Blown Away

It's been a tiring but great week. Three Springsteen shows in three days (numbers 54, 55 and 56 in my show count which started back in 1985. Yes I'm that nuts).

On Sunday I took the train up to Manchester to see the first UK show of the Seeger Sessions tour at the MEN Arena. I spent the afternoon in a Walkabout bar fretting over Tottenham's chance of securing 4th place in the Premiership above the Arse*** (they of course failed miserably due to a mixture of West Ham's strong performance and a touch of team tummy trouble. Were they nobbled? Duh!). I exited in the depths of depression and wandered over to the Arena. Bruce and his 17 piece band blasted off with 'John Henry' and my personal rain cloud lifted. A very good show with an enthusiastic audience on the floor. £4 for a bottle of beer!

Setlist: John Henry/O Mary Don't You Weep/Johnny 99/Old Dan Tucker/Eyes on the Prize/Jesse James/Cadillac Ranch/Erie Canal/My Oklahoma Home/How Can I Keep From Singing?/Mrs. McGrath/How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?/Jacob's Ladder/We Shall Overcome/Open All Night/Pay Me My Money Down
Encore: My City of Ruins/Buffalo Gals/You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)/When the Saints Go Marching In

Caught the train back to London on Monday and headed straight for the Hammersmith Apollo (nee Odeon). An outstanding joyful performance, great atmosphere, the show rocked!! Perhaps one of the best Springsteen shows I've ever seen.

Setlist: O Mary Don't You Weep/John Henry/Johnny 99/Old Dan Tucker/Eyes on the Prize/Jesse James/Cadillac Ranch/Long Black Veil/Erie Canal/My Oklahoma Home/How Can I Keep From Singing?/Mrs. McGrath/How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?/Jacob's Ladder/We Shall Overcome/Open All Night/Pay Me My Money Down
Encore: My City of Ruins/Buffalo Gals/You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)/When the Saints Go Marching In

With this thought in mind I wasn't too worried about not getting in to see Tuesday's BBC TV/Radio recording show at St Luke's Church in Old Street, London. Bruce Springsteen playing in a tiny church, in Old St of all places! The very small number of tickets available had been distributed amongst BBC employees, their mates and a handful of Competition winners. Two chances of getting in. Fat and No.

On Tuesday morning I was working down in a secret location in Surrey. By lunchtime I thought 'sod this I'm heading back into town' and decided to take the afternoon off. I got to the church at around three and the Beeb were busily unloading their trucks of equipment. There were only maybe 15 people there and most of them were just hanging around on the off chance of getting Bruce's autograph. Where were the rabid Spanish and Italian fans? Probably already on their way to see Wednesday's show in Paris.

Around 20 of us ended up queuing for the chance of a return, cursing everyone on the VIP list that walked straight in (probably expecting to see Bruce Hornsby or Bryan Adams). Amazingly at around 7:45pm, a BBC bod came out with a big wad of tickets and let in everyone who was waiting.

The HD cameras and recording gear 'started to roll' and veteran DJ Johnnie Walker introduced the band. They came on, somehow squeezed onto the tiny little stage and ran through a short 80 minute set. 'O Mary Don't You Weep' and 'Mrs McGrath' were played twice, the first due to a faulty violin mic and the second due to the audience not clapping in time with the music! About half way through Bruce decided to do an unplanned 'How can I keep From Singing' and then realised that that the Organ used in it wasn't on the stage. Doh! A suitable keyboard sound found, they continued. For me the stop/start TV aspect of the show distracted things slightly but hey this was a good FREE performance. I'll be looking for my bald patch and inept jiggling about when it's broadcast.

Celebs spotted amongst the 200 or so people present: the lovely Emmylou Harris, Whispering Bob Harris, The Great Gambo, Simon Mayo, Julia Carling, Stephen Merchant, Chris Evans, Musty MC, Tom Robinson and Liz Kershaw.

The show will first go out on BBC Radio 2 this Saturday, May 13th, at 9pm After that it will be on TV - BBC 4 (May 19th 10pm) and BBC 2 (May 20 11:30pm).

Setlist: John Henry/O Mary Don't You Weep/How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?/How Can I Keep From Singing/Mrs. McGrath/Mrs. McGrath/My Oklahoma Home/Jacob's Ladder/O Mary Don't You Weep/We Shall Overcome/Pay Me My Money Down

Setlists courtesy of Backstreets.com

Hammersmith pics by Amanda Coplans