Devils & Dust Tour
Encyclopedia
The Devils & Dust Tour was a 2005 concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen
performing alone on stage on a variety of instruments. It followed the release of his 2005 album Devils & Dust
.
as a whole and being in the more acoustic, somber vein of his earlier Nebraska
and The Ghost of Tom Joad
works, was not without (sometimes substantial) instrumentation and arrangements.
Thus when Springsteen began rehearsals for the upcoming tour in Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre, he experimented with a small band line-up. Although the rehearsals were closed, a dozen or two of Springsteen fans would stand outside the theatre each day on the chilly early spring boardwalk, listening through walls to try to hear what was being played, a practice that had been going on since the E Street Band's Reunion Tour
rehearsals in 1999. These fans reported that Springsteen was rehearsing with Nils Lofgren
(guitar and keyboards), Danny Federici
(organ), Soozie Tyrell
(violin and vocals), and Steve Jordan
(drums), all of whom had participated in recording the album.
After a week or two of this, however, Springsteen decided it was not what he wanted. The musicians disappeared, and Springsteen would perform on the tour all by himself. As he told Rolling Stone
before the tour began, "Nils and some other folks came in for rehearsals to give me a sense of if I wanted to go with something bigger. But what tends to be dramatic is either the full band or you onstage by yourself. Playing alone creates a sort of drama and intimacy for the audience: They know it's just them and just you." http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html He would further explain his challenge to Esquire
during the tour: "I don't have a piano and a sax and drums behind me on this tour. So I had to re-approach the guitar as an instrument of solo accompaniment. It becomes a bit of a new land, and I'll play it in ways I've never played it before. I'm constantly asking myself, How can I wring as much music and meaning as possible out of those six strings? One thing I do know: With the correct playing style, you can summon up an orchestra." http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
for VH1
's Storytellers.
The tour's first proper leg then began in late April with 14 concerts across the United States
in mid-sized halls and partially-curtained-off arena
s; the opening show was April 25, the day of the album's release, in the Fox Theatre
in Detroit, Michigan
. Without a break the second leg commenced, visiting Western Europe
from late May through the end of June for 20 shows across various countries. After a two-week break, the third leg comprised 17 shows across Canada
and the U.S., sometimes now playing in full-sized arenas. In mid-August the tour took a two-month break off. The fourth leg then took place in October and November, playing mostly Springsteen hot spots along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard
to give repeat concert-goers a chance to see how the tour had evolved http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001053108; the final show was November 22 at Sovereign Bank Arena
in Trenton, New Jersey
.
Audience members at larger venues were often greeted by a paper handout, proclaiming that "Tonight's show is a solo acoustic [sic] performance, set in a theater style arrangement ... There will be no seating during each song ... All concession stands will close 10 minutes prior to the start of the show ..." The concert's stage set was sparse, with a few instrument stations laid out, a carpet and lamp, two reddish chandeliers, and darkish, subdued stage lighting.
But the instrument stations were indeed a break with the past, for Springsteen's 1995–1996 solo Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
has seen him only playing acoustic guitar and harmonica
. On the Devils & Dust Tour, by contrast, he would not only play those two, but add piano
, electric piano
, pump organ, autoharp
, ukulele
, banjo
, electric guitar
, and stomping board, thus adding considerable variety to the solo sound. Furthermore, his guitar tech Kevin Buell and a mysterious "Mr. Fitz" would on some songs contribute hidden, off-stage acoustic guitar, synthesizer
, and percussion. http://www.upstagemagazine.com/articles/getarticle-new.php?ID=1451
This ran against Springsteen's purely solo performance claim, but provided welcome instrumental coloring (and there was a precedent, as offstage keyboards had been used a bit on the Ghost of Tom Joad Tour as well).
And while the tour was officially billed as "Solo & Acoustic", there were in fact two electric instruments onstage and one offstage.
