2008 Woodie Awards
Bachwords
Ken Bachor
Issue date: 8/22/06 Section: Music
- Page 1 of 1
In 2006, Bruce Springsteen decided to pay homage to Pete Seeger, a man who is widely known as one of the greatest American folk singers. The Boss, along with twelve other musicians (who ranged from Patti Scialfa to members of the Max Weinberg 7) managed to come together under this idea to release fifteen songs that were popularized by Seeger. The album, called We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, has become a success in both the U.S. and Europe, scoring great reviews and causing the band to have to add a second European tour to their itinerary. I had the chance to catch the band at their last U.S. show, a sold out concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center, which is not far from where Springsteen was raised.
A friend of mine and I went to the Arts Center early, grabbed some food and claimed our seats. About one hour before the show was to start, we heard people from our section yelling "Bruce!" Sure enough, we looked up and there he was standing onstage, dressed in jeans, cowboy boots and a black undershirt. He smiled and waved at his Garden State crowd as they yelled his name like they were saying "hello" to a neighbor. About fifteen minutes later, he came out again, this time he signed autographs and even let a mother and her daughter backstage. How lucky they were!
The mother and daughter that were let backstage reflected the family-oriented crowd that attended the concert. It was nice to see all of the families (many of them from NJ) that came out to support Bruce Springsteen. This has to be the first concert that I went to where children constituted a good portion of the audience. There was actually a group of eight children in back of where I was sitting. They were all extremely excited about the show and were often chanting "Bruce!"
The show began with all thirteen members of the Seeger Sessions Band coming onstage to take their positions. They began the show with "American Land" (a Seeger song not featured on the album) and performed every song off of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. Throughout the show, Springsteen also threw some of his own material into the mix, including the Grammy-award winning song "Devils & Dust."
The band really knew how to capture the essence of Pete Seeger by bringing the audience through many emotional states. Even though it was sold out, the concert felt intimate, as if Bruce and the band were playing for us in a bar in Asbury Park, NJ. I had a great time and thank Pete Seeger for giving us this music. These songs are something special and should not be forgotten.
A friend of mine and I went to the Arts Center early, grabbed some food and claimed our seats. About one hour before the show was to start, we heard people from our section yelling "Bruce!" Sure enough, we looked up and there he was standing onstage, dressed in jeans, cowboy boots and a black undershirt. He smiled and waved at his Garden State crowd as they yelled his name like they were saying "hello" to a neighbor. About fifteen minutes later, he came out again, this time he signed autographs and even let a mother and her daughter backstage. How lucky they were!
The mother and daughter that were let backstage reflected the family-oriented crowd that attended the concert. It was nice to see all of the families (many of them from NJ) that came out to support Bruce Springsteen. This has to be the first concert that I went to where children constituted a good portion of the audience. There was actually a group of eight children in back of where I was sitting. They were all extremely excited about the show and were often chanting "Bruce!"
The show began with all thirteen members of the Seeger Sessions Band coming onstage to take their positions. They began the show with "American Land" (a Seeger song not featured on the album) and performed every song off of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. Throughout the show, Springsteen also threw some of his own material into the mix, including the Grammy-award winning song "Devils & Dust."
The band really knew how to capture the essence of Pete Seeger by bringing the audience through many emotional states. Even though it was sold out, the concert felt intimate, as if Bruce and the band were playing for us in a bar in Asbury Park, NJ. I had a great time and thank Pete Seeger for giving us this music. These songs are something special and should not be forgotten.
Be the first to comment on this story