(Keep in mind that this was the best week of my life. I saw both Pinback and Stereolab, the Phils made the playoffs (eff yes!!), and I got to witness Shane Victorino's epic grand slam up close and personal. I'm also going to the Iggles game in a few short hours, sitting somewhere like Row 15. Don't sleep.)

But back to the Springsteen. When I heard about the show, I marched down to the Obama office at 1500 Sansom and promptly volunteered to do data entry in exchange for two preferred viewing tickets. They gave me the two blue tickets, I skipped back to the office and proceeded to get nothing done for the next 2.5 days.

Now, over those few days, several people remarked to me that Bruce Springsteen is a singer-songwriter, and a brilliant one, sure, but he should keep his political views to himself. Put yer harmonica where yer politics is, they say. Hogwash, I say. Here's a beloved public figure who has an incredible opportunity to use his power and persuasion to support the cause he believes in. Turns out he actually called up the Obama office and said, "I got this guitar here. Let me play it on your behalf."

As my Dad says, "Mar, you gotta be fully actualized." We should all be out there, strumming whatever instruments we can to get Barack Obama elected.

Enough with the preamble. The Man was unbelievable. He started out with "The Promised Land," a 70s classic about the redemption of the working class. Good way to start.

And here it is in full (special thanks to my 6'7" companion, Rawle Anders):

[viddler id=972ff182&w=437&h=370]

He also played "The Ghost of Tom Joad," "Thunder Road" (sung to some very special Mary somewhere), "Does this Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" "The Rising," "No Surrender" (John Kerry's campaign theme song) and "This Land is Your Land" (during which the 5 obnoxious UD students next to me gabbed throughout about how they "had to" sing that song (a Guthrie classic!) every morning in 3rd grade, which for them was 3 years ago. Shaddap!!! This is Springsteen.)

Now these were all great moments. But the best was yet to come.

After the show, we waited outside Bruce's bus for about 20 minutes, peering around for any sign of New Jerseyness from behind a gate that looked more and more jumpable with every passing minute. Rawle noticed a humongo, black Navigator with Jersey plates and remarked that that would be Bruce's getaway car. Well that Rawle's pretty smart, because suddenly, there was The Man grabbing shotty and driving away to our neighbor to the North.

And as he wheeled past us, I jumped up and down a few times and screamed "Bruuuuce!" like it was Beatlemania. He looked over at me and gave me his underbite smile, then pointed right at me. Right at me. And it looked like this:

Well I have to go to the Linc now. Iggles call. But Bruce, if you're out there Googling yourself and you find this, thanks for visiting my city, your "home away from home." Here's lookin' at you, kid.

The Stones are one of the very few bands I've missed in my life with regret, live-show-wise.

For about 20 years, I've been telling myself they're too old to bother with the increasingly expensive and time-consuming effort to get tickets.

I'm all pussified. The last time I worked hard to get tix for a show was for Tori Amos at a small club in Chicago, about 8 years ago. (Epic fail, despite getting up "early" to stand in line.)

Anyway, watching the movie makes me nostalgic, makes me wish I had gotten a grip 20 years ago when I decided they (and I) were too old, makes me regret not grabbing up a ticket on their "last tour" of decades ago.

Scorsese can make a good film. And I have superior (if I may) AV. My family and friends tease me about traveling more (by myself?) and I always say, "Don't need to. Got HDTV."

You don't have to be young to put on a good rock 'n roll show. With age comes wisdom, and I'm not talking about rock bands in particular.

I have an uncle who saw The Who in a local roller-rink on their first American tour.

Nice. I'm satisfied that I saw Springsteen in a similar time and place, a curtained off stadium because no one knew him well enough to fill the venue. 1979. It was magnificent.

Update: No. Not "superior." Merely excellent. My A/V is only good in the context of middle class A/V. Good enough for me.

Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel are teaming up for their first joint concert to benefit Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Obama plans to attend the concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Oct. 16, the day after Obama's final debate with Republican John McCain at Hofstra University on Long Island.

Tickets start at $500 and range up to $10,000. • • • • •

HALPERIN directs us to an AP report:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rock stars Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel are teaming up for their first joint concert to benefit Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Obama plans to attend the concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Oct. 16, the day after Obama's final debate with Republican John McCain at Hofstra University, located several miles outside the city in Hempstead, N.Y.

