Skip to main content

...would love to see him follow it with probably 2 more River outtakes before starting into the album. A 3 pack right out of the blocks, perhaps with Night Fire and Party Lights, Roulette. 

He could then drop one or 2 songs later on eg. The Rising/Lonesome Day, Shout.

Any other thoughts on a good 3 pack to start the show?

Cheers,

Hazy

--------------------------------------------------------------------

She said last night she read those letters...
And they made her feel one hundred years old...


Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

The thinking surely is that there is already too much River material in the show. Some of the outtakes are great, but with The River already taking up 2hrs plus, he needs to bring the show to a close by playing the greatest hits. And NY just got Meeting, JL, BTR, Rosie, Thunder Road and 10th in the post-River section. All 1975 or earlier. There's only so much he can do really, much as we'd all like to see what you suggest.

What Kinsey says makes sense just from a physical standpoint.  LA 3 was the longest show of the tour and I thought the same thing.  If he had thrown in one or two of the early greats like Incident or Lost In the Flood or the above mentioned Meeting and a couple of the not played outtakes.  It would have been a show for the ages.  However adding those 4 or 5 songs would put the show well over 4 hours which they can't do and subtracting 4 or 5 greatest hits would as Kinsey put so succinctly, push the River Songs well over 2 hours which would be unacceptable to a majority of  casual fans.

The solution would have been to play a lot of River Songs but not the full album then he could have mixed it up every night.  I'd love to see him switch to a format like that heading to Europe.  Keep a dozen River Songs every setlist but change them up and change the setlist up.

C'mon Bruce ... go for it?

____________________________________

The SPL Rocks!

Prego che tu stia danzando con San Pietro alle porte perlacee del cielo





Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away!
Giants Stadium 8/28/03



Oats

Screw the casual fans. Let em go elsewhere to get drunk and talk

Was more thinking about the "pause" coming a bit early. Have loved how he would come out rockin and smash out 3, 4, 5 songs in quick succession without a breath. It's awesome. 

Cheers,

Hazy

--------------------------------------------------------------------

She said last night she read those letters...
And they made her feel one hundred years old...


I thought 3 nights in LA would have really changed up some of the post River stuff and was shocked when it didn't. I to have hopes for some of the river outtakes, and hearing "Loose Ends" and "Be True" was great, but even those haven't been repeated.

What amazes me is that songs like "Darkness on the Edge of Town" "Racing in the Street" haven't surfaced yet.

I think it is doable.  First of all start at 7:30 like advertised 

3 pack

Meet me in the City / Loose Ends / Restless Nights or Roulette

Although my feeling is he just start with The River album and mix outtakes into the post album mix.  This way he can slow it down or pick it up.

I've been listening to the Chicago show on my long training runs and Meet me in the City really is a call/response song. Doesn't really fit as a good nieghbor to Ties.

→→→→→→→→→→→→→→←←←←←←←←←←←←←←

In the basement at St. Johns well I found her where she fell

Just another busted sister of Heartbreak Hotel

Lots of good ideas here, but as Davy says it's really dream out loud stuff.

When Bruce sustains a relatively static setlist over a long period of time, it's a sign that he feeks it works , as a compromise between diehard's and casual fan's expectations. So don't expect the format to change in Europe, although he may pay more attention to requests given the enthusiasm he finds among the crowds there. 

Regarding Meet Me as a call and response, if he can get the response on a first song, as we have seen he does, why change it? The crowds at my 4 shows ate the song up, even though Ties would likely excite them just as much.

Presumably Europe is a continuation of TheRiverTour2016, so again I expect the full album to be played, and European crowds are even less likely to be bothered by all the slow songs than Americans.

What happens if the tour comes back in Aug or Sept to familiar territory is another matter. Stadiums are out for a track by track River presentation - very hard to keep the fans a football field away captivated by that! So expect arenas and if he is playing same or close by cities some changes should pop up - and that's where we would be in more realistic territory with the great proposals in this thread.

