Bruce Night 1
So that went entirely AWESOME. Uh, let's see.
At first I had a really crappy 400-level seat, which I was fine with because at least I was in the building, right? But then cidercupcakes suddenly had an extra GA ticket on her hands, and I bought that off her today, met her downtown, and then we went to the GA pit raffle with her. Stood about for a little while, then got our wristbands with our raffle numbers (I was 69. 69! Best number ever y/n), then wandered off because it was only about 2:15 at that point and the drawing wasn't going to be until 5:15. Got lunch/dinner, wandered through the portrait gallery and folk art gallery, then headed back to the pit/GA line at around 4:45 as we'd been told to do. They lined us up by the hundreds - 1-100 in this line, 200-299 in that line, and so on and so forth. There was a little confusion since the guy with the bullhorn either didn't know how to use it, or was using it wrong, but we couldn't hear jack shit. About four different numbers were "called out" before we finally heard the proper number, which was 60.
Yeah, so, 60, that basically meant we were the 8th and 9th person allowed into the venue to find our spots. WHAT. We ended up being right in front of Patti the whole night, with this adorable little kid next to us who was holding a sign asking for Rosie to get played (it didn't happen, unfortunately, but she got one of Stevie's picks, as well as a handshake - well, fingershake, since he was big, and she was wee tiny - from Bruce, and a nice smile from Patti). She kept looking catching our eyes all night, which was both AWESOME and WEIRD, because it gets to that point where you're like, do you look away first? Do you wait for her to look away to another section of the crowd? It was like eight or nine different times at least, and there was only one other guy behind us who seemed to give a crap that Patti was looking in our general direction, so much of that had to actually have been directed at us. And at the end, she totally waved at us, and then told us to calm down. Uh. Maybe we went overboard there, but that's okay, because that's basically the only time that will ever happen in my life, ever. (Actually, she seemed totally into the fact that the people in front of her were actually there in part because of her - I hope that that's not a rarity, but I kind of get the feeling that it really, really is.)
They played an awesome setlist. I'll Work For Your Love, No Surrender, Night, The Rising, Growin Up, Kitty's Back, Radio Nowhere, Devil's Arcade, Tunnel of Love (they switched out Heartbreak for this, which I get, but still made me a bit sad, because I really loved what they'd done to Heartbreak), Reason to Believe, and that really gritty and cool Dancin' In the Dark. And lots of other stuff, like Working on the Highway (wtf? Not that I'm complaining). And American Land, where Garry actually danced a little bit. In front of us! There was actually a lot of action in front of us - both Steve and Garry kept coming over to chill with Patti, so we only missed Nils and Clarence's antics (I know, I know, "only"). Nils had a great guitar solo during, I think, Tunnel, but they kept him on acoustic for a lot of the night, which, on the one hand, I'm really glad we got Bruce doing solos and trading with Stevie, but on the other hand, how do you have Nils Lofgren on stage with you and not let him have more solos? At least they gave him a showcase.
Oh! And Danny and Roy got solos during Kitty's Back. They were great! I think Clarence was supposed to have a solo as well, but he wasn't ready or something, because it ended after one note.
There were definitely some near-tears during the setlist. Gypsy Biker is really emotional live, as is Devil's Arcade (which is weird to me, because I love the album version so much, and the other boots that I'd gotten weren't as good), and it was especially neat to see Max's shadow across the audience at the end, when he has his outro and the turned the lights down on everyone but him. Going from The Rising to Last to Die to Long Walk Home was really brilliant, thematically, and I got choked up like crazy during Long Walk Home. Magic is very eerie live, but I thought they had to bring down Soozie's mic a little bit, since that was a bit loud (not bad, just a bit loud). Lonesome Day into Gypsy Biker was also great. He dedicated Promised Land to the folks from Bethesda Naval Hospital (who were in the seats - I'm assuming patients and staff, as this one guy with both legs amputated came out from backstage about ten minutes before showtime and was sitting on Patti's side of the stage for at least a little while), so I'm assuming tomorrow night will be Walter Reed's turn.
But really - Growin' Up and Kitty's Back in the encore. Then BtR, DitD, American Land (which really is awesome as a full ESB experience, though I do think they could rock out a bit more with it). I even got complimented by someone who was with a person who'd been to 106 Bruce shows - he (the with, not the 106 shows) asked me if this was my first time on the rail, and I said yeah, and he told me I was doing a good job. Which is TOTALLY TRUE because I knew every word to every song and was dancing to all the danceable songs. Amazing night. (They both waved at us, and Stevie was totally giving a "chin up, kid" look to cidercupcakes at times! And Bruce can still wear a pair of jeans, holy christ those thighs, that ass. He is really fucking fit, you guys. You guys, he is really fucking fit. The figure he cut in that outfit was astounding.)
(Oh, and Patti is also about 8329873742849 times hotter in person than in pictures. I would give up my straightness to hit that.)
I seriously must have done something right by somebody somewhere, because I went from having nothing on the sale date, to having a blah upper on a meager drop, to having a floor ticket, to having elbows on the fucking stage for a really really beautiful setlist.
And now I'm going to bed, because I am fucking exhausted. But meanwhile, there's already video of Growin' Up on the old YouTube here.
Probably won't talk much about Bruce night 2, except maybe to comment on the differences between uppers and GA (I'm assuming that, though it's far and away, it'll allow me to "see the whole board" better - I couldn't see much of Max or Danny, and I kept forgetting about Clarence and Nils until there was need for a sax or guitar solo). I already know the individual people will be very, very tiny, and I'll be relying a lot on the screens at that distance, but it'll be nice to see that interaction from that vantage point, even if I won't be seeing facial expressions and the like.
