Acoustic Springsteen...
 

My wife and I went to see Bruce at the Forum in Tampa the other night. Wondered if anybody else has had a chance to catch his latest tour. Hard to call it 'unplugged' when he plays electric guitar and electric piano, but I guess that is just semantics.

I first saw Bruce in 1982 in Lakeland and a couple of years later in the Orange Bowl in Miami. My wife's cousin was/still is a ticket broker and we saw him both times from about 6 rows back right in front of Clarence. Any true Bruce fan knows the raw emotion and power that is his music, especially back in those days. Other bands play louder but the emotion Bruce puts into both the lyrics and the performance is amazing.

The latest tour is really a show for true Bruce fans. As one of the young folks behind us said...'All the songs sound the same'. Well, duh, there is only one instrument. It seemed like he told lots of stories between songs, but then I remembered, he did that in the rock-and-roll concert days too.

The crowd was obviously older than your average concert crowd so it was fitting that he open with 'Fade Away'. All his songs seem to go to a deeper level the older you get. I always loved 'My hometown' when he talks about riding on his Dad's lap and steering that big Buick while his Dad says 'son, take a good look around...this is your hometown'. My Dad did exactly that with me. And I made sure I did it with my girls. Cause you know what...everybody has only one hometown. The emotions sure run strong.

Anyway, I'm rambling, but reminiscing about all the great Bruce songs does that to me. Thanks for listening.

I've been going to see bruce shows since the late 70s... including many impromptu shows at the stone pony in asbury park... This latest tour was wonderful... it wasn't your typical bruce stadium tour... it was a much more intimate setting... and without all the bells and whistles...

Bruce has always been a storyteller... He picked up a huge fan base int he 80s witht he born int he usa tour- and that insipid video with courtney cox... (and then there are those california years that his faithful fans have expunged from their brains)

this tour felt like the good old days... which was nice... the kids that were at the show we went to - seemed disappointed -- I wasn't