Thursday, June 11, 2009
Bonnaroo Bruce Springsteen at Bonnaroo: What to Expect [Updated]
Posted by Adam Gold on Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Update: The Spin's review of the show is now up, with photos!
My mama once told me that "in every dark cloud there is a silver lining," a saying that rang true as I checked the forecast for this weekend and saw that it will most likely rain throughout our Bonnaroo festivities. I am perhaps the only concert goer who is actually a little bit excited about this prospect, as it drastically improves the chances of Bruce Springsteen playing his fantastic rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop the Rain"--a song he traditionally plays at rainy outdoor gigs, like the one in the video above, taken at a show last week in Stockholm.
As most of you know I am a card-carrying member of the cult of Springsteen, which in these weeks leading up to the boss's Bonnaroo appearance has led many people to ask me what songs they should expect to hear. While Springsteen changes up his set from night to night there is usually some continuity as far as the flow of the show goes. You can expect to hear some catalog staples--songs guaranteed are "Born to Run," "Badlands" and "The Promised Land"--plus at least one or two epics a la "Thunder Road," "Jungleland," "Backstreets" or "Racing in the Street," a '60s cover or two and some up-tempo party rockers. Given these hard economic times, Springsteen has been playing many recession-themed songs on his current tour, including the mid-'80s outtake "Seeds," Nebraska's "Johnny 99," "The Ghost of Tom Joad," "Youngstown" and the recent addition to the repertoire, "The River." The tour premier of "Atlantic City" should be coming any day now.
While Springsteen obviously has a great number of hits in his cannon he--unlike most acts of his ilk--typically doesn't rely on them to dominate his show. For example, in 6 years of going to his shows I've never seen him play "Born in the U.S.A." Songs like "Hungry Heart," "Dancing in the Dark," "Glory Days" and "I'm on Fire" maintain a fairly regular rotation, and there should probably be enough familiar material to keep the casual fans interested. Being that this is a festival appearance, I wouldn't be surprised to hear more hits than usual. Check out the clip above of him opening with "Badlands" at the Pinkpop festival in Holland two weeks ago. In between all these songs will be another half dozen selections culled from Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Born to Run et al. There will also be a handful of selections from the recent records Working on a Dream and The Rising.
Currently Springsteen and his E Street Band are 34 shows into their Working on a Dream tour, and so far 112 songs have been performed--shows typically range from 24-30 songs. A poster by the user name Passiac on the Springsteen fansite Backstreets has compiled a list of all songs performed along with the number and percentage of performances on the tour thus far. I've posted it below, so if you feel so inclined, take a look to see what the chances are of Bruce and the band playing your favorite songs. Also keep in mind that Bruce takes requests, so feel free to bring signs just as long as they're not for songs that suck.
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Actually I'm just the tip of the iceberg, I've seen Springsteen fans who are more frightening than Jame Gumb in their obsession with Bruce.
I heard him play Who'll Stop the Rain in the very dry confines of Municipal Auditorium back in early 1981 or late 1980. It was electrifying.
I also won a bet that night with a New Jersey buddy of mine and hardcore Springsteen devotee, who swore that he never played Because the Night in his shows. I'd told him I'd heard bootleg live versions on FM radio in Austin. Sure enough, he played it.
No "None But the Brave"? (chokes back sobs)
Oh well. A 50-50 shot at "Thunder Road" is better than nothing.
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