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Springsteen Has Mortality On His Mind But Celebration In His Songs AT London Show

Published

1 year ago

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LONDON, England – Bruce Springsteen was not going to let event promoters cancel his performance at Hyde Park 11 years ago.

“F— ’em is right,” Springsteen exclaimed, feigning fear that an impending curfew might stop his sold-out event Thursday in front of 65,000 fans.

Springsteen, still going strong at 73, had an earlier start and raced through a three-hour set Thursday in rapid succession. He took a few steps to think about the passage of time and the loss of friends.

The 28-song set included anthemic classics such as “Born in the USA,” “Prove it All Night,” and “Born to Run,” as well as several newer songs and one cover in a show that leaned heavily on a message of mortality but felt more like a celebration of life as an enthusiastic audience sang along on a beautiful summer evening.

“London, is anyone alive out there tonight?” he yelled in an entrance to “Mary’s Place,” one of the numerous songs that featured the E Street Band’s crisp horn section, dueling keyboards, and excellent collection of backup singers, all backed up by tens of thousands of amateurs. “If you’re still alive, I’m still alive.” And that is why we came here.”

The tour, Springsteen’s first in seven years, began in February in Tampa and has included nearly the same set list every night, which is rare for a performer who has frequently played requests fans leave on handwritten placards.

Springsteen and the E Street Band took the stage shortly after 7 p.m. to a shout of “Bruuuuuuce,” which can be misinterpreted as booing by the uninformed. Springsteen donned a black button-snap shirt with short sleeves folded to show off his still-taut pipes, dark pants cuffed at the ankle, and oxblood Doc Martens boots with short-cropped silvery hair slicked back.

Following the obligatory ‘Hello London’, he quickly counted out ‘one, two, three, four’ for the chest-thumping drum opening to ‘No Surrender’, which had fans howling and the band rushing forward as a hard-rocking goods train.

springsteen

Bruce Springsteen would not let event promoters cancel his performance at Hyde Park 11 years ago.

Even the opening monologue about camaraderie and the power of music, with its memorable statement about learning “more from a three-minute record… than we ever learned in school,” caught the evening’s subject.

“Young faces grow sad and old,” he sings in a line that leads to “I’m ready to grow young again” before the chorus pledge of “no retreat… no surrender.”

He then sang “Ghosts,” a soaring ode to his bandmates, ending with “I’m alive and I’m out here on my own/I’m alive and I’m comin’ home.”

Springsteen, though, was not alone. He was joined by 17 members of the E Street Band, which has been rocking for 50 years, including some of the band’s longest-serving members: guitarists Little Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren, drummer Max Weinberg, bassist Garry Tallent, and keyboardist Roy Bittan.

At the climax of the song, saxophonist Jake Clemons, the nephew of Springsteen’s longtime sax player and friend Clarence Clemons, who died in 2011, placed his arm around Springsteen’s shoulder as they sang a seemingly endless string of la-la-la’s. Then, as he had done throughout the night, Clemons stepped center stage and screamed on his gleaming sax.

Despite a few tour cancellations due to undisclosed sickness, Springsteen remains a powerful performer, moving slightly stiffly as he rushed along the stage or descended several steps to slap hands and pose for photographs with the exuberant front-row audience.

springsteen

Bruce Springsteen would not let event promoters cancel his performance at Hyde Park 11 years ago.

During a rousing rendition of “Out in the Street,” in which he sings, “I walk the way I want to walk,” he staggered back to the stage. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as a tumble on stage during a May engagement in Amsterdam. Clemons sat next to him on the steps as he finished the song.

He led the E Street Band like a symphony, flailing his arms, swinging his right hand to signify a downbeat, or counting out time with his right hand. He joked about doing the motions in the mirror at night.

After a more than ten-minute jazz jam on “Kitty’s Back,” in which Springsteen opened the song by running his fingers along the fretboard of his Fender electric guitar, producing a screeching wail of feedback and growling like Tom Waits, the band eased into “Night Shift,” a Commodores tribute to R&B singers Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson. The song on his last album of soul covers, “Only the Strong Survive,” included wonderful backup vocals by Curtis King, whose astonishing ability to nail high notes made Springsteen smile.

