Bruce!!!
Bruce Springsteen
The Devils & Dust Tour
Wolstein Center
Cleveland, Ohio
5/15/2005
* New Song From Devils & Dust - he played 8 of 12 tracks on the new disc.
8:07
MY BEAUTIFUL REWARD 5:39
REASON TO BELIEVE 5:33
*DEVILS & DUST 5:18
YOUNGSTOWN 4:56
LONESOME DAY 3:34
*BLACK COWBOYS 5:52
INCIDENT ON 57TH STREET 10:05
STOLEN CAR 4:19
PART MAN PART MONKEY 6:34
*MARIA'S BED 5:19
THE LINE 6:10
*RENO 4:56
WRECK ON THE HIGHWAY 3:51
RACING IN THE STREET 6:30
THE RISING 5:01
FURTHER ON UP THE ROAD 4:34
*JESUS WAS AN ONLY SON 7:00
*LEAH 5:51
*THE HITTER 6:38
*MATAMOROS BANKS 7:02
10:01 (1:54:45)
10:02
I'M ON FIRE 2:51
LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS 7:05
THE PROMISED LAND 6:52
10:19
10:21
DREAM 6:44
10:26 (2:19:44)
Bruce Springsteen is no longer the future of rock & roll, but unlike most bands of his era he is still making kick-ass music that matters. Mike Mann & I checked out Bruce Springsteen at the Convo last Sunday. I had seen him with the E Street Band on the Rising tour, but this was my first time seeing him solo, and Mike's first time seeing him period. The Convo was configured in the half arena setup, and our seats were dead center stage right above the sound booth, arguably the best seats in the house in terms of visibility and sound balance. It was, of course, sold out. No pat down or metal detectors at the door either, which surprised me, but they did give us a brief code of conduct for some inane reason.
Bruce came out to thunderous applause at 8pm and asked everyone to be quiet during the songs. He included a joking threat to come through the crowd with a chainsaw if heard a cell phone. And then the fun began. He started off the a slow version of "My Beautiful Reward" on the organ, then moved to percussion peddle and harmonica for a very good take on my favorite Springsteen song, "Reason to Believe." From there he moved to the guitar/harmonica combination. He hit a definite highpoint with "Youngstown" and then lauded famed dead Cleveland rock critic Jane Scott the first of many times in the night as he switched to the piano. He played 8 of the 12 tracks from the Devils & Dust disc, plus 2 tracks from the 'Tracks' boxset that, including a clever commentary on evolution leading into "Part Man, Part Monkey." He played 3 songs from The Rising disc, which worked very well in the stripped down format.
In general his banter was mostly friendly, but he did make some pointed political comments besides the evolution bit, including ( paraphrased here ) "I was here last fall with the Vote For Change tour. We got it half right. We voted, but nothing changed." He had some funny comments about the selection of the new pope as the entry to "Jesus Was An Only Son" that compared Catholicism to a sports team - "I was raised Catholic but have mostly given up on it. But we got a new top guy recently - it is sort of like having a baseball team you used to follow. You don't really care, but when they make a major trade you pay attention" - and then discussed what Jesus might have been thinking in Gethsemene - "You know dad, Galilee is pretty nice this time of year. I could buy a bar, Mary Magdalena could be a waitress, I could save the preaching for weekends." He continued the mothers and sons theme with "The Hitter."
The crowd was held spellbound for the almost entire show. Other highlights included a brillant version of "The Rising" with the spotlight coming from directly behind him so that he was going into the light, which is perfect for the lyrics, and "I'm on Fire" which led off the first encore. Insomuch as it is possible for a $90 ticket to be worth it, it was worth it. He played for 2:20, including encores. I would absolutely go see him again. Mike had a good time as well although he was not nearly as familiar with most of the material as I am.
So that is the Bruce review. There will be no Billy Idol or Mike Doughty review, barring popular demand. Yeah, right. But when I get back from Toronto the Episode III review will likely be posted, and I am feeling creative.