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Thanks to Tattoo Dad, we have had two new additions (upgraded versions) to the Reunion Tour library, the MSG 6-20 show and the phenomenal Hartford show.

After further review, and having these two shows shed some more light on the Reunion tour, I believe it is time to put the tour in its proper perspective.....A so-so tour, with a few positives.

The positives?

1) The 10 night stand in NYC. What a way to end the tour, riding a creative high (American skin, Further on up the road, Code, Another thin line), Springsteen heads to New York city and tears down the house, night after night. That first night, with all the American Skin drama (protests, police officers turning their back during the song) was one of the most intense shows I have ever seen. The last two shows were filmed and catch the band, finally, hitting their stride.

2) The actual reunion. It was a long time coming, other than the greatest hits sessions and the Hall of Fame, it was the first complete tour since 1988.

3) Some stand out shows, a handful, but the Philly stand (especially the 9-24/25 shows), the LA stand, and a few select shows from the 15 night Meadowlands stand were reminders of how great this band could be.


The Negatives?

1) Bruce's vocals. Still hungover from the Joad Tour, he never really found his voice during this tour. Taking some songs (Thunder Road example #1) to new lows. He simply forgot how to sing rock n roll songs.

2) No intermission. WTF? Although still better than a majority of the acts out there, for the first time since 77, Springsteen stuck to one main set and then the encores.

3) Songs on steroids. Evidence? Murder Inc., 10th, Out in the Streets, etc. Hey, Im all for a 6 minute blow out, but night after night, these songs that were suppose to showcase the E street band, well, they became boring. I went to about 15 or so shows and 2/3 of them were the outro guitar solo for Murder Inc and the 10th Avenue rap.

4) Three guitarists plus the red head? Precendent setting.

5) The fact that there was no album to promote (Tracks? please.) The closest Springsteen has ever gotten to the Elton John/Billy Joel greatest hits tours. Thank God he decided to create more music.

So, in conclusion, the Reunion tour was a start but very overrated, to place it above any other tour but the 92-93 tour would be blasphemy.




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Nice post. Agree with a lot of that, although rating it below Joad is a bit strong.

I've always thought it was overrated. Well remembered for Thunder Road, and I'd throw in couple of appalling Racing In The Street's in there too. And no matter how many of you cream your pants about Incident on this tour, that sucked as well. It sucked in Philly and it sucked again in LA.

Good point about the rockers as well. I guess this tour is where the arthritis had really set in. As well as those you mentioned, Prove It All Night's solo was basically pull-a-face-and-just-twat-it-as-hard-as-I-can. Compare with the Because The Night clip from Verona '93 which I think is actually really good.

Brucefag alert - If I Should Fall Behind did move me, though.
I thought the debut of Incident in Philly was nailed. The LA version was so-so.

As far as being tired, I guess that's debatable, as usual, Bruce tends to drag tours out. However, Lost in the Flood, Blood Brothers, and a few others on that last night were pretty damn good.

If one saw multiple Reunion shows, the set basically boiled down to:

The opener
The song(s) after Two Hearts
The song after 10th
The song after Joad
The possibility of a classic in the encores.

That's it, I found myself on auto-pilot the rest of the show (well, Nil's Youngstown solo was pretty good).

Originally Posted By: PhillyCalling
Thanks to Tattoo Dad, we have had two new additions (upgraded versions) to the Reunion Tour library, the MSG 6-20 show and the phenomenal Hartford show.

The Hartford IEM/AUD mix was the one I was waiting for and I thought it sounded great until I got to Youngstown and Murder and realised that Nils is barely in the mix. Not to knock all who have put their efforts into getting these new and improved versions out, but can we really use the words upgrade and uber when the only good guitarist in the band is barely audible? Was the original Hartford boot like this?

The reunion tour will always be a favorite because of my wife's intro to the ESB live, her growing enthusiasm throughout the tour and her willingness to travel to see seven shows.
We saw enough special moments on this tour to keep it from being redundent: Philly 09/25, Atlanta with the debuts of Further and American Skin, a killer show in Louisville that gets overlooked.
Stipped of my rand.
Bruce's voice was very weak when I saw him in Stockholm on that tour and he seemed to be a little rusty but I was impressed by the band - was actually blown away by Max drumming on "My Love.." and Nils really stepped forward and did some solos that impressed me. I think the band played a lot better on the Reunion tour (even Bruce on guitar) than on the Rising tour. The problem with Live In NYC is not Bruce or the band but the audience. That audience is old, tired and very depressing to look at. I think it's very honest of Bruce to show them on film but when you see them you don't want to go to his concerts.

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Hey kid, you think that's oil? Man, that ain't oil that's blood

Originally Posted By: Stud
Quote:
The problem with Live In NYC is not Bruce or the band but the audience. That audience is old, tired and very depressing to look at. I think it's very honest of Bruce to show them on film but when you see them you don't want to go to his concerts.


His audience is old, tired, and very depressing.

I don't want a DVD that reminds me of that.

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Hey kid, you think that's oil? Man, that ain't oil that's blood

The Rising tour was better to me. Bruce and the Band were in a better shape, more thight. Even his voice was more 85 than on the Reunion.
But it is a fact that some rocker songs are too slow in both tour. Thunderroad and Badlands are just pale copies of 85 (not to mention 78). But on the Rising shows we got a solid Dancing in the dark.

Well....SSB in more "rocking" than ESB, today.

"It's on the line!!!"
J. P. McEnroe

Originally Posted By: paulc
Originally Posted By: petrus99
But on the Rising shows we got a solid Dancing in the dark.


how is that better?


I just said that Rising tour was better than Reunion one.

In both tour the rock songs were too slow-paced, but because of Bruce better shape Rising shows were better to me. Even Prove it all night was better on the Rising tour. The only real rocking song on Reunion was Youngstown

"It's on the line!!!"
J. P. McEnroe

You guys are insane.

The Reunion Tour started out crappy, but got better and better as it went on. Plenty of intense shows scattered throughout.

The Rising Tour started out crappy, then got better, then got crappy again in late 2003. The most intense shows in my opinion were the 2002 European shows. Bologna 2002 and London 2002 are my favorites from the tour.
Originally Posted By: smokeyjoe
Originally Posted By: petrus99
The only real rocking song on Reunion was Youngstown


Murder, Inc, Light of Day, My Love Wil Not Let You Down, Adam Raised A Cain, Ramrod, and Born To Run weren't "rocking"?

That's nuts.


Yeah Murder was a strong rock song too, my mistake.
But.
Light of day was just fun for the band and Bruce to perform, not a real rocker
My lowe is just a boring outtake.
Adam was just a pale copy of the real one.
Ramroad, see LOD.
Born to run, see Adam.

"It's on the line!!!"
J. P. McEnroe

I think that The Rising Tour was much better, simply for the hunger involved in introducing the new songs to the audience.

Reunion Tour failed because, as someone has already stated, Bruce was struglling to deliver rock vocals but not in the mood for it. The Rising was much better in that area.

Also, there was only one real LOOONG number in the Rising tour, which was Mary's Place. 10th Av. and LOD were too much in the Reunion Tour.

J
Whie I'd agree that the Rising tour was overall better and the rockers were for the most part lethargic on the reunion tour, I do have to say that as much bitching as the 5-pack got, I remember the Youngstown/Murder Inc/Badlands combo flooring me in person.

I may be bias because the first time I saw bruce was on the 2000 leg of the tour (5-7 Hartford) Every so often i put on the LINYC dvd and crank those 3 songs...

When in Hollywood visit Universal Studios
(Ask for Babs)

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