Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - USA & Europe 2023 tour

But it was a live recording to begin with

 

“ The Rising” is significant because of its connection to 9/11. The song is sung from the point of view of an NYC fireman going INTO one of the towers. It’s not hard to see why Bruce likes to play it — especially now that his own son has chosen a career as a fireman— just across the river from where the WTC once stood , in Jersey City.
He might feel it’s a tribute to Sam in the way that “Living Proof” is dedicated to Evan.

 

Yeah, I just looked up the set lists and I am very wrong lol. He played it the first time I saw him (Giants Stadium July 2008). Didn’t play it the next two times (MetLife September 2012/Brooklyn 2016), and did play it the last time (MetLife 2016).

So he played it 2/4 times for me. I must have had a few too many beers at that MetLife show in 2016 because I remember so much of it vividly but don’t remember him playing it. I was probably in the bathroom at the time.

 

Im general, I am not a big fan of Springsteen's covers, but I really liked what he did with Buddy Holly's Rave On. I also liked his cover of Trapped (from the 80's) and Pretty Flamingo from 1975.

 

He about made Trapped— and Jersey Girl— his own
Both should have been included on Greatest Hits.
I know people who are not big Springsteen fans who love both of those covers.

 

Yeah Rave On is a good one.
Sha la la too.

I made a cassette of all his best covers back in the 1980s. I must have dubbed 100 copies for friends etc.
Maxell corp got a lot of my $$ back in those days.

 

Trapped is a top five Springsteen performance for me

 

Mine as well. Unlike most of his other covers, not only is Jimmy Cliff's original version not very well known, but Bruce really put a new spin on it and is not particularly faithful. He's played it so often since it was released, I wonder how many even medium level fans don't realize it's not one of his own.

 

He did the same with Jersey Girl. The weird thing about that is that Tow Waits’ version is practically a pastiche, a near parody of Bruce— at least that how I felt when I heard the original.
It’s almost as if Bruce did a cover of Bat Out of Hell.

Almost.

 

Yeah, "Trapped" also just really fits in on every level with the era...of course he started playing it in '81 but I think most people associate it with the mid-80's for obvious reasons. It could've been on Tunnel Of Love and no one would've blinked.

I love Jimmy Cliff, although the one time I got to see him, at a festival, I was kinda hoping he'd bust it out since it was a very white crowd largely unfamiliar with his catalog outside of a few crossovers, but I'm sure at least a few of them would've perked up if he'd introduced something as a song Springsteen covered. (Jimmy still did an amazing set though and I'm grateful for that one chance I had to catch him)

 

Well, we saw Bruce and the ESB do BITUSA live back in 1984 in LA and it was ferocious. And the outro was Bruce just squeezing notes out of his guitar. I recall that it reminded me a bit of Neil Young in the middle of a passionate "Like A Hurricane" guitar solo.

It was EPIC.

It is my one most vivid memory of the music from that one BITUSA show we saw.

 

The one BITUSA show I saw was when Roy and Nils were backstage playing ping pong when the song started.

 

Likewise.. Amazing.

 

Huh - I attended the 3 2012 Met Life shows and didn't remember that he skipped "Rising" at 2 of those 3 concerts!

That song's been such a staple that I really thought he'd never skipped it over the last 20 years!

 

Now if only Bruce would play "Tweeter and the Monkey Man"!

 

This.
I liked some of his covers from his Pony appearances in early 80’s w/ Cats on a Smooth Surface -
Come On Over To My Place (The Drifters)
Do You Wanna Dance ? (The Beach Boys)
C’mon , Let’s Go (Ritchie Valens)
Fun, caught the spirit of those oldies .

 

Why hasn't Bruce covered Powderfinger, or Rockin' in the Free World, or well, Like a Hurricane...etc..?
NYF

 

He did fun covers during the Stump The Band era. A few that come to mind are

• I Wanna Be Sedated
• Expressway To Your Heart
• I Don’t Want To Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes

That last one almost didn’t get played because Bruce’s team “couldn’t find the *&^%$ words”.

 

It kinda ruins the illusion when you know some intern is frantically Google searching lyrics for the teleprompter.

 

Neil’s songs are written for Neil’s voice and are way out of Bruce’s range. I honestly can’t imagine him covering one successfully.
Maybe “ Little Wing?” Or another song that Neil sings in a lower register?

Unless Bruce wants to use his patented falsetto and take a stab at After the Goldrush ?

 

Those were some wild nights, I attended many of them. First summer I was legal. Around and Around and Ready Teddy too.
I now frequently play drums in a band with 2 former guys from Cats. They have some great stories. Full circle.

 

Lucky you !!
Any good Bruce stories you can share ?
One song I always seem to get at my shows is Bobby Jean, don’t see why he likes that one that much.

 

Any chance one of the guys from Cats is David Hibbard?

 

No. Joel Krauss and Harry Filkin.

 

I was there too! (And IMO, the second side of The Wild, The Innocent is peak Springsteen.)