LadyJane wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 8:00am:



consider the source, as the saying goes. yahoo for Christsake. What next - contactmusic? The vast majority of reviews were glowing.

Any so-called fan of music who feels the need to overanalyse a 12 minute performance to THAT degree and could find nothing enjoyable out of it needs to get out more and is beyond redemption.

Then again, I think most of what scathing comments I've read have come from people who probably had their 'reviews' written before a note was played.

gimmekeef wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 7:50am:



Yeah, but the Superbowl half time show and rock n roll dont belong in the same sentence.

Everything about it is geared towards a big production and a family audience.

If you sign a deal to perform on the bloody thing in the first place, you're agreeing to make compromises and hand over a huge amount of the control of your performance to an in house production team.

Every rock act who's performed on it in recent years has done the same. The Stones, Springsteen, even Prince.

Nellcote wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 9:56am:



No reason why it shouldnt, but I'm sure you'd agree that the reality is that its always going to be watered down.

Gazza wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 9:58am:


The performance will be different, given the time constraints.
Re-workings of songs, in any fashion, at any venue, will have defenders & detractors.
It is something which I look forward to...

Nellcote wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 10:11am:


Yep, and despite any reservations I had, I still thought they were terrific.

PartyDoll MEG wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 10:10am:



maybe the show should have been blacked out in the north east of the US. It was the rest of the country where he probably needed the boost!

gimmekeef wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 10:23am:


Congrats on your successful ticket transaction!

Getting tickets for Pittsburgh was no problem this morning.  Scored on first try.  The Nation must have still been sleeping!

In 8 minutes I may have Boss tix.....we'll see if ticket Jesus answers my prayers.

Let's ROCK!

xxoo,
Martha

I'm IN!  Got into the lower bowl half-way back row 13 seats 3-4!  Now there's nothing pulling.  13 minutes in it's OVER!  Sigh of relief!!!!


xxoo,
Martha

Martha wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 11:15am:

Finally, Martha!!

A Denver Bruce Show!!!

LadyJane wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2009 at 6:44am:

I've already deleted it. I couldn't watch it again if you paid me my annual salary for that 12 minutes. The best that could be said about it was that he kept the dull new song to 1 minute or so, almost like reheating any other leftover. His voice sucked, the stage looked crappy & the playing was fairly pedestrian. Who choked more, him or Kurt Warner? I bet Walmart drops HIM!

This retort from 'Bill Horton' on Greasy Lake to the Yahoo review posted on the previous page had me chortling a bit.





10) Bruce addresses the TV camera and tells everyone to drop the guacamole dip and chicken fingers to join him. No need to cajole us Bruce, we're in our comfy chairs and ready to rock. Oh, you thought that cajoling was serious, huh, dude? So sorry you felt put upon, lol! (Uh, if you're that uptight, then you ain't as "ready to rock" as you think, dude.) Don't tell me what to do and don't slide into the camera. That's hokey! And so is James Brown's "can't do any more" routine. And Screamin' Jay Hawkin's "carry me on in a coffin" routine. And Jerry Lee Lewis' "set the piano on fire" routine. And Chuck Berry's duck walk. And Pete Townsend's windmill chords. And all the choreography of the Temptations. And George Clinton's wild P-Funk outfits. And Flavor Flav carrying around that big clock. Hey, wait a minute--you think "hokie" just might be part of the, oh, I dunno, wait a minute, it's coming to me. . . FUN, dude?


9) He opens with "Tenth Avenue Freezeout." The only version of this song I've ever admired is the incredibly funky one that struts out from the Hammersmith Odeon Concert available on the DVD of Born To Run: 30th Anniversary Edition. The E Street Band has never been a funky outfit and with as many people on stage as they had on Super Bowl Sunday, it was bound to sound stilted and as corny as ever. Okay, so you don't like that song very much, and you didn't like that version of that song you don't like very much.


8) There were too many people on the stage. After five members in a band most rock 'n' roll groups get noticeably worse with each additional member. Van Morrison is the exception to this rule and Bruce has skirted it by employing top notch guys like Miami Steve and Nils Lofgren. However, he had at least six guitar players onstage. All playing the same parts. Add on the horn section and we're talking chaos. Didn't sound like chaos. And I know chaos. I've been is some garage bands that were just trios, and believe me, it doesn't take 15 people to make sonic chaos. Heck, I admit I was afraid beforehand that the sound wasn't gonna be good, that Clarence might hit a clinker, that Bruce's voice might rasp out, that Stevie's voice might make grandmothers want to check their hearing aids--didn't happen. Damn. As for the "too many people onstage" thing--the cure rate for claustrophobia is actually pretty high. By the way, how'd you like the Tunnel of Love tour, dude?