The band took a break halfway through the show, and Springsteen approached the mic alone with an acoustic guitar. The crowd remained motionless as he described how, in 1965, he “embarked on the greatest adventure of my young life” by joining his first band, The Castiles. A half-century later, he found himself on the deathbed of the band’s founder, George Theiss, and realized he’d soon be the only survivor of that bunch of guys.

“Death is like standing on the railway tracks with a train bearing down on you,” he explained. “It brings a certain clarity of thought, purpose, and meaning.” Death’s final and lasting gift to all of us is a broader perspective on life. “How vital it is to seize the day whenever possible.”

“At 15, it’s all hellos, and later on, there’s a lot more hard goodbyes,” he explained. “So take care of yourself and those you care about.”

springsteen

Bruce Springsteen would not let event promoters cancel his performance at Hyde Park 11 years ago.

He then sang “Last Man Standing,” inspired by Theiss’ death, from his most recent album of original material, “Letter to You,” released in 2020.

Springsteen classics such as “Because the Night,” “Badlands,” “Thunder Road,” “Glory Days,” and “Dancing in the Dark” were then ripped through by the band. Even with everyone singing loudly, they couldn’t drown out Bruce’s tremendous voice or the sound system that was amplifying it.

During a rollicking “Tenth Avenue Freezeout,” a video montage featuring the larger-than-life figure called “The Big Man,” and former organist and accordionist Danny Federici, who died in 2008, played behind the band.

Springsteen appeared alone with an acoustic guitar and harmonica for an encore, joking that he was only getting warmed up.

He then sang, “I’ll see you in my Dreams,” a lullaby-like ode to mortality inspired by the death of yet another buddy.

“For death is not the end,” he sang, “’cause I’ll see you in my dreams.”

SOURCE – (AP)

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Harvey Weinstein’s Retrial Moved To Next Year, Lawyer Plans To Hire A Private Investigator

Published

2 days ago

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2024-10-23

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NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein’s retrial on sex crimes charges in Manhattan will not begin until at least next year, and his lawyer intends to employ a private investigator to check into a fresh complaint against the movie mogul that will now be included in the case.

The fresh information was revealed as Weinstein appeared in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.

Harvey was already set for retrial on two sex offense charges after the state’s top court reversed his 2020 conviction earlier this year. Then, in September, he received a fresh charge for another attack. He’s pled not guilty.

On Wednesday, Judge Curtis Farber granted the prosecution’s plea to consolidate both cases and stated that he would set a new trial date by January 29, 2025.

weinstein

Harvey Weinstein’s Retrial Moved To Next Year, Lawyer Plans To Hire A Private Investigator

The trial was originally slated to begin on November 12, but Harvey’s attorneys requested a date in March or April when the new accusation was added.

“We’ll need some time to investigate the case, hire a private investigator, and go deeper into discovery,” said Harvey’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala.

Prosecutors said they were not opposed to the date, but they were ready to go to trial in January.

Harvey was convicted of forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and third-degree rape for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013. In the latest complaint, authorities allege that he forced oral sex on a separate lady in a Manhattan hotel in the spring of 2006.

Aidala stated after the court session that the identity of the new accuser had not been formally disclosed.

Lindsay Goldbrum, the accuser’s attorney, has previously stated that the lady has never made her claim public and does not want to be recognized for the time being, but she “will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial.”

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office argued that having a second trial on the additional charge would be “extraordinarily inefficient” and a waste of judicial resources. Harvey’s lawyers argued in court documents that the cases should be kept separate, accusing prosecutors of aiming to turn the retrial into “an entirely new proceeding.”

weinstein

Harvey Weinstein’s Retrial Moved To Next Year, Lawyer Plans To Hire A Private Investigator

Harvey has been detained at the city’s Rikers Island detention facility, where he has suffered many health difficulties.

He was also convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022, but his lawyers have filed an appeal.

The sexual assault and harassment charges against Weinstein fueled the #MeToo movement in 2017.

The 72-year-old former producer co-founded Miramax and The Weinstein Company, both of which create films and television shows. He produced films such as “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Crying Game.”

