Peter Langstaff @peterlangstaff - Tumblr Blog

There’s Magic In The Night*

There are many things wrong with social media. But there are a lot of good things about it too. One of the latter is allowing fans to share their Bruce moments. Whether that’s getting on stage for Dancing In The Dark, that brief handshake or just getting to hear their favourite song. And tonight I got one, even if it is by some degrees of separation. (Product Name Arena, Sydney Olympic Park, Thursday 9th February 2017)

Hungry Heart is one of Bruce’s crowd surfing songs. He leaves the main stage, makes his way along the side of the pit to an elevated walkway that separates the pit from the floor seats. Having some knowledge of this my friend Pete, who was taking his eldest son Finn to his 1st Bruce show, positioned himself at the back of the pit up against the walkway. In amongst all those clamoring for their moment or their photo, Bruce has picked Finn out, shaking his hand & singing the chorus along with him. Bruce then moved on to others. But if that wasn’t special enough, Bruce has then rummaged through his pocket for a guitar pick and stepped back to hand it to Finn. Moments later Bruce is being carried back to the stage by the pit crowd.

The night 2 crowd in Sydney didn’t quite live up to night 1 and were a far more reserved. Highlights were an explosive Adam Raised A Cain, and a double shot of rarities in Rendezvous & Be True. And getting to spend the show with my American friends Christine & Mike at their last show of the tour.

Setlist:

New York City Serenade (with strings - Australian Urban Orchestra) Lonesome Day The Ties That Bind No Surrender My Love Will Not Let You Down Spirit in the Night Out in the Street Hungry Heart Death to My Hometown Adam Raised a Cain The River Youngstown The Promised Land Rendezvous Be True Working on the Highway Because the Night The Rising Badlands Rosalita * * * Born to Run Detroit Medley Dancing in the Dark Tenth Avenue Freeze-out Shout Bobby Jean Thunder Road (acoustic)

*from Thunder Road

#estreetbandwagon #springsteen #BruceESB

Gonna Have Some Fun Tonight*

So there I was thinking this was just another Bruce show (Product Name Arena, Sydney Olympic Park, Tuesday 7th February 2017). Not that that’s a bad thing. It fact, the Sydney crowd made it a pretty good start. By far the loudest of the tour so far & they were ready from the start for whatever Bruce & the band had to deliver. It’s just the first 7 songs had been played at various times throughout the tour in similar setlist places.

But then song 8 ... boom! Out of nowhere we got Little Richard’s Long Tall Sally by sign request. A magic moment in a night that was already going extremely well.

After a lean & mean opening stanza, the middle third again provided some more reflective but no less intense moments. Darkness, American Skin, Youngstown & The Promised Land pre-empted a brief return to party mode with Mary’s Place.

Bruce and the band certainly fed off the aforementioned crowd, providing one of the best shows of the tour. A breathtaking Jungleland filled the encore wildcard slot before we all raced down Highway 9 to night’s end.

Setlist

New York City Serenade (with Australian Urban Orchestra) American Land The Ties That Bind No Surrender Out in the Street My Love Will Not Let You Down Hungry Heart Long Tall Sally Wrecking Ball Darkness on the Edge of Town American Skin (41 Shots) Youngstown The Promised Land Mary's Place Candy's Room She's the One Downbound Train I'm on Fire Because the Night The Rising Badlands Thunder Road * * * Jungleland Born to Run Dancing in the Dark Tenth Avenue Freeze-out Shout Bobby Jean

*from Long Tall Sally

#estreetbandwagon #springsteen #BruceESB

Time Slips Away And Leaves You With Nothing*

Getting older sucks for any number of reasons. Not least of which, it appears, is people’s ability to listen to any song they haven’t heard before. I know that people of a certain age forgo their musical obsessions for raising families. That top 40 tunes are replaced by the likes of the Wiggles & Co. But I cannot then understand what also happens with those people’s desire to experience anything new. After all, even their favourite song was once a song they’d never heard before.

I know what you’re thinking, that I’m expecting too much. But just because I know practically every word to every Bruce song I’m not placing the same expectation on others. The problem is that the casual fans’ unwillingness to embrace the unknown seems to deflate the mood. And that’s not something I really see in audiences of younger demographics.

