Now sometimes tomorrow comes soaked in treasure and blood
Here we stood the drought, now we'll stand the flood
There's a new world coming, I can see the light
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
So you use what you've got and you learn to make do
You take the old, you make it new
If I had me a gun, I'd find the bastards and shoot 'em on sight
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
Listening now to the versions of this masterpiece recorded in New Jersey in late summer 2016. Oddly, we only have the Apollo version from 2012 to listen to from the proper tour. I like what he did with it with the string section in 2016, such a stately version played to great affect with other topical songs played before a large audience in a stadium. Our hero is great at presenting material to an unsuspecting audience. That material is often presented in way to take the listener on a ride of sorts....I'd like to comment on Giants Stadium 1985 as an example. The opening stretch is so devastating in it's order and intensity. To be a performer at that time, able to do anything with his audience he pleases. Instead of flag waving, or even complaining that the President of the US used his name in a way to make his policies seem to match the aims of a Springsteen song, when in actuality Reagan's vision was so the opposite of what Bruce was talking about he took it upon himself to align with groups that were taking care of the underclass all through the tour. He injected the Nebraska songs after the opening of the set starting in September 84. Later, he had 80,000 people in front of him and he presented a great set that illustrates what he wants to say. USA/Badlands/OutNTheStreets/Johnny 99/Seeds/AtlanticCity...then that version of the River. God it is so good!!!
Berkely 78 then NJ 85 and now Fenway 2012. 2021 maybe is the best year of the archive series ever....Now I need another 81 show to make it so.
@Louisa It helps that a lot of what I need to know I've already written down in reviews hahaha. I can't wait for September onwards to make the whittling down an absolute head-scratcher.
I remember when Wrecking Ball came out, I got a leaked copy a few weeks before the release. I was very moved by that record. To this day, I still am. That story of that record of hard times, both mental and physical really connected with me. in 2009 I became unemployed during the ecconomic meltdown. I went to school to learn a skill but did not find work in that field. When WB came out it really connected to me. "Jack of All Trades" is an amazing song in that it speaks for so many people displaced by factors out of our control. Bruce connected to that and expressed that reality in the song. From his first record to now, this is something in his work that moves me like nothing else. I feel it from a rough upbringing and abuse I went through. In many ways I am the Wrestler in that sense. I see it in the soldier in "Lost in the Flood" and the resignation of the dancers and drug taking in "Spirit in the Night" It is a feature in his work, that empathy that @Louisa saw in his performance. I hear it in "Backstreets"....I could go on.
When Wrecking ball came out, each day they would play a song and have a call in show about it. On the day Jack was played, I called in and expressed my feelings about the song and about what I get from Bruce's work. They let me go on, as this keyboard lets me do today. This artist knows my dark places. Moreover he has lived his own. An artist becomes an artist because something they saw or felt really bothered them. God, I dont want anymore of that they will say, as they create a world to express that feeling, to wrestle it, and move through it. We are all Jacks of all Trades. We move through it in our ways. He made a career of seeing things and writing about it's unfairness. Those people in those cars going to a new home or fleeing from a broken one...
The next day, the host said Bruce was in his driveway listening to that call in show. I know he heard me that day. I am glad you are reading me today too.
I don't believe I ever shared this, and if I did, my apologies. The one song that absolutely floored me in Trieste 2012 was Jack Of All Trades. Bruce spoke in Italian about the people in America experiencing hard times, struggling to find work... Then he stood behind his microphone and sang, only moving his arms, lifting them, pointing towards the audience and into the star-filled summer sky. The expression on his face - something I will never forget either - was an overwhelming blend of anger and empathy. By the time Curt came front stage with the trumpet, I was so mesmerized, I couldn't cry, I felt like God himself was standing in front of me. And I don't even believe in God...
Yes, absolutely yes this was a highlight of my show as well. I vividly remember that moment he sang "If I had me a gun" and told us what he'd do with it, thousands of my city, a city that has been really fucked over by the people Bruce was singing about, let out a mighty cheer.
Oh, and I can attest to the pointing too 😎 This is only a short clip (hopefully the full one is on YouTube somewhere) but it does the job nonetheless.
@Buddhabone Hang tough, brother Adam. Always people around here you can talk to, publicly or privately, when things are tough. Advice I should give myself, as well.
Glad to hear about the new position. It's always satisfying when you can put what you know to use.
And another thing I'll give this release props for is in how its really upped my love of St. Paul. With writing the Backstreets review I never spent the same sort of time with this show that I've done with every other new release since February 2018, but right now I'm skipping between shows (I'll be sure to throw MetLife in in the next hour too) and I'm having a great time.
Help me out here, was "We Take Care of Our Own" always as good as it was on August 15th and November 12th, 2012, or are these two versions just a special breed?
It's a stellar show, definitely. You know I have a "bad" habit, I find a song, or o snippet, that fascinates me, and this time it's Who'll Stop The Rain into Rocky Ground. @Mario Brega, I love how his voice breaks and what you described so perfectly, the seamless transition. Rocky Ground is just sublime, Michelle Moore, the part that she raps... ❤️ And the horns...
@Mario Brega, thanks for another analytical review. I say this Frankie tops the Gothenburg version.
I went on a walk earlier, and listened to my early favourites. What stood out in "Rocky Ground" this time was the confidence Michelle raps with, it's absolutely badass, that way she states "you awake but no-one's there!". I guess because of much we focused on Jake's evolution as the tour went on, it goes a little unsaid how the likes of Michelle improved. On the Apollo version she stumbles a little, here she's full of confidence, and I love that.
I'm still not sure which "Frankie" I prefer either. The Gothenburg one still really resonates with me because we got it during the first Lockdown, and its help during that time is just as impactful now as it was last April.
