Well, this doesn't suck:
The start-to-finish performance of an album in concert, despite having so much in common with the music format so many of us were weaned on, is a far different animal than a listening session with the LP or CD itself.
Great concerts thrive on internal mechanics, intentional peaks and valleys that, when done well, take the audience on a journey. Bruce Springsteen famously crafts that journey through setlist choices, dialing in the dynamics that make his concerts so electrifying, while also creating a narrative arc—more pronounced on some tours than others, but always present in some form—from the opening song to the encore closer.
Boys and girls, Mario might be turning into Maripoll.
#polldrivercomebacktour2k22?
Uh-oh.
What's your favourite version of "Can't Help Falling in Love"?
This version of "Can't Help Falling in Love" is my new favourite. Clarence's sax at the finish is a delight.
Fun show!
https://cantfindtickets.wordpress.com/2022/03/06/new-from-the-springsteen-archive-november-10th-2009-cleveland-oh-quicken-loans-arena/
I can confirm that Back In Your Arms is, indeed, magnificent.
That whole request sequence of the full band Red Headed Woman/Pink Cadillac/BIYA is the highlight for me so far.
For me, though, the full BTR performance hasn't blown me away like I hoped it would. The tempos sound a bit laboured and off in parts here. I know the Reunion era in general has seen an ongoing drop off in the tempo of the performances of the classic era material but I'm really noticing it here. She's The One sounds really sluggish to me. Jungleland too. These sound slower than the versions from the Hyde Park DVD which was a performance only a few months prior. Tenth Ave also isn't quite there for me.
Backstreets and Meeting, though, are superb.
I certainly never found the tempo drop as distracting on any of the other 2009 full band shows, or indeed even really thought about it. Perhaps it's just more noticeable on the BTR album due to the nature of the material? Maybe a slightly off night? Whatever, but so far I feel that this is the weakest of the full album performances (in the context of just the album part, not necessarily whole show) of all the 2009 full album Archive shows released.
I never get overly excited when the release is from this tour, but I always enjoy the hell out of the shows. There's not a lot for me to complain about concerning the Working On A Dream tour, other than Bruce's complete lack of commitment to the new material. My favorite release from this tour is still Nassau, simply because we got four songs from the album. It would be nice to have a show from this tour that highlights the source material, but I don't know if one of those exists.
I'm on my second full listen of this one and enjoying it quite a bit. It's hard to ignore how compelling a full performance of Born To Run can be and the sound is top notch. I'm hearing a lot of little musical flourishes I'm not sure I've noticed on other releases - that could be the band on this particular night or maybe it's the mix. I'd have to go listen to some other 2009 releases to compare, but I'm hooked into this one pretty deep tonight.
This far into the series, I've yet to be disappointed in a release, regardless of what tour it's come from or what expectations I had that were or were not met.
Bruce sang about magic in the night, but he didn't mention there was gonna be magic in every night.
Looking forward to hearing this. In particular, the guys on the None But The Brave podcast have on several occasions in the past when contemplating future releases mentioned that this show has possibly the best Back In Your Arms ever. I love that song and have never heard whatever bootleg version of this may be out there, so I'm keen to hear that if nothing else.
Downloading tomorrow, first thing in the morning.
Looking forward to listening to it. And writing too. I've been receiving some negative comments recently about my reviews and the time I 'waste' writing them, so I'm hoping to spend several hours over the weekend writing as a big 'go fuck yourself' to that guy.
Listening to Wrecking ball as we speak. He sounds ferocious. Looks like a great show. BTR in full, well mixed.
I need this music.