Seeing the two superstars together won't come cheap. Tickets start at $500 and range up to $10,000.

Whatever. These tickets could cost $777 billion apiece and the batshit insane fans that these two have would pony it up in a New York minute. This will sell out, and fast. The combined rabid-fan power of the Boss, B. Joel and Obama is probably enough to obliterate planets.

At least this time around, liberal musicians are outright raising money for their guy, instead of participating in a fogey-laden "nonpartisan concert series" presented by Moveon.org -- contradiction in terms much???

In what is being billed as the first time they've ever played at the same concert, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel have signed on for a benefit for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on Oct. 16 at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom.

Other "exciting guests" for the show have yet to be announced. Balcony tickets are $500, while premiere seats are $2,500 and lounge seats are $10,000. They can be purchased by clicking here.

I will talk MUCH more as this goes on but I envision 3-4 songs, featuring a new album single and 3 classics, probably one-two of the following: The Promised Land, Badlands, Dancing in the Dark, Glory Days (reworked), along with Born to Run.

Yeah baby!

Actuacion en Dublin con la Segger Sessions Band en un tour del 2006
If I should fall behind

Canción interpretada durante “The rising Tour”. Canción extraida de la interpretación en barcelona del 2002.
Waitin' on a Sunny day es una canción con la finalidad de divertirse.

Canción interpretada durante "The rising Tour". Canción extraida de la interpretación en barcelona del 2002.
Dancing in the Dark es considerada una de las mejores canciones de Bruce

Interpretación muscial del tema Tougher than the rest the Bruce Springsteen a petición del público.
Concierto tuvo lugar en el Camp Nou el 20/06/08

"No Depression In Heaven" Carter Family: Best known as one of the inspirations behind the Uncle Tupelo album and the alt-country magazine both named No Depression, this is a gospel tune about the better life depression-era folks could expect to find upstairs.

"The River" Bruce Springsteen: There are plenty of Bruce songs about the economy, and a whole album, Nebraska, that's a reaction to Reaganomics, but this song tells the story in very personal, human terms that anyone can understand. "Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse?" is one of Springsteen's best lines ever.

"How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live" Blind Alfred Reed: recorded by Springsteen for his Seeger Sessions album, Reed's is the original version, and the first verse is as applicable today as it was in 1929:

There was once a time when everything was cheap.
But now prices nearly put a man to sleep.
When we pay our grocery bill,
we just feel like making our will.
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?

"Government Cheese" Rainmakers: Another product of the Reaganomics era, this is a great song about the free cheese handouts in the 1980s, from a band that could rock out and still make a good point.

"Hard Times" Stephen Foster: This one's been recorded by dozens of people, from Johnny Cash to Dylan, Laura Love, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, and Jennifer Warnes. It's a little more hopeful than the rest of this list, but it's a classic tune.

"She Works Hard For Her Money" Donna Summer: Say what you will, Donna Summer was a badass of the late disco era and this was one of her biggest hits. Perfect pop songs distill big issues into singable choruses, and this one certainly qualifies.

"The L & N Don't Stop Here Any More" Jean Ritchie: Another one of those tunes with multiple versions, sometimes listed as traditional, but as a reader pointed out to me in the comments section after I mistakenly attributed it to Townes Van Zandt, it was written by folk singer Jean Ritchie.Had to have one coal mining, railroad town song on this list, and this is a good one that focuses on job losses.

"We Can't Make It Here Anymore" James McMurtry: A modern protest song, this double meaning lyric bemoans outsourcing of jobs and manufacturing, saying in essence that we can't make it here any more because we don't make anything here any more.

"Lost In the Supermarket" The Clash: Just stroll through your neighborhood grocery store and check out the prices, you'll totally identify with this one.

"Seven Cent Cotton and Forty Cent Meat" Jim Lauderdale: From the excellent Song of America set from 2007, this is a version of a Depression era song that decried the rapid price inflation of everything--sound familiar?

Atendiendo a las ultimas noticias sobre USA creo que esta cancion es y ha sido muy mal interpretada por todos los que creen que el señor Bruce es ultrapatriota, pues aqui os dejo la cancion subtitulada y queda claro que no todo lo que ocurre en estados unidos es bueno.... como en todos los paises hay cosas buenas y cosas malas y no por eso hay que criticar a todos los norteamericanos por defecto, practica muy normal por ciertos lugares.

