Bruce Springsteen

greasylake wrote:

On a completely unrelated topic, can Bruce go back to playing the Magic album and include a speech during every show about how Obama's rolling back of civil liberties and illegal wiretapping is "simply unamerican?" Or is it not acceptable to criticize the person he supported for the last two election cycles who campaigned for transparency and restoration of civil liberties like he did the Bush Administration for taking those things away? For the record, I am not a conservative/republican, more liberal leaning, I am just outraged by what has been exposed the last couple days with Obama's support of the NSA's Orwellian monitoring of US citizens. I realize a post does absolutely nothing, and I hope that we (Generation Y), the same group who showed up in record numbers the last two elections to get Obama will begin protesting.

Oh how I wish. Doubt it.

In 2000 I saw him--a super rich white guy saying that Florida needs affirmative action. What a friggin hypocrite...his kids will never be impacted by that racist program but he wanted middle class people of no color to be subject to it. Just up and play Mr. Boss

I love the guy but seriously it sometimes bothers me how big a hypocrite he can be. Calling his 200 acre property a farm because he leases a few acres to organic farms to qualify for a tax subsidy so he pays next to nothing in property taxes is another example of him being a hypocrite. It's not to say he doesn't do a lot of good for NJ since he obviously donates a lot, but to be probably one of NJ richest residents and to pull that bullshit to avoid paying taxes like the rest of the state when the state is gutting the education budget left and right is ridiculous. And he's not the only one, Bon Jovi, Max, and Jon Runyan also use the same loophole to get out of paying their full property taxes.

greasylake wrote:

I love the guy but seriously it sometimes bothers me how big a hypocrite he can be. Calling his 200 acre property a farm because he leases a few acres to organic farms to qualify for a tax subsidy so he pays next to nothing in property taxes is another example of him being a hypocrite. It's not to say he doesn't do a lot of good for NJ since he obviously donates a lot, but to be probably one of NJ richest residents and to pull that bullshit to avoid paying taxes like the rest of the state when the state is gutting the education budget left and right is ridiculous. And he's not the only one, Bon Jovi, Max, and Jon Runyan also use the same loophole to get out of paying their full property taxes.

Look, I'd never argue that the man is perfect, but lets be honest here, who wouldn't take advantage of a tax loophole if they could? Who wouldn't pay less taxes if they could? What he's doing is legal. No one, especially someone who doesn't agree with a lot of what the government does, is going to say "hey mr. tax-man, please take more of my money so you can fund unnecessary wars".

I know personally, I'd rather take advantage of the loophole, and donate whatever money I save. I'm not saying Bruce does this or does it for that reason, I'm just offering another perspective. And if any of you became rich and didn't take advantage of all the tax breaks then well, that's good I guess, but until you're put in that position you can't really say you wouldn't take advantage.

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

Look, I'd never argue that the man is perfect, but lets be honest here, who wouldn't take advantage of a tax loophole if they could? Who wouldn't pay less taxes if they could? What he's doing is legal. No one, especially someone who doesn't agree with a lot of what the government does, is going to say "hey mr. tax-man, please take more of my money so you can fund unnecessary wars".

I know personally, I'd rather take advantage of the loophole, and donate whatever money I save. I'm not saying Bruce does this or does it for that reason, I'm just offering another perspective. And if any of you became rich and didn't take advantage of all the tax breaks then well, that's good I guess, but until you're put in that position you can't really say you wouldn't take advantage.

I would like to think I don't need Bruce's money to realize that a person who has spent his life writing about the plight of the working man would see something grossly offensive about taking advantage of tax subsidies that are intended to help making farming profitable for actual NJ farmers when his net worth is $200+ million dollars and he's obviously not farming the land. The articles I've read estimated that his 3 acre home costs him $137,000 in property taxes (yes NJ is ridiculously expensive) so you can't really have 200 acres just for fun.

