Bruce Springsteen at SXSW: The Boss invites every person he's ever met on stage at epic three-hour show
by Kyle Anderson
There weren’t any great revelations that emerged from Bruce Springsteen’s Thursday afternoon keynote address at the music portion of the South by Southwest Festival. The Boss didn’t have a whole lot of clear ideas to impart, and even he agreed with that estimate (“I gave a big speech this morning, f—ed the whole thing up,” he joked from the stage later).
Mostly, he just got across the idea that he loves rock music, and that it still holds some sort of undefinable power — and later that night he got the chance to prove it where it counts: on stage, in an epic three-hour set at Moody’s Theater in Austin.
The big headlines will probably belong to Springsteen’s giant list of collaborators, which ranged from Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who sat in on a trio of tunes, including a raucous, metaled-up version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” that split the difference between Springsteen’s acoustic original and Rage’s aggro cover, to Jimmy Cliff, who came out to do a mini set of his own during the encore, including an effervescent “The Harder They Come.”
The Animals’ Eric Burdon also stopped by to blast through “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” (according to Springsteen, he happened to realize Burdon was in town thanks to Twitter, and noted that he has stolen from him more than anyone else in his career), and the night closed with an overwhelming spin through Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” featuring Morello, Burdon, Joe Ely, Alejandro Escovedo (who also opened the show), and members of Arcade Fire.
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Of the guest spots, Cliff won the crowd over easily, but the MVP award probably goes to Morello. He struggled a bit in the beginning, but he delivered the musical highlight of the night with an incredible six-string pyrotechnical display during the breakdown of “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” He busted out the old DJ-guitar schtick (like the solo in “Bulls On Parade”) but also tore through a hot series of licks that made him sound like the bastard son of Slash and Steve Vai. Springsteen could do little else but look on in awe, amazed at the talent and ingenuity joining him on this special night.
But for all those guest stars, legends, and re-imagined covers, the real story of the night lay within Springsteen’s own songs, played with his own band. Reactions to his latest album Wrecking Ball have been mixed, and it’s easy to hear why: It’s an album that puts pomp ahead of songcraft, melody, or lyrics. Sonically, every song strains to be a revelatory anthem, which can make Wrecking Ball sound both forced and exhausting.
It turns out, though, that those songs sound way better when given the room to shift and twist in a live setting. Springsteen is nothing if not a master of dynamics—how else would he able to go for three hours night after night? So while the studio version of “We Take Care of Our Own” and “Jack of All Trades” veer dangerously into self-parody, the live versions are far better balanced and allow the highlights to really burst out (the beautifully simple central melody of the former, the cutting narrative of the latter).
It doesn’t quite work with every song: Though “Rocky Ground” has a lovely refrain, that rap interlude still sounds pretty goofy, and the best case scenario for “We Are Alive” is still that it reminds you of how good a song “Ring of Fire” is. But the breathing room largely made Wrecking Ball sound more in tune with Bruce’s best-executed stuff, and the title track stood up especially well under the live lights—expect the line “Bring on your wrecking ball” to inspire the same sort of crowd outbursts that follow Bruce’s most classic lines.
Springsteen began his night in hushed reverie mode, with a rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “I Ain’t Got No Home.” It started as an a cappella hymn, then slowly built into an all-hands-on-deck climax that easily segued into “We Take Care of Our Own” (which seems like it could open Springsteen shows for years to come). There were plenty of classics in the mix (“Badlands,” “Thunder Road” et al), but Bruce rarely strayed from his new material (except when a fellow legend happened to be on the microphone next to him).
Actually, the stone-cold hits may have been the weakest link of the evening. “Thunder Road” remains an astonishing accomplishment, but it’s also pretty old, and the performance of it hasn’t shifted all that much in a few decades. The rendition on Thursday night was pitch perfect—perhaps even too perfect, as though Bruce mastered all the tricks long ago and there are no surprises left. Those moments can make Springsteen feel like a nostalgia act rather than a restless forward-thinker.
The biggest climaxes of the evening came during the numerous tributes to late E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons. The upcoming tour for Wrecking Ball will the the first ever with the Big Man’s sax stylings, and it’s clear that the group misses him dearly. Springsteen took every opportunity to give him a shout-out and call attention to his greatness, reminding everyone during the band roll call that though both Clemons and multi-instrumentalist Danny Federici were missing in action, “If you’re here, and we’re here, then they’re here.”
He often handed the center of the stage to Clemons’ nephew and new E Street sax man Jake Clemons, turning each solo into a robust sonic exorcism. When the time came to invoke Clemons in the lyrics to “10th Avenue Freeze-Out,” the entire group paused and pointed upwards, inspiring a lengthy and loud ovation.
Strangely, for a show so overrun with names from the ’70s and late icons (Guthrie’s name was invoked multiple times as well), Thursday night’s show didn’t feel like a tribute to the best days gone by. Like all of his folk-music heroes, Springsteen only gets more restless as he ages, and his insatiable thirst for new things sometimes gets the best of him but often yields exceptional results.
