DVD Review: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, "London Calling: Live in Hyde Park"

In an age where music is scarce at regular retail, music DVD's could be considered an endangered species. There is very little incentive for artists or record companies to commit to releasing any sort of video products when a channel called Music Television hasn’t played a music video in its entirety for over half a decade. However, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2010 concert release "London Calling: Live In Hyde Park" swims against this current tide, and shows why these releases can still be relevant and worthwhile.

Shot in high definition video and sound, “London Calling: Live In Hyde Park” brings the Bruce Springsteen live concert experience right into the living room, minus the heavy ticket/concessions expenses. With a blockbuster setlist spanning over 3 hours, the epic scale of a Springsteen concert is given even more depth as the show starts toward the end of summer daylight, continuing into the night.

This incredible live document was filmed in the midst of the E Street Band's European tour in the summer of 2009. While headlining stadiums and festivals across the Atlantic, this one was the Hard Rock Calling concert in London's historic Hyde Park. The setlist is sprinkled with fan favorites such as "Badlands," "Born To Run," and "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)," obscure gems "Night," "Johnny 99," and "Out In The Street” along with some unique covers, such as The Young Rascals’ “Good Lovin’” in all it’s Hammond B3 organ glory, and the most fitting of The Clash's "London Calling" which opens the show. Fellow New Jersey native and lead singer of The Gaslight Anthem guests on the 80’s Springsteen anthem “No Surrender” also. There is plenty here to wet the palette of even the most casual of Springsteen listeners and any fan of music or an appreciation of a live concert experience will get more than their money's worth out of this one.

Some added bonuses to the DVD are extra performances of "The River" from the 2009 Glastonbury Festival, and "Wreckin' Ball" performed exclusively at the band's residency for the closing of Giants Stadium during the same tour. The brilliant direction of Chris Hilson as well as the mixing and mastering of longtime Springsteen collaborators Bob Clearmountain and Bob Ludwig make this release a testament to why this format is still endangered but not extinct, showing that it is noteworthy enough to stand alongside the other albums in the Bruce Springsteen cannon.

JohnnyBeBlogging EXCLUSIVE!!!

A Week With Fifteen Fleeting...

Hello, worthy reader of the blog. I've recently had the opportunity to cover an up and coming band right out of New Jersey, and am highlighting these reportings in a week of blog material putting them in the spotlight. The band I speak of is Fifteen Fleeting. They're coming off a hot summer which saw them perform at Giants Stadium for the Bamboozle Festival, sharing the stage with such acts as Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, Gym Class Heroes, and the incomparable Snoop Dogg.

This will be the first exclusive to the blog content since my review of Medium Cool New York City concert in September. The Fifteen Fleeting coverage will have much more content, bringing you closer to the band and giving you a glimpse into their new music before you can hear it anywhere else.

The band has been playing shows here in Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia for over a year now. They've been on an upward climb since releasing their debut EP, "Almost Everything," in the fall of last 2007, when they were still known as Trust. With their latest effort "Signals From An Empty Room," the band has brought their music to another level. The album could be looked at as somewhere between an EP and a full length album, definitely heavier on material than their EP, but slightly less than an album.

Vocals/Rhythm Guitar: Vinny Belcastro

Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals: Dan Rodriguez

Drums/Percussion: Scott Petzinger

Bass: Mike Petzinger

Throughout this week I'll be taking you behind the scenes with a band on the rise, giving you exclusive access to Vinny, Dan, Scott, and Mike. You'll hear about the band's humble beginnings, their influences, what makes them tick, and what matters most to them. You'll also get to see my review of the extended EP "Signals From An Empty Room" before it's released to the public this weekend. This will culminate in the band's record release show at Maxwell's in Hoboken on Saturday night, where I'll also be reporting a live review for the end of the weekend. Stay tuned for my signals from an empty Blog.

Sincerely,

Johnny Be...Blogging

VIVA LA COLDPLAY @ the IZOD CENTER...full review coming soon!

The Coldplay show was out of this stratosphere ridiculous last night. It was at the Izod Center, and our seats were pretty much as sick as they were for the Stone Temple Pilots show at the Borgata couple months back. Unfortunately, my digital camera is broken, so I had to settle for a disposable. If any of the pics came out though, they are going to be INSANE! Chris Martin was all up in our grills, so much in fact that his sweat hit my girlfriend; that's right, Chris Martin's sweat hit my girlfriend, amazing. We also spotted Gwyneth Paltrow at the show, and we actually had better seats than she did. I also caught her mom singing along to "In My Place" which was as amusing as the song was amazing.

A detailed review is coming soon, I wanted to try to get the ridiculous pictures up with it also, so hopefully it should be in the next couple days. In the meantime, here's the setlist which was phenomenal, heavy on the "Viva La Vida" and "Rush of Blood to the Head" as well as "X&Y." The alternate arrangements they did, especially on "The Hardest Part," gave the songs some freshness, and "Yellow" was the only song from "Parachutes" that made it into the set. Stay tuned for more!

