T H U R S D AY, O C TO B E R 1 8 , 2 0 0 7Springsteen at the GardenI had a great time at the Garden last night (Wednesday, October 17)with my friend Kitty (of "Kitty's Back" fame) and HER friends.</p><p> Howcould I not have a great time? It was Bruce and the E Street Band, afterall.</p><p> Still, his last tour -- the Seeger Sessions tour with a mostly differentbunch of musicians -- was such a blast, such a hoedown, such atriumph (as good as I've EVER seen him) I knew this wouldn't measureup.</p><p> I was right.The show was worth every penny.</p><p> It always is with Bruce.</p><p> But problemnumber one is his new album "Magic,"which Rolling Stone absurdlygave five stars, the "instant classic" rating reserved for masterpieceslike "Pet Sounds" and "The Joshua Tree." (Not that those got five starsof course, for various reasons.) First, I really dislike the way producerBrendan O'Brien records Bruce's voice.</p><p> That voice hasn't aged in theleast, as his ferocious live vocals proved last night.</p><p> But on the album, itall sounds glossed over, airbrushed...lazy, even.</p><p> There's no urgency inthem and I wasn't surprised to hear the vocals were recorded withoutthe band and that people were brought in to overdub their parts.</p><p> Andof course it's not a great batch of songs.</p><p> His last really good album was"Tunnel Of Love," when you're talking about original songs.</p><p> His lastgreat album was "Seeger Sessions" (covers) and before that really "BornIn The USA." But he can still deliver a tune. "Radio Nowhere" grows onyou and both "Long Walk Home" and "Girls In Their Summer Clothes"can enter the canon with heads held high.But if any proof were needed that many of the other songs don't cut it,last night's show was the evidence.</p><p> He included eight songs in the showand most every time they brought a quick halt to any momentum.</p><p> Not"Long Walk Home" or "Girls" -- people shouted out the choruses assoon as they began.</p><p> But the rest could't hold up.The show began with "Radio Nowhere" of course and Bruce launchedright into "The Ties That Bind," a great blast of fun and a tune I don'tthink I've ever heard live before. (I'd love to hear him do "The River"album from start to finish some day.) I called my friend Sam's cellphone because it's his favorite Bruce song and he would love to hear itlive and since the tour isn't coming to Florida yet, this is as close as heNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Springsteen at the Gardenhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/10/springsteen-at-garden.html 1 of 37/25/09 12:15 PMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SBiboyAaronMichael in New York POPSURFING.COM: Springsteen at the Gardenhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/10/springsteen-at-garden.html 2 of 37/25/09 12:15 PMPOPSURFING.COM: Springsteen at the Gardenhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2007/10/springsteen-at-garden.html 3 of 37/25/09 12:15 PM
