawn but she wasn't able to make it, but then she surprised me by treating me to a meal out and the Springsteen film as a very early birthday pressie. I was very touched at her thoughtfulness, I am blessed with fabulous friends!
So, yesterday July 22nd was the evening. I drove through the afternoon heat to Dumfries, 37 miles from where I live, unfortunately my car's air con decided to stop working at the start of this hot spell!! I arrived at Dawn's and cooled down with an ice lolly lol. We then set off for the restaurant, Little Italy, a lovely place with a large outside eating area. It was cooling a little now and they had big umbrellas for shade so we sat on outside decked area. We had a gorgeous meal of tomato, garlic and pesto bruschetta followed by a wild mushroom pizza. We took our time and caught up on each others news as we ate, we are never short of chat! It was great to eat outside in the balmy evening air.
We left and headed towards the venue, parking beside the River Nith and the oldest bridge in Dumfries, the Devorgilla Bridge named after Devrogilla, Lady of Galloway who was the mother of John Balliol, born 1249. The bridge is very old, made of the local red sandstone, at one end is the Old Bridge House, built 1660, which is now a little museum. Dawn said it is really good to visit, it has rooms from past centuries and an old dentists surgery! We made a note to visit it together one day.
We walked by the river, which was very low due to no rain for weeks, and on to The Robert Burns Centre where the film was being shown. We went into the very small and very warm cinema there and settled into our seats. I'm a Springsteen fan, actually have been longer than a U2 fan which is amazing! But I haven't seen as many of his shows etc. Dawn isn't a fan, and I appreciated her suggesting this evening all the more because of that.
The film was mainly self-videoed footage of fans talking about the influence Springsteen and his music has had on their lives. It was emotional, moving and funny. One man talked about the music and what it meant to him and was overcome with emotion and ended up sobbing. One of the funniest for me was a British couple, the wife a fan, the long-suffering husband not. The husband (a natural comedian) was the one filmed and one of the things he berated Bruce was for his considerately long shows!
Some of the best segments were when fans' stories were backed up by footage. Like the young British girl who held up a sign saying "I'll be your Courtney Cox" (referring to the Dancing in the Dark) video. And Bruce got her on-stage to dance with him for that song, her joy and excitement was palpable.
Another was an Elvis impersonator who went to the gig in full Elvis gear and was pulled on-stage to sing Elvis songs with The Boss and managed to take over the show for a few minutes and pull a ham-string in the process! Bruce dubbed him the Philadelphia Elvis. It was great to hear how it felt for these fans to have their dreams come true. Another man was dumped by his girlfriend the night before the gig so he took a sign saying he had been dumped and Bruce got him on-stage and gave him a big hug, you could see the healing on the devastated man's face, which was very lovely. Bruce said he'd been dumped a lot and that, "They are regretting it now!"
The close relationship Bruce has with his audience came across well, and it is understandable that he has a huge loyal fanbase. People feel he is talking about them in his songs, ordinary people sometimes feel they don't have a voice, well Bruce is their voice. I'm a fan, not a mega fan, but if I'm struggling with something I often listen to Badlands and it lifts me up, music can be so powerful.
Live performances from throughout Bruce's long career were interspersed with the fans' stories, though sometimes I wanted to see a bit more of certain performances than was shown. Personally I found the film sometimes made me laugh, made me want to get up and dance, other times it made me quite emotional. The live performance of Blood Brothers was stunning.
There was a 15 minute segment of live footage from Hard Rock Calling 2012 in London at the end. Really good to see Because the Night, love that song, and Nils Lofgren's whirling dervish guitar solo was amazing. Paul McCartney joined Bruce for I Saw Her Standing There and Twist and Shout. As usual Bruce was ready to keep going but, unbelievably, the plug was literally pulled because the curfew had been breached!
The epilogue was film of Bruce meeting some of the fans that had the longest segments in the film, including the British Mr and Mrs, Bruce told the Mr that he was now going to do four hour shows lol! I think anyone who is a big fan of anyone or anything can understand how these people feel. It was a good way to finish the film, and really, seeing how Bruce was with those fans you realise why they love him so much, his sincerity isn't forced, his passion for music is unique and he loves every moment on stage, and he's a very, funny down to earth guy.
When we came out of the cinema into the still balmy night we were sweating almost as much as Bruce on-stage, boy was it hot in there. Dawn was impressed with the film and Bruce's music, I think he's gained another fan! I wasn't surprised really, I know Dawn is passionate about music and this film gave her the chance to hear a range of his music and she appreciated how diverse
So, as I tentatively approach 60, I look at Bruce who's still looking good and rockin' at 63, and he inspires me, I've still got lots to see and do in my life and I'll continue rockin' too!