Setlist:
Life In Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Speed Of Sound
Cemeteries Of London
Chinese Sleep Chant
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)
Talk (techno version)
The Hardest Part (piano - Chris)
Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
Viva La Vida
Lost!
The Scientist (acoustic)
Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will singing)
Viva La Vida (remix interlude)

Encore 1:
Politik
Lovers In Japan
Death And All His Friends

Encore 2:
Yellow
The Escapist (outro)

The Foo Fighters Concert Review: Somewhere in the Swamps of Jersey...

The Izod Center- East Rutherford, NJ 6/29/08

Having grown up in the midst of Nirvana's explosion into the music scene of the early 1990's, I'll be the first to admit I was never too keen on the Foo Fighters, save for their modern rock radio staples such as "Everlong," "My Hero," and "Best of You." I always thought they were a polished rock band, not as groundbreaking and acrobatic in their sound as Nirvana. Granted, as the drummer for Nirvana, it took major brass tactics for Dave Grohl to come out with his fronted Foos less than 2 years after Kurt Cobain's suicide that ended the band. This was a move I always respected though I was never head over heels for his new musical venture. I have to say though, in listening to more recent sounds of the Foo Fighters, and having seen them perform live, I admit wrongdoing and defeat. And if my 12 year old self could go back to 1995 and witness such an amazing live, raw, rock n' roll spectacle, I would never have had this pro-Nirvana chip on my shoulder for more than a decade.

The house lights dimmed at around 8:45 PM, and Dave Grohl emerged onto the catwalk that extended from the front of the stage all the way to the end of the general admission floor seats. With an obviously loyal fan following, the crowd was deafening as he defiantly strummed his signature classic looking royal blue guitar. They opened the show with "Let It Die" off of their latest album, "Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace," which has to be one of the greatest rock songs of the past 3 years at least. It was hard to believe this was the same group of "Monkeywrench" fame.

Following this with another another recent tune, "The Pretender," which showcased their recent touring addition of violinist/cellist Jessy Greene, it became obvious that this band was much different than the one I initially kept guard of earlier in their career. Grohl has grown from the energetic drummer, then to slapsticky goofball, into a bonafide rock and roll frontman. Having seen such frontmen as Bono, Bruce, Eddie Vedder, and Jon Bon Jovi to name a few, Grohl is just as much the genuine article. His banter with the crowd was ongoing throughout the night and at times projected a repore that transformed the crowd of 20,000 plus into a small club room. The show relied less on visual spectacle and let the music do the talking, especially during their semi-acoustic set halfway through the show.

A stage was lowered from the rafters at the back of the floor and the band convened at it for some of their most emotional bits of the night. The only hint of Nirvana left here was in their performance of "Marigold," a Grohl-penned b-side of the group's "Heart Shaped Box" single back in 1994. Their soft, stripped performance of "My Hero," gave the song the soul of Springsteen and brought the cell phone lights out. The highlight of the night for the rest of the audience had to be "Everlong," which started as Grohl sang solo with a guitar on the acoustic stage. He then bolted down to the regular stage to join the band for it's thundering conclusion.

However, I thought the song that best highlighted the tranformation of the Foo Fighters from their spawn of Nirvana status to where they stand today was ironically one from their self titled 1995 debut album. Grohl again stated the presence of Jessy Greene, the lone female Fighter, and admitted to the audience that he wished this was the way the song was recorded originally. They then went into "Big Me," which everyone knows as the "Mentos Song" due to their parody of the early 1990's candy commercials in the music video for it. The song has now turned into a heartfelt ballad that could be confused for something off of the Robert Plant/Allison Krauss collaboration album, "Raising Sand." The softness of the song that Grohl shared singing duties on with Greene, showed perfectly just how far this band has come; it was only fitting this number opened up their encore. Followed by their second Who cover of the night, "Bargain" (the first being "Young Man Blues") they closed the show with arguably their biggest hit, "Best of You."

In a matter of about 2 hours and fifteen minutes, the Foo Fighters became one of the best rock bands of the past decade in my eyes, and helped to reiterate my belief in the art of the live performance. In an era where unfortunately, image has become everything, this group who mostly donned t-shirts and jeans lacking designer labels let the music do the talking and gave this tri-state audience one hell of a show.

Set List:

1. Let It Die

2. The Pretender

3. Times Like These

4. Learn to Fly

5. Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)

6. Young Man Blues (The Who)

7. Long Road to Ruin

8. Breakout

9. Stacked Actors

10. Skin and Bones

11. Marigold

12. My Hero

13. Cold Day in the Sun

14. But, Honestly

15. Everlong (finish with rock version)

16. Monkey Wrench

17. All My Life

Encore:

18. Big Me

19. Bargain (The Who) with Gaz from Supergrass on lead vocals

20. Best Of You