BEFORE: Well, tonight's concert film presents me with a problem, a choice to make - do I just stay the course, stick with my Doc Block as it is until August, or do I tear it down and build it back up again using the same bricks? I had said that I would resist all temptation to do that - but Tom Petty makes a guest appearance here, and I just recorded a two-hour concert of his from 2006, which also guest-stars Stevie Nicks (on the duet "Stop Dragging My Heart Around"). This, of course, would allow me to drop in another concert, like one with Fleetwood Mac, maybe "Live in Boston", but my linking choices from there would be limited, the only way back to the chain would be to the "Yacht Rock" film. Then I'd have to re-order everything and separate out the Steven Van Zandt film from the Springsteen films, and sure, there's a way to do it but it would ruin my whole feng shui, I'd also literally be breaking up the Beatles. I'd also have to really cram two more films into my schedule and double-up a couple times, so I'm going to try really hard to not do that. Concert films are great but I want to get back to fiction films sooner rather than later, and I feel like if I use up two more slots on docs then in December I'm going to wish I hadn't done that. So let's just move forward and forget I said anything about this diversion.
Bruce Springsteen carries over from "Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band".
THE PLOT: Edited from the original 16mm reels, this concert film features the band's entire set list from the famous 1979 concert for the first time.
AFTER: Here we go, this is exactly what I wanted to see after so much build-up in yesterday's doc, which spent so much time on rehearsals and the vagaries of travel and all that backstage touchy-feely stuff - man, we just want to rock out! I know, you can only watch so many concert films and these days directors need to find a way to make each one special, and Bruce is getting older, yada yada yada, but screw all that, just play the effing SONGS already. I guess maybe they were also afraid that if they put the whole 2023-2025 concert out as a film, that would affect the number of people who showed up for the live concerts? Like, if it's a movie you can just watch it and then you don't have to pay for a ticket, take a bus out to the stadium, stand in line, sweat your ass off and pay another $50 for a concert t-shirt to prove that you were there and you can wear it the next day to the office when you show up exhausted and late. Plus somebody in the crowd probably stole your wallet so now you've got to get a replacement drivers license and put a hold on all your credit cards, what a nightmare.
Screw all that, we're staying in and staying up late tonight and we're rocking like it's 1979 and Bruce is 30 years old again. He does a riff on that James Brown "I can't do no more" act, but it's not very long before he breaks character and yells at the audience, "I'm only 30 years old!" Ah, those were the days. We're looking back at the glory days tonight (before the song "Glory Days" came out, ironically) and Clarence is still alive, so's Danny, and Nils Lofgren hasn't even joined the band yet! It's ALL thriller and no filler, that's for sure. But we have to back up JUST a bit and explain "No Nukes" first, I think. This was a Woodstock-like event that was organized by MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) and took place in September 1979 at Madison Square Garden (which is actually circular, and also not a garden and not anywhere near Madison Square anymore) and were intended to raise awareness of the dangers of nuclear energy. The line-up included Crosby, Stills & Nash, Doobie Brothers, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, Poco, Chaka Khan and more. There was a 3-LP record compilation released, and just like with "Woodstock", a concert film that kind of chopped up the performances and really only showed the highlights.
The date is significant, because the MUSE group formed shortly after the Three Mile Island near-meltdown incident in March 1979. And really it was FIVE concerts at MSG, plus a rally in Battery Park City. But all we need to know tonight is that it was apparently the FIRST big live concert that Springsteen and his band did, I guess they'd only been playing small clubs and gymnasiums up until that point - but I should probably research that, it doesn't sound possible. But the Springsteen concert was released as its own album, and then in 2021 they made it into a separate concert film, which aired earlier this year as part of the PBS pledge drive, you know that's when they air all the best stuff.
Here's the set-list, again, no filler:
"Prove It All Night"
"Badlands"
"The Promised Land"
"The River" (from the upcoming album at that point)
"Sherry Darling"
"Thunder Road"
"Jungleland"
"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"
"Born to Run"
"Stay"
"Detroit Medley"
"Quarter to Three"
"Rave On"
"Stay", of course, was an old song from the 1950's, and this is where Jackson Browne & Tom Petty joined in. Jackson Browne had put it on his 1977 album "Running on Empty" paired with his song "The Load-Out", which of course is all about packing up after the concert when everyone has gone home, and screw it, maybe let's do one more song. Which is a bit weird because the first line mentions the seats are all empty, so the audience has gone home, so who exactly are you performing this song for? And I bet the roadies DO mind, because they have to load up the trucks so they can drive all night and make it to the show in Chicago. Or Detroit, I don't know. They do so many shows in a row, and maybe sometimes they drive to the wrong city?
And the "Detroit Medley" became a radio staple for Springsteen, it's a combination of "Devil with the Blue Dress", "Good Golly Miss Molly", "C.C. Rider" and "Jenny Take a Ride", all originally from Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. I never really understood the "C.C. Rider" song, Elvis used to cover it too, but it goes all the way back to the Ma Rainey blues days, when it was called "See See Rider". Nobody knows what it was about, then, I just checked.
Anyway, I really needed this - this Doc Block is a marathon, not a sprint and we're not even at the halfway point yet. It's Friday night during a very hot summer, so if you can't get out to a live concert then just open a beer or mix up some margaritas and listen to a Springsteen concert really loud. Or if you can't afford a giant concert there's probably a Springsteen cover band playing somewhere near New Jersey - there's Tramps Like Us, Bruce in the USA, The Boss Project, Bruce Juice, The Human Touch and I think Hank Azaria just started his own, which is called The EZ Street Band. And I have a feeling that somewhere there's just got to be a jazz/swing band that covers the Boss's songs and they call it Bruce Swingsteen.
Directed by David Silver
Also starring Roy Bittan, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Garry Tallent, Steven Van Zandt, Max Weinberg (all carrying over from "Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band"), Jackson Browne (last seen in "The Velvet Underground"), Rosemary Butler, Tom Petty (last seen in "Sound City").
RATING: 7 out of 10 sax solos
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