Orel Family

Just before 5pm last night, I left my office in downtown Detroit. I wasn't quite sure where I was going... But then I pointed the car south and realized, "I can be in Cleveland by 8!" And that was all I needed to cap off my birthday week. There would be friends at the show, if I could find them. Dinner? That could wait until 2am. Who cares, when the shows are this compelling? I bought a ticket on the street (another personal first) and made my way in. But not before being wanded. My new point&shoot? Busted! Ah, well, who cares, when the shows are this amazing? Finally, the lights went up. As at Madison Square Garden a week earlier, Bruce and the band came out as fully lit Marlboro Men... err... gunslingers, as the theme from The Magnificent Seven blared over the house speakers. The band tore in to "Badlands" to open the show. If there was a theme to last night's show, I'd put it at about, "rock the goddamned house down....

(It's My Birthday Too, Yeah!) This review originally appeared at http://www.backstreets.com/setlists.html Friday night, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band completed the back end of the Detroit/Buffalo two-pack. Thursday evening's show in Auburn Hills set a pretty high bar, with classics such as "Incident on 57th Street" complementing flawless versions of new songs such as "Rocky Ground." Friday's show at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo cleared the bar, with room to spare. Let's get one thing straight: These shows aren't possible. I just don't know how else to put it. Yes, as Bruce puts it in the main set's penultimate song, our bodies may betray us in the end. And, I get it: he can't promise us life everlasting. But he is delivering life, right now. He's on that hill with everything he's got. And the really good news is, he's got a lot. The E Street Band is tighter than ever. Max Weinberg ...

Bruce Springsteen’s appearance at the Palace Thursday night neatly corresponded with my 50th birthday. How nice, I told friends, for Bruce to think of me that way! OK, it wasn’t exactly my birthday, that wasn’t until the 13th. But close enough. I thought of things to make the day extra memorable, bucket list items. And one of them was to get a photo pass to a Bruce Springsteen show. I’ve taken pictures before, both when allowed – see http://ypsilantibruce.shutterfly.com/ -- and, not so much allowed – see http://mattorel.blogspot.com/2011/11/good-night-its-all-right-pittsburgh.html . The Pittsburgh show last November was traumatic, when I realized just how far I had to go as a photographer. I saw that Backstreets Magazine was getting credentials, and that occasionally old friends of mine were involved. So, as a (very occasional) Backstreets contributor, I put in an inquiry to its editor, Chris Phillips. In the meantime, Aaron, now 15, decided he likes Wrecking Ball, ...

Elianna had a writing assignment for her Hebrew class over the weekend. She produced a beautiful booklet detailing activities she loves (some of them hypothetical). She tried to write that she loves to dress in flower-girl costumes and take pictures of butterflies... but she left out a couple letters, and got a couple other letters slightly wrong. It came out as, I worship cows and roast butterflies. (As an example, the hebrew word for flower, פרח, very closely resembles -- to a native English speaker, anyway -- the word for cow, פרה). I try to avoid helping with the homework, but I made a bit of an exception this time. To the left is the back cover of the finished product; the silver glitter paper having defeated the scanner, it looks almost blue here. I haven't determined when we might have the butterfly roast.