Countdown EUROPE!!

    

Because The Night Belongs to Nils

As if we needed further proof...

Brisbane, Australia 14 March 2013:

Pull Your Finger Out, Brisbane!

An Australia Bruce Springsteen fan, known as "Killer Joe," 
shares his thoughts on the first 2013 Wrecking Ball Show in Brisbane:

"Ok.   Just got home.   Having trouble typing because my fingers are like freakin' sausages from clapping so much.

The Boss Man delivers the goods once again.   It took him some time to win the crowd over, but the Great Boss always wins.   Resistance is futile.

Just a ball-tearer of a show.... only Bruce can put together an incendiary heavy rock guitarist and a soul/bigband ensemble, and get away with it.

That said, the Brisbane crowd need to really get their shit together for Saturday night if they want Bruce to come back.    Brisbane crowds are always lame but some of these guys were extra lame.      Those of you who follow Rugby League may be familiar with the term "fire up, bitches!!" ... well you should take that on board.      And to the big numpty sitting next to me who sat through the whole show without even applauding once, give yourself an uppercut, dumbo!!    Get the stick out of your arse and enjoy life.   Oh and soz about the elbow in the head during Glory Days.  oops!!

Right, so the show itself... got off to a slowish start - We Take Care of Our Own is a good song, but casual fans here don't know it, and it doesn't have a real signature intro.

Then there was Just Like Fire Would... great thing for Bruce to do, digging out a song by a Brisbane band.   Unfortunately it was wasted on a lot of these numpties...  the Saints, like a lot of Brisbane bands, were more appreciated elsewhere than in their own hometown... seemed like a lot of people didn't even know it, and I felt bad for Bruce because he really ripped into it, seemed like he expected a big reaction.    Typically brilliant E Street rendition though.

Badlands was of course good, but felt to me like it's just lost it's edge with so many playings.    Wrecking Ball was ok, but things started to cook a bit more with Death to My Hometown.    Morello brings a fresh energy to the band that I love.

Hungry Heart - while Americans might be over it, this was the one that really flicked the switch, at least down in the pit (and even to some degree amongst the corpses I was sitting near).    

My City of Ruins - a great gospel standard, that I think is remembered by many from the Rising tour, and was appreciated by many (except apparently by Mr-Dickhead-I-don't-applaud in next seat, who chose to call his kids on his mobile phone (!!!) during the quiet middle section.   He even asked if they wanted to speak to Mummy!!     And this pair were not young, I bet the kids were teenagers!  Grrrr...

Then came Spirit in the Night, followed by ES Shuffle... not known at all by Aus casual fans, but their energy is pretty irresistible.

Jack of all trades was ok - not one of my faves.    Murder Inc. rocked hard as usual.     Loved Johnny 99 and Because the Night.    She's the One... legendary.     Shackled and Drawn surprised me... it is a sensation live.    Sunny Day was enjoyable enough (again the recognition factor from 2003 seemed to get the crowd going) - but the singing kid schtick is just as cringeworthy in real life as it looks on Youtube.   He really should lose that.

I found Apollo Medley kind of hard work... I wasn't raised with soul music and neither was pretty much anybody in Australia.   I don't think anyone knew the 634 song, and even The Way You Do the Things You Do is only known here because of Rita Coolidge.    Impressive playing and singing but not my favourite part of the show.

The Rising is always great, and Tom Joad was a high point for me... always loved the song, and it really feels to me like Morello pushes Bruce to reach for just a little extra.      Thunder Road was an absolute winner - surprised me how much the crowd got into it.

I loved We Are Alive to kick off the encore... another WB song that really surprised me... and then of course things really took off... interesting that the crowd response to Glory Days was much bigger than BTR... something for Bruce to take note of perhaps...

I should also mention the notable songs he didn't play...  I thought BITUSA would have been a lock, along with the River, for a first night audience... but there you go... glad I got those Saturday tix.

Great show, Bruce still rocks, and he took what I thought were some unexpected risks with the setlist - not all of them came off completely, but nobody can call him predictable... and you can bet there will be no empty seats come Saturday..." Thanks, Killer!!

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

Brisbane Australia ~ March 14, 2013

19:59

1.   We Take Care of Our Own

2.   JUST LIKE FIRE WOULD (The Saints)

3.   Wrecking Ball

4.   Badlands

5.   Death To My Hometown

6.   Hungry Heart

7.   My City of Ruins

8.   Spirit In The Night

9.   The E Street Shuffle

10. Jack of All Trades

11. Murder Incorporated

12. Johnny 99 (w/Honky Tonk)

13. Because the Night

14. She's The One

15. Shackled & Drawn

16. Waitin' On a Sunny Day     

17. Apollo Medley

18. The Rising

19. The Ghost of Tom Joad

20. Thunder Road

21. We Are Alive

22. Born To Run

23. Glory Days

24. Dancing In the Dark

25. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

23:11

3 hours 10 min.

Barracudas in the USA!!

     Finally, those four precious words that I had been waiting to hear for so long:  "Mom, can I go?"  "You WANT to go?" I asked... "Sure..."  It was that easy!  I loaned Sierra Rachel's cap (since Rachel couldn't make the trip over from Holland this time) and Sierra became our newest cuda-cub!!

