I still can't quite believe that The Boss is eight years older than I am - making him 68 at the time these shows were taped (the Netflix show is taken from two concerts filmed in front of invited audiences in July 2018). After 50 years onstage his unbridled energy is still astounding. Good grief: he'll turn 70 in 2019!
My pre-teen years were dominated by a band with these four guys from Liverpool who were together for about a decade, but when I hit my mid-teens, Springsteen's first albums began to appear, and they never stopped. I have been lucky enough to have heard him in arena concerts five times on two continents, including the first time the E Street Band got together after a break. I was also at one of the first concerts after the sad, premature death of Clarence Clemons, and the emotions that night are etched into my soul.
This has, quite simply, been the music of my life. My soundtrack!
These concerts became an important document of music history the second they were released by Netflix.
The production qualities are high (especially the lighting, and the glorious 5.1 Digital Dolby audio mix when played on my Surround Sound system), and even when Springsteen spontaneously moves away from the microphones, you can still hear his voice resonating throughout the 960-seat Walter Kerr Theatre, one of the smallest on Broadway.
I read a few of the negative reviews (how many are there? two?) and they must be from people who are too young to be able to appreciate this style of rock, mostly associated with arena-filling audio here reduced to acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica. Also, there seems to be more talk (not one second of it boring or unnecessary) than music for about the first 90 minutes, before the music builds and builds and dominates the last hour (the running time is 2 hours 33 minutes).
I was laughing out loud at the opening monologue about Springsteen's youth in Asbury Park and the beginnings of his musical life, and was in tears just as soon as I heard the opening riff of "My Hometown." The duets with Patti Scialfa are terrific and just long enough. "Born in the USA," played in a minor key and sung mostly a cappella in a damaged, blues style, is bone-chilling and, in our current times, takes on an even deeper meaning.
Had Springsteen wanted to just talk and play a few snippets for another two-and-a-half-hours, I'd still be hanging on to every word and every note. I just hope his days of touring with a full band are not over.
My pre-teen years were dominated by a band with these four guys from Liverpool who were together for about a decade, but when I hit my mid-teens, Springsteen's first albums began to appear, and they never stopped. I have been lucky enough to have heard him in arena concerts five times on two continents, including the first time the E Street Band got together after a break. I was also at one of the first concerts after the sad, premature death of Clarence Clemons, and the emotions that night are etched into my soul.
This has, quite simply, been the music of my life. My soundtrack!
These concerts became an important document of music history the second they were released by Netflix.
The production qualities are high (especially the lighting, and the glorious 5.1 Digital Dolby audio mix when played on my Surround Sound system), and even when Springsteen spontaneously moves away from the microphones, you can still hear his voice resonating throughout the 960-seat Walter Kerr Theatre, one of the smallest on Broadway.
I read a few of the negative reviews (how many are there? two?) and they must be from people who are too young to be able to appreciate this style of rock, mostly associated with arena-filling audio here reduced to acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica. Also, there seems to be more talk (not one second of it boring or unnecessary) than music for about the first 90 minutes, before the music builds and builds and dominates the last hour (the running time is 2 hours 33 minutes).
I was laughing out loud at the opening monologue about Springsteen's youth in Asbury Park and the beginnings of his musical life, and was in tears just as soon as I heard the opening riff of "My Hometown." The duets with Patti Scialfa are terrific and just long enough. "Born in the USA," played in a minor key and sung mostly a cappella in a damaged, blues style, is bone-chilling and, in our current times, takes on an even deeper meaning.
Had Springsteen wanted to just talk and play a few snippets for another two-and-a-half-hours, I'd still be hanging on to every word and every note. I just hope his days of touring with a full band are not over.