Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band - Concert Review (High Hopes Tour 2014)

He came, he performed, and he definitely conquered Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday night. What a show! Bruce Springsteen’s reputation as a live performer like no other has followed him round since his high-octane late-70s shows, shows which often ended with Springsteen collapsing from exhaustion and being dragged off. Thankfully that didn’t happen this time, but “The Boss” as he is known still managed to pull out of the bag a three hour live extravaganza like no other I have ever witnessed.

Walking on stage alone, equipped with just a harmonica and acoustic guitar, Springsteen started the show with an acoustic folk take on Lorde’s “Royals”, continuing this current tour’s tradition of starting the concert with a cover of a local song. Recent shows in Australia included his take on AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” and The Bee Gees “Staying Alive”, while this earthy harmonica driven version of “Royals” was unique as it was risky, but it so worked and caught the audience a bit of guard when you consider artist’s usually start concerts with big anthemic numbers. If that was surprising, what followed was simply mesmerising to say the least, as Springsteen backed by an eighteen piece line-up of his well travelled backing band the legendary E-Street Band performed songs off ten of his albums that also included a mid-set complete performance of his 1984 smash album “Born in the USA”. Springsteen’s set-lists change every night depending on how the man himself feels at the time and includes the odd-occasion where The Boss will reach into the crowd and collect a sign with a song listed on it of which the E-Street Band will then proceed to play. Nothing in a Springsteen concert follows to script, with anything a possibility. Amazingly enough, apparently the band rehearsed around 120 songs for this tour, a number of songs which most artists don’t even have in an entire back catalogue let alone who are then able to perform at a minute’s notice, of which at times the E-Street Band only have before their off on a completely different direction that was originally planned for the concert.

After a solid start to the show that included rousing versions of “Badlands”, “High Hopes” and a beautiful rendition of the 1980 track “The River”, the concert reached its zenith when Springsteen announced to the crowd that him and his band would be performing the entire “Born in the USA” album, continuing a trend of Springsteen concerts in performing albums in their entirety. One knew you were at a serious concert when the opening keyboard riff of the title track came through the speaker system and the crowd were transported back to the mid-80s in one glorious moment of stadium rock. By this point the crowd would be up and dancing to up-tempo rockers such as “Cover Me” and “Darlington County”, and the rock and roll stomper “Working on the Highway”, while sitting back in the odd moment of reflection with “I’m on Fire” and “My Hometown” in what were a handful of the more tender moments of the show. The album set came to an end with 80s hits “Glory Days” and “Dancing in the Dark”, of which on both songs Springsteen pulled several lucky people out of the audience to sing and dance on stage, something which he traditionally does during the performing of the latter track.

The main set concluded with a powerful rendition of “The Rising”, a Tom Morello guitar fireworks-laden “The Ghost of Tom Joad” which was one of the show’s high points, and a lovely gospel version of “Land of Hope and Dreams” that also included a segue into the classic Impressions track “People Get Ready”. What then followed was a fantastic encore which represented the icing on the cake and continued on the energy that was shown throughout. “Born To Run” sounded as great as ever, Springsteen concert staple “Rosalita” of which Steven Van Zandt gleefully took from a crowd sign as a request had energy and musicianship, while I got to here one of my personal favourites “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out”. The encore then ended with an extended cover of the classic Isley Brothers track “Shout” which had the whole crowd on its feet wanting more. At this point the E-Street band left stage leaving Springsteen alone again with his guitar and harmonica ending the show as he started, but this time he performed an acoustic version of his classic 1975 anthem “Thunder Road” in what was a great way to go out on.

From start to finish this show was absolute value for money, with The Boss and his simply amazing band giving one hundred percent in their performance and then some, while also looking like they were enjoying themselves on stage throughout the concerts duration. Often artists come to New Zealand and appear like they would rather be somewhere else with New Zealand shows often being the last stop of a tour. This can lead to lack-lustre appearances and a case of the fan being robbed. Not Bruce Springsteen, who treats his audiences to the full monty every night. He cares about his fans and goes out of his way to ensure they are having a good time, establishing a connection with the audience very early on in the show, engaging with them, talking to them and smiling throughout. This has to be one of the best shows going around at the moment and based on what I saw on Saturday night in Auckland, justifyingly well deserved of being voted the best live act of 2013 by Rolling Stone Magazine. A must see for anyone into live music. Long live The Boss. 

