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Takavl, post: 9179 wrote:Eh.
If there’s one thing we all should know by now, it’s this — Bruce loves to throw his “fans” sliders. Not curveballs, but sliders.
Bob and Doug — They’re great players and quite adept at the genre-jumping BH required…but sax guys and guitar players are a dime a dozen. This is not to diminish in any way their contributions and time-served. Hey, how about that George Marinelli? Is anyone upset that he’s still gone? (What’s more interesting IMHO is how JT, JV, and Sonny interact with the new dudes, which brings up…)
‘cuz BH is gonna do what BH wants to do.
If we go along for the ride, so be it. If not, maybe we’ll catch him down the road…T
I agree, Tis a shame to see both these guy go, excellent musicians that can’t be replaced. But like you said, Bruce will do what he wants to do, we’ve seen this many times before and things turned into a well oiled machine…
GuinnessGoon, post: 9151 wrote:Just bought tix to Chautauqua but still scratching my head on what the line-up actually is.
It says Bruce with Sonny so is it just piano and drums?
I’m sure they’ll open for Metheny and come out for a couple songs but hopefully it will be the Noisemakers but if it is just Bruce & Sonny then I guess that’ll still be something special.edit: as for those guys that somehow think Bob Weir’s voice sucks…then you should hear any recording from this past Ratdog tour as he sounded better than ever and you will easily change your mind…that Bruce/Bobby thing will be sweet.
Put me down for waiting for Bruce W/ Noisemakers also.
I’m not a fan of Skaggs or other band as it distracts from Bruce and becomes a 2 billing show. Even if they play songs together..
I guess I’ve been spoiled over the years with Noisemakers shows and really love their chemistry
The overall “statement” of the album. I know Bruce hates the phrase “concept or theme record” but it does have a certain unique sound to it that puts a twist on where the songs fit musically…..hard to explain, but that’s what I judge an album on…well partly.
Big Swing Face is vastly different then Harbor Lights.
Bruce turned the record into something completely different then ever before. You almost forgot Bruce was the same guy.
si_twining, post: 9093 wrote:I mentioned that I’m going to turn you all into music critics in the next few months, and rate every track of every Bruce record. They won’t come all at once, but over a longer period so you have time to give each one some thought.As well as rating the tracks (a “star rating” out of 10) I was wondering on what criteria you judge a record? Not just Bruce’s, but anyone’s?
I can think of:
- compositions
- lyrics
- longevity
- even the cover and liner notes.
Do you have any suggestions to add to those?
si_twining, post: 8677 wrote:Bruce hates the sound of his old records… I always thought he meant solely the piano sound, but maybe he meant his voice also. Perhaps the change is deliberate?I was listening to Scenes From the Southside. and his voice was the same. Definitely seemed an octave lower..
Driving I’d say 3 hours.
Flew to Hampton Bay Days Virginia. from Newark NJ
Drove to Virginia from NJ for SCKBSTD
Takavl, post: 8659 wrote:I don’t have the fortitude of the Guinness Goon — never have, never will. Particularly now that I’m approaching my dotage.
Furthest to see Bruce: From Bratt to Boston solo. Going down not too bad, coming back was a bitch. Had to actually slap myself a couple of times, and crank Zeppelin’s “Presence,” then “In Through The Out Door.”
Runners up would include Tampa to Jacksonville (return trip) for Metallica 1992 (I drove from Gainesville back to Tampa) and Fishbone 1994 (return trip) Gainesville to Tampa. Both of those return journeys (pun intended) took place after midnight and solo. Hard-ass shit.
None of that is meant to be bragging. Far from it; I’ve never been one to be able to endure long slogs to see musical acts. I draw the line at around 2.5 hours….otherwise I’d be going postal on some peeps….
Yours truly,
T
There they are! Thanks Si
si_twining, post: 8640 wrote:Hey A.J. — they are still there! Check under “Releases” on the main nav, and they’re included on each album page.e.g.:
https://bruuuce.com/the-way-it-is/
Maybe I should put them all in one place…?
I’m ok thanks for the thought, lost power for a few days, but no damage…a small price to pay.
LOL. You’re right 10% familiar and 10% Bruce hornsby music alzheimers. and thumbs up on the yuppies expansion.
Found it! 04/25/98 Flint Center – Cupertino, CA
I have not found it with the band……skidud313, post: 8546 wrote:I also remember THAT I heard the backstory one time, but can’t remember it either. Something about seeing old acquaintances from high school and not being too impressed, maybe?It really is a tough one. But perhaps one that should be played with the band more often- the harmonics and playfulness at the end after everything cuts out are pretty cool.
here’s my guess on the rationale Bruce is using…..Bruce has really gone through….many… times of re-inventing himself. and exploring what he can do creatively..
Bluegrass/SCKBSTD/Solo/Jazz/Noisemakers/World’s greatest dad. etc etc.
Bruce would find the “need” to I don’t want to say “plug” aka advertise these new ventures, but he felt necessary to showcase them into the concerts…and the requests fell by the wayside… of course most of everyone on here…the die hards know this.