I'm only halfway through but knew within the first few minutes that I'm going to love it...
You know that foretelling feeling when you put your headphones on and say, yeah, baby, I'm home. That instant connection to a show - because with some you just need more time - and only a few punch you instantly with joy, love, and a zest for living.
Not going to read Mario's review until I'm done listening. 🙂
One of the things I enjoy about reading your reviews is picking up on details and facts about the Archive Series that I don't notice or keep track of, like the one tour a year tidbit.
Another enjoyable review, as usual best-read with the show loaded, following your time-stamps.
Now sometimes tomorrow comes soaked in treasure and blood
Here we stood the drought, now we'll stand the flood
There's a new world coming, I can see the light
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
So you use what you've got and you learn to make do
You take the old, you make it new
If I had me a gun, I'd find the bastards and shoot 'em on sight
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
I'm a Jack of all trades, we'll be alright
Listening now to the versions of this masterpiece recorded in New Jersey in late summer 2016. Oddly, we only have the Apollo version from 2012 to listen to from the proper tour. I like what he did with it with the string section in 2016, such a stately version played to great affect with other topical songs played before a large audience in a stadium. Our hero is great at presenting material to an unsuspecting audience. That material is often presented in way to take the listener on a ride of sorts....I'd like to comment on Giants Stadium 1985 as an example. The opening stretch is so devastating in it's order and intensity. To be a performer at that time, able to do anything with his audience he pleases. Instead of flag waving, or even complaining that the President of the US used his name in a way to make his policies seem to match the aims of a Springsteen song, when in actuality Reagan's vision was so the opposite of what Bruce was talking about he took it upon himself to align with groups that were taking care of the underclass all through the tour. He injected the Nebraska songs after the opening of the set starting in September 84. Later, he had 80,000 people in front of him and he presented a great set that illustrates what he wants to say. USA/Badlands/OutNTheStreets/Johnny 99/Seeds/AtlanticCity...then that version of the River. God it is so good!!!
Berkely 78 then NJ 85 and now Fenway 2012. 2021 maybe is the best year of the archive series ever....Now I need another 81 show to make it so.
I remember when Wrecking Ball came out, I got a leaked copy a few weeks before the release. I was very moved by that record. To this day, I still am. That story of that record of hard times, both mental and physical really connected with me. in 2009 I became unemployed during the ecconomic meltdown. I went to school to learn a skill but did not find work in that field. When WB came out it really connected to me. "Jack of All Trades" is an amazing song in that it speaks for so many people displaced by factors out of our control. Bruce connected to that and expressed that reality in the song. From his first record to now, this is something in his work that moves me like nothing else. I feel it from a rough upbringing and abuse I went through. In many ways I am the Wrestler in that sense. I see it in the soldier in "Lost in the Flood" and the resignation of the dancers and drug taking in "Spirit in the Night" It is a feature in his work, that empathy that @Louisa saw in his performance. I hear it in "Backstreets"....I could go on.
When Wrecking ball came out, each day they would play a song and have a call in show about it. On the day Jack was played, I called in and expressed my feelings about the song and about what I get from Bruce's work. They let me go on, as this keyboard lets me do today. This artist knows my dark places. Moreover he has lived his own. An artist becomes an artist because something they saw or felt really bothered them. God, I dont want anymore of that they will say, as they create a world to express that feeling, to wrestle it, and move through it. We are all Jacks of all Trades. We move through it in our ways. He made a career of seeing things and writing about it's unfairness. Those people in those cars going to a new home or fleeing from a broken one...
The next day, the host said Bruce was in his driveway listening to that call in show. I know he heard me that day. I am glad you are reading me today too.
I don't believe I ever shared this, and if I did, my apologies. The one song that absolutely floored me in Trieste 2012 was Jack Of All Trades. Bruce spoke in Italian about the people in America experiencing hard times, struggling to find work... Then he stood behind his microphone and sang, only moving his arms, lifting them, pointing towards the audience and into the star-filled summer sky. The expression on his face - something I will never forget either - was an overwhelming blend of anger and empathy. By the time Curt came front stage with the trumpet, I was so mesmerized, I couldn't cry, I felt like God himself was standing in front of me. And I don't even believe in God...
Where is @Buddhabone?
And another thing I'll give this release props for is in how its really upped my love of St. Paul. With writing the Backstreets review I never spent the same sort of time with this show that I've done with every other new release since February 2018, but right now I'm skipping between shows (I'll be sure to throw MetLife in in the next hour too) and I'm having a great time.
Help me out here, was "We Take Care of Our Own" always as good as it was on August 15th and November 12th, 2012, or are these two versions just a special breed?
It's a stellar show, definitely. You know I have a "bad" habit, I find a song, or o snippet, that fascinates me, and this time it's Who'll Stop The Rain into Rocky Ground. @Mario Brega, I love how his voice breaks and what you described so perfectly, the seamless transition. Rocky Ground is just sublime, Michelle Moore, the part that she raps... ❤️ And the horns...
@Mario Brega, thanks for another analytical review. I say this Frankie tops the Gothenburg version.
Oh would you look at that, it's one of those days where I'm just so appreciative of everything we've gotten so far in 2021.
I'm only halfway through but knew within the first few minutes that I'm going to love it...
You know that foretelling feeling when you put your headphones on and say, yeah, baby, I'm home. That instant connection to a show - because with some you just need more time - and only a few punch you instantly with joy, love, and a zest for living.
Not going to read Mario's review until I'm done listening. 🙂
I love this gig so much. Can't wait to dive in when I download it tomorrow. :)
Another missed opportunity lol ...a classic
I'm already in!