Comments on: Broooooce at the Emirates

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:53:18 +0000

Saturday night: good set Bruce gives his all, but sound was poor and where was Patti? I expected some new material from Magic too.

By: ian

ian — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:48:23 +0000

I’m going to Cardiff – can anyone tell me what time to get there for to get a wristband? The person next to us at the London concert was reading a newspaper for the first few songs which put a damper on it so we had to move.

By: kevin

kevin — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:27:23 +0000

Just can’t imagine him at Hammersmith now – it would be awesome!

By: gail

gail — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:05:52 +0000

Oh, er, well, my love affair with the Boss was put to the test on Saturday evening. As a fan for some 30 years plus I must confess that I left the show feeling that poor old Bruce was trying to cling on to what once made him a great performer. Now before you all rush to abuse me, I feel the venue was WRONG, the SOUND was dire and finally the set was ill-chosen. Whilst I love all of his music, many just turned up to hear his big numbers that he is reknowned for. Yup, I agree Tenth Avenue Freeze out was great but all in all I felt it was an evening that did not live up to expectations from such a world class performer.

Perhaps playing two evenings running is proving a little tougher when you are getting on in years (yet he can still work that entire stage) . Think nothing will beat his Born in the USA Tour for sheer power of performance and rapport with his fans – even though I still think back to the shy performer I saw at Hammersmith all those years ago …ahh they were the days, when it was unheard of to play in footie stadiums…

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:10:40 +0000

Went to the Saturday show and I have to say it was brilliant. The sound was bad for the first couple of tracks but improved dramatically thereafter. Nils solo on Because the Night and Clarence's sax solo on Jungleland were real highlights and it was great to hear Downbound Train, something that I havent heard live for many a year. A crackin' gig, stop moaning you lot, as someone said if you want perfectly reproduced sound, stick on your CD player. It was obvious that due to the location of the stadium there were noise limitations in place otherwise I'm sure the sound would have been louder but none the less I'm giving this 9 out of 10 for the performance. The stadium OK and that's from a Man Utd fan. Theres some good pics and reviews on Backstreets.com - Rockas Nochos compadres.

By: Shaw Tarse

Shaw Tarse — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:36:41 +0000

“People near me were booing at the end of some songs, presumably because the sound was so bad.”

Brooooooce!

By: Shaw Tarse

Shaw Tarse — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:32:00 +0000

“I’ll remember this gig for what he didn’t play as opposed to what he did – no River, Thunder Road, Born In the USA, Glory Days, Brilliant Disguise, Atlantic City, Dancing in The Dark, My Hometown, Hungry Heart, Streets of Phili”

Sorry mate – you picked the wrong night! On Friday he did Thunder Road, Glory Days, Dancing in the Dark almost in a row! I’ll add my voice to the useless acoustics at Emirates. For the first half hour we were stuck under one of the concrete overhangs and may as well have had cotton wool stuffed in out ears. Moved to the front and stood in the aisle and all was well. Memo to the Jobsworth Steward who wouldn’t let us onto the 25 per cent empty pitch – “It wasn’t a football match, you bell-end. We weren’t invading the pitch!”

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:30:09 +0000

Having gone on Friday and then seen that on Saturday Bruce played Jungeland, Backstreets and Darkness, I was a bit disappointed not to have seen my all time favourites. I gather though that the set was 20 odd mins longer and more energetic so I’m well pleased. Agree with the general view that it was a great show slightly let down by the muddy sound (I was stage left in the seats – could just see the high hat) which did not allow you to appreciate spectacular musicianship. Could hardly hear Nils’ solo in Because the Night. I agree travel was well managed, no problem with thousands descending on 2 tube stations – I expected far worse and got first train from Highbury and Islington, no wait at all. Overall a great night, but the lack of volume was a shame. No ear ringing at all. Now back in the 70s you had tinnitus for a week.

Or maybe I’m already deaf.

By: Chris (a different one)

Chris (a different one) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:14:05 +0000

QUOTE: Having left the stadium at 9.30 (because we were so depressed by the whole spectacle, preferring to remember the Boss as he was the last time we saw him at RDS Dublin) we found ourselves outside the stadium with a number of other disenchanted fans… END QUOTE

I just can’t get my head around this sort of comment, why would you leave early?

So you left at 9:30, guess what, you missed the best part of the whole evening, the encores were fantastic. Luckily I guess you got home early enough to have your cocoa and sit on the sofa – is it still wrapped in the protective plastic?

I thought the way the crowd was handled for the tube was fine, just keep to the left hand side and you are funnelled into to the tube, we were back at Victoria by 11:20 (and we stayed right to the end!)

I agree the sound was pretty crappy though… BUT I’d still rather see Bruce, in black, on a black stage, in a stadium than see Genesis anyday!

By: Linda Maguire

Linda Maguire — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:17:45 +0000

Was in the The Pit on Friday, three people back from the barrier – it was a brilliant atmosphere, sound fine for us. He did build up a sweat, we were close enough to see it! No special treatment to get in the pit, just get there early enough and be prepared to wait, we got there at 1pm and queued. Limited to 2000 fans and that is set by the local council for safety reasons. If you want perfect sound, stay at home and listen on an expensive sound sysytem. If you want to be entertained and excited go to a live stadium gig, saw him at the O2 as well but more entertaining here.

PS: Irish Jig to finish – Seeger Sessions, Wembley 2006!