All Bruce Springsteen

The Springsteen Information Center Thanks Josh Hathaway and Blinded By Sound

It had to end some time, didn’t it?

These setlists have gotten long, epic, and filled with good time rockers and a few surprises. There was nowhere to go but down after a great show in Frankfurt on this Wrecking Ball tour and we found the brickwall in Cologne, Germany tonight.

I’m going to dish out plenty of blame for Bruce for this but we’re going to start with the real enemy: BruceFan. With great power comes great responsibility, something BruceFan fails to grasp at nearly every turn. These sign requests were a golden opportunity to goad Springsteen into playing songs he forgets because he’s stupid or stubbornly refuses to play because he hates us.

The part of the equation we forgot is too many BruceFans are also stupid and that’s how you get some dumbass dragging a giant piece of posterboard with “American Land” written on it. This is why those of us who use our nostrils for respiration can’t have nice things. Of course that’s the sign he picked! Of course he played it!

If I’d seen that dipshit carrying that sign into the stadium, I’d have put a stop to it and can you believe the cops would have put me in jail? In a civilized world, I’d show the cops the sign and they’d pull out their billy clubs and continue administering the assbeating I initiated, but no. They’d arrest me so instead I have to listen to “There Are No Cats In America and the streets are paved with cheese” instead of, you know, “Zero & Blind Terry” or “Racing In The Streets.”

Now it’s time to yell at Bruce for the rest of this setlist and the counts on his indictment begin with song one, “No Surrender.” He thought I’d let him get away with “Darlington County” if he played a little of the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women” in the intro and he thought wrong. Add another count to the indictment. “Working On The Highway” is never acceptable. Felony. I’m beside myself. I can believe it but I can’t permit it.

In spite of the carnage, he did manage to put a few good ones in over the course of 29-songs because he’s got too many great songs to completely go over the ledge (I think). We get “Atlantic City” and “Spirit In The Night.” We get “Radio Nowhere” and “Night.”

This is your Cologne, Germany setlist and you are welcome to it…

1. No Surrender 2. Two Hearts 3. We Take Care of Our Own 4. Wrecking Ball 5. The Ties That Bind (sign request) 6. Death to My Hometown 7. My City of Ruins 8. Spirit in the Night 9. The E Street Shuffle 10. Jack of All Trades 11. Atlantic City 12. Darlington County [w/ "Honky Tonk Women" intro] 13. Night 14. Working on the Highway 15. Shackled and Drawn 16. Waitin’ on a Sunny Day 17. Apollo Medley 18. The River 19. The Rising 20. Radio Nowhere 21. We Are Alive 22. Land of Hope and Dreams

Encores

23. Born in the U.S.A. 24. Born to Run 25. Hungry Heart 26. Seven Nights to Rock 27. Dancing in the Dark 28. American Land (sign request) 29. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out

When I am not posting on the Springsteen Information Center, I promote and produce open mic nights at local bars and coffee shops.  When I got started I bought equipment I could afford.  I would use different low end mics that weren’t a match in any way.  Each had a different voice.  My mixers were also on the low end of the gear spectrum.  Don’t get me wrong, they were good for what I was doing, but was it the best I could offer the performers who graced my stages?  Regardless of their ability, I wanted to give them the best situation in which to perform.  The first upgrade was a high end JBL PA and a Bose LI-2 and Bose LI Compact. Each would be used depending on the facility.  I also replaced the mixers with Mackie Mixers.  Then came the microphones.  Which microphones to choose from?  About that time I had also received a call from Austin, one of the consultants from Sweetwater, the internet music store for all that is music gear.  I explained that I was looking to up-grade my microphones. He asked what my budget was?  I told it it depended on the microphone.  If it was good enough I would find a way to purchase them.  I asked what he thought would be a good mic for my situation.  He didn’t hesitate, Blue Encore 200′s.   He had just finished a microphone seminar and based on performance and price point, they performed better than any other mic on the market.  This included Shure 58′s, Sennheiser e 935, Beyerdynamic M 69 TG’s, which were all more expensive, but go to mics for many of the worlds top acts.  He felt that the Blue encore 200′s were not only a better buy, but a better performing microphone.  Well, I bought a bunch of them and Austin was correct.  I got nothing but great reviews from the performers and the audiences.  Everyone was complimenting me on my sound, even with my poor mixing abilites.  Even I have never sounded so good, believe that should tell you a lot.  They are well built, heavy duty and can stand the rigors of touring.  They are now my go to microphone for any show I put on.  I found this article and low and behold, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay and Jay-Z  also understand the magic, this series of microphones can perform. I realize that Bruce Springsteen is probably not an endorser for Blue Microphones, but here is someone who will go to any lengths to get the right equipment to create the different sounds and tones he creates.  For his home studio and any studio he ends up recording at Blues seem to be center stage!  If he likes Blue Microphones, who am I to disagree!  Its great to learn that great minds think alike!