The Skid Row stuff has got me cautiously excited.  In the past with writing projects (and other stuff) I have been a "junkyard full of false starts."  I think this is partially because I was not working with a complete package, just a flimsy idea, idealism, and euphoria.  This time around I think I might actually have something.  I spent a year doing pretty intense research in Skid Row.  I have had time to reflect on what I did and what it all means.  And now free from the shackles of academia I am putting it on paper and it is really flowing.  By the end of the year I think I will be ready to shop a proposal around.  Therein lies a challenge or a conflict:  Do I get a literary agent or attempt to go direct with small, alternative publishers that still accept unsolicited manuscripts from "new writers?"  I will likely do both, but there is a bit of anxiety tied to that whole process.

So, right now, it is sort of all good.  And I am amused by the search terms used that end up leading people to this site... Kris Day (11 times)... Elliott Smith (9 times)... numerous variations of "Rocco Pendola" (12 times) and everything ranging from "feeling disconnected" to "being bitter."

The Tobasco Donkeys formed at Philmont Scout Ranch in the late 1990s and have been part of my life for a while.  I bought my copy of their CD in 2003 after completing my Order of the Arrow Trail Crew trek.  "Sawin' on the Strings," their debut album, has been on constant rotation in my CD player (and now iTunes) since I got back from New mexico five years ago.  The cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Reason to Believe" is the reason I returned to attempt the harmonica.  I can't blast it quite like Voss does in this video but it's still a lot of fun.  The Donkey's released a new album this spring and performed in early August at Philmont.  They just posted a bunch of videos from the performance.  They can be viewed on their website as well as youtube.  It was a fun show and I'm glad the videos are up so we can relieve one of the rare live Donkey's shows.

My song today is not from Born in the USA, but from an earlier album. Although I love Born in the USA (which is why I mention it), I love listening to his earlier work as you can really see him grow into the amazing songwriter and performer that he has become. One of my favorite songs has always been the River. This is the title song from Springsteen's double album from 1980. One of the interesting things about this album is the juxtaposition of pop songs with the hard biting folk lyrics of his earlier music. The River is certainly one of those songs. I particularly love the lyrics of this song, and its use of the river as a metaphor for the dreams of the future.

Here are the lyrics.

I come from down in the valley where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school when she was just seventeen
Wed ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green

Wed go down to the river
And into the river wed dive
Oh down to the river wed ride

Then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteen birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river
And into the river wed dive
On down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown company
But lately there aint been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember, Mary acts like she don't care
But I remember us riding in my brothers car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks Id lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath shed take
Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse that sends me

Down to the river though I know the river is dry
Down to the river, my baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride

Here is a great video of this song from back in 1980.

Enjoy!

It was one of my favorite songs in the late seventies. I guess it was a favorite of many, as it did top the “billboard charts” for a while in 1976. Originally released by a young New Jersey artist named Bruce Springsteen in 1973, the song caught fire as the second Springsteen tune that Manfred Mann had covered, and became the first and only song ever penned by Springsteen to make it to number one.

Soon, “Blinded By The Light” was playing on every station, and in every automobile. The words had been slightly changed, an adjustment that Springsteen himself thought may have added to the popularity of the song, and condoned. The words, catchy and twisty, flow smoothly from the lead singer. The guitar work is spectacular. And, what other song threw a short version of “Chopsticks” smack dab in the middle, and still made it to the top of the charts?

Springsteen confesses to writing the lyrics with much help from a rhyming dictionary. He said he didn’t give a lot of thought to the overall content, and that too much shouldn’t be read into certain phrases. The sole purpose of the work was to provide a single that could be released from the album, “Greetings From Asbury Park.” Many would agree that the song is just a series of silly rhymes, strung together that make little to no sense, but I disagree. There’s a very subtle message in the song; subtle, yet pointedly clear.

Mixed among the unraveling, tongue-twisting lyrics is one phrase that encompasses the thought that we are all truly blinded. Not only that, but we are given to our blindness.

“Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the Sun.
Oh, but Mama, that's where the fun is!”

Staring into the Sun can quite obviously cause irreparable damage to a person’s eyesight. But which of us hasn’t done it at least for a few brief seconds? Even with protective shielding the brightness of the Sun is intense beyond our ability to withstand, yet we’re tempted to give it a glance. Sunrise is magical, sunset romantic. The Sun at its apex still screams, “Notice me!” and, we pause.

