12-12-12 Concert Live Blog

The Concert

It's been a long time since I've seen The Boss live, but I can't miss this one.

Land of Hope and Dreams
I love the way you can sing "People get ready", to this, how good Bruce is at weaving gospel and rock.

Wrecking Ball
The swamps of Jersey -- the ones he's talking about aren't really the ones by the shore, but the ones near Newark, with the Meadowlands rising through them. It's not that we're exactly proud of our pollution, but we don't pretend it doesn't exist.

My city of ruins
I admit, I really like Asbury Park during the down years, when you could actually watch birds there.

Jersey Girl
-- but only a few lines of it

Now Bon Jovi -- to help sing our (barely) unofficial state anthem, Born to Run
I have no idea if I'm embarrassing the kids as I sing along up here, but I. Don't. Care.

Oh Billy Crystal, are you really the best they could do?

Fucking ROGER WATERS
from The Wall, omg

this is actually Chris Christie's anthem: We Don't Need No Education

I hadn't heard this stanza before, or this acoustic-y rendition. And I'll have to look up what's on the screen behind him.

Dark Side of the Moon! "Money" is definitely a theme in NYC, all right.
Unlike some of the other fogeys here, Roger Waters has brought in some younger voices to do what his can't, so his music sounds fresh.

And it does -- this is still glorious.

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, singing Comfortably Numb.

Who's the less-old guitarist with the roses on his guitar?

Halleluja, as reinterpreted in very authentic NY/NJ style. The unofficial motto of New Jersey, after all, is "Sez Who?"

Exit 13 of the Turnpike is indeed the stinkiest location in NJ, everyone knows it.

Bon Jovi: It's My Life
which I just realized has a reference to Frank Sinatra, son of Hoboken.
In 1981-82, I think, I lived in a basement apartment in Hoboken, before it gentrified. I haven't checked, but I'm sure the place was destroyed by Sandy -- it was around 2nd and Bloomfield.

Dead or Alive
damn, he's still got his pipes. That's a guy who must never have been a hard drinker, because he can still hit 'em. Unless he's being autotuned, what do you-all think?

Bruce comes back! to the ritual howling
Duet for "Who Says You Can't Go Home"

Living on a Prayer -- and the audience is pretty good, too!

Jon Stewart, says it's the Best Hannukah Party Ever!

The political subtext here, is that we're not going to have what happened with Katrina, where the rebuilding got rid of a lot of the previous residents.

Eric Clapton, singing a Bessie Smith song, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out", and playing acoustic guitar.

"Got To Get Better In A Little While" -- a song about how it only gets better if you *do* something. And wow, his playing has not lost anything over the years. But that's the secret of the blues -- it's like a whiskey that only gets better with age.

and speaking of the blues: "Crossroads", by Robert Johnson.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones. "You Got Me Rockin"
"Moves like Jagger" *means* something, you pipsqueaks. Although, hm, I think maybe he needs a new hip joint ..

Jumping Jack Flash, doesn't quite have the old flash: the dancing isn't really there anymore, but boy howdy, they can still play. The Sprogs are terrified that Jagger is going to keep stripping ...

Stephen Colbert ILU.

Kanye West, Alicia Keys -- I know this because my kids told me. AND THEY LIED! It was P. Diddy and .. someone. Now Alicia Keys is singing (and she can really sing, and play) "Brand New Me".

The thing about New Yorkers that is maybe most annoying to people from other cities, is that they really, truly believe -- with the certainty of objective fact -- that theirs is the greatest city in the world.

Now she's singing "No One".

The Who! with Who's Next! but the Sprogs ask, were they not on first?

Is Pete Townshend having trouble? Roger Daltry is also maybe in need of some robot joints ... Now they're doing "Bell Boy" with the ghost of Keith Moon.

I take it back, Townshend can still bring it to Pinball Wizard.

... See Me, Feel Me. yes! I actually think this is one of the great rock hymns.