At first I had a really crappy 400-level seat, which I was fine with because at least I was in the building, right? But then cidercupcakes suddenly had an extra GA ticket on her hands, and I bought that off her today, met her downtown, and then we went to the GA pit raffle with her. Stood about for a little while, then got our wristbands with our raffle numbers (I was 69. 69! Best number ever y/n), then wandered off because it was only about 2:15 at that point and the drawing wasn't going to be until 5:15. Got lunch/dinner, wandered through the portrait gallery and folk art gallery, then headed back to the pit/GA line at around 4:45 as we'd been told to do. They lined us up by the hundreds - 1-100 in this line, 200-299 in that line, and so on and so forth. There was a little confusion since the guy with the bullhorn either didn't know how to use it, or was using it wrong, but we couldn't hear jack shit. About four different numbers were "called out" before we finally heard the proper number, which was 60.
Yeah, so, 60, that basically meant we were the 8th and 9th person allowed into the venue to find our spots. WHAT. We ended up being right in front of Patti the whole night, with this adorable little kid next to us who was holding a sign asking for Rosie to get played (it didn't happen, unfortunately, but she got one of Stevie's picks, as well as a handshake - well, fingershake, since he was big, and she was wee tiny - from Bruce, and a nice smile from Patti). She kept looking catching our eyes all night, which was both AWESOME and WEIRD, because it gets to that point where you're like, do you look away first? Do you wait for her to look away to another section of the crowd? It was like eight or nine different times at least, and there was only one other guy behind us who seemed to give a crap that Patti was looking in our general direction, so much of that had to actually have been directed at us. And at the end, she totally waved at us, and then told us to calm down. Uh. Maybe we went overboard there, but that's okay, because that's basically the only time that will ever happen in my life, ever. (Actually, she seemed totally into the fact that the people in front of her were actually there in part because of her - I hope that that's not a rarity, but I kind of get the feeling that it really, really is.)
They played an awesome setlist. I'll Work For Your Love, No Surrender, Night, The Rising, Growin Up, Kitty's Back, Radio Nowhere, Devil's Arcade, Tunnel of Love (they switched out Heartbreak for this, which I get, but still made me a bit sad, because I really loved what they'd done to Heartbreak), Reason to Believe, and that really gritty and cool Dancin' In the Dark. And lots of other stuff, like Working on the Highway (wtf? Not that I'm complaining). And American Land, where Garry actually danced a little bit. In front of us! There was actually a lot of action in front of us - both Steve and Garry kept coming over to chill with Patti, so we only missed Nils and Clarence's antics (I know, I know, "only"). Nils had a great guitar solo during, I think, Tunnel, but they kept him on acoustic for a lot of the night, which, on the one hand, I'm really glad we got Bruce doing solos and trading with Stevie, but on the other hand, how do you have Nils Lofgren on stage with you and not let him have more solos? At least they gave him a showcase.
Oh! And Danny and Roy got solos during Kitty's Back. They were great! I think Clarence was supposed to have a solo as well, but he wasn't ready or something, because it ended after one note.
There were definitely some near-tears during the setlist. Gypsy Biker is really emotional live, as is Devil's Arcade (which is weird to me, because I love the album version so much, and the other boots that I'd gotten weren't as good), and it was especially neat to see Max's shadow across the audience at the end, when he has his outro and the turned the lights down on everyone but him. Going from The Rising to Last to Die to Long Walk Home was really brilliant, thematically, and I got choked up like crazy during Long Walk Home. Magic is very eerie live, but I thought they had to bring down Soozie's mic a little bit, since that was a bit loud (not bad, just a bit loud). Lonesome Day into Gypsy Biker was also great. He dedicated Promised Land to the folks from Bethesda Naval Hospital (who were in the seats - I'm assuming patients and staff, as this one guy with both legs amputated came out from backstage about ten minutes before showtime and was sitting on Patti's side of the stage for at least a little while), so I'm assuming tomorrow night will be Walter Reed's turn.
But really - Growin' Up and Kitty's Back in the encore. Then BtR, DitD, American Land (which really is awesome as a full ESB experience, though I do think they could rock out a bit more with it). I even got complimented by someone who was with a person who'd been to 106 Bruce shows - he (the with, not the 106 shows) asked me if this was my first time on the rail, and I said yeah, and he told me I was doing a good job. Which is TOTALLY TRUE because I knew every word to every song and was dancing to all the danceable songs. Amazing night. (They both waved at us, and Stevie was totally giving a "chin up, kid" look to cidercupcakes at times! And Bruce can still wear a pair of jeans, holy christ those thighs, that ass. He is really fucking fit, you guys. You guys, he is really fucking fit. The figure he cut in that outfit was astounding.)
(Oh, and Patti is also about 8329873742849 times hotter in person than in pictures. I would give up my straightness to hit that.)
I seriously must have done something right by somebody somewhere, because I went from having nothing on the sale date, to having a blah upper on a meager drop, to having a floor ticket, to having elbows on the fucking stage for a really really beautiful setlist.
And now I'm going to bed, because I am fucking exhausted. But meanwhile, there's already video of Growin' Up on the old YouTube here.
Probably won't talk much about Bruce night 2, except maybe to comment on the differences between uppers and GA (I'm assuming that, though it's far and away, it'll allow me to "see the whole board" better - I couldn't see much of Max or Danny, and I kept forgetting about Clarence and Nils until there was need for a sax or guitar solo). I already know the individual people will be very, very tiny, and I'll be relying a lot on the screens at that distance, but it'll be nice to see that interaction from that vantage point, even if I won't be seeing facial expressions and the like.