7) Bruce had to sneak in the title track to his new album. OK, Bruce is going to use the limited time he has to sneak in a little plug for his new album. Can't blame him for trying. Can't blame us for not wanting to hear it. You, a big-time Bruce fan, don't want to hear a song from the new album? Or you've heard the song and don't like it? By the way, it wasn't "us" that didn't want to hear it. It was mostly just you. I mean, relatively speaking.


6) Bruce sneaks in a gospel choir for two minutes. Throw in the gospel choir and it's right back to that sanctimonious vibe that always creeps me out. ???? Gospel choir = automatic sanctimony? I sense you have major issues to deal with regarding one of the well-springs of popular music. Me, I have minor issues to deal with regarding whistling in songs, and praise God almighty, a miracle happened and where whistling used to torment my soul, a choir from above came down and gave a song some really cool heft!


5) Bruce changes the reference from baseball to football in "Glory Days." It's always been obvious that Bruce is no sports fan. No big deal. Neither am I, for the most part. But even I know it's called a "fastball" and not a "speedball" (that's what you do when you hang out with John Belushi) and to change the reference to a "Hail Mary" pass in football and make the arm gesture that you're throwing the ball is pretty over-obvious. Hey, Rob. Please remove the ol' pigskin from your ass. Because I'm sure it's pretty tight up in there.

4) Bruce has a referee come out and declare it "Boss Time." I admit I don't what happened here. I was pacing the floor and telling myself this wasn't happening around this point. But suddenly I see a guy in a ref outfit come out and I hear somebody call it "Boss Time." Why not have MC Hammer come out and declare it "Hammer Time"? It might as well be. It's a football venue, Rob. And football has these things called referees. And referees throw yellow flags whenever there's a penalty. And one of those penalties that can be called is for "delay of game." And Bruce--well, you know Bruce. And. . . aw, just fuck it.

3) Bruce has apparently joined "Up With People." Everything else aside, Bruce was simply too corny for his own good. It was embarrassing. It was the sight of a guy trying too hard and overcompensating for his ill-ease. You know, I was thinkin' the same thing, Ryan. Man, that guy just looked really forced and uncomfortable--and all that smiling just really gave it away. It's always been said that Bruce shows more restraint than Billy Joel or Meat Loaf (??????) but here he's just killing us with show biz overkill. Rock 'n' Roll, as antiquated a notion as it is these days, is supposed to stay apart from Show Biz. Lordy, you don't know as much about rock history as you think you do, Rob. Trust me on this one. This was pure Cheeze-Whiz. Don't leave the top off, cuz I'll eat the rest.

2) He sticks poor Clarence on COWBELL. For "Glory Days," suddenly Clarence is shuttled off his beloved saxophone, a horn section is bought out front and Clarence is given the lowly COWBELL. Now, the Cowbell has always been an in-joke for all rock bands ever since Saturday Night Live and Blue Oyster Cult deemed "more cowbell" a worthy epithet. Do you think anyone in that stadium heard that cowbell? I bet even Clarence couldn't hear the damn thing. Cowbell is cool! Even cooler on a song where you really don't need a sax. You want maybe Clarence to be guitar player #7?

1) Bruce makes me wish there had been a wardrobe malfunction. Janet Jackson exposes a breast. Mick Jagger gets bleeped during "Start Me Up." Bruce comes with the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. C'mon, Bruce, be a little more edgy. At least do something controversial beyond just being so damned happy and people-pleasing. It's like you're Paul McCartney all of a sudden. Okay, now I get it. You don't like showbizzy stuff, but "accidental" nipple exposure and a good "fuck" is the right kind of showbizzy and edgy. And he was uncomfortable and ill at ease, but he was also just so damned happy. And pleasing people is for fucking (I say "fucking" because I'm just a really edgy kinda guy) losers, man. Okay, now I see where your coming from--Neptune. Or it's close neighbor, Uranus.

Next time I hope they get somebody who just stands there, snarls "fuckin' ay, Super Bowl fans!" and plays funky protest songs about how much it sucks to live in Darfur. With cowbell on 11.