For mine, the E Street Band played the first 7 songs of the night (Product Name Stadium, Saturday 4th February 2017) with the same intensity, precision and passion. But it was only the last 2, Hungry Heart & Glory Days, where the crowd also reached that level. Bruce’s shirt too pointed to those days of past glories.

Having said that, eventually the crowd did wake up and become fever pitched by time the encores & fireworks rolled. Other highlights of the night were a sign request to dance with Max for Out In The Street. A request that was granted long before the obligatory Dancing In The Dark appeared. This Hard Land kept the purists happy too. And personally it was great to spend the show with my American Brucebuds Christine & Mike. Although we’ve been at the same shows before, this was the 1st that we got to sit together.

Setlist

American Land Lonesome Day My Love Will Not Let You Down Out in the Street Sherry Darling Hungry Heart Glory Days This Hard Land New York City Serenade (with strings – Koo Music Australia) Prove It All Night ('78 intro) Trapped Youngstown Cover Me Death to My Hometown My City of Ruins Cadillac Ranch I'm Goin' Down Waitin' on a Sunny Day Because the Night Badlands Thunder Road * * * Born to Run Seven Nights to Rock Dancing in the Dark Tenth Avenue Freeze-out Shout Twist and Shout

*from Glory Days

#estreetbandwagon #springsteen #BruceESB

Waitin' for that shout from the crowd*

How does Ricky Nelson’s Garden Party? You can’t please everyone so you’ve got to please yourself? The 1st outdoor show of the tour (Product Name Stadium, Melbourne Thursday 2nd February 2017) saw Bruce as mainstream and populist as he gets. But still he wouldn’t have appeased everyone.

The setlist was 6 songs strong from his most pop album in Born In The USA. There were another 4 from his next closest pop presence, The River. But still there would have been those unhappy he didn’t play ALL the hits.

The purists and diehards, of course, want the deep cuts, rarities & variation. And despite solo acoustic performances of The Orlons 1962 tune Don’t Hang Up and Long Walk Home, that contingent may well have been disappointed too. The former was a “letter to home” from “embarrassed Americans” with reference to the alleged hanging up between Trump & Turnbull.

To his credit, Bruce does his best to provide a little something for everyone even if it’s not enough for all. However, by the end of the show, there’s no doubting the sheer power of his performance is enough to eventually satisfy most people, in some fashion.

Koo Music Australia backed up from Adelaide to provide the strings to New York Serenade. The change was it siding down the setlist from the opening slot. Fireworks after the tour debut of Twist & Shout brought the night to and end.

Special mention to my companion for the show, Lisa, who claims to be the best gig company I’ve had all tour despite her not being a fan. The next outdoor spectacular is on Saturday.

📷 Lisa North-Coombes

Setlist Don't Hang Up (Solo acoustic) (The Orlons cover) American Land The Ties That Bind No Surrender Two Hearts The Promised Land Glory Days Hungry Heart Wrecking Ball New York City Serenade (with Koo Music Australia)

Atlantic City Johnny 99 Murder Inc. Death to My Hometown The River Mary's Place Darlington County Working on the Highway I'm on Fire Because the Night The Rising Badlands Land of Hope and Dreams *** Long Walk Home (Solo acoustic) Born to Run Dancing in the Dark Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out Shout Twist And Shout

*from Mary’s Place

#estreetbandwagon #springsteen #BruceESB

Come Across The Water A Thousand Miles From Home*

Monday night in Adelaide and being the start of the working week Bruce seemed like he had business to complete (Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Monday 30th January 2017). Again the night started with New York Serenade, reuniting him with Koo Music Australia who provided strings in Brisbane on the last tour. The noticeable difference was the absence of Garry Talent’s beard, possible a victim of the Aussie heat.

Bruce then delivered his brief “state of the nation” speech, lending support to those protesting back home, ending with “this is an immigrant song”. Then it was Max Weinberg providing the backbeat to Soozie Tyrell’s fiddle and the duel accordions of Charlie Giordano & Roy Bittan launching the band in to opening strains of American Land.

The rest of the opening stanza continued that narrative culminating with the tour debut of Trapped. However, from there the mood definitely lightened. So much so that Bruce missed his cue to a couple of verses through the night. The middle third of the main set concluded in somewhat bizarre circumstances. Four punters, dressed as the characters from The Honeymooners (1950s US sitcom) requested to perform Brown Eyed Girl with Bruce. And he obliged, even to the point of having Roy sit on the interchange bench for the tune. As I said to a friend experiencing her 1st Bruce/ESB show, this is why we go to so many shows. In my now 40+ shows, I’ve never seen anything like that before.