  

We'd be meeting the Barracudas (my beloved Italians) in Charlottesville @ 2pm to get our  "lucky" lottery wristbands... Helene didn't have a ticket yet but was coming anyway to celebrate our good friend, Leticia's birthday! Her daughter would ride with her and bring little Cita (Helene's granddaughter) for a visit!  It was sure to be a lovely time!!  We so hoped for great spots "in" the pit for the celebration... fingers crossed!  Sierra was so excited to meet my friends... packed and ready, we got on the road early.  News had spread that Bruce would be playing at the rally to re-elect Obama at 3, so we'd need to get bands closer to 1pm to get to the rally and back in time for the lottery drawing... but that wouldn't work out for me... I had promised to pick Leticia up at the airport at 1:50.  We would wait for Leticia and skip the rally but insisted that the others go to support Obama!  ;)

     The ride over the mountain was lovely... the trees just barely hanging on to their leaves as autumn days turn cold... the fog sitting on the mountain was gorgeous as the sun broke through the trees over the horizon.  Just one more stop to freshen up and put on our concert outfits and back on the road!  We arrived only 20 minutes after the Barracudas!  Ale's face was the first I saw, his smile brighter than the sunshine!  He pointed me to where the others were parked!

There they were: my dear friends; Silvia, Robi and Vanessa, with her beautiful red hair!!  Hugs and kisses, gifts and TICKETS were given out!  A special gift from Matteo & Silvia... so sweet!  

Oh my goodness and my new Barracuda shoes!! Beautiful!! So much love and smiles it felt like Italy in the USA!  Thank you my special friends!!   Ale gave Sierra her own official cap and T-shirt!!  (She giggled), so cute... I could tell that she understood  my love for my Barracuda friends!!

It was soon time for Barracudas to get their wristbands and go to  support our President's re-election and hear Bruce's Forward! Sierra and I went looking for the airport which was very conveniently located right down the road... but now time is ticking and the plane is late... by 20 minutes... then more... and now traffic has thickened - so with Leticia-cuda on board we're trying to decide if we should check into our room which is 10 minutes walk from the Arena or pay for parking and get our wristbands before 4 pm... it's now 3:15... What should we do??  We decide to check-in and standing there with our hands full of luggage we find that the rooms are not ready yet and they can't give us our parking pass until the room is ready... so we wait on pins and needles... watching the clock, willing for it to slow itself!!  Will we make it back to the venue by 4:00?  Cut off time for wristbands? Room key in hand, we head to room 408 at 3:40... Sierra changes into her (orange) "Italian Fucking Die Hards in the USA" T-shirt and we head back to the arena to meet Helene who has found a ticket but is still frantically trying to get through traffic to get there as the clock ticks down... her daughter, Donna, who was just with her for the ride, jumps out of the car and runs down the block to the wristband line and gets her a wristband with us at 3:58pm... #557, 558, 559 & 560.  Helene-cuda parks the car and pours us all a quick glass of wine to toast Leticia's birthday... the celebration begins!! 

     While we waited we made a plan as to where we would stand (in back) after we lose the lottery!!  It was decided, we would go to the back platform to help Bruce crowd surf...  The Italian Barracudas were back from the rally with great smiles and happy hearts and I could tell it was a great experience for them.  Too bad they can't vote in the USA!!  :)  Ale showed me his number #107... we wished each other luck!!  I look up to see Sara Tersetti's beautiful face as she is walking toward us!!  More hugs and love from Italy!!  What a great day, indeed!!

     It's time... and Tom uses his mega-phone to get the crowd lined up in numerical order as we await the lucky (or should we say - unlucky) number... and we were informed that only 500 would be in the pit.  Sierra is disappointed that we were so late getting there cause our number was after what she thought was the cut off.  I then explained that what ever number Tom called would become number #1.  WE all hold our breath as he calls the number:  556!!!!!!  AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!  We scream into each others' faces!!!  I look at my band just to confirm 558!!!!!!  OMG!!!  We are going in 3, 4, 5 & 6!!!!!  (555 got in with his wife)...   I wave to Ale, WE'RE IN, WE'RE IN!!!  He waves back!!  The line begins to move and we past the Italian Barracudas stopping to scream face to face with them as they celebrate that we're going in first!!! I catch Sara's joyful face once more as we're being escorted in!  She throws a cheer my way!!  Tom teases Sierra that it must have been her luck cause I'm never this lucky!!  I share a quick hello with Tony as we enter the pit and he, too is surprised at my luck... but my luck was just about to get BETTER!!  #1 & 2 go to the front corner leaving the center platform wide open for Barracudas!!!!  BARRACUDAS FRONT & CENTER!!!

We rejoice and my head spins with excitement... I try to calm my nerves...  I get on my tippy toes and search for the orange "Italian Fucking Die Hard" T-shirts and finally I spot Silvia in front of the platform to the left!!  BARRACUDAS LEFT FRONT!!!  Lights go down... music begins... and there he is... the icing on Leticia's birthday cake!!

Sierra's smile was priceless!!  Barracudas & Bruce - Forever!!  

more to come...

This Is My Confession

     

         Thank you, Bruce.

THIS DEPRESSION

Baby, I've been down, but never this down

I've been lost, but never this lost

This is my confession

I need your heart in this depression

I need your heart...

Baby, I've been low, but never this low
I've had my faith shaken but never hopeless

This is my confession

I need your heart in this depression

I need your heart...

I haven't always been strong, but never felt so weak
All of my prayers, gone for nothing
I've been without love, but never forsaken
Now the morning sun, the morning sun is breaking

This is my confession

I need your heart in this depression
I need your heart...

This is my confession

I need your heart in this depression

I need your heart...

This is my confession

I need your heart in this depression
I need your heart...