On the weekend of July 4th I got a lot done. I sanded and painted my black iron fence and it came out pretty good. I went into the city to see a show and ended up having a very special night.
I took a drive to 42nd Street-Times Square that Sunday to see a Bruce Springsteen cover band: Bruce in the USA.-Matt Ryan and the American Dream. Across the street is the biggest movie theatre in the city, the AMC 25. After getting your tickets on the first floor you have to take an elevator up to the theatres. Mine was on the 8th floor. I went to see Prairie Home Companion (PHC).
PHC is a filmed version of the famous radio program, heard on National Public Radio. Host Garrison Keillor puts on a pretend radio show in the tradition of the '30s and '40s. A staged event in front of a big live audience with singing, acting and comedy. The show takes place in Minnesota and has corny ads that are read live for biscuit powder and the like. Recently deceased director Robert Altman (MASH, Nashville, The Player) reins it all in and Keillor wrote and stars in his own production.
They got some huge stars to fill the shoes of all of Keillor's characters. Tommy Lee Jones, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Kline and John C. Reilly (Chicago, Boogie Nights). I won't go into great detail, but if you catch it on video there's a tremendous cowboy comedy/singing act by Harrelson and Reilly toward the end that makes the whole thing worthwhile. Being that this was a small movie showing on only a few screens in the city, there wasn't much of an audience, maybe 25 in the whole theatre, but there was one couple--a blond woman and a man sitting three seats down from me that were laughing even more than me.
Out of the corner of my eye I could have sworn she was somebody famous, but I was sure she was just a look alike. Finally, as the credits rolled and the houselights came on I turned to her and was sure it was this star. I leaned toward the woman and asked, "Excuse me are you Georgette Engel from the Mary Tyler Moore show?" Ted Baxter's wife smiled yes, in that breathless voice of hers. She played a great part recently as RobertBarone's ditzy mother in law on Everybody Loves Raymond, so I complemented her on that and shook her hand. I've always been a fan of hers and it was so cool seeing a movie with her. She obviously has a great and smart sense of humor. She played ditzy as well as Gracie Allen. That's twice now that I've sat close to a star watching a movie in the city. A year ago it was Stephen King at Major Dundee.
Anyway, I left the theatre and rushed across to the new Dallas BBQ restaurant for a quick bite before my concert. I got bbq'ed chicken, baked beans and mac & cheese with corn bread and a Corona. The chicken fell off the bone. The waiter knew I was in a hurry as I walked in the place. I got a menu, ordered, got my food, ate it and paid my bill in 25 minutes!! I tipped him well for his speedy service.
Two doors down is the latest treasure in Times Square, the BB King's Blues Club. I assume this place used to be a porno theatre or something, but now it was an elegant, cozy night club with about 20 tables and another 30 stools at the bar. It was in the basement so it had a real smoky, underground feel. They didn't have a big crowd that night maybe because of the holiday weekend or the fact it was a cover band, but there were about 20 people when I walked in. I had a standing room only ticket, but they offered me a table 10 feet from the stage, dead center. But I would have to sit with strangers, which I was not in the mood for.
So they sat me off to the left side by myself, however still with a perfect view of the stage.
I had Samuel Adams Lagers in pint glasses and sat back to enjoy and judge the show. When I got the notice from the BB King website about the concert I was intrigued by the price--$19.00. I paid $16 for my first Bruce show back in 1984, but now a low ticket cost about $70. I was willing to gamble $19 on an impersonator. How bad could he be? Plus, I was not thrilled with 4 of the last 5 Bruce shows I saw, so maybe this guy could surprise me.