Roy made up for sitting out Brown Eyed Girl by provided an absolutely superb outro to Racing In The Street. The closing of the main set followed a familiar path but was no less enjoyable.

The encores were highlighted by a solo acoustic rendition of If I Should Fall Behind by request + Richie Sambora (presumably in town visiting the in laws) guesting on Tenth Avenue & Shout. Props to the Adelaide crowd who were probably the best so far. Next stop, Melbourne & the 1st outdoor show of the tour.

Setlist: New York City Serenade (with strings) American Land The Ties That Bind No Surrender Land of Hope and Dreams Trapped Spirit in the Night Glory Days Hungry Heart Wrecking Ball Youngstown Something in the Night Darlington County Brown Eyed Girl (with “The Honeymooners”) Murder Incorporated Death to My Hometown Racing in the Street Because the Night She's the One The Rising Badlands Thunder Road * * * If I Should Fall Behind (acoustic) Born to Run Dancing in the Dark Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (with Richie Sambora) Shout (with Richie Sambora) Rosalita

*from American Land

#estreetbandwagon #springsteen #BruceESB

I Don't Believe In An Interventionist God*

There’s something to be said for not having a string of pop hits. Being popular enough to fill an arena without mass appeal of having certain songs in your cannon being played to death on commercial radio. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Sunday 29th January 2017) are such a bad. And they benefited from having an attentive & undemanding audience who were willing to accept whatever came their way.

I would definitely fit it to the casual fan class when it comes to Nick Cave. I like a lot of what I’ve heard. But by no means have I listened to everything. Despite not being familiar with much of the setlist, I was completely enthralled by their performance, Nick repeatedly lunging in to the audience from his perch at the front of the stage whilst The Bad Seeds reached symphonic like crescendos. Although the set was both literally and figuratively dark, it was peppered by Nick’s humour.

A serendipitous opportunity to see a non-Bruce show on the tour. Glad I made the effort to see the gig.

Setlist Anthrocene Jesus Alone Magneto Higgs Boson Blues From Her to Eternity Tupelo Jubilee Street The Ship Song Into My Arms Girl in Amber I Need You Red Right Hand The Mercy Seat Distant Sky Skeleton Tree Encore: Nobody's Baby Now The Weeping Song Stagger Lee Push the Sky Away

*from Into My Arms

#nickcave #estreetbandwagon

Sometimes on a Friday I'll stop by and have a few drinks*

Friday night and it seemed like a party night for Bruce & the band for my 1st pit show of the tour (27th January, Perth Arena). After another string serenade to start, Bruce came out of the blocks hard & fast. Night made it’s first appearance of the tour followed by another 4 tour debuts. And out of those 5, 2 were legitimate hits in Cover Me & Glory Days. The former along with It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City featured dueling guitar solos from Bruce & Little Steven. Sandwiched in between the BITUSA tracks was Radio Nowhere, with Max Weinberg bring the “pounding drums” to the fore and more dueling guitars.

Another hit soon followed with Hungry Heart pairing with the title track to it’s parent album, The River. From there the tone turned serious with the hard times triple play of Youngstown, Murder Inc & Johnny 99. But then it was back to party mode with another 2 from The River.

Following Death To My Hometown, yet another River tune & another tour debut. Drive All Night was so exquisite that it eventually silenced the most talkative of the casual fans, albeit briefly.

From there it was somewhat familiar territory, but no less powerful. Backstreets & Seven Nights To Rock were the encore wildcards. The night ended with Bobby Jean making it 5 BITUSA tunes for the night.

Next stop, Adelaide. Koo Music have posted online they’ll be reuniting their strings for the show.

