Who Here has seen The Boss in concert

[Nicks Fan]

Hello

I am attending my first ever Springsteen concert in Ottawa Canada and wanted to know what to expect. How long does he play? Does he play requests from the audience? Also since it is a General Admission show how good / bad is it in terms of lining up? Does his camp do a wrist band policy or is it an early bird gets the worm kind of deal? I am hoping to get him to play my favorite song "I'm on Fire"

Matt

[Betsy]

^^^

I saw him in Denver about 15 years or so ago....the cool thing was that he didn't fill the concert venue...so he brought the cheap seats (the folks in the very last row) way down front. He had the ushers go get them. It was so cool, that it made the TV news. (Our seats were middle class, so we didn't do any moving.)

He was good....so many songs that we recognized....so many memories....

As for how he does it today...sorry that I can't give you any insights...

I did think that it was a classy move to upgrade those seats...

[David]

Originally Posted by Nicks Fan

Hello

I am attending my first ever Springsteen concert in Ottawa Canada and wanted to know what to expect. How long does he play? Does he play requests from the audience? Also since it is a General Admission show how good / bad is it in terms of lining up? Does his camp do a wrist band policy or is it an early bird gets the worm kind of deal? I am hoping to get him to play my favorite song "I'm on Fire"

I have no idea how long his set is these days. I saw him on the River tour in 1980 or 81 & again on the Born in the USA tour in 85. Those shows were all about three-&-a-half to four hours long. They were all immense presentations, epic in scope & profound in mass appeal. He was the Aaron Copland of rock musicians. The E Street Band was one of the three or four greatest in the world.

As for this taking requests from you in the audience, it seems unlikely on the face of it. Have you heard something to suggest that Springsteen does this generally these days?

[elie]

On his website
brucespringsteen.net
you can find the setlists to his rehearsal shows and to his first show of the tour as well.
My husband and I will attend the Paris show on Dec. 17th, if everything goes according to plan!
I am a huge Bruce fan and I really look forward to it!
If you have some time, I will be glad to hear some news from the Ottawa show, NicksFan!

[MacMan]

He's on 60 Minutes this Sunday.... From the preview, you'll get a look at what the show might be like.

[Nicks Fan]

There was a website I found with copies of setlists and for certain shows they had sidenotes where he played a request from the audience. For example at one showon the Rising Tour It mentioned that he played for a woman in the front row "Growin Up". I was just wondering if that is a regular thing or does it depend from show to show.

Matt

[Stew_Matthews]

I managed to catch the great man last night at the United Center. Having enjoyed his wife’s album, I had told the people going along with me that one of the highlights would be Patti Scialfa singing ‘A Town Called Heartbreak’ half way through the set. Whether she knew that I had been a bit rude about her on another site or not, I don’t know, but she didn’t turn up. Bruce said she was with the kids. That and the traffic into Chicago were the only disappointments.

The set list is changing quite a bit now but the show really got going when they hit ‘Reasons To Believe’ and from that track onto the closing ‘Badlands’, the time flew by. Adam Raised A Cain, She’s The One, Backstreets, Cadillac Ranch and The Rising were all there. The E-Street Band sounded excellent and I preferred the concert arrangements of their new material. I realised how much of Roy Bittan’s playing had been lost in the way that Magic had been mixed. In the encores – he did five or six numbers – Girls In Their Summer Clothes was superb the way it was done last night. Last To Die and Long Walk Home arrived one after the other and work really well live. You were left in no doubt about their subject matter.

My personal preference would be to have Stevie’s microphone switched off (that’s Van Zandt – not Nicks). He’s reached an age where he can’t play guitar, dance and sing at the same time. I don’t know what he was singing during Dancing In The Dark but it wasn’t what Bruce was singing. Nils sounded great and filled in with Soozie on Patti’s vocal parts.

The atmosphere was fantastic and most people were on their feet by the time he had finished No Surrender (second song). We’re going back tonight and are in one of the seated sections (we were in the GA bit last night), but I’m pleased that people don’t sit through the show.

If you’re going to see him you’ll love it – but nothing from Tunnel Of Love my favourite album. Maybe tonight?

[Serrart]

Originally Posted by Nicks Fan

Hello

I am attending my first ever Springsteen concert in Ottawa Canada and wanted to know what to expect. How long does he play? Does he play requests from the audience? Also since it is a General Admission show how good / bad is it in terms of lining up? Does his camp do a wrist band policy or is it an early bird gets the worm kind of deal? I am hoping to get him to play my favorite song "I'm on Fire"

Matt

I've seen him twice, one in the Eighties and one in the Nineties, in both occasions the setlist was around 2 hours and a half long.

Romy

[darklinensuit]

I saw him in 1989 for the Amnesty International concert in Philly (with Tracy Chapman, Sting, & Peter Gabriel). Obviously it was not a full set.

- Jake

[Stew_Matthews]

Originally Posted by Stew_Matthews

If you’re going to see him you’ll love it – but nothing from Tunnel Of Love my favourite album. Maybe tonight?

And in fact he actually sang 'Tunnel of Love' last night. Patti had obviously got a baby sitter cos she was back too, looked fabulous and didn't sound too bad.

[GardenStateGirlie]

i went a few weeks ago in philadelphia. while i'm not a huge fan, i can tell you -- he puts on a great show. we saw him rehearsing for a bit -- not sure what the song was but he ended up not even playing it. the show is non-stop and energy packed. i was impressed. highlights for me were for sure the last few songs of the show -- they put the house lights up and played -- it was a surreal experience seeing a sold out crowd rocking out like that.

[skcin]

That is the one concert I regret not going to. He was here 3 times on his last tour with the E Street Band & I didn't make the effort to try to go. Dumb.

[Beachwood Mac]

I've seen Bruuuuuuuce a number of times beginning in 1978 when he played at the Naval Academy. My brother was graduating that year and he got us tickets. Each show has been packed full of energy and, best of all, different songs added to the sets throughout the tour.

I hope he adds dates because both shows at the LA Sports Arena are sold out. Hopefully he'll add the Pond or Staples Center if he's not trecking south to San Diego.

I've downloaded quite a few shows from this tour so far and even though he's older he still has it.

[LiamMcConville]

Originally Posted by Beachwood Mac

I've seen Bruuuuuuuce a number of times beginning in 1978 when he played at the Naval Academy. My brother was graduating that year and he got us tickets. Each show has been packed full of energy and, best of all, different songs added to the sets throughout the tour.

I hope he adds dates because both shows at the LA Sports Arena are sold out. Hopefully he'll add the Pond or Staples Center if he's not trecking south to San Diego.

I've downloaded quite a few shows from this tour so far and even though he's older he still has it.

Could you post a live version of New York Serenade?

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by LiamMcConville

Could you post a live version of New York Serenade?

He's played NYC Serenade only something like eight times in the last 30+ years- and I think only once on the Rising tour.

At least he plays Incident every dozen shows or so.