Ullevi x 3

In 2015 Bruce Springsteen released the box ”The Ties That Bind – the River Collection”. It’s a remastered edition of the River and  some outtakes that never ended up on the double album. The outtakes are really good an fun to listen to.

This naturally lead to a tour, first indoors in the USA 2015. This year, 2016, the tour came to Europe and outdoor arenas. Sweden got three shows, all of them at Ullevi, Gothenburg. First two shows 25th and 27th of June, then the last one on July 23rd.

The first one didn’t quite catch me, I thought it lacked a story to keep it together and I had a hard time to feel the spirit and joy. The second one was totally different, much more playfulness, a lot of power on stage and a really good setlist. The last one was very good also as we got The River album from top to bottom. The finale was Twist and Shout and all was grand. I like the sad songs, and Point Blank, Fade Away, Stolen Car and Drive All Night have rarely sounded better. After the first show I felt almost like me and Bruce had fallen out of love, but from the second show all was back to normal again. The joy, the spirit, the great feeling and the surprise of what song to play next was all there. At 66 years of age Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band still is the greatest live act there is. They sure do rock’n’roll!

 

High Hopes

20140121_kl1633wAs you might know Bruce Springsteen has released a new album, called High Hopes. The record includes new versions of “American Skin”, “The Ghost of Tom Joad” and “Dream Baby Dream” as well as two covers, “High Hopes” and “Just Like Fire Would”. The material is old enough that both Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici who have passed away in 2011 and 2008 appears on the record. The album is quite fragmented, the key thing seems to be Tom Morellos appearence on seven of the twelve songs.

I don’t think this is a particularly interesting album, not for me at least. There are two good songs on it, “Down in the Hole” and “Hunter of Invisible Game”. The rest is too shallow. I understand that Bruce made it because he had fun doing it, but it’s not going to be a mile stone in his career. The good thing was the included DVD with the performance of Born in the USA top to bottom, from London last year. That was the highlight of High Hopes.

But there’s a tour in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand coming up. Maybe he’s coming to Europe too, but that’s not confirmed yet. Anyway, the man’s hanging on posters over the city.

Born in the USA all over

 On the day of the last show at Friends arena, I got there early and got number 481 in line. We had a calm day and we got into the arena. Me and some friends were standing in front of Steve, six or seven rows from the stage.

There was really no surprise that we got The Born in the USA album played from top to bottom. There were a lot of party songs, but I still felt a bit bored since it was a rather conventional show. Sprit in the Night was really good, Cover Me was so tight and it was great fun hearing Raise Your Hand and Rosalita. Those were the best songs for me. But I think Friends arena is a bit too big for the intimate and interesting shows. It’s a pity, I hope Bruce stays at home for a while now and when he gets back on tour I hope he will play smaller venues.

Beautiful Darkness

The second show at Friends arena brought us a different opening, My Love Will not Let You Down followed by Leap of Faith and I’m a Rocker, sent the audience dancing straight away. I’m a Rocker was a delight, especially since it was a request from a friend of mine. He got really happy! 😀 Then we got the album Darkness on the Edge of Town, top to bottom. A truly great record and stunning performances on Adam Raised a Cain and Racing in the Streets. Open all Night and Seven Nights to Rock was great party songs at the end of the show. This night was much more actionpacked than Friday’s performance. Bruce and the band will do two shows in Turku, Finland, next week before they come back next Saturday on May 11th.

Here are some pictures:

First night at Friends arena

So finally it was time for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band to play the new venue in Solna, Friends Arena. The arena is brand new, built for concerts and national fotball games. The capacity is some 50 000 persons, but the arena is in a place that still is a construction site, so it’s not so easy to get there. Or rather, to go home after the show. The commuter train and the subway is 20 minutes walk from the arena, so it takes time to get home.

