Orel Family

Jay-Z, Barrack Obama and Bruce Springsteen. Columbus, November 5, 2012.  A few days ago, I read an article posted on the  Rolling Stone  website. Springsteen producer Ron Aniello was talking about Bruce's latest album,  High Hopes . Talking about how the project began, Aniello said, "I remember that Bruce called me on my birthday, so it was December 9th, 2012. He said to me, 'I have some songs. I want to get together.'" Aniello went on to talk about how Bruce tends to work, and how the process unfolded. I keyed in on the date. On November 4, 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected to his first term as President of the United States. The next evening, Bruce introduced  Badlands  by saying, "I don't know what you guys think about what happened last night but I think it's pretty frightening. You guys are young, there's gonna be a lot of people depending on you coming up so this is for you." The song performance, without the spoken introduction...

On the final day before the 2012 presidential election, Bruce Springsteen appeared along with Jay-Z in support of President Obama at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. This was Bruce’s second of three campaign appearances in support of Obama on this Monday, and his sixth overall. It also marked a return for Bruce to Ohio, where he made his first 2012 campaign appearance in support of Obama on October 18th. Thousands filed in early, enthusiastically cheering a variety of songs on the P.A. including Bruce’s “We Take Care of Our Own” (a song that has taken on dramatic new meaning in the days since Hurricane Sandy). When Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” came on, the lower bowl became a dance party. Due to substantial security measures outside the arena, including closure of major roads and garages closest to the venue as well as security checks on the way inside, the arena was slow to fill. I made it in just minutes before the scheduled start time, and arriving right alongside m...

Forward, and Away We Go!!! In an interview for the UK paper  The Guardian  in February 2012, Bruce Springsteen said, "I campaigned for Kerry and Obama, and I am glad I did. But normally I would prefer to stay on the sidelines. The artist is supposed to be the canary in the cage."  When he reviewed Obama's performance at that time, his response was measured:  "He kept General Motors alive, he got through healthcare – though not the public system I would have wanted – he killed Osama Bin Laden, and he brought sanity to the top level of government. But big business still has too much say in government and there has not been as many middle- or working-class voices in the administration as I expected. I thought Guantanamo would have been closed but now, but he got us out of Iraq and I guess we will soon be out of Afghanistan." That was then.  That was before Obama had an opponent in the general election, one who opposed the very things that Springsteen praise...

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....