Springsteen Live: Liar On The Edge Of Town
the wind was blowing thru Giants Stadium like a rifle shot, and the audience was both testy and intense. We’re not sure, we’re not there, we’re not sold. The popular Darkness On the Edge of Town songs he plays all the time and middlling stuff like “Adam raised A Cain” aint moving us but slowly he builds to ” Some folks are born into a good life, other folks get it anyway, anyhow, I lost my money and I lost my wife, them things don’t seem to matter much to me now” he sings at the ending of Darkness On The Edge Town. 80,000 of us are quieted in a transcendental very Bruce moment and everything else tonight sucks.
Everything off the newbie blows and as we shiver through iffy obscurities and overplayed faves I am wondering why I’m here. The E Street Band can do this stuff via osmosis and bruce is at that point in his career where showing up is half the fight. Guitarist Nils lofgem especially seems disconnected, I ‘ve lovd Nils since his days with Grin and Cry Tough and he has always kept my attention live but tonight he seems somewhere else. At one point he wanders off stage and has to be dragged back by Clarence, at another he falls asleep by the drums. During “Hungry Heart” he appears to be missing his cue completely, picking his nose and flicking it at the audience. The early song is a disapointment and the first song “Welcome To The Wrecking Crew” sets the tone for one dead end eafter after another.””I hate New Jersey, I wish I could destroy the state” Springsteen roars and the locals scream in agreement.
Springsteen himself seems in a bad mood. At one point during “Waiting For A Dream” he snarls “Is there anybody here alive” off another song, maybe a reference to the less than enthuisiastic response. At another point he shockingly pulls down his jeans and moons the audience with a cynical “Kiss this you assholes”. But nobody appears particulalrly surprised and he careens into a cover of “Too Drunk to Fuck” by the Dead Kennedy’s. With the exception of “Darkness” it is undoubtedly a highlight only topped by his bringing Michael Jackson’s corpse on stage for “Born In the USA’ which he wittily changes to “Dead In The USA”.
Over three hours into the set it is obvious there has been a mistake and wrecking balls sweep down to on Giants Stadium as fans body parts are lobbed onto the stage but. bruce, always the pro, keeps on singing thru Rosalita. “I wanna be your lover, aint no liar” Springsteen sings. Me? I’m a liar.