From the name Bruce in the USA, I had an inkling he would stick closely to the hits and not wander off the reservation the way Bruce had this decade. It's beenalmost 6 months since I saw the show, so I don't remember what his first song was coming out, but I do remember it was good, although not letter perfect. Matt Ryan's face was very similar to Bruce's, however he was about 30 pounds heavier. But man could he sing like him and talk like him. Matt's back-up band sounded good, but no one looked like the E Street Band besides the saxophone player. This guy dressed like Clarence and had his winning smile. But really, what do you want from a tribute band? That they look alike or that they sound alike? I could care less if they all looked like aliens as long as the music sounds real.
The tables were mostly full by the beginning of the show and there about 20 people who were on the bar platform who moved closer to the counter/divider. During the second song, four guys in the front center table stood up and started swaying and singing with the band. I thought they were kind of silly, especially since two of them were older than me. I mean come on, you're dancing to a pretend Bruce!!!
Well by the 5th song, I was standing up with them--singing, dancing, pumping my fists in the air to the all-time great live song Badlands. Matt followed that up with Because the Night, the Bruce-penned song that Patty Smith had a huge hit with. But Bruce's live version of this always has way more passion to me and the crowd was electrified at this point. From that moment forward about half the crowd was on its feet and never sat down. Screaming, singing, dancing and falling under the trance of this incredibly great tribute band.
I've seen cover bands before, not many and never a full show. I saw a U2 band play at Queens College for a party once and was impressed, but this group had every move down, every false start, even some of the stage chatter. The Bruce guy exposed a lot of himself that night. Matt didn't grow up a Bruce fan, barely knew who he was in high school, except that everyone called him Bruce from the sheer likeness.
He grew up in Nevada and became a Vegas musician forming this band with other Vegas vets. They considered doing a Johnny Cash tribute, but the Bruce fans were so passionate and wild that it was an easy decision to turn in this direction. The only problem is that since the fans are so passionate and so knowledgeable, you have to be able to keep up with them. He said that Bruce had 7 HOURS of material that he's done on stage and Matt and his band only knew 3 1/2 Hours of it. So there are some rare Bruce tracks that he still doesn't know, so it's hard for him to play all the requests. That's fair and his honesty was really refreshing.
The fact that he was from the Legends in Concert series in Vegas proved to me why they were so professional and tight. We saw a Legends show when Barb and I were out there and their acts were all uncanny, especially the Prince guy. Anyway, Matt was sweating like crazy. He couldn't believe that a guy from Vegas could find New York so hot. But about 10 songs into the show we were all pouring sweat. Around that point the audience was ravenous and he was so impressed that he said we "were the best audience they'd ever played for, even better than in San Diego," where Bruce apparently has a huge following. Before the show, Matt was afraid that they would be playing to just the sound and light guys because it was a holiday weekend and everyone would be going away.
Then Matt said, "Man, I feel like we're throwing a party in your basement. That's it. We're not playing one ballad the rest of the night. I might have a heart attack up here, but we're going to rock tonight." And BB King's roared with approval.
Growing Up, Rosalita, Born to Run, Out in the Street, Thunder Road, Candy's Room, Jungleland. Hits, hits and more hits, all mostly from 1973 to 1984. I think only about 3 songs from after that era. Many songs that I haven't heard Bruce play in 20 years. Two hours of non-stop rock. Everything sounded great and felt right, well almost everything. Glory Days and The Rising were tight, but interestingly the one song I felt was a little lacking was Born in the USA. Shocking because he named the band after this one. But whatever. I came thinking I was taking a $19 gamble. The worst that could happen is that the guy or the band would be real lame and I would experience embarrassing chills for them.
But instead I walked out of there with no voice left, my hands raw from clapping, feeling on top of a cloud, having just had the best Bruce concert experience since he played the Amnesty Show in 1988. I was floored by this band. This was their first concert ever on the East Coast and had never been to New York before. They said they were now going to make this a regular stop in the future. I was glad, because I couldn't wait to go back and bring friends this time to see what a real Bruce show used to be all about.
I had the greatest time, one of the greatest nights I had in all 2006 and I finally have the chance to tell you about it.
The Freditor
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