Setlist 1. New York City Serenade (with string section) 2. Night 3. It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City 4. Cover Me 5. Radio Nowhere 6. Glory Days 7. Hungry Heart 8. The River 9. Youngstown 10. Murder Incorporated 11. Johnny 99 12. Ramrod 13. You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) 14. Death to My Hometown 15. Drive All Night 16. I'm Goin' Down 17. Because the Night 18. The Rising 19. Badlands 20. Land of Hope and Dreams *** 21. Backstreets 22. Born to Run 23. Seven Nights to Rock (Moon Mullican cover) 24. Dancing in the Dark 25. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out 26. Shout (The Isley Brothers cover) 27. Bobby Jean

*from Glory Days

#estreetbandwagon #Springsteen #BruceESB

At Night I Go To Bed But I Just Can't Sleep*

The most common question I am asked when people discover I’ve seen so many Springsteen shows is “doesn’t he play the same songs every night?” Well night 2 in Perth (Wednesday 25th January, 2017 Perth Arena) answered that question. The night started off the same as Sunday with New York Serenade. But from there 16 of 26 songs played were different from night one. For those playing at home, that’s a total of 46 different songs over the 2 nights.

Following the relatively sedate opener, Bruce and the band packed a punch with a string of up-tempo, guitar ridden tunes. Then the crowd was taken over the top with the return of Hungry Heart, complete with crowd surfing that had been absent on Sunday.

Whilst Bruce spoke of the new American resistance on Sunday, this time round he very much let his songs do the talking with a half dozen stretch of people dealing with hard times. Each song played with passion and desperation.

Although I’ve seen Nils Lofgren perform his solo to Because The Night a number of times, he brought the goosebumps out once again. The main set was rounded out nicely by The Rising, Badlands & Thunder Road.

The final stretch started off with Jungleland. Jake Clemons has come such a long way since I saw him play 5 years ago. He continues to impress and play with authority.

I don’t know what it was about tonight. Maybe it was being closer to the stage. Maybe it was more energy from the pre public holiday crowd. Maybe it was the song selection. Maybe it was the band having blown away some cobwebs. But I found night 2 a more satisfying experience than night 1.

At the risk of sounding like an old man, I must say my enjoyment of the night was despite the behaviour of a punter in the row ahead of me. Now I’ve got no problem with people getting on their feet. But this guy was on his feet for the second song. And it was clear his dance moves weren’t about him enjoying the show as much as it was about him wanting to be the centre of attention. Sorry, but the centre of our attention should be those on stage. This guy turned out to be such a big fan, he was out for the 1st of 3 drinks breaks after only 5 songs. He was also on his phone at one stage. Not to take photos but to phone a friend. And he was also constantly seeking the affirmation of assorted friends sitting in the same seating section. Thanking he spent the latter part of the show with some of those friends on the stair landing behind me.

Setlist: New York City Serenade (with strings) Prove It All Night My Love Will Not Let You Down Two Hearts Wrecking Ball Out in the Street Hungry Heart My City of Ruins Mary's Place Atlantic City Johnny 99 Murder Incorporated Death to My Hometown The River Downbound Train I'm on Fire Because the Night The Rising Badlands Thunder Road * * * Jungleland Born to Run Dancing in the Dark Tenth Avenue Freeze-out Shout Rosalita

*from My Love Will Not Let You Down

#estreetbandwagon springsteen

Grab Your Ticket And Your Suitcase

3 years after my last series of blogs, I have indeed grabbed my tickets and suitcase, (along with laptop, guitar and suitable reading material), and jumped on the E Street Bandwagon for the Summer ’17 tour of Australia. And like the 2014 tour, the 1st stop is Perth.

With last night’s show (Perth Arena, Sunday 22nd January, 2017) being the 1st the band had played since last September, and thereby being the 1st show since the US election, there was much conjecture amongst the Bruce buds. What part would the election result play? Without an album to promote, what form would the set list take? What would be the first song? In the end, the only surprise was there weren’t any real surprises.

Much of the setlist was not dissimilar to the Wrecking Ball & High Hopes tours. Maybe it was the weight of my own expectations, but I didn’t rate my 40th Bruce show as one of the best. But let me put that in context. Even average Bruce is still pretty darn good.

After kicking off with New York City Serenade (complete with string ensemble). Bruce gave an impassioned but brief speech that didn’t actually name the new president or his position, but was clearly aimed at him. And so the show’s best moments were when Bruce was tapping in to the social conscious of his catalogue. Lonesome Day, Darkness On The Edge Of Town & Land Of Hope And Dreams galvanised the opening 3rd of the show

From there, however, the next 3rd lost it’s way slightly with 7 straight songs from his 1st two albums. Not that there weren’t highlights in this part of the show – a slight variation to the Growin’ Up story and Incident straight in to Rosalita.