A+

- Sam 

Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba (1962)

By 1962, Stan Getz had already established himself as a pioneering jazz saxophonist in America, but it would be on this latest offering Jazz Samba where he took a new direction musically and again prove why he was one of the select few in music who were way ahead in the game. Jazz Samba was an album of bossa nova music, a style of music which originally came from Brazil and was developing a strong following in America and other western countries in the late 50s and early 60s. Bossa Nova meaning “new trend”, as a style fused together elements of both samba and jazz, namely the 2/4 tempo and batucada rhythms of samba, as well as the complex harmony and chord structures of jazz. As a style of music it was also quite sophisticated in sound and structure, with very distinctive rhythms but also containing less of a percussive element to it. Not only was this album significant for Getz because it was quite removed from his usual sound, but it was also the first significant bossa nova album to come out of the American jazz scene, as well as being the first one to be recorded by American jazz musicians making it a landmark album in American jazz.  

Getz was introduced to bossa nova and Brazilian music by the album’s co-creator guitarist Charlie Byrd, himself a renowned gypsy jazz player whose influence is dotted across the album. Byrd’s delicate classical guitar playing in a gypsy jazz style that also features a strong emphasis on finger picking during solos combines beautifully with Getz’s signature be bop and cool jazz sound, a sound which features a warm full tone and amazing control of dynamics. These two players in unison draw you in as listeners with their warm floating sound, leading you to an almost hypnotic meditative state as you listen, it is that absorbing. Getz and Byrd are complimented nicely by some top session players on double bass and drums, of which the drumming of Buddy Deppenschmidt is a strong standout with his very distinctive bossa nova drumming style made up of continuous eights played on the high-hat and a heavy use of brushes. Syncopated rhythms are also a strong feature both in the drumming and guitar playing especially. These rhythms delicately float underneath the main motif of each song allowing Getz to go off on his own and explore different harmonies and melodic experiments. When listening to these rhythms, one can not begin to imagine how hard these are to master and the complexity involved in the playing, it is just pure magic to listen to leading to amazement at how they manage to do it so effortlessly.

So what of the tracks themselves? Well there are some great examples of jazz playing on this record leading me to conclude that there is definitely not a dud track on here. The opening track “Desafinado” sets the mood for the rest of the album and the tracks to follow and is probably the best example of bossa nova on display on the record. Getz’s cool jazz melodies combine with Byrd’s gypsy playing fantastically, resulting in five plus minutes of pure goodness. “Desafinado” is followed by “Samba Dees Days”, a fast-paced number which marks the point of the album where the Latin influences really kick in. This track almost has a celebratory fiesta feel to it while the playing is quite loose in comparison to the precision of the previous track. “Samba Dees Days” also features a stellar solo from Byrd, something which is a massive feature of the record with Getz taking a backseat in allowing Byrd to have his moment to shine. The Latin flavour continues during the middle of the album with “Samba Triste”, a mellower track featuring some exquisite smooth playing from Getz, as well as some subtle light gypsy jazz from Byrd. This is followed by the equally Latino flavoured “Samba de Uma Nota So”. Coming in at over six minutes, this quite complex track showcases some brilliant harmony playing from Byrd and Getz who also feed off each other’s notes and riffs with counter-melodies, rhythms and motifs. The album comes to an end with the shuffling “E Luxo So”, a track which has plenty of melody as well as some complex rhythms, and the stylistically different and quite mysterious “Baia”, a track which could almost pass as alt-jazz if it were recorded today.  

Jazz Samba was a massive release in the history of jazz in America and came at a time when jazz was blessed with pioneering players such as Davis, Coltrane and Brubeck who were making some of their best work. It helped to continue the growth of bossa nova in the States and the western world, while bossa nova itself would take off big time throughout the rest of the decade. The album’s opening track “Desafinado” would become a cross-over hit earning a Grammy award in the process, while the album itself would go number one on the billboard top two hundred. From a jazz perspective this album was very ahead of its time musically, as apart from a handful of jazz musicians who were pioneering changes in the genre, jazz was still quite conservative and traditional as a style of music and by the early-60s was only just beginning to branch out and experiment with new musical ideas. Getz who was an established jazz musician took quite a risk releasing this album, but it proved a masterstroke for himself as well as the jazz community as a whole, firmly entrenching his legacy as a jazz and music legend, while importantly helping to spread the great music of bossa nova. If you like jazz you will definitely be in to this album with its Latin flavour and complex rhythms. This is a perfect soundtrack for night time wine sessions and entertaining, so get on it, relax and enjoy.

