Spiringsteen

[eFestivals]

your opinion probably means a lot more than mine considering your position.

that's where you're going wrong. My opinion means nothing more than any other person's opinion.

so may i ask who were your highlights?

my highlight this year were always going to be Steel Pulse, cos I love them (or at least, their older stuff). But I knew tho that they wouldn't actually be very good (cos I've seen them before), and they weren't (tho the poor sound they had didn't help things).

[LRW]

This topic will be discussed ad nauseam.

Some people loved it.

Some people hated it.

Some people weren't fans but now are.

Some people weren't fans and still aren't

Some people were fans and still are.

Some people were fans, but thought it wasnt as good as could of been.

BUT all the opinions above are valid. So whats the point of this diuscussion?

[eFestivals]

So whats the point of this diuscussion?

it's clearly about - or at least, it's what it's turned into via their own doings - getting it into the head of some very up themselves Bruce-farts-perfume-ers that it's very possible for huge numbers of people to see Bruce and think him boring bland crap.

[daveinafield]

Actually, I really can't.

With most acts I dislike I can see the appeal for those that do like them. I went to see Bruce on Saturday thinking that maybe I'd get that understanding by seeing him live - because after all he has a reputation as a fantastic live performer - but he did absolutely nothing for me. It was the same bland MOR american soft-cock rock that he is on record .... I get why america likes him, I don't get why people in a society that doesn't have 'bland' as its over-riding cultural dimension* like him.

(* I'm not suggesting american culture is only bland. But its mainstream culture goes much more for the lowest common denominator route than the UK does).

[LRW]

it's clearly about - or at least, it's what it's turned into via their own doings - getting it into the head of some very up themselves Bruce-farts-perfume-ers that it's very possible for huge numbers of people to see Bruce and think him boring bland crap.

[eFestivals]

i think that is probably the most depressing thing ive ever read

What, you've suddenly realised that you like the world's blandest act?

There is, after all, nowt else to find depressing in what I've said.

[daveinafield]

What, you've suddenly realised that you like the world's blandest act?

There is, after all, nowt else to find depressing in what I've said.

[daveinafield]

no just that you can't see the talent even if its not your bag and what it means to many people. see i like Steel Pulse too, gutted i missed them but i was far too excited seeing The Specials (my all round highlight this year) - by the way did they play Ku Klux Klan? i did see pama international tho who were great. lets get back to positivity !!!

[1mills]

I thought the people in the audience who where booing him for not doing it were out of order.

[1mills]

By the way I'm not suggesting your a liar or anything above, as I've just realised that that's what it may have come across as.

Just trying to say that maybe a lot of the people you spoke to say 3minutes of it (which I agree that you can't judge anyone on personally) or not been there at all?

[eFestivals]

no just that you can't see the talent even if its not your bag and what it means to many people. see i like Steel Pulse too, gutted i missed them but i was far too excited seeing The Specials (my all round highlight this year) - by the way did they play Ku Klux Klan? i did see pama international tho who were great. lets get back to positivity !!!

talent = being able to play. Bruce can play.

good = subjective = being able to play something good. You know my take on that already.

Now while I say Steel Pulse weren't very good, in comparison to the bit of the Specials I caught (who I really wanted to see too), they were excellent. The Specials were doing what you'd expect from a band fronted by Terry Hall ..... not a lot. Madness were far FAR better.

Very sadly, there was only 'Soldiers' played in full from 'Handsworth Revolution', tho a little of 'Handsworth Revolution' itself was played within a medley at the end of the set ..... which was pretty much what I'd expected, as they'd done similar last time I'd seen them, tho then they'd included a little more from 'Handsworth Revolution' in that medley.

[bombfrog]

Apart from the, say, dozen at least times he went down INTO the crowd (down all those stairs they put up for him to do so), the half dozen at least times he stopped singing so the crowd would sing the words and the bits where he kept thanking the crowd for the reception he was getting? Apart from all that, yeah you're probably right, no interaction with the crowd whatsoever.

[StevieF]

What I meant was that I expected him to occasionally stop for a second between screens to talk to the crowd but he never did, just launched straight from one song into the next.

[eFestivals]

Neil- Out of interest where did you ask the 100people that had seen him that he was bland, was it when you'd left on the night as obviously that would explain the higher representation of people disliking?

If not how many people did you actually ask if they'd seen him, because you've already stated that he didn't have the biggest crowd on the Pyramid which suggests that at least half the people there were watching someone else, so statistically you'd have needed to ask at least over 200people to actually find over 100 that thought he was bland?

I didn't ask (or at least can't remember asking) anyone what they'd thought on the Saturday - it was on the Sunday when it dawned on me that I was only hearing negative comments of Bruce that I started to ask randoms if they'd seen it and what they'd thought of it, to see if the negative comments I was hearing were reflected all round - and from my asking* those negative views were.