The intensity and focus returned for the final 3rd of the main set. Nils Lofgren, as usual, providing the musical and physical dexterity for amazing solos to American Skin and Because The Night.

Whilst the encores provided the usual suspects, there was a rarity. An unplanned solo acoustic performance of Blood Brothers was the result of the majority of the front row (members of the Bruce Springsteen Australia wants you!! Facebook group) having request signs in memory of their blood brother Matty.

So a very solid start to the tour with the promise of even better days ahead.

Setlist: New York City Serenade (with strings) Lonesome Day Darkness on the Edge of Town No Surrender Out in the Street Land of Hope and Dreams Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street? Growin' Up Spirit in the Night Lost in the Flood Kitty's Back Incident on 57th Street Rosalita The Ties That Bind Darlington County Working on the Highway The Promised Land American Skin (41 Shots) My Hometown Candy's Room She's the One Because the Night The Rising Badlands

* * *

Blood Brothers (acoustic) Born to Run Dancing in the Dark Tenth Avenue Freeze-out Shout Bobby Jean

*title from Land Of Hope & Dreams

#estreetbandwagon #bruce springsteen

We’re On A Break

As you may be aware, I’ve been a presenter on Wollongong’s community radio station Vox FM for over 20 years. Primarily as a part of the local music (and lame attempts at comedy) show Doing It Locally. But I’ve also done stints on Monday breakfast and music show Either/Or. So it’s with somewhat mixed feelings I can formally announce that the time has come for me and Vox to start seeing other people.

The reasons are varied. Without wanting to go in to too many details, the catalyst has been the probably long overdue realisation that Vox will never reach it’s true potential. Unfortunately too many people making decisions at the station, although well meaning, do not have the necessary skills, abilities or vision to run such an organisation. They are in those positions simply because they have the time to perform those volunteer duties.

On top of that lingering dissatisfaction has been the unavailability of my co-hosts, Craig & Rob, due to work commitments for 1/3 of the shows this year alone. Although I’ve done plenty of shows on my own, Doing It Locally really relies upon the interaction between us. And that’s not something that is easily replicated with other people or indeed on my own.

Add to the mix some work & family stress, existential angst & mental health issues have all resulted in me no longer enjoying the amount of work I put in to the show.

I believe Doing It Locally will continue, though in what form is still to be decided. I will remain a Vox member. And I am keen for Craig, Rob & I to continue to work together by producing podcasts that aren’t bound by having to meet up at a regular time and place. So I’m sure I’ll pimp those on the socials in due course.

My final Doing It Locally appearance will be Saturday 20th August, 2016. 6-8pm on Vox FM 106.9 or streaming online at www.voxfm.org.au

#communityradio #voxfm #broadcasting

Happy Festivus - 2015 Mixtape Liner Notes

1. RECOVERY by Frank Turner from Recovery (single) Although a few years old, I only discovered this tune in 2015 courtesy of my friend Roy Wetton on Millside Hospital Radio. He’s generally on air Wednesday & Friday mornings Oz time www.millsideradio.co.uk

2. TAKE YOUR TIME by Sarah Humphreys from New Moon “And I played to a bunch of the back of your heads.” Another older tune, this time from late 2014.

3. THINGS HAPPEN by Dawes from All Your Favourite Bands. “Let’s raise a glass too all the people you’re not speaking to”

4. BLACK & WHITE by The Staves from Black & White (single) A band of 3 English sisters.

5. BOYS IN THE STREET by Greg Holden from Chase The Sun This song stopped me in my tracks when I first heard a live version on the eTown podcast. I love a song with a twist in the final verse.

6. MAKE YOU BETTER by The Decemberists from What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World. “I wanted you, I needed you, to make me better”

7. I BLEW IT OFF by The Punch Brothers from The Phosphorescent Blues Ironically not a band of brothers.

8. KEEP ON SHINING by Curtis Harding from Soul Power Another 2014 tune that was too late for last year’s mix.

9. I LIKE YOU by Saint Hughs featuring Holly Borich from I Like You (single) This became the theme music to one of Wil Anderson’s podcasts, Wilosophy.