The Springsteen Information Center wants to Thank Karen A. Frenkel who is a Bloomberg Businessweek Contributor.

For more than a decade, Blue Microphones focused on a rarefied market. The Westlake Village (los Angeles County) audio equipment manufacturer made expensive analog microphones for professional recording studios and renowned artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay and Jay-Z.

Then, in 2005, it introduced a retro-looking digital microphone for $99, about one-third the price of its analog models, hoping to appeal to musicians editing and distributing their songs themselves. The new microphone’s big breakthrough: its USB plug.

Strong word of mouth

Being able to connect to a computer’s USB port meant users didn’t have to rely on built-in mikes, which aren’t designed for recording. Without advertising, word of mouth exploded, and Blue Microphones released a similar model for $150.

The microphones, available in Apple stores, Best Buy and other retailers, have helped the company sell 750,000 of the devices, says Blue Microphones’ CEO John Maier, a 20-year veteran of the music hardware industry.

Sales remain strong, he said, as “the way people communicate and create content becomes more and more democratized.”

To maintain growth, the 38-employee company is trying to distinguish its popular digital consumer microphones, called the Snowball and the Yeti, from about 40 others introduced in the past three years by competitors Sennheiser and Samson Technologies.

Samson last year unveiled three mikes with similar retro aesthetics and playful names, the Meteor Mic, the GoMic, and the G-Track.

This summer, Blue Microphones plans to introduce the Tiki, the first USB mike with software that mimics human hearing.

The idea is to make it easier to hear people during conversations on Skype and FaceTime. For them, “built-in mikes and speaker systems on laptops and desktops increasingly don’t seem to fit the bill,” said Deloitte’s U.S. technology, media, and telecommunications leader Eric Openshaw. External “mike alternatives seem to be a better proposition for many.”

Rather than build a “dumb mike” that can’t determine what is human voice and what isn’t, and write software for a computer to control it, Maier says, his engineers used artificial intelligence to distinguish human sound from background noise.

No lags or pauses

Another first: When the user stops speaking or singing, the mike mutes itself. When the user resumes talking, the mike transmits audio within 20 milliseconds, a gap so small most humans can’t recognize it, so it doesn’t cause lags or pauses the way other microphones do.

At this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show, people representing a handful of brands came by asking about using Tiki for built-ins for cars and computers, says Maier.

Blue Microphones may for the first time license its technology, he said, aping Intel’s lucrative “Intel Inside” campaign to build awareness of its brand with “Blue Mic Tech Inside” labels on the equipment.

Blue Microphones is also trying to crank up sales in foreign markets.

Last year, Blue Microphones’ international business grew by 38 percent and revenue hit $19.5 million, Maier said. This year he estimates about $27 million in revenue, with about 20 percent from overseas sales.

Karen A. Frenkel is a Bloomberg Businessweek contributor.

Proud papa Bruce Springsteen snaps a photo while son Evan James and some 4,400 other Boston CollegeEagles receive undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Heights’ 136th commencement ceremonies yesterday.

