I have been wracking my brain as to why I was so cool to a set so hot, Springsteen at Metlife. I said cool, not ice cold. I loved him but I didn't want to have his children.
Here is my theory.
Bruce's sets are too long.
Maybe five years ago, Bruce had cut the sets to two and a half hours and that is a hefty dose. Add an hour to that and what should be an insanely wonderful concert becomes an extended guilt trip. Bored? But you can't leave can you? Tired ? Got work tomorrow? It is 113opm, sit the fuck down. Cold? hungry Drunk? Meet the Bruce Sprinsgteen endurance test, "I'm not a boy, no I'm a man". Your eyes are shutting but shut up while somewhere near the third hour mark HE IS TELLING A STORY ABOUT HIS GRANDPARENTS.
God help me, this is terrifying.
Why does Bruce not stop. When King Sunny Ade used to do many hour concerts, they were meditative, like watching a cricket match. but Bruce is a whirligig proving himself into an early grave. It is too much, it is too egotistical, it goes on and and and on, and at least 30% you have no interest in anyway.
It is almost insecurity, like he has worked himself into a corner where if he doesn't play for hours on end people feel jipped. Why would they feel jipped? Why isn't 150 minutes enough to tell your story? My God, it is longer than "The Sound Of Music". It is interminable.
Bruce is like the guest who won't go home when the house paryt is over. It is past 1 in the morning and they are still telling you about their vacation in Hawaii. That is Bruce. Imagine how you would feel, if he used a great opening act in every town. A "Tom Morello" here, a "Titus Andronicus" there. Then play a 120, cut back the newbie to two tracks. You would be gagging for more. He would cement his position as the greatest live act of all time. People would be leaving his concerts on air instead of on crutches.
And what happens when he is 73 years old instead of 63 years old? Will people feel ripped because he can't do it any more. When he is doing something only he and a couple of writers from the New Yorkers want him to do.
Springsteen needs to stop these 240 minute sets while he still has the choice
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