Bruce a Paris!, the 4th of July 2012

4th of July 2012

Bruce in Bercy!

Our clan, without Paul, and friends gathered in front of Bercy, can of beer and a demi banquette, ticket in hand and short cutting the long cue to get into this Parisian music hall.

Instead of people selling tickets, here we notice many people with signs, are you selling tickets! That’s a very good sign of appreciation for this legend of rock music and one of the most influential song writers of the 20th century. Having bought tickets at the very first hour we still ended up way high with a good view but from a distance.

After La Vie En Rose a la Piaf with Roy Bittan and Charles Giordano on accordion the Boss and his E-Street Band blasted the recent songs: We take care of our own and Wrecking Ball and immediately Badlands. We were on our way for a Bruce-athon, 3:30 minutes of pure rock and roll, some soul and a few fine ballads.

Of course some great classics such as Born to Run, Thunder Road, Dancing in the Dark and many others such as Darkness on the Edge of Town and also a fine version of The River and a very impressive Bruce on the piano singing Independence Day, a classics from the River album. 4the of July Ashbury Park, or Sandy, was a must during this concert. Some people, including Dagmar, carried the American flag.

Fabulous music and all stuff from about 30 plus years ago.

First time for me was the Apollo Section, no link to 13, but the soul joint in Harlem, a great medley of true soul music with real intonation from Bruce, the band and singers.  After soul music The E-Street Shuffle, this brought down the house, a mix of rock and soul, greatly supported by a horn section of about 5 and 3 vocalists plus of course the E-Street Band was a real sensation and the crowd was going wild, at least most of them, some stuffy French prefer to sit and just watch. I think this is the only population in the world where that can happen. The Band played in Paris for the first time without the Big Man, Clarence Clemons passed away about a year ago. Bruce had a moving music and photo commemoration of Clarence. His deep saxophone and stage presence was surely missed, and kudo's to the large horn section with Jake Clemons. It was appropriate not to play Jungleland tonight, the Boss signature song with Clarence.

After a such a terrific evening with Springsteen you realize it's always an amazing fulfilling event with real value for money with Bruce. He sold about 265 million albums across the world! Which artists of that stature plays 3:30 minutes with an energy and enthusiasm of a young turk, playing tunes both from my high school period and today in 2012 and who attracts a crowd of young people and 40 plus and much higher.

The next day he was playing his second night in Paris. Full house!