10. IN THE FOG, IN THE FLAME by Bec Sandridge from In The Fog, In The Flame (single) I usually like to include a song we play on Doing It Locally in my end of year mix. But this year, I couldn’t decide between 3. This is the 1st of them.

11. BONESHAKER by Catherine Britt from Boneshaker (single) Best thing I’ve heard to date from the Aussie country singer.

12. EMPTY TIN by Nicole Brophy from Empty Tin (single) The 2nd of my local tunes. Nicole was a member of local band Dirty Lucy & of late has been playing in Kate Miller-Heidke’s band. 13. BUS STATION by Cold Chisel from The Perfect Crime

For me the latest Cold Chisel album is a blues album & a good one at that. I was only slightly disappointed they didn’t play this track live in December. I was far more disappointed with the crowd.

14. THEN CAME THE MORNING by The Lone Bellow from Then Came The Morning Title track to one of my favourite albums of the year.

15. COMING HOME by Leon Bridges from Coming Home Likewise with this track. My other fave album nominees came from Cold Chisel, Josh Ritter, Bryan Adams & Darlene Love

16. GETTING READY TO GET DOWN by Josh Ritter from Sermon On The Rocks I had some awareness of Josh Ritter for some time though nothing had really grabbed me the way his new album has.

17. BRAND NEW DAY by Bryan Adams from Get Up The new Bryan Adams album sees him reuniting with former songwriting partner Jim Vallance. They wrote all of Bryan’s early stuff up to Waking Up The Neighbours. As a result the Jeff Lynne produced album is a real return to form.

18. BIG LOVE by Ben Lee from Love Is The Great Rebellion Another return to form.

19. MY HEART FALLS by Andrew Drummond from My Heart Falls (single) The last of my local tunes. This song grew on me the more we playing it on Vox.

20. AMONG THE BELIEVERS by Darlene Love from Introducing Darlene Love You might not know the name but you would certainly know the voice. Go watch the doco 20 Feet From Stardom for more about her. Her new album is produced by Little Steven aka Steven Van Zandt. (The Sopranos, E Street Band)

21. BORN TO RUN by Moving Pictures from Picture This The band that got me writing songs covering my favourite artist, with a little Mink Deville thrown in at the end for good measure.

#happyfestivus #mixtape #music

Happy Festivus - 2015 Mixtape

#music #spotify

Happy Festivus - 2014 Mixtape Liner Notes

1. BITTERSWEET by Emma Swift from Emma Swift You might be familiar with Emma’s radio work on Triple J & Double J. So her combination of radio & music make her a more talented, more successful & more female version of myself. And she introduced me to the term sadcore this year.

2. GIMME SOMETHING GOOD by Ryan Adams from Ryan Adams I’d been a little underwhelmed with Ryan’s albums post Gold. So I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy his new one so much which reminded me of some of the darker Tom Petty tunes. The contributions of the next guy might have something to do with that.

3. VERONICA SAID by Benmont Tench from You Should Be So Lucky Aside from playing on the Ryan Adams & Tom Petty albums, the Heartbreakers keyboardist released his debut album. One of my favourites for the year.

4. AMERICAN DREAM PLAN B by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers from Hypnotic Eye Like it’s predecessor Mojo, Hypnotic Eye didn’t grab me at first but definitely grew on me with each listen.

5. STARSHINE by Stevie Nicks from 24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault The honorary Heartbreaker made her 2nd album with Eurythmic Dave Stewart. As the title suggests, the album is made up of older, unreleased tunes that were re-recorded.

6. SUNDAY AFTERNOON HANG by Tom Cochrane from Sunday Afternoon Hang I was a Tom Cochrane fan long before Life Is A Highway so I still am long after it. A Canada only release, there are signs that an album is not too far away.