Thursday night’s show wasn’t perfect—Bruce definitely lost the crowd once or twice, and the new material doesn’t sound as comfortably broken in as even the songs from The Rising. But he is willing to experiment, and he knows that failure always provides a new lesson to learn. After four decades, Springsteen still has the ability to surprise us—precisely because he is still able to surprise himself.
http://music-mix.ew.com/2012/03/16/bruce-springsteen-sxsw-tom-morello-arcade-fir...REVIEW from 'Backstreets'
MEET ME AT THE WRECKING BALL
Jimmy Cliff, Eric Burdon, Tom Morello and more join in for SXSW blowout
By GARY GRAFF / AUSTIN, TX
As he finished the main part of his South By Southwest concert Thursday night in Austin's ACL Live at Moody Theater, Bruce Springsteen thanked the 2,700 or so who packed the place "for being part of our test run."
That was a funny way to refer to a show that immediately took on the rank of legendary in Springsteen's already storied lore of live performances.
Historic was the hyperbolic but most appropriate way to refer to the two-hour and 35-minute bash, which, coming a day after thew new Wrecking Ball topped the Billboard 200, capped an expectedly strong outing by Springsteen and the E Street Band with a dizzying array of guest star surprises. Of course, this being SXSW, there was no shortage of friends and previous collaborators to draw upon, and Springsteen clearly didn't hestitate to take advantage of their availability.
So Tom Morello was on hand to recreate his contributions to the Wrecking Ball tracks "Death to My Hometown" and "Jack of All Trades," and to pull out his bag of guitar tricks during a fierce "The Ghost of Tom Joad." Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, clad head-to-toe in red — contrasting nicely with the E Street Band's traditional black — sang "The Harder They Come," "Time Will Tell," and "Many Rivers to Cross" (though surprisingly not "Trapped"), while The Animals' Eric Burdon — who Springsteen lauded in his SXSW keynote speech earlier in the day — came via what Springsteen called "the Twitterverse" to sing "We Gotta Get Out of This Place."
The tour de force, however, was the finale, a rendition of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" with both of the evening's opening acts — Alejandro Escovedo and the Low Anthem — along with the members of Arcade Fire and Garland Jeffreys. All this while a feeling-no-pain Glen Hansard (the Swell Season, the Frames) and members of Mumford & Sons and Superchunk watched from the VIP mezzanine.
It was indeed, as Springsteen called it, "a crazy ride," but the second full-length concert of the Wrecking Ball campaign also established that the newly expanded E Street Band — which, at 17 strong, is more like an army than a group — is sharp and road-ready for the tour that starts in earnest on March 18 in Atlanta.
The bulk of the show was similar to the March 9 Apollo Theatre shindig, based around the sober and stock-taking songs from the new album. It also had a sense of occasion; with SXSW joining in the observance of Guthrie's 100th birthday (including a special concert held the same time as Springsteen's show) the troupe bgean Thursday's show with Guthrie's "I Ain't Got No Home." The opener started a capella and built into a full-band arrangement before the explosive trio of "We Take Care of Our Own," "Wrecking Ball," and "Badlands," with Jake Clemons getting a warm ovation after taking Uncle Big Man's solo spot. In all, Springsteen and the E Streeters performed seven songs from the new album — with Michelle Moore again on hand for "Rocky Ground" — along with complementary older material such as "The Promised Land," "The Rising," "Waiting on a Sunny Day," "My City of Ruins," and a hard-knuckled "Seeds." The five-piece horn section gave the arrangements more heft, muscle and soul — and, let’s face it, Jake Clemons has replaced his uncle, even if he's not standing in the same spot — as did new percussionist Everett Bradley.
Springsteen's mood countered the sober countenance of the repertoire, however. Clearly a little punchy after waking up at 8 a.m. for his "big fucking speech" — "That fucked everything up... Why? Why?!" — he led both band and crowd through a storming "E Street Shuffle" and a moving "Thunder Road," as well as a "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out" that continues to pay tribute to Clarence Clemons. He didn't climb to the balcony as he did at the Apollo, but Springsteen did lean into the crowd a few times and worked the front of the stage like a host making sure everyone was having the time of their lives.
And that they did. Springsteen may have told the SXSW crowd that "we need the encouragement," but the most encouraging thing about Thursday's show was how ready he and E Street appear to be ready take the Wrecking Ball to the rest of the world.
SETLIST :
I Ain't Got No Home
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Badlands
Death to My Hometown (with Tom Morello)
My City of Ruins
Seeds
E Street Shuffle
Jack of All Trades (with Morello)
Shackled & Drawn
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The Ghost of Tom Joad (with Morello)
The Rising
We Are Alive
Thunder Road
Rocky Ground (with Michelle Moore)
Land of Hope and Dreams
The Harder They Come (with Jimmy Cliff)
Time With Tell (with Cliff)
Many Rivers to Cross (with Cliff)
We Gotta Get Out of This Place (with Eric Burdon)
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
This Land is Your Land (with Morello, Arcade Fire, Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely, Low Anthem)
Video : 'This Land is Your Land'
http://vimeo.com/38621433
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