064/ Reconciliation on E Street
Springsteen releases a half-hour chunk of his Manchester show to YouTube. A few days ago he went viral worldwide for his talky bits at this gig about Trump’s America, which triggered a full-on Trump meltdown.
The comments are pointedly included in this collection of highlights, in fact they form the framing for the songs chosen.
Springsteen’s talky bits feel scripted and they were certainly prepared with thought, not just off-the-cuff. No, it’s not exactly Kneecap — Springsteen is always careful and mainstream and built on classic American ‘working man’ uplift schtick — this doesn’t go anywhere near the culture war. Yet Trump’s tantrum-level reaction (and hilarious threats to launch an ‘investigation’) fed the fire online. And so, un-phased, Springsteen slips comfortably back into his long-held role as an authoritative, measured iteration of the progressive ‘protest’ artist.
Having fallen out of love with him through the past half-decade (and especially since, just a couple of Double Chorus newsletters ago, I wrote negatively about his underwhelming ‘new’ old material) I need to be fair and share that watching this clip went a way towards a (kind of) reconciliation for me.
It goes without saying: this choreographed juggernaut of veteran musicians (using greatly expanded personnel and all the tricks of modern music technology to keep the show on the tracks) is nothing whatsoever like the incredible, visceral, literally peerless E Street Band we grew up with. I’ll never thrill to his work like I did. Also, for no good reason, I totally bloody hate singers wearing waistcoats. They trigger me like the cajon triggers me. No, no, no. At least Bruce’s doesn’t stay on the whole night, he’s down to a shirt and loosened tie for the closing third, which is a relief.
But in all seriousness: oh, what a dignified, unflappable, deeply humane soul concert this is.
How smart to open with ‘Land Of Hope And Dreams’ that references Dylan’s ‘Chimes Of Freedom’, then close two, three hours later with a cover of that song. Many years ago (1988) it was the closing song on Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now! world tour that Springsteen headlined, with Sting, Peter Gabriel, Youssou N’Dour and Tracy Chapman. Obviously, Trump and other twenty-first century horrors are giving Springsteen and his group a renewed sense of purpose, which can be very powerful. Of course I’d wish for them to be more outspoken (especially Steve Van Zandt, back then an architect of Artists Against Apartheid, given parallels between Sun City, which he wrote so brilliantly and passionately on and, say, Tel Aviv forty years later). Still, I loved this chiming for freedom a lot.
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On a parallel note, I wonder: yesterday, did Bruce Springsteen get to meet Charli XCX, when she won her Ivor Novello Songwriter Of The Year? He was in the audience, there to present an award to the Flowers chap from The Killers. Charli did a smartly targeted, self-deprecating joke, comparing her lyrics to ‘Club Classics’ to Bob Dylan. Oh yeah and Springsteen has covered Lorde in the past, so they have her in common too.
You’d hope, wouldn’t you. I’m waiting for that Insta.
icymi —
• I’m doing a rare-ish DJ set of folk-ish material in support of the great vocal trio Young Uns at the Komedia Theatre, Brighton, on Wednesday 28th May.
• This’ll be super fun: Five Years of Folklore, a celebration of Taylor Swift going folkie, various singers perform the album in full, corralled by Roxanne de Bastion. It’s at The Green Note on Thursday 24th July.
• Important new community music campaign Perfect Pitch, based in south London and run by Brixton Hill Studios, launches on 12th July with a free open day.
• Brian Eno’s open letter to Microsoft (via Instagram).
• Fascinating to watch Miley Cyrus try to contain her spiky, ferocious chaos energy and bottle it into a silky, soaring ballad on telly. This is ‘More To Lose’ on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show. It’s excellent — yet it contains such intense conflict of energy. The backing is hazy (near soporific) like War On Drugs, while she itches and blasts in bursts. Worth watching the interview segment as well. Cyrus is a compelling character, and what a singer. I still think an all out heavy, heavy rock album (like, Slayer heavy, not emo) from her would be golden and her vocals could cope.
• Sugababes cover Lorde’s new song ‘What Was That’ in R1’s Live Lounge.
• Inevitably now, a US television debut for Wednesday on Colbert’s Late Show, doing ‘Elderberry Wine’.