September 30th, 2009
Will Springsteen Bring The Full Album Treatment To Town?
You’ve probably heard about this trend of the past few years where an artist or band will play an album from his/her/their back catalog straight through in its entirety in concert. Usually it’s the album that’s considered the “best” or most artistically/culturally “significant” of their careers. It’s kind of a gimmick, and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s cool to hear an album you might know so well not only by the songs and melodies but by the sequence — by the sonic journey — being re-enacted live, and of course perhaps some of those songs (the non-hits and especially deep cuts) the artist may never have performed live before or retired from their sets a long time ago. On the other hand, it often seems like the depressing admission on the artist’s part that maybe their best days ARE behind them and their current material — if they’re still recording new material — isn’t as good or interesting or exciting to them or their fans. Not to mention the fact that they’re kinda giving in to the “collective thinking” or “critical consensus” or whatever you want to call it that determines what their “best” or most “hallowed” work is.
I bring this all up because news just broke that Bruce Springsteen — who is playing five shows at Giants Stadium over the next week and a half, starting tonight — is going to play one of his older albums in its entirety each night, along with lots of other songs from his career. Tonight and October 8th, the Boss and the E Street Band will do Born To Run; October 2nd they’ll do Darkness on the Edge of Town; and October 3rd and October 9th they’ll do Born in the U.S.A. The idea for this sprung from the fact that Springsteen and company played Born To Run in its entirety in Chicago on September 20th and it went over really well, by all accounts.
Now, Springsteen’s case is a little different, in that he already does these gargantuan three- and four-hour shows, so it’s not like he’s neglecting the rest of his catalog to do these full-album things — it just becomes a curious novelty in the middle of the set. But other artists who spend less time onstage usually do the whole album, then close things out with just a handful of “greatest hits,” so you’re often missing out on the full scope of their creative output, if you care about that sort of thing. Then again, all of these artists fully advertise that they’re going to do the “full-album treatment,” so if you go you know what you’re getting yourself into, and besides, a sizable contingent of fans really DO seem to just want to hear that one album, maybe the one that means the most to them (or, could it be, the one they’re told by society they’re SUPPOSED to like the most), re-created in all its glory.
This all may be of interest to you particularly if you’re a Springsteen fan, since he’s got four shows coming up at the Spectrum in October, and there’s a very good chance he’ll be performing those old albums in their entirety here in Philly, too. If/when we get confirmation of that, we’ll be sure to let you know.
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