Bruce Tour format Changing

A.J.
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  • #25664
    Avatar of A.J.A.J.
    Participant

    Having seen Bruce many times, I’ve noticed a change in his format over the past few years.

    It seems he’s doing the following:

    He has a few “hits” he always does diligently every night (which he admits doing on purpose) to please the yuppies.

    Mandolin Rain, Way It Is, End of Innocence

    He then does 2 or so accordion songs.

    2 or so dulcimer songs (Prairie Dog Town)

    4-5 audience requests (verbal or written)

    The “tour” standards, he picks some of the songs hes been doing lately with skaggs> comfortably numb, mandolin rain bluegrass style etc.

    Basically a mix of requests, hits, songs he likes to do lately, throws in a few special instruments, lately I’ve noticed sonny on washboard. Maybe 1 solo song without the band or so.

    A departure from his, all audience request sets and more into appreciating the talent of his band and different playing styles, more of an artistic exploration.

    #33026
    Avatar of A.J.A.J.
    Participant

    One of the best things about seeing Bruce in concert more then any other artist..

    You really get your monies worth.

    #33027
    Avatar of gdwomangdwoman
    Participant

    Fun fact – tonight, he did not play ANY of “the big three” and we were actually all pretty pleased by that, and by what he DID play. I’m terrible with set lists, but he opened with Gonna Be Some Changes, and then launched into Spider Fingers (w/Tempest Fugit AND Tighten Up jams). This really set the tone for me, for the rest of the show.

    Danced my ass off…. the 2 hour drive home from Atlantic City was easy, with the adrenaline buzz I was floating on.

    Looking forward to my last show of the tour – tomorrow night in Boston.

    ~Dance with Reckless Abandon~

    #33028
    Avatar of GuinnessGoonGuinnessGoon
    Participant

    Yeah, I think it is pretty cool how Bruce has been doing his shows during the last few years with having a moment in the set where he busts out the accordian for two songs and then again with the dulcimer for two songs.
    The only downside for me is during the dulcimer moments Bruce might strip down a song that I would rather hear the regular arrangement of for example ‘Mirror Mirror on the Wall’ …..but I still do enjoy the stripped down version don’t get me wrong.

    Bruce set format sorta reminds me of when Bob Weir & Ratdog started to have an opening jam session leading into a song open their first set and then opening the second set with a few acoustic songs and then a jam session in the middle of the second set without Bobby to give him a breather and let his boys have at it musically on stage…that has been their set format for awhile now.

    The comment about ‘the big three’ reminds me of Jimmy Buffett’s set format with his ‘big 8’. He has 8 songs that you are guarranteed to hear amongst 20 other great tunes.
    Actually, from my experience Bruce’s ‘hits’ for the casual ‘fans’ in the crowd would be The Way It Is, Mandolin Rain, Valley Road, End of the Innocence, and then you gotta throw in songs like Rainbow’s Cadillac, Jacob’s Ladder, and Sunflower Cat as well because you are almost guarranteed to get half of those songs in a set each night…which I don’t mind at all. Good times :)

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