A Tale of Two Concerts

Last night, Bruce Springsteen brought his Seeger Sessions show to the Bradley Center.

Just as with the Devils and Dust tour, I got tickets at the box office the day of the show.

It's somewhat of a gamble to wait, but great seats are released just before the concert. Once again, we lucked out. We opted for the reserved seats rather than general admission. As it turned out, they were fantastic. We were closer to the stage than 75% of those with general admission tickets yet had the comfort of having a place to sit.

Other than the G.A. group, for much of the show, most in attendance were not on their feet. This wasn't for lack of appreciation or enthusiasm for the performance, not in my case anyway. Many of the songs just aren't the "jump to your feet" sort.

If you like Springsteen's latest album, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, you would love the live versions of the offerings. The live performances are so much more impressive.

I hesitate to part with a lot of money to see Springsteen sans the E Street Band (but I always do anyway). I guess it's because Springsteen is different without them. The chemistry on stage changes.

So, last night's show was a very different one, not only because of the new supporting cast, but also because of the material -- the majority not being songs written by Springsteen.

Although the band and the music were not vintage Bruce, the evening was a great night of great music performed by great musicians.

Springsteen has assembled an incredible group for the tour.
Band members

In addition to Springsteen on vocals, guitar and harmonica, the US tour dates for the Seeger Sessions Band will comprise the following lineup: Sam Bardfeld (violin), Art Baron (tuba), Frank Bruno (guitar), Jeremy Chatzky (upright bass), Larry Eagle (drums), Charles Giordano (accordion, keyboards), Curtis King (vocals), Greg Liszt (banjo), Lisa Lowell (vocals), Eddie Manion (sax), Cindy Mizelle (vocals), Mark Pender (trumpet), Marty Rifkin (pedal steel guitar), Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg (trombone), Patti Scialfa (vocals), Marc Anthony Thompson (vocals) and Soozie Tyrell (violin).

Obviously, it was a crowded stage. (The chandeliers that hung from above reminded me of The Band's The Last Waltz.)

Springsteen sometimes had to carefully negotiate the space. There wasn't a lot of room for romping around.

Although I missed Springsteen's wife Patti Scialfa not being part of the Milwaukee show, it was fun to see "La Bamba" and Mark Pender from Max Weinberg's band of Late Night with Conan O'Brien fame.

I can't speak highly enough of the music that Springsteen and his group made. I feared that the evening might be a little too heavy on the Kumbaya side for me. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Some songs were downers due to subject matter. But for the most part, the concert was a celebration.

Springsteen was very engaging. He didn't talk too little or too much. He struck just the right amount of verbal interaction with the audience.

Some amusing moments:

--I can't remember exactly how Springsteen managed to say this, but he called the audience members "Wisconsins" before he corrected himself and used the term "Wisconsinites."

--When introducing "Erie Canal," he jokingly spoke of the mule's place in American music and society.

--At about the mid-point of the show, Springsteen commented on the smell of "dope." He said that it needed to be kept away from the horn section. He also said that the effects of the second hand smoke might make it impossible for him to fulfill his "contractual obligations."

--When Springsteen called Pender up to the front of the stage for a trumpet solo, he gave a warning and reassured small children in the audience not to be afraid.

--Springsteen talked about Milwaukee's Polish and German ethnic heritage to introduce a spirited polka-infused version of "Ramrod." He encouraged the audience to get "into it," referring to polka as "your bread and butter."

He reworked some of his old tunes that made them unrecognizable, except for the lyrics.

Personally, I prefer the more haunting arrangement of "Atlantic City" than last night's version. I saw it as a missed opportunity. The great musicians that populated the stage could have made magic with that song.

"Cadillac Ranch," a must-do because of the "Wisconsin night" line, was also dramatically altered.

It would be difficult for me to pick out the night's musical highlight. From the beginning to the end, two and a half hours, Springsteen and company were at the top of their game.

Simply put, it was a great, great night of music. Springsteen has truly done a service by reinvigorating the rich heritage of American folk music and bringing history to life for a new generation.
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Now, let's talk politics.

In general, I would say that there wasn't too much preaching. Springsteen wisely expressed his opinions without letting the blatant partisan attacks overwhelm the show. Still, he did get in his punches and the anti-Bush vibe was strong; but thankfully, he didn't go off on any lengthy explicit rants.

He repeatedly referred to the aftermath of Katrina, clearly blaming the Bush administration for the devastation. That, of course, is simplistic as well as unfair.

Springsteen had no harsh words for the screw-ups by the Louisiana state and local governments and officials; nor did he reference the decades and decades of corruption in Louisiana and the mismanagement of funds.

The sorry state of the levees cannot be blamed on Bush alone. Moreover, it takes years to rebuild after catastrophic natural disasters, especially one as massive as Katrina. I certainly don't mean to make excuses for mistakes that were made at the federal level, but let's be realistic. Let's be intellectually honest. Let's be fair.

Another political moment came when Springsteen was introducing "My City of Ruins." He decided to encourage the audience to "think" about recent efforts in Wisconsin to reinstate the death penalty. He rambled about it being outlawed over a hundred years ago. (The death penalty in Wisconsin was abolished in 1853.) Springsteen snickered that "politics might be involved" in the movement to bring it back. He warned the audience to pay attention to what's going on regarding the death penalty no matter where you stand on the issue, whatever that means.

It was a rather disconnected monologue, though Springsteen was clearly advocating that concertgoers vote against the death penalty when it will come up as a referendum on the November ballot.

I'm against the death penalty. I'm in agreement with Springsteen. I won't be voting to reinstate it. That said, I wish he hadn't brought it up. From my perspective, it was a definite break in the mood that he and the band had created.
Springsteen did the usual Second Harvest Food Bank plug, which I whole-heartedly support. There's nothing politically partisan about feeding the hungry and helping those less fortunate.

Unfortunately, the last song of the night, a beautiful rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In," was given a political lead-in. Springsteen said that the song would explain what they were "trying to do here tonight." He said that he found some verses of the song in a book, verses that aren't typically heard, but ones he considered especially appropriate.

In one of the verses, he sang about a "new world" being revealed. In my interpretation of the song, that "new world" refers to heaven, to eternal life with God. It's not referring to a world without George W. Bush or Republicans, as Springsteen implied. To me, it doesn't mean a world ruled by Hillary Clinton or Russ Feingold.

It's funny. I thought I had been treated to a night of glorious music. I didn't think of it as a political rally or promoting a liberal agenda.

I guess a Springsteen concert can be seen as a Rorschach test. How you interpret the event depends on what you want to see and hear.

To me the message was fantastic music, not politics.