@Kevbot posted:I attempted to go back on Backstreets to look at the setlist thread and see what other people thought. No one on the thread was there but were confident that it was an uninspired, terrible show that ruined the legacy of Springsteen. Like every show of every tour since 1999.
Historically - with a few exceptions that were almost always produced by fan outcry - every show ‘they’ attended was a unique historical mostest bestest greatest and if you weren’t there you were a loser night, while shows they missed were always just another - Bruce is ALWAYS GREAT BUT - snooz-fest you could see duplicated any place at any (yawn) time.
I have always said and always felt that any place in the world - not just in the US or on the east coast - Springsteen could have one of those one-off nights that has the set list, crowd and energy that made it unique, stand out and be extraordinary. (And I don’t mean Flynn Nugs marketing reviews.) There was a reason that THE longest show he ever played was in the home of McReindeer Burgers 😬 and not ultimately Jersey, Boston or Philly.
True story:
At a Tunnel show in NY, pre-show, in our seats early, the first people who came to sit down anywhere near us (directly in front), were 2 young women. My friend and I, very exuberant about the show just said hi, and asked if this was their first Springsteen show? They just looked at us (we were around 40) especially the blonde, as if we were two elderly creeps asking to buy their panties. We grimaced and gave each other an OoKaaaaaay look and rolled our eyes. About 10 minutes later, a fellow walks in and starts talking to them. We recognized him and said ‘Hey, Charlie’. It was Charlie Cross. Had previously met him at a NY Backstreets party. We talked for about 2 minutes when he pointed to the blonde and said ‘have you met my sister?’ My friend and I just smiled broadly, extended a pleasant ‘nice to meet you’ response, and watched the now identified and exposed stuck-up little hens squirm in their seats in front of us all night. I have (had) been a paid subscriber to Backstreets since 1984. But that incident on 57th road introduced me to the Backstreets Attitude Latitude. I just take most of that cackling with a grain of laughing gas. The bootleg and international record release information in the magazine WAS very handy in them early days of the frontier.
Q2
Rambling, after a night with the Jersey Devil.