Rock Stars Acting

I went to see Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” for a second time in two months last night and while it is childish to complain that it was essentially exactly the same as the first time, it was, in fact, exactly the same as the first time.

I remember seeing Courtney Love film the MTV Unplugged back in the 1990s, and she was really on fire, I’ve never seen her better, and with Kurt recently dead, it was a very touchy and sad night. A transcendent once in a lifetime. Except it wasn’t once in a life time, because some of the mics went off mid way through “Softer Softest”, a “Softer Softest” absolutely stunning in in depth of feeling, a requiem for everything lost when you’re pretty on the inside.

So you performed in again, exactly the same, sob for sob.

Love’s genius here is the same as Springsteen, and a huge difference beet rock and jazz, the ability to feign it every single night. We know it is feigned to a degree. As Rhett Miller sang a coupla years ago, sometimes you’re watching the clock.

Back in the early 90s I was playing guitar a lot but I bottled it after realizing that by the time I learnt how to play a song, I was sick to death of playing the damn tune.

But he does, and you believe him, and that is the genius of great live musicians: