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Okay so there will never be another, 'Darkness' or 'Born To Run' and I don't know who's to blame for it, Bruce's for not following the same formula, or mine for thinking he should.  Given that he's one of the greatest artists of all time and I'm writing this from my mom's basement, I'd say, I'd be the one to blame for it. 

Bruce has never followed a formula, he's never wanted to keep the spotlight.  While bands like U2 keep relevant amongst the MTV crowd with their cool shades and great guitar riffs, Springteen had all of that 20 years ago and is more than happy to watch Larry and his band take the lead. 

What Springsteen does is, he sings and writes about situations that are relevant to him, his life and the world around him.  Which somehow magically seem to be the same as ours.

When I firt listened to Magic, I thought, phuck this is gay.  I couldn't shake the image of Rob Lowe in St. Elmo's Fire, playing saxophone on the bar with a bandanna around his head...I was teleported right back to the 80's.  As it happens every time, I always hate the album the first time I hear it.  Again, that's because I'm expecting something earth shattering like the first time I heard, Born to Run.  But he'll never be 24 again, and nor will you - so why expect the same thing?  What Magic does is, it creeps up on you and 2 days later you find yourself humming the melodies in your head. 

I won't pretend to know what each song means, but you can guess he's pretty pissed off at the government, and that he's searching for answers down some load road... It's his best work in 20 years.  Yes, even better than 'The Rising' which was only okay but everyone loved it because it 'talked' about 9-11.

It's a great album.  Devil's Arcade reminds me a lot of 'Because the Night' and you can even hear a bit of 'Indie Rock and Roll' by The Killers... during the intro of, 'Own Worst Enemy' 

It's too bad Springsteen isn't hip among the young kids as he was back in '84.  But who needs him when we have Nelly... 

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CONCERT REVIEW:
OCTOBER 30th LA Memorial Sport Arena

"Happy Halloween Eve" Bruce belted out after rising from a coffin brought out to the stage by hooded ghouls and grave diggers.  And before launching into the opener, he asked us the same question he's been asking himself and his fans for over 30 years... and the answer was obvious.  Yes, we're all very much alive out here.  Enter, "Radio Nowhere" straight into "The Ties That Bind" into "Lonesome Day" (which I found to be a bit of a strange transition, but WTF do I know). 

It's apparent that Bruce has finally learned to appreciate Born To Run, an album which he never was really proud of.  On this tour, he's sprinkling in a few tunes around the first quarter of the show.  Some get Jungleland, some Backstreets.. some BOTH!! 

I wouldn't know what to do if I was at a show where he where he'd cross the Jersey state line, after hiding on the Backstreets... Insane to even think about. 

I ended up getting, Night --> She's The One, which of course I'll take any day of the week. 

Tunnel Of Love was gorgeous.  He sung it as a duet with Patti.  She's just lovely.

For an encore, Kitty's Back!!  Nothing beats getting a tour premiere.  The band is at their best.  I never thought I'd hear Badlands the way I did.  Get tickets. 

Full set lists. 

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