The boardwalk in Ashbury Park, New Jersey is
"tinged with a bit of fraud. So am I", Bruce.
From a New Jersey nightmare to the American
Dream.
After a
7-hour flight I arrived at JFK! The immigration officer asked me how long I was
planning to stay and what the purpose of my visit was, and I told him Bruce
Springsteen, these officers are not known to be uber friendly so I was
pleasantly surprised with his remark, "Welcome back Sir and enjoy the
Boss"! The long anticipated and prepared visit at New Yorks Walter
Kerr theatre to see the Boss on Broadway was ready for takeoff. First a visit
to the Ryan's in Larchmont, both lifelong fans and admirers of Bruce.
September 7
at 7AM Chuck and I were in a deep conversation on topics such as life, the
world, Trump, mindfulness, retirement and much more. At 7:15 my familiar
Thunder Road ring tone rang: Jorrit announcing that his BA flight will have
serious delays and his attendance to the evening with Bruce was in jeopardy.
That really sucked.
The Walter Kerr theater is a charming 950 seat
venue on 48th between 6th and 7th avenue, Walter himself was a Broadway
producer and lived in Larchmont. After security check, found my chair, received
the Playbill and rushed to the merchandising stand. The least I could do
was buy a t-shirt for Jorrit, a coffee mug for myself and an exclusive poster
for our apartment. That's what longtime fans do.
At 8:00
sharp the Boss enters the stage with an acoustic guitar and Growing Up! That
songs actually sums up the show. We questioned is this a play, is it a concert
or both as he plays 15 songs and shares many parts of his lives in a truly
engaging "story telling" way. It's like going to see and listen to
Bruce in a coffee shop, so intimate so real, so close.
Jorrit, a
huge lifelong fan, unfortunately didn't make it on time, arrived only at 10:15
at the hotel, needles to describe what a very upset son meant for BA, he
rushed to the theater away and got a glimpse of Springsteen in his
limo. Joining me Friday night were Chuck and Dawn, both fans and wanted to
go anyway, it turned out to be a mesmerizing event and experience.
Bruce'
started with a comment that he actually never worked in a factory nor on a
highway or railroad and wrote many songs about America's working man
and that these Broadway's shows were the only times in his life he worked
(sometimes) 5 days a week! It's hard to be a rock and roll star! Themes he
addressed are his Irish father and his Italian mother and her sister, the
grandmas, aunts, uncles or what it means to grow up next to a church and as a
Catholic in New Jersey in the town of Freehold (My Hometown) and why it was
also crucial to get the hell out of NJ. His road trip with a truck to San
Francisco, including a detailed story of driving without a license with manager
Thinker. Meeting Ron Kovic the Vietnam veteran and writer of Born on the
4th of July inspired Bruce to write his protest anthem Born in the USA
which he sang in a loud acoustic way. As expected he spend time on describing
his almost spiritual affection and friendship with the Big Man, supported by
10th Avenue Freeze out and Jungleland on the piano. Very moving to realize the
importance and presence of Clarence Clemens. Clarence was elemental, a
force of nature in my life he says. Patti Scialfa joined on stage and they sang
Tougher than the Rest which I found a bit pale followed by a very strong
Brilliant Disguise. As a person one can achieve good things with a great
group of musicians and extra ordinary people you can achieve something great,
we did it with the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, love-making, earth-quaking,
Viagra-taking E Street Band.
Various
anecdotes and messages were passed for instance about society, the current
administration in the US and the importance of self-reflection at his stage in
life. Land of Hope and Dreams and Born to Run followed. It was the end of an
incredibly, didn't know what to expect but don't wanna miss evening with Bruce
Springsteen.
Much of his
repertoire was built around the themes of a Jersey working man. In the
early years the working man’s clothes that he wears onstage are from Doug, his
father. To me Bruce is consciously recognizing "his life" and those
important to him with utmost respect for his fans and audience. Why did Bruce
at 67 wrote his biography Born to Run which by the way is an excellent page
turner and various chapters are almost literary told on stage. Why did he
create such a very personal and intimate Broadway play-show, why does he
address various personal issues for such a large audience? He gave some
sort of answer: entertaining the audience, sharing music and views and
hopefully transcends that further to others.
He does 236
shows; every show is sold out and prices are steep. Total audience is about
210.000, normally his concerts are for 75.000 so this is very different than
his regular performances. The 2:30 hour show was well produced a simple
setting with grand-piano and a table and lots of attention to the lighting for
instance during Tom Joad where you only could see his face. Bruce is actually a
very good story teller which he often did earlier on in his career. A bootleg
version of Pretty Flamingo demonstrates this.
Born to Run
was the album that got me hooked to the Boss, I felt this was a concept album
like the Beatles "Sergeant Pepper" and Beach Boys "Pet
Sounds» with a range of beautiful songs from ballads to the epic bombastic
title song. Ever since I became an avid listener of his work, i bought all his
music, vinyl, disc and even streams, read tons of articles and everything he
produced and went to many concerts in e.g. Paris, New York, Den Haag and Rio de
Janeiro!
Springsteen
on Broadway is in my conclusion a play, it's an experience that brings it all
together and demonstrates all the insights of the man and artist. He is a rock
and roll star and true humanitarian. This night I received again confirmation
why I have been such a dedicate follower of Bruce. He sings about topics that
can be small or big, subtle and beautiful, they have a real -life angle and
address most of the time important and relevant personal and or social issues.
It's authentic Springsteen and delivered through fantastic storytelling and
acoustic rock and roll. Wish Jorrit and the rest of the gang was there to
experience this ultimate Bruce night!
Good night Folks !
Setlist
- Growing Up
- My Hometown
- My Fathers House
- The Wish
- Thunder Road
- The Promised Land
- Born in the USA
- Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (with an intro of Jungleland)
- Tougher than the Rest
- Brilliant Disquise
- The Ghost of Tom Joad
- Dancing in the Dark
- The Rising
- Land of Hope and Dreams
- Born to Run
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