(* but as I've already said, I'm not of the belief that the proportion of negative comments I got would be reflected across the whole crowd that saw him.)

Where did I ask those people? Wherever I was at the time, tho this was mainly the Shangri-La, Avalon, Jazzworld & Pyramid areas and the bits in between .... quite probably overall the wrong parts of the site to get the most glowing comments (something I realised at the time, but which still doesn't negate those comments).

I haven't really stated that Bruce didn't have the biggest crowd, I've only been repeating what others have posted - I wasn't at the Pyramid enough to properly know if Bruce had the biggest crowd or not.

[bombfrog]

Except for the times when, er, he talked to the crowd between songs, you are 100% correct.

[StevieF]

What did he say then? Apart from the odd "thank you"?

[daveinafield]

talent = being able to play. Bruce can play.

good = subjective = being able to play something good. You know my take on that already.

Now while I say Steel Pulse weren't very good, in comparison to the bit of the Specials I caught (who I really wanted to see too), they were excellent. The Specials were doing what you'd expect from a band fronted by Terry Hall ..... not a lot. Madness were far FAR better.

Very sadly, there was only 'Soldiers' played in full from 'Handsworth Revolution', tho a little of 'Handsworth Revolution' itself was played within a medley at the end of the set ..... which was pretty much what I'd expected, as they'd done similar last time I'd seen them, tho then they'd included a little more from 'Handsworth Revolution' in that medley.

[bombfrog]

Were you even at the gig?

[StevieF]

Were you?

I have to admit that the sound system wasn't exactly loud and the crowd around me seemed more interested in chatting to each other and being rowdy than actually listening to the gig but I don't remember him saying anything special. It was loud enough for me to hear him finish one song, shout "1234" and then launch straight into the next song without stopping which he seemed to do for most of the gig.

If anyone can actually tell me what he said or find me any footage then I'll happily admit that I was wrong but everybody I was with thought the same thing. He hardly won the crowd over with his personality.

[Swindlebiscuit]

Actually, I really can't.

With most acts I dislike I can see the appeal for those that do like them. I went to see Bruce on Saturday thinking that maybe I'd get that understanding by seeing him live - because after all he has a reputation as a fantastic live performer - but he did absolutely nothing for me. It was the same bland MOR american soft-cock rock that he is on record .... I get why america likes him, I don't get why people in a society that doesn't have 'bland' as its over-riding cultural dimension* like him.

(* I'm not suggesting american culture is only bland. But its mainstream culture goes much more for the lowest common denominator route than the UK does).

[eFestivals]

I barely understand that....

Why do think any 'society' follows some unwritten rule. There's plenty of bland that is popular over here. EastEnders, Take That, Harry Potter... I happen to think Madness are pretty bland in their cheeky-chappy-cockney way, they certainly haven't written songs that move people, but guess what, apparently they're pretty popular..

bland is a very subjective term....

Bruce certainly moves people. A huge number away from the stage he's playing on, as Saturday proved.

The term MOR was invented for Bruce. That says it all really.

Edited July 1, 2009 by eFestivals

[alframsey]

it's clearly about - or at least, it's what it's turned into via their own doings - getting it into the head of some very up themselves Bruce-farts-perfume-ers that it's very possible for huge numbers of people to see Bruce and think him boring bland crap.

[StevieF]

Wow - this eFestivals site-owning chap skirts pretty close to the borders of Troll City.

[eFestivals]

And you wonder why so-called "Bruce nutters" rise to the bait when you continually call his music "bland crap".

perhaps I'm raising to the actually-really "Bruce nutters" trolling about him being the best live act ever when he's very VERY clearly no such thing?

The very simple fact is that many other acts have headlined Glasto and held onto the crowd with no greater proportion of nutty fans in it far better than Bruce managed from all the accounts I've heard.

Leaving aside your oft-mentioned straw poll, as far as I can gather you only saw a couple of songs (one of which was by Strummer) and have heard one album (most recent and possibly weakest).

Well you're a very poor reader then.

PS: weakest, or simply the worst bland crap ever released? Why won't anyone answer the question about whether he played Kiss' "I Was Born..." ... sorry, "Outlaw Pete" (yes, I can hear you, but I bloody wish I couldn't).

It's pretty tiring to read someone so vicious and forthright in their views when they really don't have too much first-hand experience of the band themselves. But there you go.

My opinion - matched by tens of thousands of others who were also at Glasto - has no less right to exist than your own.

P.S. Not a Bruce nutter. Not a fan of "bland crap". (I think. I hope.)

You like Bruce. You think wrong.

[alframsey]

What did he say then? Apart from the odd "thank you"?