Thus far, the Fresno stop has been the highwater mark of Andrew's Oddysey. The drive from Orange County to Fresno was 100% Bruce-powered, which fed some interesting thoughts. Topped that off with a STELLAR concert, AMAZING luck with seats, and a special treat at the end.
As Interstate 5 took me through Los Angeles, something I'd thought of Bruce long ago came to mind again, as the opening tracks of "The Wild, The Innocent..." played: In recent years, it seems that Bruce Springsteen has taken on the role, or perhaps assumed the mantle, of that which was held by John Lennon during the 70s - the role of rock 'n' roll's thinking man and conscience. I remember vividly reading Rolling Stone's wrapup of the '80s, in which an article was titled: "Bruce Springsteen: The Voice of the Decade (but what was he really saying?)" (I've probably munged that title, but it's very close.) The article was clued in to what we LTDers regard as the "real" message of Springsteen's work, and discussed how many in the '80s missed it completely (Reagan/Mondale). Where much of John Lennon's life seems to have been centered around a Search, that is too the story of Bruce's music; Lennon's search was for personal peace and hapiness (eventually found with Yoko and Sean), Bruce's characters eternally search for a balance between fear of failure/reprisal, hope for success/redemption, and the ecstacy of the journey in between. Both artists also manage(d) to work within the scope of rock 'n' roll, yet trancend the genre in mission, intent, and accomplishment - social commentary and criticism. Power to the people, right on, right on.
Listening to the story of Spanish Johnny and Puerto Rican Jane, I heard the story of two young people clinging to the pleasure of each other in the moment, all the while both are desperately trying to figure out their own place in the world. At 25, I don't know quite how it happened, but it seems that I've put together the pieces of a decent life - good job, nice place to live, newish car, as well as the usual accrutriments of bachelor life. When the hell did I start behaving like an adult, and why didn't I get the memo? And this thought dovetails nicely into...
"Be True" on the boot "The Ties That Bind" turns my thoughts to an on/off friendship/romance I have with a young lady who attends college on the east coast. I have this nagging thought that she's a good one, possibly a keeper, yet the geography continues to conspire against any reasonable efforts. Sigh.
The harmonica intro to "The River" begins as I first glimpse the Central Valley through the montains, threading my Protege through slow-moving trucks and annoyingly sedate Lincoln Town Cars. As I descend "down in the valley", I think of a girl I knew in high school whose parents were brought up to do like their daddy done; my friend's daddy got a wedding coat for his eighteenth birthday. In this election year, with Proposition 209 threatening the very nature of higher education and job opportunity in California, I wonder how much the state could save in prenatal care of teenagers if it spent a little more on education.
Tickets to the concert:
The evening started with the task of trying to sell an extra seat, lower
balcony. Problem is, lots of people are selling, and the only folks buying
are trying to upgrade their current seats. Along the way I make friends
with a guy who is selling his upper orchestra seats, after getting second
row in the ticket dump. Nice guy. Eventually I give up, and decide to eat
the extra ticket. Figure what the hell, now I have a place to put my jacket.
However, my new friend is waiting at my seat with a surprise - a ticket
for the third row!! Turns out he bought two singles at the dump. He gives
his extra for the third row, on the far left. Very nice guy.
To my new friend: Send me a voice/e-mail and I'll tape anything in my collection you want.
The venue: A great place. A quick look around reveals that there truly isn't a bad seat in the house. Or course, I'm particularly not complaining.
The show: Wow. Bruce was having a great time, and was much more together musically than on either of the previous two nights. He joked around a lot more than in San Diego, and the performance was tighter musically while being looser and lighter in tone. A lot of song substitutions tonight, most seemed geared toward the venue and the central valley area.
Guthrie Tom Joad - Still don't dig this song.
Adam Raised A Cain - Brilliant. The subtle growls as Bruce describes the scenes of conflict between father and son. The even more subtle longing for peace. The resilient acceptance of the "same hot blood burning in their veins."
Darkness / Johnny 99 - This combination continues to blow me away.
Highway 29 - I'm continually blown away by Bruce's abilities as a storyteller. I've trumpeted them for years to those who would listen without being obvious in thinking that I was a nutcase, yet I'm still amazed.
The Wish - At last! I've loved this song since I read the lyrics in the lyrics file a few years back. Bruce gave is very sweet mother-loving speech, and acted nervous before performing the song. The applause was thundrous, and he seemed genuinely touched. I shouted "Thank You, Mrs. Springsteen." Bruce replied, "I'll tell her you said that."
Brothers Under The Bridge - This song grows and grows on you. Each night I come away with a different set of lyrics that strike me in some way. I particularly admire the way in which the character tells two stories - that of the young soldier and that of the homeless veteran.
Deportee - Hopefully he'll do this one again before Portland. I wasn't ready for it.
The extra bonus:
On a lark I decided to hang around outside the theater, maybe I'll get something
signed. In the end, after Terry did a masterful job of people moving, only
a few folks got handshakes - and I was one of them! Too cool.
Tomorrow I'm staying with some friends in San Jose before driving down 101 to Santa Barbara early on Friday - SB will be a ticket dump night for me. Anyone want to meet for a beer before the show?
Been a long time coming,
Andrew
Andrew Laurence atlauren@uci.edu Office of Academic Computing http://www.oac.uci.edu/~atlauren/ UC Irvine