But in being die hards…we probably have seen this formula repeated and repeated at his tours….I’ve followed Bruce on the east coast and this happened all the time, he threw it sonny on the washboard….. practically every show. Bruce on the dulcimer.. guaranteed every show….while I think its a bit of a novelty….to me…and I’m not speaking for anybody else…it doesn’t do much for me….I like prairie dog town.. but I’d rather see things mixed up once in a while…not PDT every show..
I think Bruce is exploring where his interests are at the moments and he decides to go that direction in the concerts…..not pleasing the fans with “All request sets” like the old days…
Lately and I hate to say it….it’s been about Bruce and the music…not the fans.. But then again…we’re very lucky….and perhaps spoiled a bit….because not many artists give fans..requests or choices at concerts….very rarely…and it’s usually 1 or 2 songs if that…… I know I know very harsh and I’m sure I’ll get burned at the stake for it….but it’s just my opinion.
JF1, post: 8562 wrote:I couldn’t agree more. And the odd thing is, Bruce has always prided himself on playing for the people, disregarding the hits if need be. But in my opinion, it’s not necessarily that Bruce needs to take more requests, and the majority of requests are your hit songs, or songs close to hits. Instead, Bruce and the Noisemakers needs to pull more from the library to diversify the set-list. There’s nothing better than Bruce pulling out a song you’ve never heard live out of nowhere, and just killing it.My biggest problem is lately, it seems like Bruce has picked a song or two from albums, and just puts them on repeat, as if to say, ‘Well this covers playing that album.” For example, See The Same Way on Spirit Trail and WWL on Hot House. Additionally, it seems like Bruce used to stick to the rule of only playing one hit a night. But over the last few years you can see all 3 of Way It Is, End of the Innocence, and Mandolin Rain played on any given night, which by default, decreases the number of requests/uniques that can be played.
Someone was awesome enough to put up basically the whole Boulder set from this summer on youtube. I was watching them and bang, one of the songs played was Another Day, and played really, really well. Not only was it just awesome to hear, but it was just refreshing and exhilarating hearing a song that hasn’t been played much live. That’s what Bruce has to strive to do more, even though it might not sell more tickets (And believe me, I completely get that selling tickets is the number one priority of a musician).
I’m just going to list a bunch of songs I’d personally like to see Bruce play more, many of which have been played live a decent amount over the years, but not so much recently.
– Longest Night
– Swing Street
– Cruise Control
– The Changes
– Sneaking up on Boo Radley
– Sad Moon (FULL BAND, which according to Bruce Base, has never been done live before. I would love to hear this)
– Line In The Dust
– Barren Ground
– Stranded On Easy Street
– Another Day
– Harbor Lights
– Long Tall Cool One
– On The Western Skyline
– Mirror On The Wall (Would be great on the Dulcimer with Sonny on the washboard)
– Red Plains
– Road Not Taken (Has done versions in the last 5 years with an incredible instrumental build up towards the end)
– Jacob’s Ladder (I even feel like this hasn’t been played much over the past few years)
– Simple Prayer
– Show Goes On
– Take Out The Trash
– So OutThat’s just 21 songs that’s I’ve chosen that should be played more. Obviously there are tons more. If Bruce even took a handful off the list, and mixed them in regularly, shows would seem a lot more diverse.
Tough one JF1…..I’ll look through the shows I have……, I remember a show where Bruce mentions the back story for the song…..need to dig that up too…
I know Bruce has been doing the free “Concert Download giveaways, dagles choice and also heavily discounting his Bride release etc.
I think you could get the same if not better PR machine if you did a fan club instead. I know there are plenty of true fans on here that would more then likely sign up. So bang, right there you get buy in.
I guess with the advent of facebook and the internet, fan clubs are not as necessary to spread promotions and “get the word out” on an artist/band. I dunno just a thought.
I’m under the impression this is something that Bruce’s Management conjured up. And possibly something they had to twist Bruce’s arm about in buying into..
It just doesn’t seem his style. He would often refer to the Meet and Greets as the “Skin and Grin”. Obviously one of those things that you really don’t’ wanna be there but you have to kind of deals…..”For the Fans”
This is something a few yuppies will buy who prob only know Bruce for “The Way It is” and Mandolin Rain. Something to impress their friends.
While the true fans do it for free
One of the best things about seeing Bruce in concert more then any other artist..
You really get your monies worth.
Some forgotten Bruce songs that I’d love to see him do
Set me in motion (super rare)
The Old Playground
Heartbreak Town (I’m thinking this was a “demo” song bruce did and he probably never thought about after the movie it was in)
Stranded on Easy Street,
Red Plains ( another request of mine last night, he started to play last night but decided to play Down the road tonight instead….
You prob helped get Bruce to think about these songs again.
Barren Ground has been in his lineup for a few years now.
Swing Street I requested last night and even wrote the lyrics on the back for him.
When he played it earlier in the month, this second request from me probably rekindled his and the bands interest again.
I’ve never seen him play swing street live and all the recordings I have form Bruce (which is a lot) only have him playing swing street solo and not the entire thing.
I’m still searching for a live version of “Set Me in Motion”, don’t think it exists……..
If we go along for the ride, so be it. If not, maybe we’ll catch him down the road…