 

A

 

- Sam

Auckland's Music Venue Puzzle

Friday witnessed the re-launch of the Big Day Out music festival at Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium, and by all accounts the event was an overwhelming success on the most part. The staging of this annual music festival at one of Auckland’s premier outdoor music venues, if not the premier venue got me thinking on the issue of music venues in New Zealand’s biggest city, an issue which never seems to go away and is seemingly raised on an annual basis. Although within the scheme of things, music venues is not a number one priority for the powers that be, and this is fair enough when there are far more important issues which need urgent attention. However, I still believe that the issue of the state of Auckland’s music venues is an important issue which has become more of a problem than one realises.

The fact is that Auckland is in a bit of a pickle when it comes to the venues that host major oversees touring acts. This pickle as I call it, I hesitate to use the word crisis, from my eyes involves three separate things, what venues are being used, what venues are not being used, and the quality of some of the venues that are being used to host the big oversees stars that come here. Leaving aside the smaller venues in Auckland which are perfectly acceptable and not an issue, most oversees acts play at either Vector Arena, or Mount Smart Stadium, both of which have their own faults. Vector has had sound problems since it opened in 2007 of which some visiting artists have complained about, while Mount Smart for a 21^st century outdoor concert venue is in desperate need of an upgrade and that’s without even considering how hard it is to get to as a venue. It pains me to think that these are the two “premier” music venues in Auckland for most big oversees acts, when there are other venues that are either not considered for concerts, or don’t get enough of a look in. Why Eden Park cannot host concerts is beyond me, it is the biggest stadium in the country, cost a fortune to build and is hardly ever used for big outdoor events. If you count up all the sports game that are played there annually it would probably only get used around 25 days in the year. With this in mind the re-development of Eden Park seems like a waste of money and effort when you think it would be a perfect venue for concerts if allowed to be. Then there is North Harbour Stadium, a venue which hosted quite a few concerts in the mid-2000s but in recent years seems to have gone out of favour. This is another good outdoor venue which is under-utilised.

This then brings me to the jewel in the crown The St James Theatre on Queen Street. I walk past this theatre quite a bit and every time I do it saddens me to see it just sitting there unused and deteriorating year after year. In its glory days The St James hosted some amazing indoor gigs and was a perfect venue for smaller concerts. The fact that it has been such a struggle to get any sort of ball rolling on a possible restoration project since its closure in 2007 has been nothing short of outrageous, as this decision should be a no-brainer when you consider how good this venue is as a place for live music. Hopefully common sense will prevail in the near future and we can soon again see live music back at the St James.

In the mean time it is good to see music back at Western Springs, a fantastic outdoor venue, while the fact that the Laneway Festival is utilising a good space down at Wynyard Quarter is great also. There are many good small venues around Auckland which continue to host live music and long may that continue, but the larger venues and in particular where the big oversees acts will play in the future continues to be a puzzling situation and an area which in my mind needs some serious attention and possibly some compromise.

 

Sam

 

Neil Young - Live at the Cellar Door (2013)

Live at the Cellar Door is the latest release in the Neil Young Archive Series, a series of releases which similarly to the highly successful Bob Dylan Bootleg Series features a mixture of already released, as well as unreleased remastered studio and live recordings. This latest offering is a live recording containing performances from the six concerts Young performed in 1970 at Washington DCs. Cellar Door.

On here Young treats the smallish audience to some acoustic performances of tracks off his then just released album “After the Gold Rush”, mixed in with some old Crazy Horse and Buffalo Springfield favourites, as well as some earlier renditions of songs which he had yet released namely “Old Man” and “See the Sky About to Rain”. The performances on this album feature just Young by himself playing acoustic guitar and occasionally piano, giving the audience present an unplugged minimalist interpretation of his country and folk rock compositions. This in itself works well as his early-70s output was mainly made up of acoustic folk tracks meant for smaller live settings like the Cellar Door club. It is also very interesting to hear laidback acoustic versions of songs such as “Cinnamon Girl” and “Down by the River” of which the original recordings done with Crazy Horse were exercises in heavily distorted guitar madness.

