I went to two shows this week, the first time I've done this in probably a decade. And it was worth it, to say the least.
On Wed., I saw Bruce Springstreen live for the first time. Why have I waited until my mid-30s to see Bruce live? I grew up 20 minutes from the Meadowlands (with traffic). And have spent 85% of my life within a 90 minute drive of Asbury. I've had hundreds of chances to see him but didn't until Wednesday. Even more special, it was my wife's birthday. I like Bruce. She LOVES Bruce. So we got floor seats. It was as epic as I hoped. The show was at the Wells Fargo Center but it felt like it was at Irving Plaza or The Trocadero. Bruce went into the crowd a whole bunch of times, did some big crowdsurfing thing, drank a fan's beer, etc. No one does "epic hits" better than Bruce.
There wee two hilarious things at this concert.
1) Max Weinberg grew out his hair and now looks EXACTLY like Bernie Madoff. It's horrifying.
2) Bruce did that 41 Shots (American Skin) song. There was a guy in the section near me rocking out to 41 Shots like he was being born. Seriously -- whose favorite Bruce song is 41 shots?
It was just one of the best nights possible. I love the new album a lot and it sounds great in person. Just a total show.
Then tonight (Friday), I just saw ANDREW WK at the TLA in Philly.
This was seriously amazing. The crowd was chanting "PARTY HARD" a few minutes before he came out. Andrew's band is so amazingly sleazy. There were about six guitarists on the stage and they were all apparently plucked from a Pantera tribute band and/or a meth rehabilitation facility. The background featured a giant blown-up face of Andrew WK's busted up face from his first album.
The show felt like the party scene from "Old School". People were going nuts -- diving off the stage, flying around, bottles being thrown, etc. Near the end, there were probably about 100 people or so who ended up on the stage.
