Quote taken from a thread on SHF about the closing down of Backstreets. I'm largely out of touch with all that is going on, but this really seemed to resonate with a lot of the posters on there.
No disrespect, but I think your assessment of the fans and Backstreets is 180 degrees wrong: Bruce's appeal, prior to 2023, wasn't that fans or Backstreets believed he walked on water, figuratively or otherwise. It was exactly the opposite of that. They loved Bruce and his music because they saw no Rock Star pretense of being able to walk on water. Fans looked at the guy on stage and saw something of themselves, and it seemed that when Bruce looked into the audience, he saw part of himself. So it was never about Bruce being elevated to some mystical status. It was about Bruce and his audience being on the same level -- not economically, of course, but in terms of shared values and principles. Of course, people do change, and it's now clear that whatever bond there once was between Bruce and the longtime fans is now irretrievably broken. Obviously, he still has millions of casual fans and there are many people who care only about the music and not the artist, so he will still be able to sell tickets and his concerts will still do very well. Nothing wrong with that.
The tickets for Munich are hanging on the fridge, difficult to come by and VERY expensive. If I knew anyone who wanted them, I'd sell them at half-price. I can hardly believe I'd come to this, but I just don't care anymore about Bruce - (at least not a lot).
I looked if he had commented on the death of Jeff Beck and David Crosby and couldn't find anything. Really? Or did I overlook it? With all the interviews he's given these last months, he seems to be firmly on the road to self-glorification.
Well, it was good while it lasted... 😓
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Unknown member
Feb 03
Replying to
"I looked if he had commented on the death of Jeff Beck and David Crosby and couldn't find anything. Really? Or did I overlook it? With all the interviews he's given these last months, he seems to be firmly on the road to self-glorification."
Listen, you get to feel how you feel and I get that. Seriously, I do. But as far as I know, he had one and only one real interaction with David Crosby—the 1986 Bridge Show—and I've never heard it was extensive. (Yes, they both did No Nukes, but apparently Bruce didn't really socialize much if at all at that.) And that one Crosby interaction seems to be more than he ever had with Beck who, musically, was a million miles away from Bruce post-1970 or so.
It made sense that he talked about Elvis and Lennon and Prince and Bowie and Petty and Glen Frey, all people with whom he'd either interacted quite a bit more or who'd been huge influences on him. But is it incumbent on him to comment on the death of every rock star?
There is ls a photo floating around that I've seen either on FB or Oily Pond from one of those baseball / softball games the band used to play on the road back in the 70's which includes both Bruce and David Crosby (as well as members of E Street and some other music industry figures I can't recall at the moment). So there was some other social interaction over the journey, but I agree with the general point you make that they don't seem to have had the personal relationship or 'influence' relationship he had with others.
To be fair, we also remember the Bowie and Glen Fry ones because he was on tour and played tribute songs. If Crosby or Beck had happened after this tour started, he may well have played something in tribute.
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Unknown member
Feb 03
Replying to
I. would. LOVE. to hear him and Nils and Steve play some sort of Jeff Beck tribute.
Which is to say Nils. :)
If I coud, I'd swap one set of tickets for Taylor Swift. I never imagined I'd say this, but apparently I am going trough a midlife crisis, so I beg your pardon.... It will pass, I've been told...
I've been trying to gather the courage to come here to say exactly this. I have seen both Jason Isbell and Lucinda Williams recently and I was blown away by their music and them. Their honesty, their love for the music are inspiring and a reminder of what first led me to Bruce.
Bruce's last 10 years, apart from the wonderful Western Stars, have been one big disappointment for me. But the worst part isn't the bad music or the self mythologising bullshit, it's how he just doesn't seem to care anymore.
I found myself thinking about Spare Parts the other day. How that woman was still holding on to an idealised memory of a fiancé that was never really coming back because the son of a bitch left her when things got hard. The way that song ends, with the woman going to the pawn shop with her wedding dress and engagement ringing and walking out with some "good cold cash" that she could, I imagine, spend on things to give her child comfort, is inspiring.
I am selling my Edinburgh tickets. I once drove for 14 straight hours to go see him and now he's playing 10 minutes away from me, I've got tickets, and I don't want to go.
I can only hope I will again be able to enjoy the music that once meant so much to me.