SOURCE | AP

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Jane Fonda To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award From Actors’ Guild

Published

6 days ago

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2024-10-18

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fonda

Jane Fonda, an actor and humanitarian, has added the SAG Life Achievement Award to her list of achievements. The 86-year-old will receive the award at the Screen Actors Group Awards in February, the group said Thursday.

Fonda expressed in a statement that she was “deeply honored and humbled” to be chosen.

“I have been working in this industry for almost the entirety of my life and there’s no honor like the one bestowed on you by your peers,” Fonda told the crowd.

fonda

Jane Fonda To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award From Actors’ Guild

In her almost six decades in the profession, Fonda has won two Oscars (for “Klute” and “Coming Home”), two BAFTA Awards, an Emmy, and seven Golden Globes. With an active attitude that dates back to her antiwar rallies in the 1960s and 1970s, she has utilized her platform to push for gender equality, civil rights, and environmental protection. Last year, Fonda spent her 85th birthday raising $1 million for a non-profit in Georgia that teaches school-aged youngsters to make healthy life choices.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher described Fonda as a “trailblazer.”

“We honor Jane not only for her artistic brilliance but for the profound legacy of activism and empowerment she has created,” Drescher told the crowd.

fonda

Jane Fonda To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award From Actors’ Guild

Fonda was born in New York City on December 21, 1937, as the first child of the late actor Henry Fonda and socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw, who committed herself at the age of 42, when Jane was 12. Her brother Peter, an Oscar-nominated actor and screenwriter, died in 2019. Fonda reflects on her amazing life, family, profession, relationships, and activism in the 2018 multipart documentary “Jane Fonda in Five Acts,” which is currently available on MAX.

A SAG-AFTRA committee nominates and votes on SAG Life Achievement Award honorees, who are meant to reward actors who embody the “finest ideals” of their industry.

The 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will air live on Netflix on February 23rd at 8 p.m. ET.

SOURCE | AP

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Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

Published

3 weeks ago

on

2024-10-07

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pacino

Al Pacino revealed that he nearly died from COVID-19 in 2020 and expressed his thoughts on what happens after death.

In interviews with The New York Times and People magazine, the Academy Award-winning actor discussed getting the virus and temporarily losing his pulse.

Al, 84, told the Times in a wide-ranging interview that he started feeling “unusually not good” and soon got a fever and dehydration. “I was sitting there in my house, and I was gone,” he stated. “I didn’t have a pulse.”

pacino

Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

“You’re here, and you’re not. I thought, “Wow, you don’t even have any memories.” You have nothing. “Strange porridge,” the “Scarface” actor claimed about his near-death encounter.

Within minutes, an ambulance arrived at Al’s house, and he regained consciousness with six paramedics and two physicians in his living room, he claimed.

“They had these outfits on that looked like they were from outer space or something,” he told the local newspaper. “It was very frightening to open your eyes and witness that. Everyone was surrounding me, and they said, ‘He’s back. “He’s here.”

Al told People that when he regained consciousness, he felt confused. “I looked around and I thought, ‘What happened to me?'”

Despite “everybody” believing he was dead, the movie veteran claimed he is not sure if he perished. “I thought I had died. I might not have. I honestly don’t think I have. “I know I made it,” he stated.

Al hailed his “great assistant” by swiftly alerting paramedics after his nurse confirmed that he no longer had a pulse.

“He got the people coming, because the nurse that was taking care of me said, ‘I don’t feel a pulse on this guy,'” remembered Al Pacino.

When asked if the health concern had impacted the way he lived his life, Pacino replied, “Not at all.”

However, this does not imply that the experience had no impact on the performer.

pacino

Al Pacino Reveals He Nearly Died Of Covid-19 – And Gives His Thoughts On The Afterlife

Pacino, who is presently prepping for a film rendition of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” told The New York Times that the event had a philosophical significance.

“I did not see the white light or anything. “There is nothing there,” he explained. “As Hamlet says, ‘To be or not to be,’ and ‘The uncharted place from which no traveler returns.’ He then says two words: ‘no more.’ “It was no more,” Pacino concluded.

“You are gone. I’d never considered it in my life. But, you know, actors: It sounds good to say you died once. What happens when there is no more?

Pacino’s experiences are described in his book, “Sonny Boy,” which will be published on Tuesday.

SOURCE | AP

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