But our light in this instance isn’t sourced by a star, stationed some ninety-three million miles from planet number three. The sun is symbolic of that which we train our focus on in our daily lives, despite the impending danger. Throughout the song a number of vices are colorfully illustrated. In life, the vice becomes less colorful, and at times more of an illusive lure. It’s the “want” that leaves us craving.

There is another side to this light. It’s the dream side, which is fueled by ambition, passion and a belief that the road less traveled ultimately will deliver to us this destiny. Also colorfully illustrated within the lyrics, these could be described as virtues. They are goals that we passionately press toward. They become dreams with deadlines attached.

One of the more universal lessons I learned as a child about the Sun was discovered on a baseball field. Flyballs that cross into its path disappear. So it is with other valued components of our lives that cross into the path of those vices or virtues which compose our own individual light. It is said that every drunk can justify his need to drink. And, I suppose that every visionary can justify their need to be vexed by tunnel vision.

To me, the question isn’t so much if this light represents a vice, or a virtue. Either can be blinding. And, once blinded, losing sight of those things that were at one time such vital parts of our composition is the only natural conclusion. Looking into the sights of the Sun? Yeah, that’s were the fun is alright. But, as Mama counseled us to carefully consider, the fun is also closely companioned by a danger that may overtake us if we allow ourselves to become blinded.

And so it is with hotels. (Well, when I say "hotel" you must read "hotel/motel/B&B".)

Right now we are back in Asbury Park, home of Springsteen (and, as I discovered tonight, Bon Jovi... though I shan't be writing about him) and we have have found the lovliest hotel yet. It was a dream to walk into, but more on that later. We came back here to go to a couple of concerts as we've only been to one or two live gigs since we've been on the road and I wanted to rectify that.

Here I will talk about our interesting hotel experiences.

Our first experience involved Roaches.

Oooh! Gross! yes, I know. Imagine him crawling around your room in the dead of night: not cool.

We experienced this in Washington DC. Old hotel, family owned, still used keys for the doors rather than electronic key cards. Small, but still not a bad place. We'd just got in and were sat down, relaxing a little after our flight in from Memphis. Suddenly Nick said, "hey. We've got company," I looked and sure enough, a two-inch roach was crawling up the wall. I crunched him with Nick's shoe. Nick wasn't very happy about me using his shoe, but I had no choice: cowboy boots are difficult to use in the fight against cockroaches.

I went to reception and (very delicately) explained to them the problem and asked for a ten % discount. They acquiesed.

The next day, we found a second cockroach. He was smaller, but still disgusting enough. I killed him too (with Nick's shoe) and went downstairs to get another discount. They weren't very happy about giving it to me: in the end they gave me another ten % off only because I threatened to "make a scene" right there in reception in front of the other guests (but I don't suppose I'll be welcome there anymore -- which is a pity. Apart from the roaches it wasn't a bad place). 

This led me to the development of "Matt's Sliding Scale For Roach Infestation". It's simple. For every roach I find, I want an extra ten % off the total stay at the hotel. You should remember this formula. Hotels hate it, but just say the word "ROACH!" in the lobby, and see how quick they'll give you money off. You heard it here first.

Our second experience involved bedbugs.

This was in Memphis. All I can say is, never stay at the Red Roof Inn chain of motels. Luckily, Nick didn't have many bites, but they were still pretty disgusting to have to wash off in the morning. Furthermore, the door had clearly been broken in to quite recently and the door frame showed many fresh signs of a struggle involving forced entry. Not good. It was here that the sirens didn't stop sounding night or day. We were fine, but not happy....

Our third experience has to do with "non-smoking" rooms.

Now, smoking is bad. Kids, don't do it; just say no. But in hotel rooms? No smoking? What the hell!? Already I can't smoke in almost any bar here and we haven't even got to California yet. But, there is a solution for the hotel rooms; inexpensive and worry-free!

Normally hotels enforce the non-smoking rule with smoke-detectors. But they are easily disabled. Take a piece of bandage tape (preferably one your mom has packed for you so you'll be safe on the trip), put a bit of plastic in the middle, and just tape it over the hole in the smoke detector. Then, just to be safe, run the tape around the side of the detector so nothing can get in, and stick a damp towel at the bottom of your door so no smoke smells can get out into the hallway. If you get a room-deordorizer and dispose of the cigarette-butt-evidence, you're a free person! Woohoo! 

