Bruce Springsteen: Desolation and Dreams In The Dustbowl
By Anthony Kuzminski
Omaha, NebraskaMarch 14, 2008
It has been twenty-four years since Bruce Springsteen played the state of Nebraska and thirty since he played the city of Omaha. If I were a betting man, I would have placed a rather large chunk of change that at Friday night’s show in Omaha, the set list would have contained at least three songs from Springsteen’s 1982 album
Nebraska. I would have lost the house. However, while it was a missed opportunity to dust off certain songs and flavor them with a dashing E Street delivery (notably “Open All Night” or even the more predictable “Atlantic City” or “Johnny 99”) the evening still had an abundant number of highlights and reminded us of why Springsteen and the rogue E Street Band are still the soundtrack to millions of lives.
Taking on stage a little later than normal, the band arrived in a charming, cheerful and charging demeanor they would hold for the next 160-minutes. The band’s steel precision was a sight to behold as their vivid performance soared to the sold-out crowd. “No Surrender” was an endorsing blueprint of camaraderie where life experiences overrule education and I thought would set the template for an unforgettable evening and possibly one of the tours defining shows. Sadly, after the roaring start the evening continued with moments that included staggering high’s and a number of head scratching lows. The good news is that the band is far more comfortable with the Magic material than they were last fall when it sounded tentative. “Radio Nowhere” now comes in like a windstorm, while “Gypsy Biker” found super sonic guitar fireworks lighting up the stage and “Long Walk Home” (with some velveteen vocals by Steve Van Zandt) proved to be multi-dimensional as the band delivered a fierce and relentless rock revival proving Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are still critical collaborators distilling the spirit of rock n’ roll. On the opposite end, “Girls In Their Summer Clothes”, “Livin’ In The Future”, “Devil’s Arcade” and “Magic” were all either lacking magic (pun intended) or the human touch needed to engage the crowd (no pun intended). On paper this may appear to be a small quibble, but each time one of the above songs was performed, it brought the crowd to their knees and not in a spiritual manner. “Girls” lacks the pop perfection of its studio counterpart and the provocative “Magic” (my favorite track on the record) is missing the soldiering back beat of the studio version. “Devil’s Arcade” was a muscular and mighty performance, leap years ahead of the versions I witnessed last year, but in the end was performed to a stone faced crowd who diminished the impact of the performance due to it’s placement in the set list. Last but not least, the well intentioned “Livin’ In The Future” fails on all levels in the live arena. It’s set up to be the centerpiece of the show, yet it drags the show down during a turbocharged midsection whose only fault is the inclusion of “Future”. I understand why it’s at this place in the set, I admire the song, I agree with its politics, but the emotional and potent punch of the songs leading up to it had (a scalding “Adam Raised A Cain”, the always welcoming “Because the Night” and a belting “She’s The One” ) far outweigh the spirit of “Future”. Even the spine tingling ballad “The River” suffered because of what came before and after it and let me tell you, the performance was gloriously visceral and it’s a shame the crowd felt disengaged from it. Just because “Livin’ In The Future” is new, fresh and semi-relevant doesn’t mean it resonates. It’s specific to the here and now, but it is lacking the emotional and physical connection that a song like “Born in the USA” would provide without a PSA and a loss of momentum. I mention the low points because in the 37-Springsteen concerts I have witnessed, I’ve never seen him encounter a tougher crowd than this one in Omaha where certain sections of the balcony never stood up until the encore. Even when Springsteen and the band moved onto more familiar material such as “The Rising”, “The Promised Land” and “Waiting on a Sunny Day” the crowd never quite recaptured its momentum, until the encore.
Right before “Thunder Road”, Bruce invited Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes on stage to share vocals. “Thunder Road” has reborn on this tour as the band is giving their most convincing performances of the song since the Born in The USA tour. This was followed by “Jungleland”, a request from a sign and let me tell you, the performance was spot-on and infused with vivacity I’ve never seen. The performance was perfect and Clarence Clemons’s solo was breathtaking and spot on. “The Detroit Medley” continued the rock resurrection with a crackling and jaunty execution followed by the pounding perfection of “Born To Run”. During this portion of the encores, the tough crowd finally surged to life. “Dancing In The Dark” and “American Life” attacked the crowd with purpose, passion and booming exuberance that released your mind, body and soul. The cumulative effect of the encore elevated the evening to heights that midway through the show I never thought it could touch.
It was a bittersweet night full of feverish moments but also found an equal amount where the band strayed out of their boundaries and in the process lost the crowd. While the band appears to be tighter and more succinct in their performances, the same pacing issues I witnessed five months ago in the set are still there. The set would be greatly improved by rotating a few of the Magic songs nightly and resurrecting a few other epics (notably “Born In The USA”) in their place. Sometimes the best songs about the here and now are the ones that carry historical weight and provide the audience with a shot of emotive adrenaline in the process. However, as polarizing the main set was, I did think back to the feeling that overcame me as the band performed the celebratory anthem “No Surrender” to open the show. I looked over at my wife and my sister and felt closer to both of them at that moment than I had ten-minutes earlier. Why? I am not sure, but the classic songs are the joints that hold relationships together. When Springsteen and Van Zandt harmonize about three minute records that taught them more than any teacher, I know exactly what they’re talking about, I speak the language. Rock n’ roll is the soundtrack for the lonely soul who feels like they are outsiders. The music speaks to us and comforts us in an unexplainable manner and during the best moments of the show, the connection between band and fan was insurmountable. I may take issue with some of the individual performance and the poor pacing of a few other numbers, but in the end, the redemptive power and themes of rock n’ roll, brought to life by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band truly are the ties that bind us all together and I can’t think of any better way to spend close to three hours with someone whom you experienced life with while listening to a three-minute record as the soundtrack.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
My good and dear friend Billie Jo, the queen of live concerts, has finally started her own music blog; One Photo.
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