The tone of the performance was set at the start, when Springsteen would ask for quiet during the performance and humorously threaten audience members with mayhem if their cell phones went off. http://www.upstagemagazine.com/articles/getarticle-new.php?ID=1451http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/statesman/2005/30springsteen.html Then a "song" would be performed using only an amplified "stomping board" and an ultra-distorting vocal "bullet microphone", two devices designed to render any words or melody utterly incomprehensible to all but the sharpest of ears. http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/statesman/2005/30springsteen.html http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050519/ENT04/505190345/1031 The work most frequently presented in this slot was "Reason to Believe", Nebraskas most misanthropic selection. From there he would do a few recent songs on guitar and harmonica, usually from Devils & Dust or The Rising
.
Then would come two batches of piano or electric piano performances. These were either emotional classic favorites such as "The River
" or "Backstreets
" or "Racing in the Street
", or surprises from his back catalog, including intense tracks from The River such as "Stolen Car
", "Wreck on the Highway
", and "Drive All Night" that had not been played live for over two decades. Later in the tour more obscure selections were dug up, such as "The Iceman", "Santa Ana", and "Zero and Blind Terry", never released until appearing on the 1998 Tracks box set, as well as the truly obscure, such as "Song to the Orphans", never released at all and unplayed since the early 1970s. Such numbers were often humorously dedicated by Springsteen — "This is a song for the people who know more about me than I do about myself" — and indeed received many positive reactions from the die-hard fans who knew, or at least knew of, them.
Springsteen is, by his own admission, not a fully fluid or confident piano player. After playing piano some in concert during the early-mid 1970s, he had generally avoided it since, with the exception of a one-time benefit performance for the Christic Institute
in 1990. But in the 2000s he had begun to give it a try again, a couple of times on the final leg of the Reunion Tour
, then in the relaxed environment of Asbury Park holiday shows, and then in occasional spots on the 2002–2003 Rising Tour
. His lack of skills had been illustrated in the Live in Barcelona
DVD from that tour, when a solo piano "Spirit in the Night
" had completely broken down. Now, for the first time, he was doing it on a steady basis, and with nowhere to hide if he made mistakes; indeed this challenge may have in part the motivation for doing the tour solo. Verdicts on his playing were mixed: fans downloading bootlegged MP3
s from the shows could sometimes hear clear mistakes, especially during instrumental breaks; one reviewer found power in his playing and another proficiency http://www.laweekly.com/music/live-in-la/live-in-la/8532/; The Arizona Republic
wrote that "Springsteen showed off improved piano skills" http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/0501springsteenrev01.html; Runaway American Dream mused that "During an impromptu electric-piano 'All That Heaven Will Allow', Springsteen seemed delighted during the solo when he hit the right notes" http://guterman.com/springsteen/; while HARP Magazine said "Springsteen’s piano playing was perfectly imperfect." http://harpmagazine.com/reviews/concert_reviews/detail.cfm?article=10349 In any case, for the faithful the rarities and the frequent set list
changes in the piano numbers seemed to more than make up for any technical deficiencies.
The end of the regular set would always contain four or five of the dourest Devils & Dust numbers played in succession, concluding to silence with the difficult "Matamoros Banks" (the illegal immigrant
protagonist starts the song dead under a river with turtles gnawing at him). For artist who had built a reputation for rousing set closers such as "Rosalita
" and "Light of Day
", this draining and unpleasant finale was more than a bit of a departure.
The encore would first feature some up-tempo liveliness, with high-energy guitar run-throughs of fan favorites such as "Ramrod
", "Land of Hope and Dreams", or "Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?
" But then would come an unearthly, distinctly non-anthemic rendition of his popular rallying cry "The Promised Land", built around a percussive vocalization and guitar slaps approach http://www.upstagemagazine.com/articles/getarticle-new.php?ID=1451
http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/statesman/2005/30springsteen.html, somewhat similar to his Ghost of Tom Joad Tour version. And then the final selection would be one of his most unusual ever—a modified version of 1970s cult band Suicide
's obscure "Dream Baby Dream". Played on pump organ with a reverberating drone, assisted by an offstage synthesizer, Springsteen cycled around and around, minute after minute, through pieces of the simple yet disjointed lyrics – "Dream baby dream, I just want to see you smile, come on, dream baby dream" – until eventually he would get up from the organ and walk around the stage, the offstage music still coming, he still repeating through the lyrics, looking out over the audience as if he were giving them a puzzled benediction, then finally walking off stage still singing and without further remarks, the end. http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050519/ENT04/505190345/1031 Some "Dream Baby Dream"s lasted eight minutes, nine, ten or more.
