Springsteen's Transformative Musical Power

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band took the stage this past Saturday for the second of a pair of shows at Gillette Stadium. Bruce and the band provided the crowd with a serious blast of high energy rock and roll, performed with all the heart, soul and boundless energy fans have come to expect from a Springsteen concert. Throughout the three hour show, we were treated to a favorites heavy set featuring much loved tunes like "Prove It All Night," "The Promised Land," "Backstreets," "Badlands," and "Because The Night." Also sprinkled throughout the show were some were some well chosen deep cuts, including a terrific version of "Kitty's Back," and a rough and ready, badass run through of "Johnny 99."

The Boss and the rest of the group were in fine form, with Nils Lofgren and "Little Stevie" Van Zandt providing explosive guitar work, Jake Clemons offering up some red hot saxophone, and multi-instrumentalist Soozie Tyrell and backing vocalists Curtis King and Michelle Moore also giving the audience some memorable moments. The E Street Band is a well-oiled machine at this point, and Springsteen is such a generous leader, that every member of the ensemble had a chance to shine throughout the night. For fans, it's a truly communal experience attending an E Street show, where everyone in the audience sings, shouts and chants along in joyful unison.

While there wasn't as much between song chat as there often is at a Springsteen show, he did take some time out to talk about, love, life, friendship and loss. During the concert, he performed several songs from the album Letter To You, including "Last Man Standing" and "Ghosts," which recall his friend and former bandmate George Theiss, who died in 2018. Springsteen and Theiss were both in the New Jersey based band The Castiles in their younger days. With the passing of Theiss, Bruce is the last surviving member of the group. His touching renditions of the selections from Letter To You, including the title track, and the evening's final song, the acoustic "I'll See You In My Dreams," were reminders of the emotionally resonant power of his music. Bruce hasn't lost one iota of his near-mystical skills to enthrall, thrill and captivate an audience.

Springsteen has always interacted with his fans on a deeply personal level. It's not just about the incredible songs, the insightful and thoughtful lyrics, or the incendiary live performances. There's a transformative power to his music that sparks a powerful response. The emotions and feelings he explores in his work are things we can all relate to, and that sense of empathy and understanding allows us to form a unique bond with him. My late wife Gloria was a passionate Springsteen fan. She felt a powerful connection to him through his songs that elevated her love of his music, and sharing her transcendent experience made me even more of a Springsteen fan. I don't know how many more large scale tours Bruce will be doing at this point, but if you get the chance to see him live, don't miss out. It's truly a one of a kind rock and roll experience.

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band Setlist 8/26/23 
Lonesome Day 

No Surrender 

Ghosts

Prove It All Night 

Letter To You 

The Promised Land 

Out in the Street

Candy's Room

Kitty's Back 

Nightshift

Atlantic City

Johnny 99

Mary's Place

Last Man Standing

Backstreets

Because The Night

She's The One

Wrecking Ball

The Rising

Badlands

Thunder Road

Encore 1: 

Born To Run

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Seven Nights To Rock

Glory Days

Dancing In The Dark

Tenth Avenue Freeze Out

Encore 2:

I'll See You In My Dreams

Ron Shelton Visits "The Church of Baseball"

As both a baseball fan and a movie aficionado, Bull Durham is one of my favorites. The 1988 film, written and directed by Ron Shelton, and starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, is a delightful comedy set in the world of minor league baseball. In addition to the talented star trio, there's a wonderful supporting cast, including Robert Wuhl and Trey Wilson. The movie was Shelton's directorial debut, and its success was followed by several more sports themed films, including Cobb, White Men Can't Jump and 1996's Tin Cup, which also starred Costner.  But it all started with a small-budgeted film about a romantic triangle, with baseball as the backdrop to the story.

Shelton has written an in-depth account of the production of Bull Durham, entitled The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham, and it's a fascinating read. Shelton actually played in the minor leagues, and used his real life experiences to add depth to his colorful tale about life, love and the love of baseball. He'd previously written the screenplays for a couple of films that didn't catch fire at the box office, but he really wanted to get his baseball film produced by a Hollywood studio. The Church of Baseball is the fascinating story of Shelton's often challenging journey to get the film made.

The process of getting Bull Durham produced and ultimately released was a journey littered with the usual Hollywood roadblocks, including thick-headed studio executives, financial issues and casting problems. One executive wanted Anthony Michael Hall to play the Tim Robbins role, despite the fact that Shelton's experience with Hall's audition was less than positive. At various times during the filming, studio personnel wanted to re-shoot portions of the film, cut important scenes from the script, and even replace Shelton with another director.