The sun shone down onto the crowd at Hampden Park in Glasgow and I was excited to be at a gig once more, Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball Tour had reached Scotland. It had been around a year or so since my last show and it was lovely feeling that buzz and atmosphere of a live concert. After a while one of the staff came to our area and asked if any of us wanted to move to the lower tier centre, well she didn't have to ask twice! The seats were directly in front of the stage so we were well chuffed! Maybe some corporate types did not turn up (Hampden is one of those stadiums where the stage is set on one side rather than one end, much better really.)
Bruce and the E Street Band came on-stage with no razzmatazz and launched into We Take Care of Our Own. Very early in the show Bruce went into the audience and collected sign requests, such a great thing for fans. The first request played was Jole Blon which I'd never heard of, apparently it is a traditional Cajun song that Bruce has adapted.
The pace of the show was fast, rockin' and fun, the sign requests, the frequent physical contact with the crowd Bruce had certainly made me and the crowd feel very much part of the show, even in a large stadium like Hampden. The boss certainly knows how to engage with his audience.
The pace slowed up for a tribute to the Big Man, Clarence Clemons, stalwart of the E Street Band, who died exactly two years previously. Bruce made it personal by asking people to remember their own lost loved ones too and as he sang My City of Ruins it was very emotional, the whole crowd sang "Rise up" so loudly that the words must have been heard echoing through many streets of Glasgow. Jake Clemons, Clarence's son, played the sax, it must have been very moving for him to see the reaction of the audience. It was sad, yet also full of love and at the end there was an explosion of applause as everyone rose up, it was one of the most touching, spontaneous and emotional moments I've seen at a concert, amazing.
The next sign request was Dancing in the Dark. One girl had a sign saying she wanted to dance with Jake, she was brought up on stage and danced with him and ended up playing a guitar and singing. When she was back in the crowd a camera caught her expression which was priceless. Another lad asked for a pick, Bruce gave him one, from the look on the lad's face you'd think he'd given him a million pounds lol!
Bruce got a middle-aged woman called Hazel up to dance, then after a conversation with her he also got a young girl up, who I think was the woman's daughter, and he danced with both of them. Hazel gave him a tartan scarf.
Next, a very poignant moment, a sign request was for Tougher Than the Rest, one of my favourites. Bruce had picked out a sign from a girl that bore a photo of a man and asked for this song to be played in memory of Shug, the girls dad, 1951-2013. The lovely thing was that at the end of the song Bruce went back to the crowd, found the girl and gave her back the sign, what a lovely gesture. Certainly a teary-eyed moment.
We all sang along with Waitin' on a Sunny Day as the sun started dipping down in the sky. The party continued, for that's what it was like, a party. The band was very tight musically and Bruce's voice in fantastic form, and they were having a party on-stage too. It's so wonderful to see musicians truly love what they are doing so much. Listening to the songs from throughout the decades it struck me at how many genres have influenced the music, rock, soul, folk, gospel to name a few.
Great to hear more faves of mine Badlands, Born to Run and Rosalita. Towards the end the crowd wanted more and more, Bruce laughed,
"I've gotta go home, I'm sixty-fuckin-three! I'm gonna have a heart attack!"
He's got energy and stamina that belie those years, I mean, who else does three and a half hour shows? You certainly get your money's worth with Bruce
A rockin' Twist and Shout/La Bamba followed by Shout, a massive hit for Glasgow girl Lulu in the 60's seemed to be the end of the show. The E Street Band left the stage, but Bruce didn't, he got a guitar and played a fantastic acoustic version of Thunder Road. It was stunning, and what a way to end the show. I looked around, usually by this time in a gig a lot of people are leaving to catch the transport or avoid the traffic jams. The aisles were clear, like me, people were transfixed, we knew we were lucky enough to be watching a true music legend.
So, three and a half hours after coming on stage (with no interval) Bruce finished the gig. He showed what a show should be all about, music, the band and the audience, in the right hands you need no more than that. He may be "sixty-fuckin'-three" but he can show artists much younger than himself how to rock!
Nearly the end of February, after that this month is over it's all downhill into Spring! When 2012 turned into 2013 I had NO trips on the horizon at all, I hate that. I have a big financial outlay for my home this year and I was going to be "sensible" and only go away to celebrate a special birthday in Dublin in October. Well, my birthday is actually in September, but this year I'm like the Queen, having a real and an official birthday lol! I will be celebrating it with a stay in the penthouse at The Clarence Hotel with friends and family, what better way to enter a new decade!
Then saw Bruce Springsteen was touring again and I regretted not seeing him live last year, so I just had to go to see him in 2013. So I have a short break in Glasgow in June for that!