7. WORD CRIMES by "Weird Al" Yankovic from Mandatory Fun The world is always a better place when there’s new “Weird Al” tunes. And being a bit of a grammar Nazi, this one really appealed to me. (Hope these notes don’t contain any spelling or grammatical errors – eek)

8. COOL KIDS (Radio Edit) by Echosmith from Cool Kids (Radio Edit) – Single "I wish that I could be like the cool kids, 'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in”

9. JUST ONE OF THE GUYS by Jenny Lewis from The Voyager “All of our friends they’re getting on but the girls are still staying young.” “No matter how hard I try to be just one of the guys there a little something inside that won’t let me”

10. THREE WOMEN by Jack White from Lazaretto Another contender for my favourite album of the year along side Benmont Tench, Dan Sultan, Jenny Lewis & Leonard Cohen

11. ALL THE GIRLS ARE COMPLICATED by Laura Cantrell from No Way There From Here & NPR Music's The Austin 100 (2014) Yep

12. DRUNK GIRL VOW by Kay Proudlove from Finding Words I always like to include a local tune in my mixes as not enough of you listen to Doing It Locally. A heap to choose from this year but the biggest earworm (& I mean that in a good way) was one of our show’s guests this year, Kay Proudlove.

13. GET HURT by The Gaslight Anthem from Get Hurt I love a good break up album & The Gaslight Anthem delivered one courtesy of Brian Fallon’s divorce.

14. CAN'T BLAME ME by Dan Sultan from Blackbird Dan’s album was a definite step up producing his most consistent & coherent work yet.

15. ALMOST LIKE THE BLUES by Leonard Cohen from Almost Like The Blues (radio single) So inspiring to see an 80 year old not only still creating but doing it so well.

16. CALM AFTER THE STORM by The Common Linnets from The Common Linnets I haven’t fully committed to Eurovision. But I have been watching more of it thanks to Julia Zemiro’s hosting. This tune went close to winning.

17. A NEW HOUSE (Radio Edit) by Deacon Blue from A New House After taking an extended break Deacon Blue have reformed in recent years not only to tour but to release new music. Like Emma Swift, lead singer Ricky Ross also presents an Americana/Alt Country music show but on BBC.

18. HIGHWAY TO HELL by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band with Eddie Vedder from Brisbane, 26th February, 2014 Because after seeing all 11 shows of his Australian tour (making it 39 shows all up) it’d be wrong not to include some Bruce. One of many highlights. And for the 1st time Bruce made the shows available for purchase online.

19. A FEATHER'S NOT A BIRD by Rosanne Cash from The River & The Thread Love John Leventhal’s guitar on this track.

20. DIVISIONARY (DO THE RIGHT THING) by Ages And Ages from Divisionary & NPR Music's The Austin 100 (2014) Haven’t got a lot to say about this tune aside from it being one I kept coming back to throughout the year.

21. BITTERSWEET by Kasey Chambers & Bernard Fanning from Bittersweet And we finish the way we started with another Bittersweet tune. Which pretty much sums up my year.

#happyfestivus #mixtape #music

Happy Festivus - 2014 Mixtape

#music #spotify

Far From The Swamps Of Jersey

I’ve said it before that the reason all the Springsteen tragics like me go to so many shows is because every show is different. And that certainly was the case for the last show of the tour at Brisbane. (Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Wed 26 Feb 2014)

Firstly, we kept waiting outside in the swamps of Boondall for longer than expected. Social media was a buzz that soundcheck had taken longer than usual and that there was a string section in attendance. That seemed to point towards another album show, in particular Bruce’s 2nd but not widely known album The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (WIESS). Getting to the album part of the show also proved a point of difference.

Once again the show started with a cover, this time paying tribute to a band that spent plenty of time in Brisbane before taking on the world – The Bee Gees. Stayin’ Alive proved to one of the better covers & completely reimagined the song with Kurt Ramm’s haunting trumpet setting the mood and then the Cooper & Koo string ensemble making the song sour towards it’s crescendo. I’ve since learnt that Cooper & Koo are pretty much the Channel 7 house string band having appeared on Dancing With The Stars & Sunrise.

From a song never performed before, the setlist took a turn way back with the next 4 songs coming from Bruce’s debut album. Now tragics like me are always happy to hear some rarities. But I did wonder what the casual fans were making of it, particularly if we were getting that album show. Maybe Bruce sensed this too because after playing the tour staples of High Hopes & Just Like Fire Would from the new album, 3 of the next 4 songs came from the better known The River.

So then we reached crunch time. Again Bruce seemed a little unsure which way to go. Would it be WIESS in full or just winging it? He even asked the crowd what they wanted. Predictably though, with the pit full of tragics, the loudest support was for the album show, so it got the go ahead.

