Our second Bruce concert in Italy in 2012 was in Trieste. Within one day, we now had to move from Florence all the way up north to Trieste. As I mentioned in my previous post, our own van picked us up from Piazza Santa Croce and our long journey began. When we arrived (and trust me, the arrival in Trieste either by car or by train is an experience in itself, but more about that in a future post) we were each dropped off at our respective hotels & hostels and after checking in we were immediately picked up again and headed straight to the stadium. (There was no time to get into the pit this time).
OK, so it was not as memorable as Firenze (how could it compare with THAT?) but it was special in its own way. It featured "Thunder Road" for instance. In fact, during "Thunder Road" I spotted a drunk guy singing his heart out on the left side of the pitch. Little did I know that the following year in Padova, I would see the same guy, once again drunk, at the exact same side of the pitch! We also got "Downbound Train" and "We Are Alive". We especially remembered the latter later when, on our way back from the stadium to our van we passed by a cemetery. We also met another one of our friends (at a gas station this time) who was at the concert who informed us that the Wrecking Ball tour would indeed continue the following year!
SETLIST:
01. Badlands
02. No Surrender
03. We Take Care Of Our Own 04. Wrecking Ball
05. Death To My Hometown
06. My City Of Ruins
07. Spirit In The Night
08. Downbound Train 09. Jack Of All Trades
10. Youngstown
11. Murder Incorporated
12. Johnny 99
13. Working On The Highway
14. Shackled And Drawn
15. Waitin On A Sunny Day
16. The Apollo Medley 17. The River
18. Because The Night
19. The Rising 20. We Are Alive
21. Thunder Road 22. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) ENCORE:
23. Born In The USA
24. Born To Run
25. Bobby Jean
26. Hungry Heart
27. Seven Nights To Rock
28. Dancing In The Dark
29. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
After the Working On A Dream Tour we had to wait 3 years to see Bruce live again (Well, 2 years, 10 months and 18 days) during which time many things had changed in our lives. Once again, we would go to Italy. The place was Florence and Clarence was no longer with us. We really got into concert mood the day before when we went by the stadium to get our numbers.
This is a process that is followed on Bruce Springsteen concerts so that the order in which the fans who have bought a pitch ticket will get into the pit (aka FOS or "Front Of Stage" where other artists charge 300 Euros for a ticket in said area) can be determined. That meant a very early wake up call the following morning so that we could go to the stadium again and with the order of our numbers, receive the much sough after bracelet which would guarantee our entry into the pit.
But, since my BFF and I just wanted to go into the pit without necessarily being as far to the front as possible (which would have meant staying there all day until they let us in), we went back to our hostel to catch up on the sleep that we had missed.
And so it was that in the evening we returned to the stadium and just by showing our bracelet, entered the pit (where with some careful manoeuvres we managed to get far more to the front than we had expected. It was there where we met this lovely little girl, probably Bruce's, if not youngest, then definitely cutest fan who was there for her second Springsteen concert (she had also been in Rome three years before that).
About an hour before the concert started someone told us "You see how the wind is blowing? It's blowing towards us. And see what's in front of us? The stage! So if it rains, we'll be protected by it" Yeah, right, famous last words and all that...
I felt shivers down my spine when Ennio Morricone's intro music started playing from the speakers and Bruce and the band came on stage, first asking "Firenze, siete pronti?" ("Florence, are you ready") and then blasting into "Badlands", it felt like not even one day had passed. These 2 years, 10 months and 18 days had been shrunk to 0 (zero, null).
And then, at the 3rd song the rain started. A rain that would last for the rest of the concert (that's 3 and a half hours to you) and then some, as we were trying to get back to our hostel. But no one seemed to mind. I didn't see anybody leave. And Bruce, although he could have stayed under cover, protected by the downpour, would instead come to the front to get wet with us. And right there at the front row, was a very good friend of mine who missed the chance to see Bruce when he came to Greece in 1988 because she was pregnant. 24 years later her wish came true! Meanwhile, while Bruce was treating us to old favourites but also new songs from what was then his latest album "Wrecking Ball", the rain kept getting harder. Especially towards the end, it was even more intense and as a result clothes, mobiles and cameras got wet. I had two cameras with me that night. One was completely destroyed by the rain. (And when we got back to our hostel I realized that it was glowing in the dark. Spooky!). Despite the rain and having completed his encore Bruce came back and asked us if we wanted to hear one more song. So it was that the concert's duration came up to three and a half hours. During those hours he covered Elvis ("Burning Love") and - here comes the big surprise of the night - mashed up The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" with his very own "Darlington County".