I think I am guilty of not thinking too hard about him any more as I want to still enjoy his music and his shows, but I have this niggling anxiety that by the end of July I might be regretting the money I have spent and be saying no more.
I can't imagine I will ever find another artist who means as much to me as Bruce and this maybe why I am hanging on in there.
To put me in a better frame of mind, I played LTY yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it, so there's still hope!
Seen both Isbell & Williams on their most recent tours too. As I said elsewhere on here, I doubt I’ll see a better band than Buick 6 + Doug backing up Lu this year.
I’ll go further.
On any given night you put a Springsteen pit ticket and either an Isbell or Williams ticket in front of me and I’d have to think hard about passing up on Isbell. The Williams option would be a no brainer, not a shadow of a doubt.
The ‘self-mythologising bullshit’ phrase fits the recently released toast to the band video to a tee. So lucky the spontaneity was captured from multiple angles, huh?
Personally, if the Edinburgh ticket was the only one I had I’d be going along. However, I’m in the very privileged position of having tix for 8 shows, but got caught up in the Festickets collapse as I purchased Hyde Park night 1 thru them. Tbf BST have been pretty good about it, making available like-for-like replacement tickets for purchase, and Amex gave me a full reimbursement. If it wasn’t for the fact there are 3 of us going and my mates are still up for it, rather than just myself, I’d be letting it pass and pocketing the refund.……
Haven’t listened to a record all the way thru for a long time. Months. Never did get to the end of the soul thing. I really tried, honest.
I’m keeping everything crossed when they walk out onto that stage all the shit of the $$$$ and a couple of indifferent records will fall away and the shows will be redemptive. Else I’m going to regret going big on this tour.
I've always gone through periods where I don't listen to Bruce.
I've also gone through periods wondering what will bring me back... especially waiting for new albums, wondering if this will finally be the album that does nothing for me. And yet, by some miracle, the dude always produces at least one track that within one or two listens I know I can't live without.
I'd insert a clip of Stevie's classic '...they drag me back in' schtick from the Sopranos here if I wasn't too wobbly to do so.
Yep, what you gonna do. Working from home and have to pass the fridge leaving the home office. The Coopers Sparkling Ales get lonely by Friday arvo and need to be taken out for a walk...
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Unknown member
Jan 17
I go long, long stretches without listening to anything Bruce-related but whatever the latest Archive is, and even then, I only listen when I'm driving, which I don't do often, so it's not unusual for me to be a show or two behind.
But, for me, the longer I go without listening—and I never deny myself; if I want to listen to Bruce, I do, but I often simply don't—generally the more blown away I am when I do come back to him.
So taking a break, even a really long one, even if it's borne of disillusionment, may not be the worst thing in the world.
I think that's a very good point. When I was feeling especially disappointed about the last album, GOTJ came on the radio and I remembered what's so special.
Haven't posted here for a long time. Have hardly listened to Bruce. And you know what? Didn't miss it. I'm not sure where all that fervour has gone.
Maybe it's because he hasn't released any music for some time that I consider relevant . Something like Wrecking Ball or even Western Stars.
I look at the world today - the decline of Democracy in the States, in Britain and many, many other countries, the war in Ukraine, the pandemic - and I think that Springsteen and his music no longer add anything significant to the problems of the day.
I only see the title of the thread - have you said more? I hope you will expand on this as I think I understand where you are coming from.
I am feeling as if I allowed myself to fall for the hype around this tour and I am really hoping not to be dreadfully disappointed.
I still don't see the point of the last album and am very concerned that WS, which is right up there for me with his great albums, is not going to get a look in.
I am trying hard not to feel negatively, but sometimes I just don't succeed.
Quote taken from a thread on SHF about the closing down of Backstreets. I'm largely out of touch with all that is going on, but this really seemed to resonate with a lot of the posters on there.
No disrespect, but I think your assessment of the fans and Backstreets is 180 degrees wrong: Bruce's appeal, prior to 2023, wasn't that fans or Backstreets believed he walked on water, figuratively or otherwise. It was exactly the opposite of that. They loved Bruce and his music because they saw no Rock Star pretense of being able to walk on water. Fans looked at the guy on stage and saw something of themselves, and it seemed that when Bruce looked into the audience, he saw part of himself. So it was never about Bruce being elevated to some mystical status. It was about Bruce and his audience being on the same level -- not economically, of course, but in terms of shared values and principles. Of course, people do change, and it's now clear that whatever bond there once was between Bruce and the longtime fans is now irretrievably broken. Obviously, he still has millions of casual fans and there are many people who care only about the music and not the artist, so he will still be able to sell tickets and his concerts will still do very well. Nothing wrong with that.