Those poor kids, they only *think* they've heard me sing along before. Baba O'Reilly!!!

Yet more Who: Love Reign O’er Me

I *love* this song, always have. And I guess they had to do a rain song.

Roger Daltry is the least-dressed (and buffest) 60+ guy so far. Maybe he picked up some special tricks when he was on “Highlander”.

"Tea and Theatre" -- huh, a new one on me. I see it's from a concept album about NYC. "The three pursue their own dream: to perform an extraordinary elaboration of their children's play in Central Park in New York that is webcast to the entire world for charity, and during which they demonstrate Ray's idea to 'turn everyone into music'. "

The kids aren't completely impressed with The Who, but as I told them, this was my youth! and they're f!cking geniuses, especially Pete Townshend. But now Sprog the Elder says, "godddd I love these people tho, look at their faces -- I LOVE ENTHUSIASTIC OLD MUSICIANS".

The kids can't tell me what song Kanye is doing, but they agree he's rocking the skirt.
Mah googlage says: Jesus Walks, which is pretty good poetry, even by this white girl's standards.

omg, is this really as good as Saturday Night Live gets these days? Take them out back and shoot them.

Billy Joel, and as Elder Sprog predicted, Miami 2015, slightly modified. We're already betting on New York State of Mind. Both the Sprogs are Joel fans.

But first, Moving Out. And then, yeah, NYSoM. This is one of the great NYC songs, for me: I was just getting to know the city (or, as they say around here, The City) when the album was new.

Now we boogie down along the River of Dreams.

And You May Be Right, I May Be Crazy!

Billy Joel is *such* a New Yorker -- and now it's Only The Good Die Young. It's a very metropolitan song, because it's explicitly about a world where not everyone is the same religion, and we all know about each other's -- at least to some extent. And, as Elder says, despite being a "hey girl have sex w/me" song it's not gross.

Coldplay guy at last! All the youth (that aren't mine) rejoice! First, a song even I have heard, "Viva La Vida". And now he brings out REM dude!!! And they do Losing My Religion, one of my favorite things Kids These Days (or several days ago, actually) like.

"Us Against The World", this one is. Lovely and appropriate.

And now, at last, Sir Paul. Helter Skelter, wow. I didn't realize he was doing this in concert.

"Let Me Roll It", now 1985. My Valentine.

Blackbird. I never knew before that this was a civil rights song. I used to sing it to the babies as a bedtime song.

And now Nirvana comes out to play with him! and I have no idea what that thing Paul's playing is. Or what song that was, though it was pretty good and they all had fun.

Now I Got a Feeling -- but it has to be a duet with John?! How will he do it? random John stand-in, it seems.

Live and Let Die -- and all pyrotechnics breaks lose.

Final bow for the first responders, and I'm for bed ... but Alicia Keys is singing about NYC.

Comments

[Laura Koerbeer]

I love the Boss. On of my all time favortie songs is his cover of Zevon's "My Ride is Here"

But for "Jersey Girl" I go with the Tom Waits version. It's just flat out romantic.

[Ugh]

Eddie Vedder sings the living effing sh1t out if everything and it's generally 100% awesome.

Not that anyone asked or anything.

[cleek]

apparently the MacCartney / Nirvana song is called "Cut Me Some Slack".

[cleek]

:s/Mac/Mc/

[Phil]

It's funny how Roger Waters has become kind of a happy, well-adjusted dude these days, so much so that he's incongruously demonstrative and upbeat when doing songs like "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives" and "Comfortably Numb."

[russell]

zoloft

[Slartibartfast]

He's become comfortably numb, maybe.

[hairshirthedonist]

When I saw The Wall Live this summer, it had a weird "Let's party! Isn't this fun?" vibe mixed in with all the war and dead people stuff. Incongruous is a good word for it.

[master c]

thanks for the run down.....I agree with all it, my kids couldnt be bothered which sucks.