| LoverInTheCold |
And with a bang, it started… THE COMPLETE RUNDOWN. Took a late night flight into Newark, waited in the Airport from Midnight to 6am. At 6am I took the Long Branch Line out of the Airport up the Jersey Coast. BIG MISTAKE, not so much the train, but the time. Scariest friggin' experience ever for a young midwestern boy. Two guys behind me talking about getting out of a murder rap, I'm not even joking (I wish I was). All is well though. North Elizabeth, Amboy, Middletown…. RED BANK! Time to exit the nice train. I would have probably jumped off by that point. It's kind of early, but Red Bank looks cool, resort town. Jersey has a similar look and appeal to the North Shore of Minnesota. First thing I do is go into the train station and there are "pictures of my hero up on the wall", put a smile on my face to see these candid shots. So, I get to the hotel, the Molly Pitcher Inn, tell them I'm on no sleep. OOPS, we lost your reservation. Showed them the online confirmation, yelled at them a bit, got a room. Sweet Sleep. Got up at noon, went and had lunch down in the lobby. Fru-Fru restaurant, here goes my life savings. It was very good, elegant (a.k.a. - I felt out of place). Went out to explore a little bit before the ticket pick-up. Saw the town, pretty cool. Came back, watched "Bend It Like Beckham" on the tele (funny film in a "Big Fat Greek Wedding" sort of way). Went down to the lobby, then to the Penbrook Room at 3 for the Ticket Pick Up. Hordes of Bruce Junkies, some faces I recognize, some I don't. Met a couple of cool people, they all seemed generally intrigued by the fact that I had flown in on the drop of a hat to see the Boss. A lot of Jerseyites. Chatted, played with my "Prove It All Night" ringtone on my phone, got my ticket. I look down, can it be? The ticket reads: Center Section, Seat 102. Now either this is either a really friggin' awesome seat or a middle of the pack if they start out the seats at 1. Well, dreams do come true. I was FRONT ROW, MIDDLE SECTION, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE MAN, MAYBE 4-5 feet away. Now I've been front row pit before but this is something entirely different. VH1 guy came down before the show started, yelled at mme because I brought a pad of paper and a pen (just incase — C'mon, how many times was I gonna be in Jersey this close to Bruce). Told me to put it away, was afraid I was gonna lunge at Bruce cause I was front row. I was frustrated. He then said that I shouldn't worry too much, everyone will know I was here and that it really happened because I'll be on TV alot because of the front row seating. This was getting awesome. Flash forward, Kevin's out playing with the guitars, I'm giddy. He gets a big applause for a soundcheck, he laughs. Bruce comes out, I wet myself (well not really, but just about). I'm shaking and pounding my fists (which to my dismay I'm sure everybody here will see on the 23rd. I'll be the one in the blue short sleeve shirt, brown khakis and glasses for those who wish to make fun of me come then.) He says "Hi", launches into it. Devils and Dust is first, and is flawless. Didn't love it on first listen or second, but Bruce really made it work for me yesterday night. His accoustic strum-drumming works and is really powerful. Really powerful. I have a feeling most of these songs from D&D will be better on tour than on the album, but who knows. Next, Blinded by the Light, Bruce talking douches again. Funny stuff. 3rd Song, Brilliant Disguise, nice to hear it, Patti comes out, she's looking pretty hot but something's not working too well with here voice. She biffs it a couple times, Bruce doesn't seem to want to stop. I'm not even a Patti basher, but she was more of a detractor than anything else last night. 4th song, Nebraska, a welcome rendition that was played 2 times (Bruce keeps forgetting his harmonica). 5th Song — HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Jesus was an Only Son is friggin' awesome. Like a modern Thunder Road. Cool Religious imagery, strong lyrics, Bruce says the hill where Jesus was crucified was his "Darkness on the Edge of Town". I hope the rumours about falsetto and organ on the album are wrong because his solo piano rendtion was phenominal. This is going to be THE SONG off of this album. I don't need to hear this one screwed over by Falsetto, we can only hope it doesn't fall prey to "Real Word" disease (see: Christic Shows). I almost started to cry the second time he played JWAOS (as it will now be known). 6th song was — argh — Waiting on a Sunny Day. Not the best rendition or song choice but the singalong was fun. 7th was what seemed like 9 takes of the Rising. I didn't mind. Finally was the 8th song, the obvious choice for a closer, Thunder Road. Solo Piano, no harmonica. Odd not to here any harmonica in there. Bruce does well describing the song as an "Invitation to his music", that's where it all stemmed from, this "Invitation". After the explanation he was gone, but came back for a very short Q & A. Not too many people got to ask questions, I didn't. Bruce seemed a bit stand-offish (can't blame him after Sommerville). Then he was gone on the wind. We clapped and pounded and shook that little stadium for an encore, but didn't get one. Oh well, can't blame the man, he was probably pooped. With the concert over, me and the guy sitting next to me went for Subs at a Wawa Food Market. Order on computer, intriguing. I go back to the room and crash. Got up at 7am this morning and got on the scary train to Asbury Park. Figured I should treat myself to something extra while I was here. Even bigger mistake. You Jersey Boys and Girls must be used to it but where that train dropped me off was not cool. There were some seedy folk around that area. Needless to say I hightailed it out of AP and went back to Long Branch where I got on the train to Newark Airport. Half a day later, I'm back here writing to all of you. I want everyone to know what an amazing experience I had. I wouldn't trade it for the world, regardless of the fears or expenses. I would do anything to hear the man play. I would cross the netherworld, I would swim oceans, well….you get the picture. I'm slowly fading now, time to get some sleep. KONK!!! |