The very last song was Creedence's "Who'll Stop The Rain" and you can see what was happening in the video.
After the concert was over, we somehow managed to find our friends, our van and get back to our hostel. Our clothes however, were a different story. We would still be drying them the following morning at Piazza Di Santa Croce while waiting for our van to come and pick us up and take us to Trieste where our next Bruce concert would take place...
I learned about Berlin Brides from one of their interviews on a Greek newspaper. I had never heard their music, but I rushed to buy their CD. There was no way I wouldn't be interested in a group that had written a song called Ballad For The Touch Deprived.
It took me quite sometime however to see them live. Finally the right opportunity came along in February 2012 at Stavros Tou Notou (Southern Cross) with the ticket costing only 6 euros (including a drink)
We heard some familiar songs from their album...
...we also heard some new ones...
...and we even heard some cover versions, ranging from Depeche Mode and Bloodhound Gang, through Mary And The Boy and French Eurovision hits of Vicky Leandros!
And as an added bonus they offered us a lengthy encore where they played again (by popular demand) L'Amour Est Bleu!
And all these things happened on a pleasant winter night when there were both football and basketball games on TV!
Sadly, 10 years later, Berlin Brides are no longer active, but one half of them is in an exciting new group with two other women called Someone Who Isn't Me...
While saving up for the upcoming Bruce Springsteen tour in 2012 I only attended one gig by an international artist in the first half of that year and that was the one by Mark Lanegan. However, I had been to two gigs by Greek artists during the same period and the first one was by The Big Nose Attack.
Having just come back from their European Big Noise tour they organized a free gig at Tribe Bar, to celebrate the release of their first CD, which was available to buy at the venue for only 5 Euros.
They played their own songs from their new album, some of which were inspired by their personal experiences (mainly in Santorini) but they also played a few covers (even Frank Zappa ones)
Let's just note that apart from the guitar (which was good but old and needed frequent tuning) and the drums, we were fascinated by the electric ukalele and were astonished when we realized that the "utensil" that most of us have in our kitchen to whisk the cream among other uses, can also produce music!
As we can see from the setlist, they had also prepared some... tequila for the encore, but when they finished their second to last song, music from the bar's sound system started playing.
They didn't go out with a bang. They went out with a twang!
Having seen Mark Lanegan with Isobel Campbell back in December 2010, it was now time to see him by himself. I liked Isobel's music as well as their collaboration. At that concert, a friend of mine, who was a Lanegan fan from the 90's also came and it was she who made that legendary remark: "We came here to see the son of Tom Waits and we got Belle And Sebastian instead. This woman has really mellowed him out". Anyway, in 2012 he released a new album (Blues Funeral) and he paid us his customary visit to Athens, this time at Fuzz Club. The first half of 2012 had been very quiet for me gigwise, as I was saving for the upcoming Bruce Springsteen tour of the following summer, and Mark Lanegan was the only international artist I saw live during that period.
Support was provided by Illegal Operation who I'd seen live before at Blues Bar. (The place where I first saw The Big Nose Attack). And I finally learned what their name was!
They played well, and would have played even better (and more) if their amp hadn't blown up. And then it was time for Mark and his band.
He began with songs from the new album and continued with older songs. And he played one more song as an encore.
HOWEVER! Although I wasn't counting, I learned that the gig lasted for only 71 minutes. Nevertheless, he had warned us before he played and he had asked the audience to refrain from smoking. Being typical Greeks, they ignored both. It was obvious that he had a problem.
Once again, at the merchandise stand there was a selection of live CD's self-released
by Mark Lanegan on offer and I bought one of a gig that had taken place earlier that year, on the special date of the 29th of February to be precise.
Anyway, personally speaking, I liked Mark live, both with his band and with Isobel. He will be missed...
SETLIST: 01. The Gravedigger's Song 02. Sleep With Me 03. Hit The City 04. Wedding Dress 05. One Way Street 06. Resurrection Song 07. Wish You Well 08. Gray Goes Black 09. Crawlspace 10. Deep Black Vanishing Train 11. Quiver Syndrome 12. One Hundred Days 13. Creeping Coastline Of Lights 14. Riot In My House 15. Ode To Sad Disco 16. St. Louis Elegy 17. Tiny Grain Of Truth Encore: 18. Pendulum
