Wrecking Ball and acappella sax solos

There were three exciting revelations on the Backstreets website this morning.

The first, that the new Springsteen album will be called Wrecking Ball and will include versions of Wrecking Ball, Land of Hope and Dreams and American Land (presumably studio cuts, since live versions of these are already available), as well as nine other new songs.

The fact that Bruce has chosen to include two songs he had before Working on a Dream on the new album would suggest that he thinks they will fit well with the rest of the body of songs on the album, so I think we can assume that the new songs will follow a similar thread. And the song titles would seem to bear that out as well, as far as we can guess anything from them: We Take Care of Our Own, Easy Money, Shackled and Drawn, Jack of All Trades, Death to My Hometown, This Depression, You’ve Got It, Rocky Ground,  We Are Alive,  Swallowed Up.

The second, that a song was already available, seems amazing. Although artists do frequently just post tracks online, I would have expected at least a few days notice of a new song appearing. But Bruce does seem to embrace new technology in fits and starts. And to waver between fastidious attention to detail (every album before Lucky Town), and rushing things out in a thrill of excitement (the Live in New York City album, Jersey Devil, Lucky Town). The photo-montage video with lyrics posted for We Take Care of Our Own is definitely in the rushed camp, though there doesn't seem anything rushed about the mixing or sound.

The song seems to sit in the same ball park as Radio Nowhere that will definitely grow on me and be a great piece in his live sets. The sound sounds much more alive and open than it has on much of Bruce's newer work, which also bodes well for the album.

The third exciting revelation this, as recalled by Terry Camp to Backstreets.com following Bruce's Light of Day show this week: "Bruce's 'Big Man!' call during 'The Promised Land,' as the crowd itself sang the sax solo, was quite poignant. I think it was the birth of a moment that would be great to see on the tour, as Bruce, band and audience become one unit paying tribute to Clarence. It felt very natural, and of course the crowd is going to pick up that so-familiar solo. It's an uplifting moment that can stand alone — without an actual sax."

This sounds like an incredible way to replace the key saxophone moments. Was it spontaneous? Did Bruce plan it? Did Bruce trust his instincts that the audience would fill hole, as with Pay Me My money Down over the encore break on the Seeger Sessions tour? I'd love to know how it came about. It'll be great to hear live, too, though I wonder how many times, and how self-consciously, it could be brought out without feeling less natural and all-embracing. I expect, that as with the bridge in Badlands, audiences may just run with it and take it wherever they want.

Now to read the Rolling Stone piece on the 'wild' new, 'sonically experimental' album...

Tribes, Barfly, Camden, 16 January 2012

Setlist: Whenever - Girlfriend - Sappho - Himalaya - Coming of Age - When My Day Comes - Corner of an English Field - Alone or With Friends - Walking in the Street- Nightdriving - We Were Children

There was a real buzz in the queue and in the venue before the band came on. Clearly a group of competition winners seeing their favourite new band in a small venue is more than enough to blow away any London-crowd Monday-night apathy.

The band came on to a stage flooded with dry ice and a barrage of strobes. For the first few songs, we couldn't see the band and they couldn't see us, a slightly odd situation which they commented on. But it did make the band and audience feel very much as one with the songs coming from disembodied misty figures. If the dry ice had cleared faster, it might have the same effect as the Manics entry for the Holy Bible Astoria shows. As it was it was still a great entrance.

They then piled through their classic tunes songbook. All the EP tracks that are on the album, some album tracks they'd not played before, and great versions of Sappho, When My Day Comes and We Were Children.

The crowd were really behind the band the whole way, belting out choruses, throwing pints and even crowd-surfing - no mean feat in an audience of 150.

 

It's a rare treat to see a band play their debut album in its entirety and create such energy amongst the audience that they got the floor shaking.

Album tracks that we hadn't heard before seem slower than those we knew already. They were driven by fairly heavy guitars and some seemingly heart-felt lyrics that touched a chord with the audience.

By the end of the packed set, our ears were ringing and the room was buzzing with excitement.

Lanterns on the Lake, Cargo, 12 January 2012

This was a magical, evocative show. The band created cinematic soundscapes but retained the intimacy of their album recorded in a domestic setting.

You could almost feel the concern of the audience when a string broke early in the set but the band and us audiencers were undeterred, 'we've got some broken strings and things but it doesn't matter.'

Performing in a railway arch didn't detract from the music either. On hearing a distant rumble which fitted the evening's mood, we were told 'That's a train going over, thats not an effect'.

The second song went a bit U2, playing guitar with a bow and built until it sounded like it was about to become 'Where the streets have no name'. Then they got a bit country with a song telling us 'don't waste your love you know you need better'.

Overall: Beautiful, cinematic, engaging.