Bruce!

Wow!

Not all my trips are up mountains, some of them could not be further away i.e. in big stadia in cities. All because of Bruce.

The first time I remember hearing of him was in 1985. He played Leeds Roundhay Park on the Born in the USA (BitUSA) tour and I watched some clips from the tour on the TV. Little did I know that Carol was there with Dave. Carol had seen Bruce on The River tour in 1981 at New Bingley Hall near Stafford. She was only 20!

Then I met Chris and she brought me further and deeper into Bruce and lots of other music. 1988 was the Tunnel of Love tour which crossed over with Bruce’s commitment to Amnesty International and the Human Rights Now! tour. That was the first time Chris and I saw Bruce live (Sunday July 10^th, 1988 at Sheffield United’s ground at Bramall Lane) and I was hooked forever and a day. And then Bruce broke up the band and stopped touring! Bad timing or what?

The footage of Bruce and Clarence fooling around in the intro to Growin’ Up from the BitUSA tour stayed in my head and I eventually tracked it down. Bruce and Clarence tell a story which includes bears in the forest:

Part 1, Los Angeles, 1985

Part 2, Los Angeles, 1985

Four years after we saw Bruce in Sheffield, he released 2 albums on the same day, and toured with a non E Street band, the only member of the E Street band who performed with him was Roy Bittan. Chris, Carol and I went to see the show in Milton Keynes. Carol and I got very close to the stage which was fab although we were also fairly squashed. I had a cheap Stars and Stripes flag draped round me! I was so lucky that the people who meant the most to me both loved Bruce.

The Gigs, a story of love and rock
Links are to the set lists on Setlist.fm

My favourite performances and songs

	My Beautiful Reward “Walked from the mountain to the valley floor, searching for my beautiful reward”.
	Manifesto, by Victor Jara I first remember hearing about Victor Jara back in the early 80s. The film Missing was about a journalist who was murdered under the Pinochet regime and Jara, a singer and activist was also killed at that time.
	When I Leave Berlin, song by Wizz Jones Bruce sang in East Berlin to an audience of 300,000 in 1988. I went to East Germany several times with my parents in the 1970s and saw the wall from both sides so this makes a connection for me. Bruce in East Berlin, 1988
	Frankie, Philadelphia, 2012 I’ve always loved this song, and I love the interaction between Bruce and Soozie Tyrell here. Still hoping I’ll see him do this one day!
	Thunder Road This is the 1975 live at the Hammersmith Odeon version.
	Lift Me Up In loving memory of darling Chris.

October 2017

Bruce is now doing a series of shows on Broadway in a small theatre, just him, his guitar, a piano and his missus for about 800 people per show. Even though TicketMaster and Springsteen management tried to make it a fair system for tickets, it still wasn’t and still full of cock ups. To me this smacks of a vanity project, hard on the tails of his autobiography and seems a million miles and millions of dollars away from “man of the people”. Obviously he will just do what he wants to do and mostly he makes decisions that please me but this one doesn’t. His current solo projects are a bit too much on the me, me, me level whereas when it’s Bruce and the E Street Band even though it’s still all about him, he’s the MC and gives space to other performers and members of the band and even the audience. However, if someone gave me a ticket I would of course go like a shot!!

Millworker

My Bosstime for Bruce nerds

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