" and "Long Time Comin'" proved on the following year's Sessions Band Tour
.
Critical reaction to the Devils & Dust Tour was generally favorable. Daily Variety reviewed a Los Angeles
show by saying, "On a night that can be described as nothing short of magical, his solo show was a dream come true ... nearly every moment in the 2½-hour show resonated with truth." http://www.theaircanadacentre.com/aboutACC.php?level=4&articleID=132 Billboard
called the show "spare and pensive", noting that "the artist has consistently changed up the set list and reinvented dozens of songs from his more than three-decade career." http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001053108 The local Asbury Park Press
portrayed Springsteen's attitude during the show as "[One who] has seen some things, heard some things and done some things — most of them terrible, some of them extraordinarily wonderful. [...] As the pilgrim stands before the crowd, he makes no grand pronouncements. He seems puzzled by both the evil and the beauty in the world." http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050519/ENT04/505190345/1031 LA Weekly
was less impressed, objecting to Springsteen's choice of unfamiliar material and that he "insists fans neither clap nor sing along." http://www.laweekly.com/music/live-in-la/live-in-la/8532/ New Jersey's Upstage magazine liked the show in general, but felt that the use of off-stage musicians was unsettling, saying "the idea of a solo acoustic tour loses something when it features other musicians who are neither given credit for their work nor seen on stage." http://www.upstagemagazine.com/articles/getarticle-new.php?ID=1451 (In the final two shows of the tour, Springsteen brought out and introduced the off-stage keyboard player, Alan Fitzgerald, and played with him on-stage. http://www.backstreets.com/setlists2005.html.) The Austin American-Statesman
found the show uneven, with Springsteen unlikely to gain new fans from it. http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/statesman/2005/30springsteen.html
Attendance was disappointing in a few regions where Springsteen's drawing power had gradually been showing weakness, and everywhere but in Europe tickets were easier to get than in the past. Nevertheless, the tour did well commercially overall. Billboard
reported that "Springsteen's stripped-down Devils & Dust tour did big business in 2005, grossing more than $33.4 million from 65 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore, 46 of them sellouts." http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002115048
The Devils & Dust Tour subsequently won the Billboard Roadworks '05 Touring Award
for Best Small Venue Tour, an award based on sales. http://www.billboardevents.com/billboardevents/touring/awards.jsp
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
performing alone on stage on a variety of instruments. It followed the release of his 2005 album Devils & Dust
Devils & Dust
Devils & Dust is the 13th studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, and his third folk album . It was released on April 25, 2005 in Europe and on April 26 in the US...
.
Approach
The Devils & Dust album, while not using the E Street BandE Street Band
The E Street Band has been rock musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972.The band has also recorded with a wide range of other artists including Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Tom Morello, Sting, Ian...
as a whole and being in the more acoustic, somber vein of his earlier Nebraska
Nebraska (album)
-Themes:The album begins with "Nebraska", a first-person narrative based on the true story of 19-year-old spree killer Charles Starkweather and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, and ends with "Reason to Believe", a complex narrative that renders its title phrase into contemptuous sarcasm...
and The Ghost of Tom Joad
The Ghost of Tom Joad
The Ghost of Tom Joad is the eleventh studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1995 . The album was recorded and mixed at Thrill Hill during the spring and summer of 1995. Musically and lyrically reminiscent of Springsteen's 1982 critically acclaimed album Nebraska, The Ghost of Tom Joad...
works, was not without (sometimes substantial) instrumentation and arrangements.