ABC newsman Bob Woodruff, who suffered a critical brain injury while reporting on the war in Iraq, addressed the grads. He received an honorary degree along with Channel 4 newswoman-turned-minister Liz Walker; the Rev. Joseph A. Appleyard, SJ; Intuit chairman William V. Campbell; and BC grad Navyn A. Salem, who founded Providence-based Edesia, a nonprofit that manufactures peanut-based food to combat malnutrition in the Third World. On Commencement Eve, Evan, the Boss and wife Patti Scialfa, and other family members joined his pals and their rels in a private room at the Beacon Street Tavern for a low-key send-off to their college days.

http://bcove.me/5cy6licm

Here is the summary of the Bruce Springsteen Frankfurt Show last night.  You will also find the Setlist for the  Bruce Springsteen Frankfurt Show .  The Bruce Springsteen Frankfurt Show was over 3 hours long and They played 30 songs.  There were Eight tour premiers at the  Bruce Springsteen Frankfurt Show.  I hope you enjoy reading about the  Bruce Springsteen Frankfurt Show.  Makes you kind of wish you were there!  The Springsteen Information Center Thanks Stan Goldstein and The Star-Ledger

You best have worn some sensible shoes if you were in Frankfurt tonight with the E Street Band! Bruce Springsteen has been reaching back to the days of yore on this European stretch and tonight’s setlist clocked in at nearly 3 1/2 hours and 30 songs. Can you dig that? I knew that you could!

Let’s take a look at the particulars… I love the three-song stretch early in the show of “My City Of Ruins,” “Spirit In The Night,” and “E Street Shuffle.” There is another strong trio with “Youngstown,” “Darkness On The Edge Of Town,” and “Johnny 99″ which gets killed when he throws in “Working On The Highway.” I wish I understood why he can’t forget that one and “Lonesome Day,” which was back tonight. I do, however, love “The River” and “The Rising” back to back. What an emotional punch those two songs are. I actually quite like “Lonesome Day” and it would fit well in with those if he didn’t play it so fucking often.

The encore is where things got fast and loose and made the whole thing a lot of fun. “Sherry Darling” isn’t my favorite River tune but it made its tour premiere sandwiched between “Cadillac Ranch” and “Glory Days,” meaning we get three really fun songs on the heels of “Born To Run” and “Born In The USA.” I love that. “Cadillac Ranch” should be played as often as “Lonesome Day” is; I just can’t hear it often enough. It’s a shame tonight is the first time it has been played all tour but what a way to premiere it! Brilliant!

Buy now on Amazon.com

New songs, warhorses, fun songs, rock songs- this is a pretty crazy stadium set list. I’d like a little more on the rarity and intensity scale but, seriously, this would have been a killer show and my throat and legs would have been shot after this one. I get tired just looking at it. The band got a few days off to rev up for this one (although it wasn’t as relaxing a stand for Stevie Van Zandt, who lost his mother this past week. Our condolences, Stevie) and they went straight for the throat. Can you imagine if he brings these epic shows to Fenway and Wrigley Field this summer? Stick around folks, this could get good.

1. Badlands
2. We Take Care of Our Own
3. Wrecking Ball
4. Out in the Street
5. Death To My Hometown
6. My City of Ruins
7. Spirit in the Night
8. E Street Shuffle
9. Jack of all Trades
10. Youngstown
11. Darkness on the Edge of Town
12. Johnny 99
13. Working on the Highway
14. Shackled and Drawn
15. Waiting on a Sunny Day
16. Summertime Blues
17. The Promised Land
18. The River
19. The Rising
20. Lonesome Day
21. We Are Alive
22. Thunder Road ### ### ###
23. Rocky Ground
24. Born in the USA
25. Born To Run
26. Cadillac Ranch (SIGN)
27. Sherry Darling (SIGN)
28. Glory Days (SIGN)
29. Dancing in the Dark
30. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out

Thanks to By Stan Goldstein and The Star-Ledger

After a week off, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band resumed their European tour with a 30-song, three-hour-and-21-minute show at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, Germany on Friday night.  Timewise, it was the longest show so far this tour.

