Tag: Bruce Springsteen

Review – Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Review – Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

by MichelleMcHatton

As a Springsteen fan, I really didn’t know what to expect with “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”. I was mainly hoping that Jeremy Allen White would do Bruce justice on the big screen. I was pleasantly surprised.

The film revolves around Bruce and his making of his album “Nebraska”. But it also delves deep into Springsteen’s life, through flashbacks of him growing up in a domestically chaotic household in Freehold, New Jersey and the pressure of his record company wanting a new album the way they want it. Thank goodness for Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong) who advocates for Bruce when he presents a simple and raw demo for “Nebraska”. Just the way he wants it.

It’s clear from the movie this was a pivotal time in Bruce’s life: he had just ended a tour, had his first top ten single with “Hungry Heart” and was slowly becoming a household name. His character is left wondering what is next and it’s my feeling with his research for “Nebraska”, it drummed up hardened feelings of life with his father. I found it interesting to learn that many songs that would eventually appear on “Born in the U.S.A.” were initially considered to be on “Nebraska”, even has a potential double album. I’m glad that never happened.

In the end we learn that like anyone else, Bruce is a person first and foremost, before being a musician. He needs to learn to deal with his emotions before he can move forward to become the Bruce Springsteen the world eventually becomes enamored with.

White portrays Springsteen well, right down to the vocals. Strong comes off as very likeable as Landau. In my opinion the casting was right on. It was a very enjoyable film, if only one that Springsteen fans would truly appreciate.

Bamboozled By the Boss

Bamboozled By the Boss

by MichelleMcHatton

A few weeks ago Bruce Springsteen announced the U.S. dates for his 2023 tour. I found it kind of strange that these dates, which happen first, were announced after the European dates. But I’m not a tour manager and I’m sure there was a logical reason for the European dates, happening after the U.S., dates, to go on sale first. It only makes sense that the dates happening first (the U.S. dates) would go on sale first. But again, I’m not a tour manager, so what do I know? I digress…

So the U.S. dates are announced and everyone gets all excited. After all, it’s been nearly seven years since Springsteen has actually toured. The only action we’ve seen from him, even during the pandemic, was on Broadway. A single show in a single theater.

Then the tickets start going on sale. And Springsteen fans are puzzled, baffled, taken aback, shocked, put into hock, selling their firstborns and anything they can get their hands on to afford tickets. Because, after all, this is The Boss and he hasn’t been on tour in seven years. And we didn’t get to see him on Broadway where, although tickets were expensive, they weren’t nearly as expensive as the nosebleeds on this upcoming 2023 tour.

They told fans to register with Ticketmaster to get “verified”. I’ve been this route before. Once with Harry Styles and once with Olivia Rodrigo. Both shows I attempted to get “verified” to get tickets for my daughter. I never achieved verification for them so you can imagine my shock when I got verified for Springsteen. In fact, I was in disbelief. So I figured it was “meant to be” and I’d give it a shot and see what I could get for tickets for the Mohegan Sun show.

I should mention that a year ago I obtained tickets for Justin Bieber at Mohegan Sun, in the very same arena, in the nosebleed area, for $150.00 a ticket. An entire year before he was scheduled to perform there in June 2022, about two weeks before he announced his illness and a day before I sold the tickets at face value because my daughter could no longer attend. In checking Ticketmaster tonight for that same section, Springsteen tickets are going for $676.00. Now I know Springsteen is not Bieber and Bieber is not Springsteen, but how does this figure? In fact tonight as of this writing at Mohegan Sun the cheapest Springsteen ticket you’re going to find is for $525.00 and the most expensive is for $2,193. In hovering around on the seat map I found the $525 seats to be behind the stage. I’m not even seeing tickets for $2,193. General admission right near the stage are going for $1500. A real bargain if you care to stand for four hours. Shit, at these prices, Springsteen better tack on another hour, just to give the fans more for their money. At 73, does he still have the stamina?

Leading up to Friday’s ticket sales, I had heard plenty from others who had gone into sticker shock during Tuesday’s ticket sales. So I wasn’t expecting much but was hoping for the best. I got in to Ticketmaster with no issues and had a $500.00 budget, before fees and all the other crap. I wasn’t even in there for two minutes, didn’t see anything in my budget range, said “fuck this shit” and left with no regrets.

As a fellow fan and someone who hasn’t seen Springsteen perform live in 35 years, when I paid $20.00 for a seat eight rows from the stage, I can understand everyone’s frustration and let down. It’s hard to swallow when you feel you’ve been bamboozled by someone you felt understood the common person and where they’re coming from, how a lot of them live hand to mouth, how many of them cannot afford tickets, but would still do whatever they could to get the tickets. With the economy the way it is today, it’s amazing that anyone, other than extremely wealthy people, could afford tickets. And if you bought tickets, hopefully nothing occurs in your life between now and then where you are left wondering if you made the right decision because you could have used the money you paid for Springsteen tickets for something more important. We all make choices.