Thus when Springsteen began rehearsals for the upcoming tour in Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre, he experimented with a small band line-up. Although the rehearsals were closed, a dozen or two of Springsteen fans would stand outside the theatre each day on the chilly early spring boardwalk, listening through walls to try to hear what was being played, a practice that had been going on since the E Street Band's Reunion Tour
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour
The Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour was a lengthy, top-grossing concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place over 1999 and 2000....
rehearsals in 1999. These fans reported that Springsteen was rehearsing with Nils Lofgren
Nils Lofgren
Nils Hilmer Lofgren is an American rock music recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
(guitar and keyboards), Danny Federici
Danny Federici
Daniel Paul "Danny" Federici was an American musician, best known as the longtime organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.- Career :...
(organ), Soozie Tyrell
Soozie Tyrell
Soozie Tyrell, , formerly known as Soozie Kirschner, is an American violinist and vocalist, most known for her work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band.-Biography:...
(violin and vocals), and Steve Jordan
Steve Jordan (musician)
Steve Jordan is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, musical director and Grammy Award-winning artist, who has made a name for himself as a producer from the Bronx in New York City. A graduate of the Fiorello H...
(drums), all of whom had participated in recording the album.
After a week or two of this, however, Springsteen decided it was not what he wanted. The musicians disappeared, and Springsteen would perform on the tour all by himself. As he told Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
before the tour began, "Nils and some other folks came in for rehearsals to give me a sense of if I wanted to go with something bigger. But what tends to be dramatic is either the full band or you onstage by yourself. Playing alone creates a sort of drama and intimacy for the audience: They know it's just them and just you." http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html He would further explain his challenge to Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
during the tour: "I don't have a piano and a sax and drums behind me on this tour. So I had to re-approach the guitar as an instrument of solo accompaniment. It becomes a bit of a new land, and I'll play it in ways I've never played it before. I'm constantly asking myself, How can I wring as much music and meaning as possible out of those six strings? One thing I do know: With the correct playing style, you can summon up an orchestra." http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
Itinerary
The tour began in April 2005 with two public rehearsal shows in Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre, as well as a promotional appearance in Red BankRed Bank, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,844 people, 5,201 households, and 2,501 families residing in the borough. The population density was 6,639.1 people per square mile . There were 5,450 housing units at an average density of 3,055.0 per square mile...
for VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Storytellers.
The tour's first proper leg then began in late April with 14 concerts across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in mid-sized halls and partially-curtained-off arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
s; the opening show was April 25, the day of the album's release, in the Fox Theatre
Fox Theatre (Detroit)
The Fox Theatre is an ornate performing arts center located at 2211 Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, Michigan, near Grand Circus Park. It was originally completed in 1928 as the first movie palace in the world to have sound systems for films. It was listed on the National Register of Historic...
in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. Without a break the second leg commenced, visiting Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
from late May through the end of June for 20 shows across various countries. After a two-week break, the third leg comprised 17 shows across Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the U.S., sometimes now playing in full-sized arenas. In mid-August the tour took a two-month break off. The fourth leg then took place in October and November, playing mostly Springsteen hot spots along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard
Eastern seaboard
An Eastern seaboard can mean any easternmost part of a continent, or its countries, states and/or cities.Eastern seaboard may also refer to:* East Coast of Australia* East Coast of the United States* Eastern Seaboard of Thailand-See also:...
to give repeat concert-goers a chance to see how the tour had evolved http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001053108; the final show was November 22 at Sovereign Bank Arena
Sovereign Bank Arena
The Sun National Bank Center is a $53 million, 8,500 seat arena in Trenton, New Jersey, home to the Trenton Titans of the ECHL and other special events. In 2011 it will be home to the Trenton Steel of the Southern Indoor Football League...
in Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
.