These are his property taxes which go to the state of NJ to pay for education, not the federal government's taxes. He obviously has the supplemental income to donate to whatever charities he'd like so he can have most of his taxes written off and probably very little if any of what he pays goes towards wars.

I don't want to come off as a holier than thou person, I realize it's not just him and the system is somewhat broken that he and other NJ millionaires are able to utilize this subsidy. However coming from a person who lives in NJ, it's offensive that especially Bruce of all people, the person who is the first to criticize wall street for being greedy is also scamming the system which directly harms the working class who more so than any other class in the state uses the public school system.

It's hard to hold Bruce to the same standard as everybody else when he chooses to be very vocal about lots of issues. He throws himself into the spotlight so he deserves the same scrutiny as any other person who wants to influence people.

bobbyw24 wrote:

Springsteen’s style might seem more altruistic, but performers who undercharge their fans can paradoxically reap higher profits than those who maximize each ticket price. It’s a strategy similar to the one employed by ventures like casinos and cruise ships, which take a hit on admission prices but make their money once the customers are inside. Concert promoters can overcharge on everything from beer sales to T-shirts, and the benefits of low-priced tickets can accrue significantly over the years as loyal fans return. In part, this explains why artists like Springsteen and Petty are content to undercharge at the gate while others, perhaps wary of their own staying power, are eager to capitalize while they can.

But by leaving money on the table, Springsteen and his ilk might be doing their fans an inadvertent disservice. Jared Smith, the president of Ticketmaster North America, told me that the artists who charge the least tend to see the most scalping. Springsteen and others have angrily denounced scalping at their shows, but their prices are guaranteeing the very existence of that secondary market, which has become ever more sophisticated over the years. Many scalpers now use computer programs to monopolize ticket buying when seats go on sale, which forces many fans to buy from resellers. One of the surest ways to eliminate scalping, Smith told me, is to charge a more accurate price in the first place.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/magazine/the-secret-science-of-scalping-tickets.html?pagewanted=2&smid=tw-nytimes

are they saying springsteen tickets are cheap?
that's pretty rediculous, every time i've seen him tickets have been between $80 to $100+. most expensive tickets i've seen.
that's one of my biggest gripes with him, bruce being my favorite musician. don't understand this article.
i looked at petty tickets for the fonda recently, also in the same ballpark. there are very few situations where i'd be willing to spend triple digits on a non-festival gig, christ.

greasylake wrote:

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

Look, I'd never argue that the man is perfect, but lets be honest here, who wouldn't take advantage of a tax loophole if they could? Who wouldn't pay less taxes if they could? What he's doing is legal. No one, especially someone who doesn't agree with a lot of what the government does, is going to say "hey mr. tax-man, please take more of my money so you can fund unnecessary wars".

I know personally, I'd rather take advantage of the loophole, and donate whatever money I save. I'm not saying Bruce does this or does it for that reason, I'm just offering another perspective. And if any of you became rich and didn't take advantage of all the tax breaks then well, that's good I guess, but until you're put in that position you can't really say you wouldn't take advantage.

I would like to think I don't need Bruce's money to realize that a person who has spent his life writing about the plight of the working man would see something grossly offensive about taking advantage of tax subsidies that are intended to help making farming profitable for actual NJ farmers when his net worth is $200+ million dollars and he's obviously not farming the land. The articles I've read estimated that his 3 acre home costs him $137,000 in property taxes (yes NJ is ridiculously expensive) so you can't really have 200 acres just for fun.

These are his property taxes which go to the state of NJ to pay for education, not the federal government's taxes. He obviously has the supplemental income to donate to whatever charities he'd like so he can have most of his taxes written off and probably very little if any of what he pays goes towards wars.

I don't want to come off as a holier than thou person, I realize it's not just him and the system is somewhat broken that he and other NJ millionaires are able to utilize this subsidy. However coming from a person who lives in NJ, it's offensive that especially Bruce of all people, the person who is the first to criticize wall street for being greedy is also scamming the system which directly harms the working class who more so than any other class in the state uses the public school system.

