My completist fetish would never permit myself to permanently delete a track from the computer drives that store these concerts but I can easily understand skipping certain tracks when playing them. "Sunny Day" really isn't a bad song at all. It's a poppy, uplifting number and, at least during The Rising tour, it usually came on the heels of the coupling of two super downers, "Empty Sky" and "You're Missing," which lightened the mood and reinvigorated the crowd. Of course, that was when the song was still fresh. On later tours, the song was regularly marred by charming but horrendously out-of-tune children "singing" the chorus. It's one thing to experience it as a one-off in concert; it's a whole other thing to try to enjoy it on a recording. Also on The Rising tour, "Mary's Place" replaced "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" as the new interminable centerpiece of the show. But on later tours, the song reverted to a length much closer to its more palatable album-length. Still, it's a song Bruce Springsteen likes much more than I do so it's not one I pine for either at the show or when listening to recordings. To be honest, I feel the same way about songs like "Shout," "Glory Days" (particularly on the Born in the USA and Lucky Town tours), and "Twist and Shout." Thanks, Bruce. But no thanks.
I have wonderful memories of Bruce doing both Mary's Place and Waiting in concert. Neither song would be in my Bruce top 30 but I'm fond of them.
The only tracks I've deleted like that are drum solos. I love the Dead but there will never, ever be a time when I don't want to skip over "Drums/Space," so why eat up the hard drive space?
The only thing I don't care for at Bruce concerts i've been to (and on the live releases and recent tours) is covers on the encore. It's always the same songs and it's needless with the vaults Bruce has. I like a cover if it's something meaningful (i.e. Purple Rain after Prince died) or even just something more random that works at a certain gig. All the River shows I went to he played Shout in the encore which was not a good choice. At least Twist and Shout is a good singalong, but you're thinking he could be playing Rosalita or Backstreets here to finish off, or whatever song of his own. It's one thing with all the 70s releases as well with Quarter to Three and Detroit Medley on every release in the encore but he didn't have 40-50 years of quality material at that point.
Perhaps in my early days of collecting, I'd balk at deleting songs too, but after more than 40 years of collecting shows, I'm not as precious about these things. It's more important to me that I enjoy what I'm listening to. When I'm choosing a show, if it has a bunch of songs I don't prefer, there's a good chance I might not listen to it. If I have to skip songs, why even have them included? I'd rather hear my favorites. "Glory Days" and "The Rising" are pretty much on my permanent skip list these days. When Bruce plays "The Rising," it totally shuts down the show's momentum for me. It's too long without much melody.
Sunny Day,Shout and Twist And Shout are automatic skips for me.Will make an exception for Sunny Day at the Apollo and Twist and Shout NYE 1980.
I was at both the `08 and `09 shows and preferred the `08 by a mile. That said, the `09 would be fun just to hear how batsh*t crazy the audience went when he started playing "Hang On Sloopy." I don't think I've heard heard more people sing so loudly at a concert in my life.
If I'd not seen the "Rising" show - with its 9-hour version of "Mary's Place" - 30 times, I'd not hate it so, but all those looooong performances left a mark! No idea how many times I've heard "Sunny Day" from 2002-2016, and no idea what %age are the Art Linkletter version. TOO FREAKIN' MANY is the answer to both questions, though!
Since I've seen 106 Bruce shows from 2002-2016, I'm guessing I've heard "Rising" about 100 times. I still kinda like it! Can't explain why, but I don't quite get sick of it!
All prior Black Friday sales have been timed to the day after US Thanksgiving. That's the Black Friday in question - and it's not until November 27...
That means he's played the song at almost every show you've seen! Oh man, I can't imagine that. I don't think I've heard it close to 100 times.
It’s just one of those songs that always hits. If it had come out 20 years earlier it’d be as famous as “Born to Run.”
Sunny Day with the kids up etc is a bathroom break at a gig or skip on a live show. I don't have a problem with it in the sense it's engaging with the more casual crowd and the younger ones, but it ruins the song. It's good on the earlier reunion tours when he just plays the song. Shout was just a waste of time.
When I first heard The Rising, the two tracks that immediately stood out with potential as stadium pleasers were 'Waitin' on a Sunny Day' and 'Countin' on a Miracle'. The former wore out its welcome veerrry soon, and for some reason the latter never clicked in the live setting.
....which means you've heard about 100 different "versions" of that guitar solo. Bloody hack! Just leave it to Nils.
i think it’s as good of a song as he’s ever written. It’s inspiring, uplifting, catchy as hell, has great dynamic shifts (musically, I mean) and sounds great with 20,000 people singing along. Can’t ask for much more than that from a rock song.
I'm far too lazy to actually tabulate the # of times I've heard "The Rising", but it's been a staple since 2002, so I have to imagine it's been at most of those 106 shows. He didn't do it at the 2 Seeger shows I saw in 2006, and he didn't do it at the 4 shows where he partnered with Joe Grushecky. He also didn't do it at the Rock Hall show in 2009 or the 2003 Christmas show. I think 96 of those 106 shows were E Street, and I suspect he did it at the vast majority. Not at that Rock Hall show, and probably not at ALL 95 of the rest... but probably close!
Agreed. I attended both and the '08 show was miles better. Two moments from the '09 show stand out (beyond the insane crowd singalong of "Sloopy" of course): "Human Touch" was absolutely magnificent, as you could tell the E Street Band was really LISTENING to each other in a way they don't on the more "autopilot" songs. And then "Cadillac Ranch" felt like the roof was gonna lift off the place. No idea why Bruce doesn't close the main set with that one more often.... It's perfect in that spot.
Maybe it's me but the performance at the Greensboro show just sounds tired. I liked the Magic tour, like the nugs release from a few days prior. This one sounds rushed in places, plodding in others, and Steve is particularly later day Steve.
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