Last night I saw Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band at Pine Knob. It was an outstanding show, lasting nearly three hours. Give me the E Street Band any day, but the Seeger Sessions Band sure can play. It was pretty amazing to watch Bruce flawlessly work an awful crowd of Oakland County fucks who are totally unfamiliar with the music he's playing. There's no doubt in my mind that he's the greatest performer in the history of rock. The problem is that most people my age are only familiar with him because their parents listened to Born in the USA when they were in college or something. Consequently, they think he sucks and lump him in with other awful acts that ruled the charts circa 1984. Now, I like Born in the USA just fine, but I didn't appreciate it until I had gone back and immersed myself in his 70s work. The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle and Born to Run are two of the greatest albums ever made.
I went to the Vote for Change tour show at Cobo Arena in Detroit back in 2004 to see R.E.M. and to "tolerate" the Boss. It was really the other way around – R.E.M. proved that they're over the hill and Bruce pretty much changed my life. I'll never pass up another opportunity to see him.
Now I just have to hope that Radiohead can put on equally awe-inspiring performances this week. I can't wait.