It's hard to hold Bruce to the same standard as everybody else when he chooses to be very vocal about lots of issues. He throws himself into the spotlight so he deserves the same scrutiny as any other person who wants to influence people.

Good point about where property taxes go. I was not using my brain there. You definitely have a point, I don't disagree, I just think that it's human nature to take advantage of things that save a person money, especially when it comes to taxes. I'd commend him if he made a point not to, but I don't equate him to the people on wall street. If wall street was just taking advantage of all the loopholes, they'd be equatable, BUT these companies are the ones with their hands in gov't that lead to the loopholes in the first place. Springsteen's choice may not be in line with the ideals he expresses but it's legal and it's not unusual, and for me it doesn't devalue anything he stands for.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/steve-van-zandt-not-sure-if-bruce-springsteen-tour-is-returning-to-america-20130701

Hopefully he'll at least put on the supposed New Years Eve show in LA that livenation accidentally posted about online earlier this year.  Or at the very least, hopefully it won't be too long until this next album comes out.

Supposedly he's been working on a new album. He said recently he recorded some stuff while on tour, I believe in Australia when Tom Morello joined them. Hopefully that means a 2014 tour and album!

I have a feeling he'll take a year off next year, then come back with a new album & tour in 2015. Could be wrong, just he's basically toured for two years non-stop, and 3 years between albums is a normal cycle. Given what he puts into his shows, and he's not getting any younger, it would be a well earned break!

Bruce won't take all of 2014 off. He'll at least be looking to release something come September time I'd guess. He deserves a break but he's a song factory and i don't think he can sit still for so long

Anyone kind of nice to make an acoustic recording of Youngstown from the tab book I have for TGOTJ if i send you a scan of the book?  I tried listening to some live performances by Bruce/album version but I just cant get it right.. I was hoping hearing just the guitar might help make it easier.

I've got a copy of the tab, and will see what I can do.

This country-specific cover thing he's doing to open every concert in South America is so badass. Makes me crave a 5th Springsteen show

I've recently gotten into Bruce and I like a majority of his work. For the longest time his music didn't appeal to me and his heavy-handed politics really turned me off. Once I decided to look past that and just focus on the music I found that much of it is quite enjoyable. My favorite albums of his are Born in the U.S.A., Tunnel of Love, The Rising, Born to Run, Magic, Nebraska, and Darkness on the Edge of Town.

Sounds like you have listened to enough Bruce, but I'll post it anyways for anyone who might be interested in checking out his work.

https://imgur.com/ciQ4Sxc

deadspin wrote:

Sounds like you have listened to enough Bruce, but I'll post it anyways for anyone who might be interested in checking out his work.

https://imgur.com/ciQ4Sxc

I think "Darkness" has won my vote of all time favorite Springsteen album.

Haha I like that flow chart but I feel like more lines need to be connected to The Rising. One of his best albums and it transcends 9/11.

Greetings from Asbury Park: Blinded by the Light
Wild the Innocent-Sandy
Born To Run: BTR or Jungleland
Darkness:Darkness On The Edge of Town\
The River:The River
Nebraska: Atlantic City
Born In The USA: My Hometown or No Surrender
Tunnel of Love: Brilliant Disguise
Lucky Town: Lucky Town
Human Touch: Human Touch
Ghost of Tom Joad: Youngstown
The Rising: Empty Sky
Devils and Dust:Jesus was an Only Son
We Shall Overcome: Void since it was a cover CD
Magic:Long Walk Home
Working on a Dream: What Love Can Do or The Wrestler
Wrecking Ball: Land of Hope and Dreams or Shackled And Drawn.
The Promise:The Promise

My list of my favorite/best songs off of each CD (Subject to change due to my circumstances)

Jack wrote:

Haha I like that flow chart but I feel like more lines need to be connected to The Rising. One of his best albums and it transcends 9/11.

