live
Originally published in
The Aquarian Weekly
BRUCE
SPRINGSTEEN WITH THE
SEEGER
SESSIONS BAND/PNC
Bank
Arts Center/June 24
by Ken Shane
naïve in this day and age to think that
music still has the power to change
the world or to be a healing force.
Maybe
it’s a sign of age, but the thought
that kept running through my head as
I
watched Bruce Springsteen and the
Seeger Sessions Band perform before
the first of two sold out houses at the
music has the power to make a
difference in people’s lives. At the very
least it could help to ease the sense
of despair that we all still feel in the
wake of 9/11 and the feeling of
helplessness we feel as a nation in the
grip of war.It is certainly no
coincidence
that Bruce Springsteen has chosen
this music, at this time.
Despite
having lived in Monmouth
County
for most of his life, Springsteen
had never done his own show at this
venue, which he referred to at first
by its old name, the Garden State Arts
Center. His only previous appearance
at the facility was at a Ringo
Starr show
in 1989.To drive home the point of just
how close he lived, he expressed
concern that the exuberant audience
reaction would wake his kids up.
The 20
piece band took the stage
to the sound of “Raindrops Keep Falling
On My
Head” playing on the house
P.A. to
acknowledge the weather that
those with lawn seats had to endure,
though by the time the show began,
the rain had stopped. Bruce assured
the crowd that “we may not be able to
keep you dry, but we’ll keep you
moving,” and that’s exactly what they
did for the next two and a half hours.
The set
list was largely composed
of songs from the Seeger
Sessions
album, though there were several
Springsteen
songs from earlier albums
that were presented in arrangements
suited to the current band.Chief
among
these was a lovely version of “If I Should
Fall
Behind,” which was presented as
a waltz that wouldn’t have been out of
place in a classic western movie, and
an ecstatic version of “Open All Night,”
a song that originally appeared on the
It was
the current songs that really
sparkled though. The band, which
included a six-piece horn section on
this evening, played an electrifying
gumbo of blues, R&B, zydeco,
swing,
folk and rock and roll, and the sound
of this group in full flight rocked as hard
as anything Springsteen had done
previously. This sound was amply
illustrated on songs like “Old Dan
Tucker,”
“Jesse James” and “Pay Me
My Money Down.”
There
was time for politics too, as
Springsteen
brought his mic to the
front of the stage for a beautiful solo
version of Pete Seeger’s Vietnam-era
song “Bring Them Home” and
addressed the government’s failures
in
to “How Can A Poor Man Stand Such
Times
And Live.” It might have been
raindrops, but there was definitely
something in a lot of people’s eyes
during an exquisite version of “My City
Of Ruins.”
This is
important music, because it
is so life-affirming and comes at a time
when that kind of thing is badly needed.
It’s
American music that can restore
a sense of pride that seems to have
been lacking of late. The music and
the artist have come together to form
a perfect union just when we need it
most.
bruce springsteen and the seeger
sessions band