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Columnist CJ LaCava (Born in NJ and now in the UK) |
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Grammies, Touring in Y2K, Live Album, Boots, Etc.
Posted on January 14, 2000 @ 11:00AM GMT It's hard to believe: two Grammy nominations for The Promise from 18 Tracks. Who would have ever predicted that? For a song that's over 20 years old? Best of luck to Bruce, but he has some stiff POP competition: Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Garbage, etc. So, what about the tour in 2000 and the new live album? The official news is that there IS NO OFFICIAL NEWS. Just a pile of rumors. If the touring is to start again in March, there will have to be an announcement soon concerning the new dates. However, the 2000 tour is going to be complicated logistically. Max isn't going to be able to miss months and months of Conan's late shows. Most of the concerts are going to be on the weekends unless so new deal can be struck with Conan and NBC. As for the new live album . . . I don't think we are going to get one any time soon. There has been no real information on this release or even any sign that mixing sessions are being held in New York or New Jersey. From what I have read about Live 1975/85, Bruce doesn't enjoy remixing his live performances. However, with the huge popularity of this tour and the massive amounts of live material that Bruce has available to choose from, I do believe we will get an official live release sometime in 2000. I've been listening to a lot of bootlegs recently. There are a lot out there now (not a big surprise during a Springsteen touring year). I was disappointed with the CC release of New Jersey Nights - the sound quality is not up to par for a CC boot. Disk 1 some of Disk 2 are decent, but the rest sounds muddy and too loud. Highlights for me include Trapped, Loose Ends, Atlantic City, and No Surrender (my favorite opener). I've listened to a lot of the boots that came from the NJ stand, and a lot of them didn't compare to many of the European shows. People have told me that the sound in the Continental Arena is to blame for that. It seems to me that CC probably had a lot of trouble finding source tapes that are worth a damn. Of course, they had to release something from the 15 night NJ stand. We've also recently been blessed with CC's release of the two Stockholm shows from the end of the European tour. Let me tell you, these shows can not be compared to NJ Nights. The sound quality and mixing job are first class. Better than Earls Court Night and even a bit better than Breman on Fire (from the RMAS tree) - which I also highly recommend. I don't know how CC does it. Do what you must to get your hands on the Stockholm shows. What's coming next? I hear CC will release a show from LA and a show from Boston. I am willing to bet that the Boston Night boot from CC will break all bootleg expectations. CC will probably clean up the very decent assisted listening device (ALD) boot from 08-22-99 and mix in some crowd noise/reaction and come up with the best 1999 tour boot available. Well, at least until the Boss releases his own recording from the tour. |