The Rising is one of my favorites too, although I feel it's a bit too long and could use some trimming. Personally I feel if "Let's Be Friends (Skin to Skin)", "Paradise", "Worlds Apart", and "You're Missing" had been left off it would be arguably his best.

I like that chart, although I find it interesting that Working on a Dream wasn't included on it. I think it's his weakest album but it has a couple songs that are pretty decent.

Oh yeah, where was Working On A Dream? Yeah, it's not perfect, but at least there are songs that aren't all about politics. It just rarely interests me as subject matter in a song. Plus it's got What Love Can Do, which is an amazing song.

This note (and the video below it) I found very moving.

http://brucespringsteen.net/#post-6912

JimmyB wrote:

Greetings from Asbury Park: Blinded by the Light
Wild the Innocent-Sandy
Born To Run: BTR or Jungleland
Darkness:Darkness On The Edge of Town\
The River:The River
Nebraska: Atlantic City
Born In The USA: My Hometown or No Surrender
Tunnel of Love: Brilliant Disguise
Lucky Town: Lucky Town
Human Touch: Human Touch
Ghost of Tom Joad: Youngstown
The Rising: Empty Sky
Devils and Dust:Jesus was an Only Son
We Shall Overcome: Void since it was a cover CD
Magic:Long Walk Home
Working on a Dream: What Love Can Do or The Wrestler
Wrecking Ball: Land of Hope and Dreams or Shackled And Drawn.

My list of my favorite/best songs off of each CD (Subject to change due to my circumstances)

Nice list, Jimmy. Here's mine
Greetings from Asbury Park: For You
The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle: New York City Serenade
Born To Run: Backstreets
Darkness: Racing in the Street
The River: Jackson Cage
Nebraska: Highway Patrolman
Born In The USA: I'm Goin' Down
Tunnel of Love: Two Faces
Lucky Town: Lucky Town
Human Touch: Human Touch
Ghost of Tom Joad: The Ghost of Tom Joad
The Rising: My City of Ruins
Devils and Dust: Black Cowboys
We Shall Overcome: O Mary Don't You Weep
Magic: Your Own Worst Enemy
Working on a Dream: This Life
Wrecking Ball: Jack of All Trades

a lot of albums were very close. Jungleland, The River, Brilliant Disguise, You're Missing, and Wrecking Ball are all very close seconds to my picks today

My picks are fairly populist, but I think Bruce is a rare case where the most popular songs are often the best.

Greetings from Asbury Park: Spirit In The Night
The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle: Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Born To Run: Born To Run
Darkness: The Promised Land
The River: Hungry Heart
Nebraska: Atlantic City
Born In The USA: I'm Goin' Down
Tunnel of Love: Brilliant Disguise, I guess...
Lucky Town: If I Should Fall Behind
Human Touch: Human Touch, I guess...
Ghost of Tom Joad: The Ghost of Tom Joad, I guess...
The Rising: My City of Ruins
Devils and Dust: Devils & Dust, I guess...
Magic: maybe I'll Work For Your Love, actually...or Living In The Future
Working on a Dream: What Love Can Do
Wrecking Ball: Wrecking Ball

I don't count We Shall Overcome as a true Bruce album so I left it off.

Ok, I'm definitely participating in this list making...(and I'm including The Promise because that's mostly new music even if it was mostly written quite awhile ago)

Greetings from Asbury Park: Lost In The Flood
The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle: 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Born To Run: Born To Run (really it's a 7-way tie, I don't love Meeting Across The River)
Darkness: Darkness on The Edge of Town
The River: The River
Nebraska: Atlantic City
Born In The USA: No Surrender
Tunnel of Love: Tunnel of Love
Lucky Town: If I Should Fall Behind
Human Touch: Human Touch
Ghost of Tom Joad: Youngstown
The Rising: Mary's Place
Devils and Dust: Devils & Dust
Magic: Radio Nowhere
Working on a Dream: Kingdom of Days
The Promise: Save My Love
Wrecking Ball: Land of Hopes and Dreams