Now I’m the 1st to admit WIESS isn’t my favourite Bruce album. But I do think it’s an important album as side 2 of the album (Incident on 57th Street; Rosalita; New York City Serenade) is where I feel Bruce really started to find his own voice, something that would be cemented with his next album Born To Run. Despite my misgivings it was still a thrill to witness something rare, including seeing Garry Tallent trade his bass for tuba during Wild Billy’s Circus Story.

The journey to concert’s end was a more populist one with 4 of the 12 songs coming from Born In The USA, and 3 from Born To Run. Plus there were tour regulars The Ghost Of Tom Joad and Badlands. The penultimate tune saw Eddie Vedder return for Highway To Hell.

Let’s finish with some stats. From 11 shows in 21 days over 5 states 117 different songs were played, a couple of those in different versions. Only 7 songs were played at every show namely: Badlands; Born To Run; Dancing In The Dark; High Hopes; Just Like Fire Would; Tenth Avenue Freeze-out & The Ghost Of Tom Joad. 54 songs got played just the once. And I got to visit both WA & SA for the 1st time. All in all, a tremendous experience that even some personal dramas couldn’t dampen.

Brisbane Setlist: 

Stayin' Alive 

It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City 

Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?

Growin' Up 

Spirit in the Night 

High Hopes 

Just Like Fire Would 

You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) 

Sherry Darling 

Save My Love 

Fade Away 

The E Street Shuffle 

4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) 

Kitty's Back 

Wild Billy's Circus Story 

Incident on 57th Street 

Rosalita 

New York City Serenade 

Darlington County 

Waitin' on a Sunny Day 

The Rising 

The Ghost of Tom Joad 

Badlands 

* * *  

Glory Days 

Born to Run 

Bobby Jean 

Dancing in the Dark 

Tenth Avenue Freeze-out 

Highway to Hell (with Eddie Vedder) 

Thunder Road (solo acoustic)

#estreetbandwagon

Is There Anybody Alive Out There?

The casual fan is an interesting breed. They’re the kind of people who are fans of the hits, may own a few albums from a particular artist but are by no means completests. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a casual fan. There are many acts that I would place myself as being a casual fan of. However, the danger of the casual fan is they can be resistant to anything other than what they know. They can talk through the rarities. They can make regular trips to the bar instead of watching the show. And they tend to be more prevalent at the outdoor shows. Despite the scenery being conducive to poor casual fan behavior, I’m happy to report that I didn’t encounter any of it at the 2nd Hunter Valley show (Hope Estate, Sun 23 Feb). Or maybe sitting on an aisle I wasn’t engulfed by it.

The obligatory rare cover kicked off the show. Spill The Wine came complete with mystical spoken word intro featuring a few Australian references. Like the preceding night, the setlist held no great surprises. Well, when I say no great surprises we are still talking only 7 songs remaining in the setlist from Saturday. Aside from the Eric Burden & War cover, Brilliant Disguise & I Wish I Were Blind were the only songs not played so far on the Australian tour. Despite this, I found the show an even stronger one than the impressive effort 24 hours earlier.

Maybe the songs featured were just more to my liking. Born In The USA outtake My Love Will Not Let You was back in, as was Seeds. Rosalita made a refreshing appearance at #6 instead of her usual encore slot. Radio Nowhere also soured with power of Mighty Max delivering those “pounding drums”. The penultimate show of the tour ended once more with fireworks. Final stop: BrisVegas.

HV 2 Setlist: 

Spill the Wine 

My Love Will Not Let You Down 

Death to My Hometown 

Seeds 

Out in the Street 

Rosalita 

High Hopes 

Just Like Fire Would 

Johnny 99 

Heaven's Wall 

Brilliant Disguise 

Human Touch 

I'm Goin' Down 

Pay Me My Money Down 

Shackled and Drawn 

Radio Nowhere 

The Rising 

The Ghost of Tom Joad 

Badlands 

* * *  

4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) 

Born in the U.S.A. 

Born to Run 

Ramrod 

Dancing in the Dark 

Tenth Avenue Freeze-out 

Rockin' All Over the World 

I Wish I Were Blind (solo acoustic) 

Thunder Road (solo acoustic)

#estreetbandwagon

Regram from @chaplinarts #caopenmic Songs played: How Can We Be Friends If We Can't Be Lovers; Lipstick Flirtations; I Loved You More. (at Red Square Wollongong)

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Peter Langstaff