The only problem would then be that if there is a fire (and smokers are statistically much more likely to cause one than non-indulgers) then you're screwed. Don't smoke in bed kids. Nobody mention "post-coital"... just remember that smoke alarms are another ruling-class tool to destroy the soul of the workers. Or something....

Our fourth experience involves drag queens.

This picture was taken in the bar/club belonging to our current hotel, the Empress in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Now, this hotel is quite famous for being part of the Springsteen legend. Have a look at this shot of Springsteen in 1984 with the Empress hotel in the background:

No, it has been my dream to come here since I discovered Bruce Springsteen when I was just 15 years old. All of my love for this country is probably, at root, inspired by Bruce, so it was imperative that I came to visit the place where he was born and grew up.

I had always known Springsteen as the one who sang "Born in the USA". Nice song, but whatever, thought I. Then, one day when I was 15, I just happened to put on a cd I found on my dad's desk. It was "Tunnel of Love", the album Bruce made after "USA". It struck me, and my dad, who'd been an original fanatic, gave me the old LPs, and I have been annoying my friends with my musical taste ever since. Maybe it was the connection I felt to what Bruce said about small towns (like the town I grew up in): he spoke of the road being a way out of it; a route to redemption, or maybe it was his less-is-more ethos, but anyhow the Boss really caught my imagination. His first album was "Greetings from Asbu....", take a look:

Now, when bruce was 15, he grew up in a little town called Freehold, NJ. Your typical US small town. Not much to do, not much to see, not much of anything; but growing up here was to inform his musical roots, and indeed, it was this working-class-town style that made his music so accessible to people. So I had to go and see his hometown: we even found the address of the house he grew up in from a fansite... there are some disturbed people out there.

So we got to Freehold, NJ,... went down the road looking for Randolph Street, number 89. We went up the numbers... "81, 83, 85, 87, 91. What?!" No 89.

There was, however, a parking lot built where 89 had once stood. I was quite upset. So we parked on the lot, just to say we'd been there, and then went on our way to Asbury Park. Got a picture of the road sign though.

When I got to my early 20s, I had learned how to play a bit of guitar and of course, Springsteen songs were the first ones I tried to learn. He has an acoustic album, Nebraska, which gave me loads of simple, but powerful tunes to learn. Then I started listening to artists in a similar vein to Bruce: Dylan, Tom Waits, and through these singer-songwriters I learned a lot about writing. So it's thanks to the Boss that you are even reading this blog! (You may or may not be grateful to Bruce for this....)

When he was in his early 20s, Springsteen started playing at a couple of local music joints in Asbury Park: just a few miles from his hometown. This was where the music was most happening if you lived near the Jersey Shore, and there were two main places where people would play. One was The Stone Pony, and the other was The Wonder Bar. Both of these are iconic for anyone who is a big Springsteen fan: you can see them featured on some of his record sleeves, you hear stories about them... they were part of my own musical growing-up. And we found them right there on the shore, probably unchanged since Springsteen played there.

When we saw those lights appear over the horizon my soul must have shone equal to their brilliance. After the disappointment of the day we got to evening time and were rewarded with this view... it was all Heaven would allow us, and it was enough: it was maybe the happiest moment of my trip so far.

This EP starts off strong with the title track, “Senor and the Queen”, which is a great toe tapping song to play for your girlfriend when you want to seem romantic. The second song, “Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?” is the standout track for me. A soulful tune that both reminisces and ruminates while vocalist Brian Fallon belts some of the most soul baring lyrics that I’ve ever heard, somehow both uplifting and heartbreaking all at once.

The rest of the songs on this album are solid bluesy songs that both crash and flow with raw energy and emotion; I wouldn’t say that they are as noteworthy as the previously mentioned songs, but they’re certainly nothing to sneeze at either.

Senor and the Queen had a delayed release due to pressing issues, so I was fortunate enough to see The Gaslight Anthem play these songs live before I heard the album. For many other bands this might prove problematic as there is frequently a major difference in hearing live songs compared to a recorded ones. However these songs were just as powerful and moving on the album as they were live.

So kudos to The Gaslight Anthem for putting out this amazing EP and for moving up into the upper echelon in my list of favorite bands.