The show
But the instrument stations were indeed a break with the past, for Springsteen's 1995–1996 solo Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
The Ghost of Tom Joad Tour was a lengthy, worldwide concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen performing alone on stage in small halls and theatres, that ran off and on from late 1995 through the middle of 1997. It followed the release of his 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad.-Itinerary:The tour...
has seen him only playing acoustic guitar and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
. On the Devils & Dust Tour, by contrast, he would not only play those two, but add piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, electric piano
Electric piano
An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, pump organ, autoharp
Autoharp
The autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
, ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, and stomping board, thus adding considerable variety to the solo sound. Furthermore, his guitar tech Kevin Buell and a mysterious "Mr. Fitz" would on some songs contribute hidden, off-stage acoustic guitar, synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, and percussion. http://www.upstagemagazine.com/articles/getarticle-new.php?ID=1451
This ran against Springsteen's purely solo performance claim, but provided welcome instrumental coloring (and there was a precedent, as offstage keyboards had been used a bit on the Ghost of Tom Joad Tour as well).
And while the tour was officially billed as "Solo & Acoustic", there were in fact two electric instruments onstage and one offstage.
The tone of the performance was set at the start, when Springsteen would ask for quiet during the performance and humorously threaten audience members with mayhem if their cell phones went off. http://www.upstagemagazine.com/articles/getarticle-new.php?ID=1451http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/statesman/2005/30springsteen.html Then a "song" would be performed using only an amplified "stomping board" and an ultra-distorting vocal "bullet microphone", two devices designed to render any words or melody utterly incomprehensible to all but the sharpest of ears. http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/statesman/2005/30springsteen.html http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050519/ENT04/505190345/1031 The work most frequently presented in this slot was "Reason to Believe", Nebraskas most misanthropic selection. From there he would do a few recent songs on guitar and harmonica, usually from Devils & Dust or The Rising
The Rising (album)
The Rising is the 12th studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released in 2002 on Columbia Records. In addition to being Springsteen's first studio album in seven years, it was also his first with the E Street Band in 18 years...
.
Then would come two batches of piano or electric piano performances. These were either emotional classic favorites such as "The River
The River (Bruce Springsteen song)
"The River" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, accompanied by the E Street Band. It was the title track of his fifth album, The River, and was a hit single in parts of Europe. It reached #25 in the Netherlands, and reached the top 10 in both Sweden and Norway...
" or "Backstreets
Backstreets (song)
"Backstreets" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Born to Run, which was released in 1975. In the original vinyl release, it concludes side one of the record.-Structure:...
" or "Racing in the Street
Racing in the Street
"Racing in the Street" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town. In the original vinyl format, it was the last song of side one of the album...
", or surprises from his back catalog, including intense tracks from The River such as "Stolen Car
Stolen Car (Bruce Springsteen song)
"Stolen Car" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was originally released on his fifth album, The River...
", "Wreck on the Highway
Wreck on the Highway
"Wreck on the Highway" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was originally released as the final track on his fifth album, The River...
", and "Drive All Night" that had not been played live for over two decades. Later in the tour more obscure selections were dug up, such as "The Iceman", "Santa Ana", and "Zero and Blind Terry", never released until appearing on the 1998 Tracks box set, as well as the truly obscure, such as "Song to the Orphans", never released at all and unplayed since the early 1970s. Such numbers were often humorously dedicated by Springsteen — "This is a song for the people who know more about me than I do about myself" — and indeed received many positive reactions from the die-hard fans who knew, or at least knew of, them.
Springsteen is, by his own admission, not a fully fluid or confident piano player. After playing piano some in concert during the early-mid 1970s, he had generally avoided it since, with the exception of a one-time benefit performance for the Christic Institute
Christic Institute
The Christic Institute was a public interest law firm founded in 1980 by Daniel Sheehan, his wife, Sara Nelson and their partner, William J. Davis, who was a Jesuit priest. Its headquarters were based in Washington, D.C. with several offices in other major United States cities, such as San...
in 1990. But in the 2000s he had begun to give it a try again, a couple of times on the final leg of the Reunion Tour
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour
The Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour was a lengthy, top-grossing concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place over 1999 and 2000....
, then in the relaxed environment of Asbury Park holiday shows, and then in occasional spots on the 2002–2003 Rising Tour
The Rising Tour
The Rising Tour was a lengthy, worldwide, top-grossing concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place in arenas and stadiums over 2002 and 2003...