My friend Dianne and I have always wanted to go to Iceland for New Year, and seeing it was so far off I said I would do it. But when I looked into airfares they were very expensive over the New Year. So we changed our plans and are now having a two centred trip, New Year in Dublin (which is always wonderful!) and then on to Iceland for Þrettándinn, 12th night (or more accurately 13th night in Iceland) on 6th January, a time when they have bonfires, fireworks and parades. Maybe catch the northern lights again and I want to fulfil my ambition to go dog-sledding then too. I have two visits from friends to look forward to as well. My school friend Marian who lives in the south of the country is coming for a few days next month. It's always good to see her, we just pick up where we left off last time we got together! Then in May my good friend Debbi is coming up. It's ages since she's visited here, because we saw each other so regularly on our trips away together there was no need. But this year our only trip together will be my birthday one so we couldn't go that long and not meet up! So, this year is now nicely filled up with a combination of trips away and visits from friends, good to have all that to look forwards to! And maybe we will actually get a summer this year and I can relax in the sun in the garden eh?! Got to be optimistic......
The article below appeared as part of the "13 Tours We'd Like To See In 2013" article in Rolling Stone. Well all I can say to that is amen! They are spot on with this, especially the rotation of set lists. U2 shows, though good, are often predictable set-wise with sets only maybe changing several songs a night and these changes are predictable too. U2 have a fantastic back catalogue and could easily rotate sets much, much more to make the shows more unpredictable and exciting and still please the long-time and casual fans alike.The Big Question is - have U2 themselves got the balls to do this? I'm not sure they have, but I hope they prove me (and many other long-time fans) wrong.
There's no possible way for U2 to top the size and scope of their 2009-2011 stadium tour. It grossed $736,000,000 over 110 shows. That's a record that may never be broken. They shouldn't even try. When their next album hits in 2013, they should go back to arenas instead. It also might be time to drop some war horses from the set lists. Sure, "Where The Streets Have No Name" should be played at every U2 gig until the end of time, but maybe we've heard "Pride (In The Name of Love)," "With or Without You," "New Years Day," "Mysterious Ways" and "One" enough times. They're all great songs, but they've been played to death.
It would be even more exciting if U2 considered actually rotating their set lists from night to night. Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen shows are so thrilling because you never know what's coming next. An act with as deep a back catalog as U2 should at least set aside a few slots per night where they mix it up – maybe bring back early favorites like "Drowning Man" or "The Refugee," or forgotten 1990s tunes like "Acrobat" or "Gone." At this stage in U2's career, it might be tempting to just keep flogging the same old hits in stadiums for enormous sums of money. They need to resist that temptation at all costs.
This weekend has been Glasto weekend in the UK. The much loved and biggest performing arts festival in the world (175000 attendance), an eclectic mix of artists and delightfully eccentric and unique. Glasto also signifies the start of the summer here, though often there is more rain than sunshine resulting in a mudbath, but that's all part of the experience. However, this year the festival was graced with mainly warm and sunny weather.
Unfortunately I've never been to Glastonbury in person, but I always make a point of watching it every year on TV right into the early hours. And what a great festival it was this year too! Amongst the newer bands The Doves and Fleet Foxes stood out for me, what wonderful harmonies the latter had - reminded me a little of The Beach Boys.
But two long time artists stood head and shoulders above the rest for or me, the first being Neil Young - his Heart Of Gold is one of my all-time fave songs. Looking every day of his 64 years, straggly hair flying wildly and an instantly recognisable voice, he totally wowed the audience. Rockin The Free World was amazing and he had the whole audience rocking along with him, brilliant stuff. There was a magic happening and it was wonderful to watch.
Saturday night's highlight for me was Bruce Springsteen who I've been a fan since before I got into U2. I've seen him play live five times over the years and I've never been disappointed, he is simply brilliant live. He did not disappoint at Glastonbury where he was on stage for two and a half hours - quite short for him, he usually does a three plus hour set . Not bad for a man of 58 (and unlike Neil Young Bruce does not look his age). His energy in amazing and the thing that shines through is just how much he is loving every moment of it. He often talked to the audience and a one point he said about joy replacing sadness and that's exactly what this performance was about, fun and joy, it brought a smile to people's faces - including mine. As I sat in my living room watching I wished I'd been there to be part of that live experience.
Bruce did a great mix of songs including some of my favourites, Badlands, Promised Land, The River (so beautifully performed, the best I've seen), Thunder Road and Born To Run. The encore was Glory Days and Dancing in The Dark, perfect to end on. The energy never diminished, I don't know how he does it! He is very much a man of the people still, and he frequently came off the stage and went down to the audience having physical contact with them. It was all about the music and communication and it was wonderful. We may have lost The King of Pop, but The Boss is still captivating us with what great music and a great artist should be all about.
So now it's goodbye to Glasto for another year, it'll certainly be hard to top this one. I wish U2 would perform there but somehow I don't see it, though Adam is a fan of the event. No other festival is like this one, maybe it has to do with the magical place it is held and the ley lines criss-crossing the area, who knows.....
