Reply to "3-31-08 GM Place, Vancouver, BC setlist thread"

The story of None But the Brave in Vancouver:

(found on BTX)

http://tinyurl.com/342cll


UPDATE: Thanks, Bruce (Or: The Boss played a request)
by Ryan White, The Oregonian
Tuesday April 01, 2008, 2:53 AM

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- This happened. YouTube has it, if you're into exact quotes and amazing songs. The following is a functional, if not artful, retelling.

One of my traveling companions this weekend has been Bryan Steelman. He owns this joint. The other, Jim Brunberg, owns this joint. Bryan snowboards with Nate, who plays bass for the Foo Fighters.

That's how we came to be backstage at the Foo show in Vancouver on Sunday night. (Thanks yet again to Nate and Dave and the rest of the ultra-cool people in your band.) And that's where we met Bruce Springsteen. It's late, and I'll keep this quick. But he was far more kind and gracious than I, a semi-bumbling fan bothering him on a night off, deserved. He signed an autograph and later, stood next to us at the side of the stage for about half the Foo Fighters set, bopping his head. After the set, he walked by on his way out, gave us a wave and I said something like, "See you tomorrow night."

"Any requests?" he said.

I didn't quite hear him.

"What's that?" I said.

"Any requests?"

"Uh ... why am I blanking? ... Off the third Essential disc ... None But The Brave!"

"Oooh. That's a tough one," he said. He smiled and walked off. Though I figured it was all in my head, I could have sworn he at least looked intrigued by the idea. It's a beautiful, brilliant song, but also one he'd apparently never played with the E Street Band. I didn't know that. I figured it for rarely played, and KNEW it was a song I loved. Go for broke, right?

(According to this database -- yes, such a thing exists -- he's played it three times, all in Dec. 2003, and with Max Weinberg's band.)

So last night in Vancouver, in the middle of the set, Bruce steps to the mic to explain how he met this guy last night, some guy who'd been down front at the last two shows, and made the mistake of asking if said guy had a request and the guy comes up with "an obscure outtake from Born In The U.S.A. It wasn't even on the record. It was an outtake. We've never played this."

Or something like that (again, see the video for the exact words). I was a little (no, a lot) awed. Bruce said he didn't see that guy, but he was sure the guy was out there.

I was, at this point, the only one in section 111 standing, yelling, dorking out. They were going to play the song.

And they did. They played None But The Brave. And they played it Well. Nailed it.

I can't believe they played it. And I don't quite know how to fully tell the story in a way that captures what happened, and how big and joyful it feels.

Best then to keep it simple.

Thanks, Bruce.