Just speaking for myself, although I would see more shows if I could, four seems to be the sweet spot for me, and by the time Phoenix was over I had stopped crying so much about more outtakes, newer outtakes, kill The Rising, etc.  I enjoyed every moment of my 3 LA shows (bad crowd behavior excepted - that's;s not Bruce's fault, at least not directly), The Rising included, and the exclusion of it included :-) Learning to live with the show Bruce plays versus the one you hoped for is really not so hard to do. If you want to guarantee yourself a good time, you just take in what's offered in the same vein that it's given. Seen that way, when  Bruce closes out an historic 3 show run with Bobby Jean, it's just a bit humorous rather than a tragedy. Besides, it fit :-)

Mike

 

 

I am probably going to be out on a limb here but the only changes I would make would be to dispense with the post The River ‘gatecrashers’ like Badlands BTR and et al and simply have The River album as THE show, possibly bookended by Meet Me in the City at the beginning and again at the end as the encore. Less is more . Forgot everything else especially the now boring and tiresome DiTD (contrary to what people say it is the diehard fans who demand the hits like DiTD  and hold up signs with ‘I want to dance with Jake/Nils/Little Steve/the soundman/setlist printer/ Bruce’s laundry man etc etc etc). Anyway I digress.  

The River is arguably Bruce’s most complete and complex album in terms of representing the full range of his musical writing styles.   The live performance re-invigorates the album with even the ‘lesser’ songs gaining a previously unknown gravitas. There are many highlights but my favourites include a tear jerking Point Blank, a wonderful I Wanna Marry You with a glorious new soulful intro with Bruce trading lines with Little Stevie, and a heart wrenching Fade Away.

I have been to 3 River shows in the US and they been arguably the most intense and full on performances I have seen from Bruce in a long while and I would argue that is precisely because of having a static setlist(The River) for nigh on 2 hours. Bruce has rediscovered his rock voice (with hardly a twang in sight), ably supported by a quite soulful Stevie.  The goofiness is kept at bay for 2 hours while he delivers The River as the great rock album it is. Even the crowd indulgent Hungry Heart gets the proper rock treatment with Bruce crowd surfing from the back of the pit to the stage.

The River is one of the greatest double albums ever made and on stage is transformed into one long emotional roller-coaster.  I was emotionally drained by the end of Wreck on the Highway. I can live without the rest of the show.

My only concern is whether it can retain the intimacy and intensity when the show moves to the stadiums of Europe. I do worry that Bruce may switch from rock performer to entertainer in order to try and please the packed crowds in the cavernous stadiums he is due play.    

 Flame away.

Mando posted:

I am probably going to be out on a limb here but the only changes I would make would be to dispense with the post The River ‘gatecrashers’ like Badlands BTR and et al and simply have The River album as THE show, possibly bookended by Meet Me in the City at the beginning and again at the end as the encore. Less is more . Forgot everything else especially the now boring and tiresome DiTD (contrary to what people say it is the diehard fans who demand the hits like DiTD  and hold up signs with ‘I want to dance with Jake/Nils/Little Steve/the soundman/setlist printer/ Bruce’s laundry man etc etc etc). Anyway I digress.  

The River is arguably Bruce’s most complete and complex album in terms of representing the full range of his musical writing styles.   The live performance re-invigorates the album with even the ‘lesser’ songs gaining a previously unknown gravitas. There are many highlights but my favourites include a tear jerking Point Blank, a wonderful I Wanna Marry You with a glorious new soulful intro with Bruce trading lines with Little Stevie, and a heart wrenching Fade Away.

I have been to 3 River shows in the US and they been arguably the most intense and full on performances I have seen from Bruce in a long while and I would argue that is precisely because of having a static setlist(The River) for nigh on 2 hours. Bruce has rediscovered his rock voice (with hardly a twang in sight), ably supported by a quite soulful Stevie.  The goofiness is kept at bay for 2 hours while he delivers The River as the great rock album it is. Even the crowd indulgent Hungry Heart gets the proper rock treatment with Bruce crowd surfing from the back of the pit to the stage.

The River is one of the greatest double albums ever made and on stage is transformed into one long emotional roller-coaster.  I was emotionally drained by the end of Wreck on the Highway. I can live without the rest of the show.

My only concern is whether it can retain the intimacy and intensity when the show moves to the stadiums of Europe. I do worry that Bruce may switch from rock performer to entertainer in order to try and please the packed crowds in the cavernous stadiums he is due play.    

 Flame away.

No flamin from me. Makes a lot of sense. It's the heart and soul of the show on this tour and beautifully reinvigorated. 

Yes thank the gods he has found his rock voice. It's really wonderful. 

Have the same concerns re stadiums...

Cheers,

Hazy

--------------------------------------------------------------------

She said last night she read those letters...
And they made her feel one hundred years old...


Our group was exhausted emotionally and physically after each show  as well.

Agreed !

This is way different than when he did Darkness / BTR in order a couple of years ago.

There is a soulfulness and passion to this effort. 