Shelton's retelling of the film's pre-production, production and completion is an absorbing story, related in a low-key, conversational style, almost as if you're sitting at the bar with him listening to the story. It's a compelling tale that's as much about Shelton himself as it is about his adventures dealing with the Hollywood machine. There's a lot of great inside information on the making of Bull Durham, but there are also some funny, moving and illuminating autobiographical reminisces about Shelton's own life experiences, which informed his work on the movie. If you're a fan of Bull Durham, or Shelton's other films, The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham is a must read.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Musical?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has enthralled long-time fans throughout its first two seasons. This prequel series, featuring the adventures of Captain Pike and the crew of the USS Enterprise prior to the era of Captain Kirk, has successfully captured the flavor of classic Trek, utilizing a more episodic format akin to the original show. This fresh approach to modern Trek storytelling has allowed the series to showcase a variety of genres in individual episodes, including body-switch comedy, intense war stories, time travel adventures, and in one of the wildest stylistic swings in Star Trek history: a musical. “Subspace Rhapsody,” the penultimate entry of the series’ sophomore season, is a full on Broadway extravaganza, featuring original songs performed by the actors in character.

When the Enterprise investigates a subspace anomaly which has the potential to significantly boost communication signals, Uhura and Spock  decided to use music, when their experiments to obtain a reaction from the anomaly are unsuccessful. They definitely get a reaction: a wave washes over the crew, and suddenly everyone is compelled to sing about their feelings. Things start off with an ensemble number, followed by Captain Pike warbling about his relationship with fellow Captain Batel, in full view of the bridge crew. Spock and Nurse Chapel emote about their difficult relationship in separate songs, and both Number One and security chief La'an (Christina Chong) get to sing cool tunes as well. But its Celia Rose Gooding (who portrays Uhura) who gets to belt a show-stopping number toward the episode's climax.

The songs (composed by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce of alternative rockers Letters To Cleo) are well placed within the story, move things forward, and define the characters, just like the tunes in a traditional Broadway musical. The cast is clearly having a lot of fun, and they give it their all, though Tony nominee Gooding and musical theatre veteran Chong (who plays La'an) absolutely get to show off their top-notch musical chops. "Subspace Rhapsody" is a wonderful episode, one that could have easily gone off the rails, but director Dermott Downs (who also helmed a musical crossover between the CW's The Flash and Supergirl ) does a superb job, integrating the musical aspects of the story with the ongoing development of the show's storylines.

There are some nice Easter eggs contained in the episode, including a not-too surprising romantic revelation from Lt Kirk, and a career change for Nurse Chapel that will delight and intrigue Trek fans. There's also a nod to "Once More, With Feeling" the 2001 musical episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer that's kind of the standard bearer for shows like this one. Even if musicals are not your cup of tea, I encourage you to give "Subspace Rhapsody" a try. It's a delightful change of pace for Star Trek, and another genre which Strange New Worlds has adeptly pulled off during its run. The show isn't afraid to switch gears from a dark-themed war story to a musical, and the upcoming season finale looks to be another stylistic shift. I give the cast and crew credit for taking chances within the Star Trek format, while telling entertaining and enlightening stories that are firmly in Star Trek's thematic wheelhouse. "Subspace Rhapsody" is now streaming on Paramount+.

Grey DeLisle's Retro Country "Baby"

Grey DeLisle is a wonderful singer and songwriter, and a veteran voice actor who's been featured in a plethora of animated TV series and films, including the Scooby Doo franchise and The Simpsons. She's also performed stand up-comedy, and released several acclaimed albums, working in multiple musical genres, including country, folk and children's music. I've written about some of her recent singles here at Eclectic Avenue, and DeLisle's latest release is one of her best. "Everybody's Baby," produced by the talented duo of Eddie Clendening and Deke Dickerson, is a refreshing blast of old-school country.

DeLisle's dynamic vocal performance anchors this retro country tune, and she's supported by the terrific work of Lelah Simon on stand-up bass, Bernie Dressel II on drums, and Dave Berzansky on pedal steel guitar. If you dig sassy and strong country ladies like Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Tanya Tucker, then "Everybody's Baby" will absolutely be your cup of tea, or perhaps a shot of something stronger! This honky tonk tale about a gal showing her no good cheatin' guy the door is country music like it ought to be! DeLisle once again illustrates that she's a virtuoso in any musical genre she takes on, and I'm looking forward to her forthcoming album, which will be released later this year.

"Everybody's Baby" is available now wherever you get your music fix, including Apple Music and Spotify. Check out the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9CgdGzvMo. Classic country fans, this tune is definitely in your wheelhouse, so load it onto the jukebox and get dancing!