Live at the Cellar Door all and all has much the same feel as the 2007 released “Live at Massey Hall 1971”, just not as good. “Massey Hall” had an intimacy and a performer-audience connection which I think is lacking a bit on this album. This seems to have something to do with the production on “Cellar Door”, with the songs themselves sounding as if Young could have been sitting in a studio booth playing to himself, with some overdubbed audience applause thrown in for good measure to make it appear like it’s live. That’s not to say that all of the tracks on here are bad performances, or are lacking in quality. There are gorgeous versions of the Buffalo Springfield song “I Am A Child” and “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” from “After the Gold Rush” among other gems dotted across the album, it’s just that if you liked “Live at Massey Hall” which was a brilliant live album recorded around the same time, you won’t really be missing out if you don’t hear this one. Live at Cellar Door is probably best left for Neil Young fanatics and album collectors, or those into historical and archival recordings.

 

B

 

- Sam

Television - Marquee Moon (1977)

Marquee Moon was the debut album by American post-punk/art-punk band Television. Released in 1977, it has since gone on to be considered a pivotal album in the development of post-punk in the late-70s and early-80s, not to mention it having a lasting influence on indie, garage and alternative rock.

Marquee Moon was quite a unique album for a punk oriented group at the time and had a very different sound to the other music which was being made on the punk scene. The sound on the album is very much based on the twin lead guitar sound of Tom Verlaine, who was also the band’s lead singer and Richard Lloyd, with the two producing a heavily layered and lick laden guitar wall of sound. This dual guitar style was very much based on classic rock from the 70s and involved plenty of inter-play between the two, with one usually taking the rhythm part as the other took the lead, with both often swapping roles from rhythm to lead within songs as well. Gone were the power chords and heavy riffage of traditional punk rock, which were replaced with melodic guitar lines, counter-melodies and carefully constructed rhythmic sequences. This was more complex musically than punk and I guess allowed for more musical ideas to be explored within songs, while allowing for what I would describe as non-punk influences to be brought in such as progressive rock and jazz, influences which you can clearly hear throughout the album.

The songs themselves are incredibly catchy and very melodic but not in a way that you would normally associate with a good song, such as having a catchy chorus, or pop hook. The catchiness and listenable qualities of the songs on Marquee Moon are found more in the sound of the hook-laden and melodic guitar lines which come to dominate all the songs on the album, and help to form the organic base of which these songs are built. Songs such as opening track “See No Evil” and “Friction” are a classic example of the twin lead guitar attack and contain some amazing dueling guitar sequences complete with competing melodies and backed by a stellar rhythm section. Title track “Marquee Moon” is the album’s centrepiece and most out there track and at times tends to resemble a prog rock track, or in this instance a prog punk masterpiece. Coming in at over ten minutes something that would have been inconceivable for anyone with an ounce of punk in their music at the time, “Marquee Moon” brings in the prog and jazz influences that I mentioned earlier, especially in terms of the complex technicality of the guitar playing, the song structure, as well as the free jamming and extended guitar solo duels that are dottered throughout the song. This is quite simply prog punk at its finest and forms as a reminder of what could have been had the punk rockers not turned their noses up so much at progressive rock. Other tracks on the album that are worth a mention include “Elevation” which has a Beatles feel to it with some amazing psychedelic guitar melodies, “Guiding Light” which is a slower track that could also be described as the ballad of the album and gets dangerously close to being mid-70s corporate guitar rock but in a good way, and finally “Prove It” which brings in some jangly guitar and some thumping R&B influenced bass playing by bass player Fred Smith.

Although Marquee Moon was not a commercial success at the time, its reputation has grown tremendously over the years, while it has influenced most of the guitar music that has followed its release. It has been sighted by many critics as being one of the greatest albums of the 70s American punk rock movement and by Rolling Stones as the 128 greatest album of all time, high praise for an art-punk band who released an album that went against the grain of many of their contemporaries of the time. Marquee Moon is a truly amazing sounding album and showed a punk rock band could actually get down and dirty with some serious playing of the highest complexity and skill, but yet still retain their punk essence. This is definitely one of the best guitar albums ever recorded and contains some of the most melodically beautiful and clean guitar playing you are ever likely to hear. Well worth a listen for all guitar heads, punk worshipers, while progressive rock enthusiasts might just even dig this one to.

 

A

 

- Sam