Orel Family

I was a college freshman when  The River  was released. It was the first record I remember buying for my own turntable, to play through my own receiver, and to hear on my own speakers. I still have that turntable, that receiver, and those speakers, too, and I still use them regularly. Felt like the best $150 I ever spent… until tonight's show in Cleveland, more or less. The ticket I bought to my first show on the original River tour was $12.50, tax included. I still have the stub, too. That first show, Bruce played "Independence Day" and introduced its meaning to him, about talking to his dad late at night: "I never once asked him what he was thinking about... and later I realized that what he was doing every night was, he was sitting there dreaming... but what happened to him was... he didn't have the strength any more, or the power to begin to make any of the things that he was dreaming about real." And  that  felt so real to me.  Now I know the thi...

Last night in Pittsburgh Bruce Springsteen concluded more than two years of touring by performing with Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers at Soldiers and Sailors Hall. While we never know where Bruce might show up, this seems to be the end of scheduled dates, at least for a while. Bruce came on stage at 9pm in his plaid shirt for his initial mini-acoustic set, as the audience lit up in the collected glow of hundreds of cell phones trying to capture the moment. His first song, "Further On (Up the Road)," delivered slowly and sung low, drove home the point: This is it. For a while. Racing in the Street '78 Bruce said, after that first song, "it's always nice to come to Pittsburgh and try something I haven't tried before." He added that every song writer is good for about 2 or 3 songs their whole lives, that "Cadillac Ranch" and "Darlington County" are really the same song, and that "it works if you refresh and rewrite the...

Sometimes, you might just need a fix. That was the first of Bruce Springsteen's two shows with Joe Grushecky here in Pittsburgh. Other times... other times, you might hope for something more than just a fix. You don't quite know what it is, just that you'll know it when it happens. And when it does, you just say, this is what I came for. That was the second of Bruce Springsteen's two shows with Joe Grushecky in Pittsburgh. Last night, Bruce Springsteen went to a dark and mysterious place, and drew forth something truly stunning. That he was "on" for this performance was evident right from the start, when he guested with the opening act, The Composure, for a hard driving version of "Dancing in the Dark." Unlike the first night, this time the auditorium was mostly full for the guest show. And, as we soon found out, he was just barely warming up. The show structure was nominally the same as the first night: Guest with the warmup act, short acou...

After a year of no Springsteen concerts, coming to Pittsburgh to see him play with Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers was a bit akin to getting a fix. Everything seemed exciting coming in. The Pennsylvania hills were as beautiful as any landscape painting I've ever seen, and of course the Sailor and Soldiers Hall in Pittsburgh is a gem. Having seen Bruce play with Grushecky 3 times previously over the past 16 years, I pretty much knew what to expect: Bruce taking lead on most songs, plenty of guitar work and good fun, a bunch of hits, mostly Bruce's, with occasional Grushecky favorites thrown in and perhaps a surprise or two. That, of course, was precisely what the show delivered. The good news in the show was Bruce's form. His voice was clear and strong, and he shared it happily. I had to remind myself a couple of times that he has passed his 62nd birthday. His guitar work was even better. He took extended solos over and over again. And over again. And then some m...

Having not seen a Springsteen show since the end of the last E Street Band tour nearly a year ago, I figured I'd make it through a year without a show for the first time in this century. But then Joe Grushecky announced a pair of shows in Pittsburgh with his "special guest" to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the American Babylon album, and... I decided I needed a fix. Springsteen and Grushecky have played several shows together before. In October, 1995, they played a mini-tour of 6 shows; we saw the last one in Chicago. At that show, Bruce made his appearance 3 songs in to the set, and as I wrote at the time, "After the first verse [of Bruce's first song], it's clear that this is now Bruce's band. " In 2004, Bruce joined Joe for a charity concert labeled "Flood Aid" at Heinz in Pittsburgh. That time, it was more of a Grushecky show, but I noted two things: 1) "No security whatsoever"; 2) "As Bruce took the stage... th...