Anyway, Bruce and the band played much of a standard Wrecking ball-set, but the difference was that they also did the whole Born to Run album, top to down. That was a really striking moment. We even got the rare Sad Eyes-part in Backstreets, so it was really nice. Another highlight was Bruce’s solo performance of Mountain of Love. And Elliot Murphy was a guest artist when the band played Glory Days.

 

A third show

Just when the fans thought the tickethunting was over, more news came about the swedish shows. Since the two concerts had sold very well there would be a third one on May 11th! It feels a bit strange that the band would play two shows, have a week off and then come back. As it has turned out, there will be a show in Finland between the three swedish gigs, so the band will be busy.

A week after the first tickethunting it was the same procedure all over again. I got up early in the morning, put on all of my warmest winter clothes, took the subway to the Globe arena and went in line for tickets. This time it was even fewer people around. Everything went smoothly and I got the tickets I needed for my self and for some friends who wanted help. We were waiting around for a while in case they would annonce a fourth show, but luckily that didn’t happen.

I got my self a poster on the way home, it now hangs on a wall in my study.

 

Tour 2013

When the news broke that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band would tour the world once again in 2013, nobody was surprised. But maye we were a little bit surprised Bruce would comeback so soon with the same album, Wrecking ball. Whatever. He is coming so I just have to get tickets.

The date for the ticket release got out, and it was clear Bruce would play the new venue, Friends arena in Solna, just north of Stockholm. First it was just one show on May 3rd. But as we were waiting a second show on May 4th was announced.

I went to cue for tickets at the Globe arena. I got there just before 6 o’clock in the morning and I got nr 25 in line. That was good, and I could get tickets to the first show. After that we just got back in line to wait for tickets to May 4th. It wasn’t so cold although it was snowing, and by 11.30 me and my friends had our tickets.

Book of Dreams

Last week I got the final copies of the book from the printer. That felt really good! The resason it’s been a while it’s because there were some last minute changes in the book, so it took a while before the final printing could be done. The first load of books has been sent out to the people that have ordered it, and now I’m working hard on PR.

I went to the biggest morning paper, Dagens Nyheter, to give them a copy. I hope they’ll review the book or at least write something about it. I’ve also sent out copies to other swedish papers like Svenska Dagbladet, Göteborgs-Posten, Aftonbladet and Expressen. Now I just wait and see if any of them will be in touch. Cross your fingers for me!

The book is here!

My book about Swedish Springsteen fans is on it’s way from the printers. The book has it’s own web site where you can order it. So far it’s only available in swedish, but if the response is good, there is a fair chance of an english edition.

Here you can find the book, just click om “köp” and you will be able to buy the book Hungriga Hjärtan (Hungry Hearts – a book about swedish Springsteen fans).

Here’s a picture of the cover. It’s a hardback. The book is 96 pages with a lot of pictures from various Springsteen concerts from the last five years.

Don’t forget to check out the web site Hungriga Hjärtan and the Facebookgroup.

 

 

Two Lovely Shows in Göteborg

This weekend I’ve seen two wonderful Springsteen shows at Ullevi, in Göteborg. The first one att July 27th was very emotional for me, a lot of great songs and good feeling among the audience. The weather was lovely, sunny and warm and the highlight of the evening was undoubtedly Drive All Night. But Cover Me, Rosalita and Something in the Night was also wonderful.

The second show on July 28th was even better. But the weather was horrible. It rained for a couple of hours before the show, I was soaking wet and the rain was so hard that a shopping centre in the city was flooded and evacuated.

But the show was amazing. Of course we got Who’ll Stop the Rain, but also Lost in the Flood. Downbound Train, I’m Going Down, It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City and Frankie was other rairities that was played.

But the biggest surprise was when Bruce walked up the stage and said that Sweden had always been a very special place for Clarence Clemons and that this next song was for all of us and for Big Man. And then the band played Jungleland. Jake Clemons was amazing in the solo and the crowd was in awe. Nobody had thought that they would do that song so soon after Clarences death. But they did. These two shows are among the very best I’ve ever seen and the second is already considered to be a classic.

 

 

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