The band is not trendy or young but neither is the building they are performing in. However, it's not trendiness that is going to make this night magical and the band knows it. The band also know that this run-down building close to downtown L.A. holds memories for their fans as it is the building they have played the most in L.A. Shunning the glistening and cold mega corporate arenas, the band opts to play there this tour, in a building that most definately has its best days behind it. But included in the buildings glory days are memories of the band and marathon shows, shows that symbolize all that is right with music. Most of those shows involved Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band and its that feeling that Bruce and the band want to bring back to the LA Sports Arena. And they did.
Make no mistake, the LA Sports Arena is a dump! The floor is concrete, the seats are peeling vynal and bolted to the floor! No huge video scoreboard or LED light display showing the company sponsering the place. No corporate sponsers at all! The only ad anywhere is one for an inner city check cashing place! There are reasons Bruce demanded to play here and they are reasons that are rooted in everything Springsteen stands for! No corporate greed represented by cavernous arenas with sparkly luxury boxes that suck the sound quality right out of the building. The seats may have had springs poking you in the butt at the Sports Arena but the sound was amazing! And the building has an odd character and history! A definite history for Bruce fans! Fans still talk about his multi-night stand there during "The River" tour! This specific fan remembers her first Bruce show there during the "Tunnel of Love" tour! At first I couldn't imagine why the savior of Rock and Roll would play in such a dump, such a forgotten building. Now I get it!
I have seen Bruce and The E-Street Band many times before but not like I saw them last night! They were on fire! This was a band that still could rock and roll after 30+ years! They were in their element! There was an electric feeling in the air that is typical at most Bruce shows and the great sound only magnified the mojo! The crowd could feel they were a part of something special and so could the band. Was it a perfect show? No, of course not! A band with a catalog so huge is sure to leave out a fave or two. I would have LOVED to hear "Jungleland" or Thunder Road. But the one-two opening punch of "Radio Nowhere" into "No Surrender" was exhilarating! Almost as exciting was "Born To Run" into "Dancing In The Dark"! The new stuff shone and surpizes such as "Thundercrack" rocked!
I am at an age now where I wax nostalgic about "the good ole days" in music. I truly long for the days when music was about the talent of the musicans and not exclusively the talent of the producer. The days when touring and giging made an artist, not some crappy reality TV show. The days when there was actually music on Music Television. Those days are long over, for the most part. Bruce and The E-Street Band releasing a relevant album, one that harks back to the bands own glory days, that gives me hope! And hearing that band, in that building, on that night like so many others before it....well....it was "Magic"!
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