. His lack of skills had been illustrated in the Live in Barcelona
Live in Barcelona
Live In Barcelona is a full concert video DVD of a performance by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band of their Rising Tour performance of October 16, 2002 at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain....
DVD from that tour, when a solo piano "Spirit in the Night
Spirit in the Night
"Spirit in the Night" is a song written and originally recorded by New Jersey based singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen for his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. . It was also the second single released from the album...
" had completely broken down. Now, for the first time, he was doing it on a steady basis, and with nowhere to hide if he made mistakes; indeed this challenge may have in part the motivation for doing the tour solo. Verdicts on his playing were mixed: fans downloading bootlegged MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
s from the shows could sometimes hear clear mistakes, especially during instrumental breaks; one reviewer found power in his playing and another proficiency http://www.laweekly.com/music/live-in-la/live-in-la/8532/; The Arizona Republic
The Arizona Republic
The Arizona Republic is a daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. It was ranked tenth in US daily newspapers by circulation in 2007.-Early years:The newspaper was founded...
wrote that "Springsteen showed off improved piano skills" http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/0501springsteenrev01.html; Runaway American Dream mused that "During an impromptu electric-piano 'All That Heaven Will Allow', Springsteen seemed delighted during the solo when he hit the right notes" http://guterman.com/springsteen/; while HARP Magazine said "Springsteen’s piano playing was perfectly imperfect." http://harpmagazine.com/reviews/concert_reviews/detail.cfm?article=10349 In any case, for the faithful the rarities and the frequent set list
Set list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
changes in the piano numbers seemed to more than make up for any technical deficiencies.
Illegal immigration to the United States
An illegal immigrant in the United States is an alien who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa....
protagonist starts the song dead under a river with turtles gnawing at him). For artist who had built a reputation for rousing set closers such as "Rosalita
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
"Rosalita " is a 1973 song by Bruce Springsteen, from his The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle album, and is especially famed as a concert number for Springsteen and The E Street Band...
" and "Light of Day
Light of Day (song)
"Light of Day", sometimes written as " Light of Day", is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and performed initially by Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox with their fictitious band The Barbusters in the 1987 film Light of Day...
", this draining and unpleasant finale was more than a bit of a departure.
The encore would first feature some up-tempo liveliness, with high-energy guitar run-throughs of fan favorites such as "Ramrod
Ramrod (song)
"Ramrod" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for his fifth album, The River, released in 1980. It was recorded at The Power Station in New York in June or July 1979. The song was actually written earlier and recorded for Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of...
", "Land of Hope and Dreams", or "Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?
Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
"Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., released in 1973. The song was part of the demo that Springsteen recorded for John Hammond of CBS Records in advance of getting his first recording contract...
" But then would come an unearthly, distinctly non-anthemic rendition of his popular rallying cry "The Promised Land", built around a percussive vocalization and guitar slaps approach http://www.upstagemagazine.com/articles/getarticle-new.php?ID=1451
http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/statesman/2005/30springsteen.html, somewhat similar to his Ghost of Tom Joad Tour version. And then the final selection would be one of his most unusual ever—a modified version of 1970s cult band Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
's obscure "Dream Baby Dream". Played on pump organ with a reverberating drone, assisted by an offstage synthesizer, Springsteen cycled around and around, minute after minute, through pieces of the simple yet disjointed lyrics – "Dream baby dream, I just want to see you smile, come on, dream baby dream" – until eventually he would get up from the organ and walk around the stage, the offstage music still coming, he still repeating through the lyrics, looking out over the audience as if he were giving them a puzzled benediction, then finally walking off stage still singing and without further remarks, the end. http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050519/ENT04/505190345/1031 Some "Dream Baby Dream"s lasted eight minutes, nine, ten or more.
