Traditional Folk Music Meets Rockabilly and Zydeco and Bruce Springsteen
Written: Oct 26 '09
Product Rating:
Pros: mixes styles well, great backup band, enormous replay value, no bad songs
Cons: lackluster version of "We Shall Overcome" in the DVD extras
The Bottom Line: I've watched this concert over and over and over again since I first discovered it, sometimes as much as 12 or 14 hours in a row without tiring of it.
quasar's Full Review: Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band - Live in...
I was never a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, although I did enjoy a few of his songs when I was a child and he was in his prime. I was curious about his Pete Seeger tribute album when it came out a few years ago, but I found it disappointing. Then I stumbled on a video of Springsteen singing "Bring Them Home" in concert and it was mesmerizing. I decided to give the live concert video from the same tour, Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band Live in Dublin, a try based on my experience with that video. I'm very glad I did as it's simply fabulous.
Filmed during three concerts in Dublin in November 2006, the show incorporates a mix of folk songs either written by or often sung by Seeger and some of Springsteen's own songs with a folk bent. The songs are delivered with a mix of rockabilly and zydeco with Irish and (at times) gospel influences. The mix seems odd, but it works well with included songs. It's joyous and raucous and fun - I dare anyone to watch this show without tapping their toes and clapping along.
A lot of the reason this works is that Springsteen carefully selected songs that suited this style, a mix of his usual sound and the traditional folk sounds. The bonus section of the DVD includes a version of "We Shall Overcome" that doesn't get this special treatment and, unlike the songs in the concert proper, it doesn't work very well. Springsteen's voice doesn't suit the slow simplicity of the traditional arrangement; for that you're better off sticking with Seeger.
Among the biggest surprises on the DVD are Springsteen's renditions of traditional folk songs like "Erie Canal" and "Old Dan Tucker". He somehow updates the songs without changing a word or their primary melodies, at once making it seem like the songs are both new and familiar. He does a particularly fine job with "Further On (Up the Road)" which suits both his gritty voice and the lilting backup vocals that chime in on the chorus and periodically harmonize during the verses. The mix of big band and rock sounds provided by the violins, flutes, trombones, and guitars providing the music also blend perfectly despite seeming like they should be discordant elements. The song also knows when to blank it all out and limit the sound to very simple melody with a straightforward beat in the background. Lowering the volume during the longest section of vocals also makes it more striking, a focus through silence method that I've seen work in great speeches but that isn't terribly common in music.
If I haven't made it clear yet, I was very impressed with the band backing Springsteen in this concert. I'm not sure if the Irish influences were introduced for the Dublin leg of the tour or if they were part of the sound all along (these concerts were near the end of the tour), but they really work. The big band sound is perhaps the most predominant on many of the songs, especially the brass section. I really enjoyed hearing these influences with these songs; they enhance both the folk songs and Springsteen's rock classics. They also evoke a different musical style popular at the same time as many of the traditional folk songs which I thought was clever. The zydeco elements are sparser, generally noticeable only in bits and pieces of a few songs, but they definitely add a bit of extra fun when they appear. The music is generally happy and fast even when the lyrics are more serious or sad; this type of dichotomy can be powerful and it's used well here.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is a new Springsteen song that sounds like it could have been penned by Pete Seeger. Called "American Land", the song tells how America was built on the back of immigrants who came with a dream and expectations of plenty but often found themselves living and dying a nightmare in the mills and factories and foundries - "the hands that built a country we're always trying to keep down". The Irish influences are particularly strong in this song which works since so many of those immigrants were Irish.
I'm finding it difficult to do anything but wax poetic about this concert DVD. I've watched it over and over and over again since I first discovered it, playing it in the background as I do other things, sometimes as much as 12 or 14 hours in a row without tiring of it. There's no finer endorsement I can give a concert. There are no songs I dislike here (at least, not in the concert proper; the aforementioned lackluster version of "We Shall Overcome" can only be accessed through the special features), nothing that pulls me out of whatever else I'm doing to immediately fast forward or skip. It's a pleasure to watch (or hear) from start to finish even if you're not a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. Run out and get a copy of Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band Live in Dublin and see for yourself.
Track Listing:
1. "Atlantic City"
2. "Old Dan Tucker"
3. "Eyes on the Prize"
4. "Jesse James"
5. "Further On (Up the Road)"
6. "O Mary Don't You Weep"
7. "Erie Canal"
8. "If I Should Fall Behind"
9. "My Oklahoma Home"
10. "Highway Patrolman"
11. "Mrs. McGrath"
12. "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live"
13. "Jacob's Ladder"
14. "Long Time Comin'"
15. "Open All Night"
16. "Pay Me My Money Down"
17. "Growin' Up"
18. "When the Saints Go Marching In"
19. "This Little Light of Mine"
20. "American Land"
21. "Blinded By the Light"
Bruce Springsteen With The Sessions Band Live in Dublin' features 23 songs drawn from the band's performances in Dublin, Ireland at The Point on Novem...More at HotMovieSale.com
Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band s tour last year prompted incredible reviews. The Washington Post declared, It was the best live show I ve se...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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