<p>I forgot that REM was at the show I saw, too. That’s how memorable the album it was flogging at the time was. Actually, I was really disappointed in REM – they had been wonderful when I had seen them years before, and this was a case of barely going through the motions. Everyone did “People Have The Power” at our show, too, but it got overshadowed a bit by the massive “Born To Run”.</p>
<p>My daughter wrote something once about listening to Thunder Road in secret. Springsteen is the epitome of uncool in her indie rock circles, but it’s awfully hard not to appreciate that song.</p>
<p>Nils played guitar on “Country Feedback”, Mills & Buck played on a few Bruce songs and Bruce shared vocals with Stipe on “Man in the Moon” & “Because the Night”. Fogarty also kicked butt. It was a great show.</p>
<p>Saw him on the Magic tour in March; he was just phenomenal as usual. Have seen him many times over the years and hope to see him again and again.</p>
<p>Saw him last night. It was awesome; started at 8:30 and played straight through till almost 12:00. So many teenagers and senior citizens!!!</p>
<p>I think there were unsold seats at Giant Stadium for yesterday (a lot of empty ones) and also for the other concerts this week if anyone wants to go!!!</p>
<p>Midnight??? Ugh! I thought he was supposed to be the champion of the working man. Doesn’t he realize that some people have to wake up early and go to work? Maybe we’ll have to be like northeastmom and leave early.</p>
<p>Yup, DH had an important meeting early this morning. We were not about to kill an hour in the parking lot. Oh, parking is $20, and we were forced to park in the “Y” section and then ride on the bus to the stadium. By leaving early we did not need to wait on line for a bus. Also, when we left it just started to drizzle, and we thought that we could be in for a down pour. Fortunately, there was no real rain when we left. Our seats were not under an overhang, but we brought rain ponchos just in case (we never needed them).</p>
<p>JHS–hopefully, your D will get to the mindset where you’re not too cool to admit you like something genuine even when it sells huge (Much easier now that my kids are there–actually, only D was all purity-indie; S never gives a fig about what you’re supposed to like).</p>
<p>My D went to a Kenny Chesney/Countryfest concert this summer. This was an all-day multi-artist concert. She and her friend didn’t have tickets, but they were hoping to find some while tailgating with friends in the parking lot. About 2 hours after the 7 hour show started, they found a guy in the parking lot who said he would sell them his 2 tickets for $80 each. Conveniently the guy was drunk, so D gave him $50 and he thought it was $80. The face value of the ticket was $49.50, so she paid full price but avoided the Ticketmaster “convenience” fee.</p>
<p>Moral of the story: be sober when you scalp tickets. Or sell them on EBay.</p>
<p>We saw Bruce last night at Giants Stadium. He put on an amazing show. I’ve heard there are tickets available for the show on Tuesday night. Just go to the box office when you get to the Stadium.</p>
<p>How about that! At least 3 CCers were at the concert last night, and at least 1 CCer will be there tonight (and that is not counting the lurkers…come on identify yourselves and we will welcome you).</p>
<p>Yes, the show was phenomenal and no, Springsteen has not lost a bit with age. In fact, I think the show was more physically demanding and frenetic than I remember from many years ago. I have no idea how any person, regardless of age, can do what he does for almost 3 1/2 hours straight. I quickly learned that it was I who lacked the stamina to continue to stand (as most in the stadium did throughout the show.)</p>
<p>Thanks to the heads up concerning the late show start, I was not sweating it when a 45 minute drive turned into a 2 hour and 15 minute one due to the traffic congestion getting into the stadium. We arrived to our seats at 8:30 and the music started at 8:35 - perfect. The concert during the 45 minute encore was the best part, so we stayed right to the end but were able to make a hasty exit, got to our car which was parked reasonably close and out of the parking lot in record time. </p>
<p>As to “stadium” concerts versus other venues … based on how Springsteen does them, what they may lack in intimacy they more than make up for themselves in spectacle. It’s hard to describe the impact of seeing and hearing 50 - 70 thousand fans totally involved with the show - clapping, dancing and singing at the top of their lungs. I have never heard it so loud from a fan perspective at a NY Giants football game. I can see why most of them obviously come back time and time again to see Springsteen perform.</p>
<p>7:30 pm - Concert time, according to the ticket. Most fans seemed to know better!
7:35 pm - DH and I arrive at our seats in the nosebleed section.<br>
7:50 pm - Approaching thunderstorm is sending cloud-to-ground lightning less than 2 miles away. DH and I retreat to the covered concourse.
7:55 pm - Lightning and downpours directly over stadium. Ushers direct remaining die-hards out of the upper deck and into the concourse.
8:20 pm - rain stops, lightning moves on (it does not rain the rest of the evening, yay!)
8:30 pm - fans return to seats
9:25 pm - First notes of “Summertime Blues”
Bruce & E Street play continuously and crowd is deliriously happy, until
12:10 am - last note of Rosalita</p>
<p>More numbers (my estimates)
70% - fans in 40’s and 50’s
25% - fans in 20’s and 30’s
5% - high school aged fans</p>
<p>Yes, old people do rock! Bruce bid us farewell from the “Heart-stoppin’, pants-droppin’, booty-shakin’, viagra-takin’ E Street Band!”</p>
<p>I was at the Foxboro, Mass., concert last night too! Parking was a jaw-dropping $40/car, and the thunder and lightning put on quite a show.</p>
<p>There was a young 20-something guy sitting next to me and a 50+ woman in front of me who knew almost all the words to many songs and sang along enthusiastically. It’s amazing that he appeals to such a wide age range. The young man next to me knew all the words to Born to Run, which came out long long before he was born.</p>
<p>This was my 3rd Springsteen concert, and he’s never disappointed. The energy he puts into performing is astounding. We had a great time.</p>
<p>Something I didn’t realize - as a way to keep the concerts fresh, Springsteen has been having fans bring posters with the names of songs they would like to request. (Of course this really only applies if you’re in the standing area in the “pit” around the front of the stage). Twice last night Bruce wandered down to the front of the stage and asked for the requests, fans held them up and he collected a pile of them, then returned to the main stage and picked out some for the band to perform. He seemed to like finding the unusual requests. The first one they did, he said, “The band is not going to be ready for this! We haven’t done this in years.” It was “Little Latin Lupe Lu.” Later in the show he held up the sign for the “scarcely played, and even more scarcely requested ‘I’m Going Down.’”</p>
<p>So if you’re going to be lucky enough to be in the pit, bring a poster with your favorite request! Fans were considerate, and only held up the posters when he requested them, so as not to block anyone else’s view.</p>