Fans were treated to an incredible encores of eight  songs, including three sign requests:  “Cadillac Ranch,” Sherry Darling” (both tour premieres) and “Glory Days,” played for only the second time this tour.

The main set featured the tour premiere of :”Summertime Blues.”

Show began at 8:06 p.m. (six hour time difference from New Jersey)

Set list: 1. Badlands 2. We Take Care of Our Own 3. Wrecking Ball 4. Out in the Street 5. Death To My Hometown 6. My City of Ruins 7. Spirit in the Night 8. E Street Shuffle 9. Jack of all Trades 10. Youngstown 11. Darkness on the Edge of Town 12. Johnny 99 13. Working on the Highway 14. Shackled and Drawn 15. Waiting on a Sunny Day 16. Summertime Blues (tour premiere) 17. The Promised Land 18. The River 19. The Rising 20. Lonesome Day 21. We Are Alive 22. Thunder Road

Encores: 23. Rocky Ground 24. Born in the USA 25. Born To Run 26. Cadillac Ranch (sigh request, tour premiere) 27. Sherry Darling (sign request, tour premiere) 28. Glory Days (sign request) 29. Dancing in the Dark 30. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out

Show over at 11:27 p.m.

Next show: Sunday at Rhein-Energie Stadium in Cologne, Germany.

Follow Stan Goldstein on twitter @Stan_Goldstein

We thank Dave Lifton and Ultimate Classic Rock

http://youtu.be/6emD2Jb6y8Y

While giving the keynote at SXSW in Austin on March 15, Springsteen spoke of the influence of the Animals and sang a verse and chorus of their hit, ‘We Gotta Get Out of This Place.’ Springsteen admitted that its tale of working class desperation was responsible for “every song I’ve ever written.”

Unbeknownst to Springsteen, Eric Burdon happened to be in Austin at the time. He heard what Springsteen said (through the “Tweeterverse,” as Bruce said) and made his way down to the Moody Theater, where Springsteen was performing that night. It takes a while for Burdon to find the key, and his voice is nowhere near what it was in the 1960s, but the impromptu nature of this “punk meets the godfather” moment warrants its high spot on our list.

Thanks to Dave Lifton and the Ultimate Classic Rock

These songs, also from ‘Tracks,’ were so far off the radar that nobody could have predicted their inclusion on any setlists. ‘Lion’s Den,’ performed on April 6 at Madison Square Garden, has only been played three other times, with its last appearance coming in 2000. The soul-tinged song proved to be a good spotlight for the new five-piece horn section and gave an opportunity for saxophonist Ed Manion to have a solo.

http://youtu.be/01QBEnImkXM

The inclusion of ‘Bishop Danced’ on May 2 was such a shock that it warranted a story all its own when it happened. It hadn’t been performed since March 1973, before the E Street Band technically existed, and had never been recorded in the studio (the ‘Tracks’ version was a live take). When introducing the song, Springsteen said that he decided to do it because it was his first time playing Newark’s Prudential Center and wanted to do something that the band had never performed before.

While these would never make anybody’s list of their favorite Springsteen songs, sometimes the combination of the amazed looks from the hardcore fans and the puzzled looks from the casual ones is enough to make a concert moment special.

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/01QBEnImkXM” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

It’s difficult to fault The Boss for taking a lo-fi, lower cost approach to video making considering what a video can cost and the dwindling number of outlets actually airing them. It’s not a novel approach but the combination of the images and words are quietly effective if you like the song. It’s not one of my favorites from a new record I’m a little less than in love with. It’s better than another video of 29 people lipsynching on stage and it’s not without any aesthetic merit but it’s not special, either.

So here it is…the world premiere of Bruce Springsteen’s “Rocky Ground” video. Have a look and tell us what you think.

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/qPmIIXXv0d8” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>