I never fall out of love with Bruce, never will. My obsessive fandom is just hibernating from time to time....
I felt the urge to listen to the Belfast Joad tour this morning, and the musuc overwhelmed me once again....
He is like a Dad to me. Mistakes and bad decisions are a part of life. Acceptance is the word I'm trying to get across.
The tickets for Munich are hanging on the fridge, difficult to come by and VERY expensive. If I knew anyone who wanted them, I'd sell them at half-price. I can hardly believe I'd come to this, but I just don't care anymore about Bruce - (at least not a lot).
I looked if he had commented on the death of Jeff Beck and David Crosby and couldn't find anything. Really? Or did I overlook it? With all the interviews he's given these last months, he seems to be firmly on the road to self-glorification.
Well, it was good while it lasted... 😓
If I coud, I'd swap one set of tickets for Taylor Swift. I never imagined I'd say this, but apparently I am going trough a midlife crisis, so I beg your pardon.... It will pass, I've been told...
I've been trying to gather the courage to come here to say exactly this. I have seen both Jason Isbell and Lucinda Williams recently and I was blown away by their music and them. Their honesty, their love for the music are inspiring and a reminder of what first led me to Bruce.
Bruce's last 10 years, apart from the wonderful Western Stars, have been one big disappointment for me. But the worst part isn't the bad music or the self mythologising bullshit, it's how he just doesn't seem to care anymore.
I found myself thinking about Spare Parts the other day. How that woman was still holding on to an idealised memory of a fiancé that was never really coming back because the son of a bitch left her when things got hard. The way that song ends, with the woman going to the pawn shop with her wedding dress and engagement ringing and walking out with some "good cold cash" that she could, I imagine, spend on things to give her child comfort, is inspiring.
I am selling my Edinburgh tickets. I once drove for 14 straight hours to go see him and now he's playing 10 minutes away from me, I've got tickets, and I don't want to go.
I can only hope I will again be able to enjoy the music that once meant so much to me.
Haven’t listened to a record all the way thru for a long time. Months. Never did get to the end of the soul thing. I really tried, honest.
I’m keeping everything crossed when they walk out onto that stage all the shit of the $$$$ and a couple of indifferent records will fall away and the shows will be redemptive. Else I’m going to regret going big on this tour.
I've always gone through periods where I don't listen to Bruce.
I've also gone through periods wondering what will bring me back... especially waiting for new albums, wondering if this will finally be the album that does nothing for me. And yet, by some miracle, the dude always produces at least one track that within one or two listens I know I can't live without.
I'd insert a clip of Stevie's classic '...they drag me back in' schtick from the Sopranos here if I wasn't too wobbly to do so.
I go long, long stretches without listening to anything Bruce-related but whatever the latest Archive is, and even then, I only listen when I'm driving, which I don't do often, so it's not unusual for me to be a show or two behind.
But, for me, the longer I go without listening—and I never deny myself; if I want to listen to Bruce, I do, but I often simply don't—generally the more blown away I am when I do come back to him.
So taking a break, even a really long one, even if it's borne of disillusionment, may not be the worst thing in the world.
Haven't posted here for a long time. Have hardly listened to Bruce. And you know what? Didn't miss it. I'm not sure where all that fervour has gone.
Maybe it's because he hasn't released any music for some time that I consider relevant . Something like Wrecking Ball or even Western Stars.
I look at the world today - the decline of Democracy in the States, in Britain and many, many other countries, the war in Ukraine, the pandemic - and I think that Springsteen and his music no longer add anything significant to the problems of the day.
Discouraged and disheartened, that's me 😪
I only see the title of the thread - have you said more? I hope you will expand on this as I think I understand where you are coming from.
I am feeling as if I allowed myself to fall for the hype around this tour and I am really hoping not to be dreadfully disappointed.
I still don't see the point of the last album and am very concerned that WS, which is right up there for me with his great albums, is not going to get a look in.
I am trying hard not to feel negatively, but sometimes I just don't succeed.