Critical and commercial reaction
The show was definitely a challenge to its audience, especially when presented in a cavernous arena. Casual Springsteen fans, if they came at all, would leave a bit bewildered. The faithful often found the shows rewarding. In retrospect, however, some fans wondered if some of the limitations of the tour might have been overcome if Springsteen had stuck with his original small-band lineup. However, others believe the Devils and Dust tour was Springsteen at his best, creating some of the most exciting shows longtime fans have ever seen. Springsteen played a total of 140 different songs during the tour. Few artists have ever played such a large variety of songs during one tour. Springsteen showcased his musical talent and made fans want to follow him on tour from the excitement created by so many different songs being played each night. The Devils & Dust material had been the ones most using the offstage instruments, and these fans believed even more would have helped, as effective large-group versions of that album's "Devils & DustDevils & Dust (song)
"Devils & Dust" is the title track on Bruce Springsteen's thirteenth studio album Devils & Dust, and was released as a single in 2005. Concerning the Iraq War, the song gained critical praise, a Grammy Award for Song of the Year nomination.-History:...
" and "Long Time Comin'" proved on the following year's Sessions Band Tour
Bruce Springsteen with The Seeger Sessions Band Tour
The Bruce Springsteen with The Seeger Sessions Band Tour, afterward sometimes referred to simply as the Sessions Band Tour, was a 2006 concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and The Sessions Band playing what was billed as "An all-new evening of gospel, folk, and blues," otherwise seen as a form...
.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
show by saying, "On a night that can be described as nothing short of magical, his solo show was a dream come true ... nearly every moment in the 2½-hour show resonated with truth." http://www.theaircanadacentre.com/aboutACC.php?level=4&articleID=132 Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
called the show "spare and pensive", noting that "the artist has consistently changed up the set list and reinvented dozens of songs from his more than three-decade career." http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001053108 The local Asbury Park Press
Asbury Park Press
The Asbury Park Press is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state...
portrayed Springsteen's attitude during the show as "[One who] has seen some things, heard some things and done some things — most of them terrible, some of them extraordinarily wonderful. [...] As the pilgrim stands before the crowd, he makes no grand pronouncements. He seems puzzled by both the evil and the beauty in the world." http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050519/ENT04/505190345/1031 LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
was less impressed, objecting to Springsteen's choice of unfamiliar material and that he "insists fans neither clap nor sing along." http://www.laweekly.com/music/live-in-la/live-in-la/8532/ New Jersey's Upstage magazine liked the show in general, but felt that the use of off-stage musicians was unsettling, saying "the idea of a solo acoustic tour loses something when it features other musicians who are neither given credit for their work nor seen on stage." http://www.upstagemagazine.com/articles/getarticle-new.php?ID=1451 (In the final two shows of the tour, Springsteen brought out and introduced the off-stage keyboard player, Alan Fitzgerald, and played with him on-stage. http://www.backstreets.com/setlists2005.html.) The Austin American-Statesman
Austin American-Statesman
The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises. The Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region....
found the show uneven, with Springsteen unlikely to gain new fans from it. http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/statesman/2005/30springsteen.html
Attendance was disappointing in a few regions where Springsteen's drawing power had gradually been showing weakness, and everywhere but in Europe tickets were easier to get than in the past. Nevertheless, the tour did well commercially overall. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
reported that "Springsteen's stripped-down Devils & Dust tour did big business in 2005, grossing more than $33.4 million from 65 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore, 46 of them sellouts." http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002115048
The Devils & Dust Tour subsequently won the Billboard Roadworks '05 Touring Award
Billboard Touring Awards
Established in 2004, the Billboard Touring Conference and Awards is an annual meeting sponsored by Billboard Magazine which also honors the top international live entertainment industry artists and professionals...
for Best Small Venue Tour, an award based on sales. http://www.billboardevents.com/billboardevents/touring/awards.jsp
Sources
- Springsteen's official website still has 2005 tour information on it.
- Backstreets.com's 2005 tour set lists and show descriptions capture the contents and feel of each show, and indicate what instruments were used to play each song; unfortunately, they are not structured as to allow direct linking to individual shows.
- Killing Floor's concert database gives valuable coverage to the pre-tour rehearsals as well, but also does not support direct linking to individual dates.