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Bruce Springsteen General Discussion Thread
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we wernt dancing in the dark anyway when the house lights came on
:p:p:p
id be amazed if the tours europe late 2016/spring 2017 supporting his rumoured new solo album. He might release the album before christmas and similar to this tour he mite tour US venues in the winter/spring and then hit a few euro cities in the summer or take the summer off and tour europe autumn 2017.0 -
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Outlaw Pete wrote: »
Oh and they put the feckin houselights on again last night as soon as it started to get remotely dark. What the hell is that all about. Only really ever seen that happen at indoor gigs when a band is going over the curfew and it's the venue's way of saying get off the stage (Pearl Jam @ The Point for example).
All the talk of the house lights on reminded me of PJ, good to see I wasn't the only one. Yep, once PJ go over the curfew which happens regularly, the house lights come up for the last few songs. Even when they don't go over the curfew, Eddie asks for the lights up often so that he can see everyone for the last few songs. It's tradition and expected to be experiencing at least the closing song at a PJ show with the house lights up.
However, if it isn't the norm at a Bruce show or any other show, I could see it being distracting. It would for me momentarily anyway. From my reading of the thread, the house lights came on quite early in Croker? Does anyone know if this happened for any of the gigs there last year? Unless it's a new safety precaution employed by the stadium, then it's at the request of the performer, in this case Bruce.
Could be possible that at this point in his career, he simply wants to see the faces of his audience as much as possible. Looking out from a lit stage into a darkened audience, with a spotlight on you, you can't see anything. It's like staring into a void, a very loud, roaring void in The Boss's case. Turning on the house lights negates this. In my opinion, either Croke Park has a new policy installed, or Bruce just wanted to see all you beautiful people. Even the ones retching when Bono came out
EagererBeaver wrote: »Unless they spend three hours screeching and roaring at the top of their voices, they're highly unlikely to distract you enough to prevent you from hearing a song.
People whinging about it are as bad as the "ssssh!" lads at rugby matches.
Very general statement there which goes against the reality of each person's own experience at gigs. Ssshhers in many cases rank down there with olé-olérs for me at most events, but from my experience and evidently that of others there are people who would be clearly better off just going to the pub with their mates for the night.
A prime example of this for me happened at Fleetwood Mac in 2013 in the then O2. Standing among us near the front of the stage was a group of 5-6 middle-aged women who had no more interest in watching 95% of the concert than they would in watching a shít football match. Fine, that's no problem up to this point. It's when during each song, the quiet ones, the stories between songs, where they are shouting at the top of their voices in conversation that this becomes a problem for those who want to enjoy the actual show. I mean, you can't discern Stevie Nicks and Lyndsey Buckingham's words out of a wall of line-array speakers from 20 feet away because of this.
They were clearly having a catch-up, and about 70 of us in the crowd around them were privy to this catch-up. They had a young relative with them who would get sent to the bar and back to supply the drinks. Each time he would have to shuffle by us to get back to them near the front with a tray of drinks. That's cool, people do that at gigs, but I'm saying this to convey that the group were purely out on a session, and not for the concert.
Before 'Landslide', a gem of a tune and a well known one, Stevie Nicks was telling an anecdote about how the song came about. One of the offending group randomly shouted out, with her back turned to the stage "Just sing something Stevie". It was at this point, many heads turned in their direction and they got some STFU comments. Still though, by the second verse of Landslide they were back to their own party, completely detached from the concert, not even singing along.
Finally when the concert came to the last few songs, the group joined the rest of us at it and faced the stage when FM played 'Go Your Own Way'. During the night, they noticeably pissed off quite a few around them. I wasn't even right beside them, they were a couple rows closer to the stage than where I was. In this section, you'd expect people/fans who want to take part in the concert and who would have a respect for, if not the fellow punters around them, the artists onstage. Out on the fringes of the standing section, that's where you'd expect transient movers, lads doing origami with their bodies, groups of friends dancing in circles in their own world etc. This group didn't even belong there. I don't know why they didn't just get a few bottles of wine, stay at home and put on a CD. How they managed to fully enjoy that catch-up with all of us trying to enjoy a concert and some musicians making noise around them, I'll never know.
Translate that to being stuck beside similar while Bruce played 'Independence Day' or something like that yesterday. I wasn't there but by some accounts there were a lot of people at the gig who have no interest in hearing or partaking in the majority of a concert, just going for the sesh. You get some people like this at concerts all around the world, but I find that in Ireland especially we go to town on this. We are event junkies, and a popular concert like Bruce and the E Street in Croke Park will attract many of them. No problem in theory - You don't have to be a hardcore fan or even any level of fan to go to a concert, I myself found quite a few 'new' bands by going to the gig just knowing a song or two, and coming away from the experience with the intention of buying some albums. It's when the reality comes down to the sight of many people, younger and older, passed out, vomiting, using stable structures to hold themselves up, all while the main artist is playing a blinder onstage. This is unfortunately there to see at many popular outdoor concerts in Ireland, not just Bruce over the weekend. Bon Jovi in Slane a few years back is a notable example of this, hell, any artist in Slane any year is a notable example of this.
From my own experience of gigs here, the U.K., various countries around Europe and a few states in the U.S., the use of a concert as an excuse to solely go and get hammered is unfortunately very prevalent here. The crowd in the 3 Arena last Thursday night for Hans Zimmer were among the best and most respectful I've experienced, to thankfully say something positive, but it's like chalk and cheese. The outdoor concerts with mainstream artists, especially those with a long wait at the venue or with a few support bands before the main artist (i.e. lots of time to get tanked), create an attractive vibe for people to go on an all-day session, whether they can handle it or not, even if their only choice is warm bottles of Carlsberg flung out of a rucksack for €6.
In many instances, it's easy for fans just to walk past/over the human debris and of course there are a few unfortunate fans among the debris who did go to enjoy the concert, but just drank too much beforehand (I was there once
) However when it genuinely detracts from others experience of the concert which is the reason most go in the first place, it is okay to point out and wonder why some go just to end up in a heap. Those of them who remain vertical and find their way into the front of the crowd more often than not end up píssing people off, even if those people are trying their hardest to focus on the concert and are really not looking for something to get upset about.
At a concert like Bruce, Fleetwood Mac, Pearl Jam, where there are quiet moments and poignant songs and stories to enjoy, it can get distracting all too easily when there's a person or group in their own world doing their best to talk over the amplified sounds for a prolonged period.0 -
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Before 'Landslide', a gem of a tune and a well known one, Stevie Nicks was telling an anecdote about how the song came about. One of the offending group randomly shouted out, with her back turned to the stage "Just sing something Stevie". It was at this point, many heads turned in their direction and they got some STFU comments. Still though, by the second verse of Landslide they were back to their own party, completely detached from the concert, not even singing along.
Surprised she even knew her name !
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