→→→→→→→→→→→→→→←←←←←←←←←←←←←←

In the basement at St. Johns well I found her where she fell

Just another busted sister of Heartbreak Hotel

I can't even imagine that you could expect flames for making sense, Mando.

I came close to telling the people I saw my shows with that the performance of The River alone was worth it, but your post reminded me how I felt, physically and mentally, after Wreck ended every night. I dismissed it as a more physical thing, being nearly 60 now and finding my arthritis-ridden limbs were having a harder and harder time toughing it out as the long week of shows wore on. The 3 nights at the Sports Arena were rough on everybody as the 56-year old air conditioning labored to do anything at all, resulting in 80-degree+ conditions at times (could have been more, I didn't have a thermometer, lol!) 

But every night after that album's last notes faded away, I asked myself how I - and Bruce - could go on for another 90 minutes, mostly without the respite of The River's slower songs. If it hadn't been for some great, great post-Wreck choices in LA, the part after The River might have been nearly anti-climactic.

Now this is the retrospective voice of a four-time attendee, and I would never give up most of those post-Wreck songs (the only thing that would have been better was if he'd pulled out Adam Raised a Cain and braved the slower Racing in the Street in LA or Phoenix), but I could have lived with BTR as a show closer and not complained a bit. Because by the time that comes up in the set I am definitely looking around for my third wind, let alone a second. Trimming the show right down to the album itself is not so far-fetched an idea at all. But if Bruce had been brave enough to do it, he would have been better off playing long stands in smaller venues, giving THAT show the intimacy it deserved.

It hadn't occured to me as I glibly stated that this show is not for stadiums that the European shows necessarily rely on stadia, due to lack of arenas and/or sheer number of hopeful attendees. We shall see how that goes, but I stand by my assertion that European fans will not just respect the quiet songs, but relish them, no matter how far from the stage they are. Fans like that are few and far between in the US, and I doubt Bruce will do the usual post-Europe stadium tour with this show. I've already heard rumors of arena plans, but didn't overhear or remember specifics.

Great post, Mando, thanks!

Mike

As much as I love to see the ESB in full force for 3h+ (Hannover 2013 was amazing) I'm not sure if this fits to the concept of this tour. 

This thing is called The River tour and not greatest hits or whatever. I whished our man would stay more true to this title. So I'd love to see them play this thing in full then maybe a short intermission (like U2 did on their last tour). For the encore 3 to 5 outakes and Bruce closing the show on acoustic guitar. Yeah this might sell lesser tickets. But today I think he has the status to do whatever he wants to.

Will be interesting to see how the tour will evolve here in Europe with all the stadium / festival dates.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

living is easy with eyes closed

Great post, Mando. I also wish Bruce would drop a lot of the regular post-River songs. Okay, he has to do BTR. Otherwise, get rid of DITD, Badlands, Thunder Road, The Rising every night. Let Nils do the "Prove It All Night" solo or play "Youngstown" and drop "Because the Night" every night. Without Clarence, I don't expect "Quarter to Three," but there are other closing songs besides "Shout." Bruce has a huge back catalogue of hits, let alone the non-hits so he has a lot of songs to pick to fill the time.  And I think the E Street Band would appreciate more diversity of song selection.


 

"I've done my best to live the right way"

Yes, he does have a lot to chose from and because The River is repeated every night the band would enjoy more variety later on. 

And we would too!

Also relevant regarding purchasing the shows. Could be wrong but not sure many would be buying every single show...for the sake of only a couple of songs??

Cheers,

Hazy

--------------------------------------------------------------------

She said last night she read those letters...
And they made her feel one hundred years old...


Hazydavo (dmnsg) posted:

Yes, he does have a lot to chose from and because The River is repeated every night the band would enjoy more variety later on. 

And we would too!

Also relevant regarding purchasing the shows. Could be wrong but not sure many would be buying every single show...for the sake of only a couple of songs??

Since I only buy the special shows of this tour I really hope that someone at JLM is clever enough to make a compilation with every track played.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

living is easy with eyes closed

desa33 posted:
Hazydavo (dmnsg) posted:

Yes, he does have a lot to chose from and because The River is repeated every night the band would enjoy more variety later on. 

And we would too!

Also relevant regarding purchasing the shows. Could be wrong but not sure many would be buying every single show...for the sake of only a couple of songs??

Since I only buy the special shows of this tour I really hope that someone at JLM is clever enough to make a compilation with every track played.

That would be cool

Cheers,

Hazy

--------------------------------------------------------------------

She said last night she read those letters...
And they made her feel one hundred years old...


Post
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×