There is one large factor about the Springsteen tour that nobody has seemed to have mentioned. Remember he has not been on tour for seven years. He didn’t even tour during the start of the pandemic. He was holed up in a Broadway theater, which shut down for a period of time during the start of the pandemic. He hasn’t experienced being on the road with his band, hours away from doing a show and having the drummer test positive, having to postpone or cancel a show. He hasn’t started out on a tour in early 2020 only to be shut down for a year because of the pandemic and having to have his shows rescheduled until 2021. Springsteen hasn’t experienced any of that, unless he had to cancel a Broadway show here and there. I don’t know. So there are a lot of unknowns to keep in mind. And I won’t even start with the age factor. But it’s no wonder why he was jumping on stage to perform with McCartney recently.

Still the Boss at 70

Still the Boss at 70

by MichelleMcHatton

In honor of his 70th birthday, I wanted to pay tribute to Bruce Springsteen by listing my top 20 favorite Springsteen songs.  I couldn’t do just 10.  There were too many.  And I actually could have done way more than 20 but I figured 20 was a good number.  It was difficult to narrow them down but I managed to do so.

Here goes:

  1. “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” – Don’t get on me about this one.  In my opinion, it’s the best version there is.  I love to hear it any time of year.  In fact, I just had the opportunity to hear it the other day on E Street Radio when they were playing a live concert from 9/20/78 that was done in Passaic, NJ and Bruce sang the song for the audience as a “surprise”.  I was in my glory!  Bruce and Christmas.  You can’t go wrong.
  1. “Light of Day” – It may be a more obscure Bruce song, one many may not know about.  If you’ve ever seen the Michael J. Fox/Joan Jett movie of the same name, you’ll know the song.  They sing the song in the movie.
  1. and 17.  “Human Touch” and “Better Days” – Both resonate for me because they were songs I played when I was with my first boyfriend.  He bought me the cassettes.
  1. “Rosalita”  – I remember seeing a video of a live performance of this song on a compilation VHS tape I had of Springsteen videos.  I thought it was comical when the girls kept sneaking up on the stage.
  1. “Fire” – It’s just a good song.  Even the Pointer Sisters sang it well.
  1. “Blinded By The Light” – Another underrated one.  And Bruce’s only #1.  Only as a songwriter.
  1. “Growin’ Up” – You can hear this at the end of “Big Daddy” and well done on Broadway.
  1. “Streets of Philadelphia” – From the movie of the same name.  Tom Hanks.  Bruce.  Can’t get any better than that.
  1. “The Rising” – Bruce knew we’d need this song and album after 9/11
  1. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” – There is a private joke in my family about this song.  All because of E Street Radio and how during a recent vacation, whenever we turned on E Street Radio, this song seemed to be playing.  But it would be a different version.  One time you may get a live version done on December 6, 1980 in England, another time it may be from July 17, 2016 at Gillette.  You never knew.  A great song.  Especially since it pays great tribute to Clarence Clemons.
  1. “Tunnel of Love” – It’s such a picturesque song.  I had to analyze it in my junior year creative writing class.  The whole album means a great deal to me.  The “Tunne of Love Express Tour” was the first time I saw Bruce live.
  1. “Hungry Heart” – To me Bruce’s first commercial success.  Can be heard in “Risky Business”.
  1. “Badlands” – Just a great opening to the “Darkness” album
  1. “The Promised Land” – Another great one from “Darkness”
  1. “The River” – The song that really made me recognize Bruce as a storyteller.
  1. “Thunder Road” – Who wouldn’t want to ride out tonight to case the promised land? Especially while listening to Bruce.
  1. “Dancing In The Dark” – Bruce’s highest charting song.  And the world’s introduction to Courtney Cox.
  1. “Born In The USA” – My first real exposure to Bruce where I actually began paying attention.  The song reveals the plight of the Vietnam vet and what they experienced, especially upon returning home. It is a great song to listen to while on the Music Express at the amusement park.  I know because I have. The song is incredible.  The entire album is phenomenal.

1.”Born To Run” – I cannot say enough about this song.  It is my all-time favorite song EVER, by ANY artist.  There is nothing that surpasses it.  Nothing ever will.  If I am alone in the car (or anywhere for that matter) and this song is playing (either on the radio, CD, whatever), that volume is going up FULL CRANK and I am belting it out!  AND. I. DO. NOT. CARE!  This is the album that put Bruce on the map.  It is extremely well-done and considering the amount of time I’ve heard they put into recording it, it should be.