March 18, 1999

Ten years ago today, I attended my 22nd Bruce show.  It also happened to be my first show seeing Bruce with the E Street Band.

The show was billed as an hour long rehearsal and as you can see by the ticket stub above, the ticket price was $20, plus Ticketmaster fees.  It was the first time Bruce had played Convention Hall and he talked about seeing The Who and The Blues Magoos in the building. 

My expectations were high, but I figured we would get about an hour and fifteen minutes, but I couldn't wait.  My seats were directly behind the soundboard.  As I was standing waiting for the lights to go down, I noticed the set list taped to the equipment.  I didn't want to look...but I had to.  Yes, I HAD TO.  When I started reading the list, my first thought was, "he can't do all of those songs in an hour."  He didn't.

The band came out, one by one, and Bruce came out last.  He then approached the mic, counted off, and a force more powerful than I had seen on stage before took over.  They launched in to Prove It All Night, and did they ever.  With Bruce and Steven trading "yeah"s on the same mic and a searing guitar solo from Bruce, I was mesmerized.  From there, they launched in to Two Hearts, one of my favorites, with Bruce and Steven again sharing the same mic for much of the song.  I knew that I needed to be at as many shows this coming summer as possible.

I won't go through song by song, but it ended up being a 23 song show that last two and a half hours.  He debuted My Love Will Not Let You Down, which was on Tracks, and closed with a new song which would become a staple of the tour, Land of Hope and Dreams.  It was apparent that they were still trying to figure things out as the band assumed that after 10th Avenue Freeze Out they would break for intermission.  They started to walk off stage and Bruce called them back and said that they didn't need an intermission any more.  The show truly blew me away.  The following night, Bruce played for two hours and forty five minutes with a 25 song set including the premiere of Give The Girl A Kiss and the first live performance of The Promise since 1978, played solo by Bruce on piano.

He called the show a re-dedication of the band and it was exactly that. Over the last 10 years, there have been many more shows in Convention Hall, both rehearsals and holiday shows and The E Street Band has been an ongoing concern with new albums and new tours, including another starting next month.

It seems like yesterday, but ten years is a long time.  I had only recently started in real estate.  I was making no money.  Let me repeat that for emphasis.  I was making NO MONEY.  Yet, all I could think about when I left those shows was that I couldn't miss a show.  I couldn't risk missing something magical.  I said that I needed to attend every show possible in case he played Incident, Jungeleland, or Frankie.  I saw all three that year.

It's been a great ride...and I can't wait for it to start again next month.  Show #147 is scheduled for April 22nd in Boston, unless of course he schedules a rehearsal show in Convention Hall before they hit the road.  I am going to hit Boston, Philly, Nassau, and East Rutherford on this leg of the tour.  Who's in?

"It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive..."  BS 

From Badlands...played 3/18/99 and every other night that tour.

JN

The NEW Yankee Stadium

I made my first visit to The New Yankee Stadium today.  I was invited on a small tour, but I will leave out the details of who got me in, just in case we weren't supposed to be there.  I have a feeling  I will be writing a lot about The New Stadium in the coming weeks.  I have some ideas that I am kicking around, but for today, I will stick to the facts and leave my thoughts for future posts.

I arrived a bit early and wandered around River Avenue for a few minutes.  There were many people working on the exterior, and I would find later, hundreds of people working inside.  They are in the home stretch with the first event April 2nd.  One worker was hanging banners of current players along the exterior of the building, the images of which were amazingly clear.

Once we went inside, the first stop was the weight room.  Needless to say, they spared no expense.  I was surprised to see a Muhammad Ali quote as the dominant image above the mirrors.  It was a quote I have never seen before, but obviously very appropriate.  "The first is won or lost far away from the witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."  Next stop was the trainer's room.  I had heard stories of a scale that has been around for decades.  It was used to weigh all of the greats, and all of the not-so-greats throughout the years and it was there.  

We walked through the room with the whirl pools, peaked our heads in the steam rooms, stopped in the men's room, and then walked through the doors to the Yankee Clubhouse.  Immediately, someone pointed out Derek Jeter's locker.  Can you blame me for sitting down to take a picture?  It was one of the larger lockers and right near the door.  The room is a large oval shaped room each locker has a spot for a small flat screen monitor (not yet installed).  None of the equipment or name tags were in place, but this is an impressive room.

On the outside of the curved wall, across from the manager's office, in black, is a large Yankee logo, the interlocking NY, with the famous Joe DiMaggio quote underneath, "I'd like to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee."  Us too.

From there, it was through a tunnel and then in to the Ketel One Lounge, which is for Legends Suite ticketholders.  The high rollers.  The quality and sharpness of the images amazed me.  We came in the back door, but at the main entrance is an amazing picture of Lou Gehrig.  Once I walked past Gehrig and up a small ramp, I was in the seats along the firstbase line.  It's really amazingly impressive.  The frazee hangs along the top, all around the park.  All of the seats are new, dark blue.  The monuments in Monument Park were still covered, so we didn't go out to centerfield.  They were working on the infield as well...everyone getting ready.

We then went up to the suite level.  We entered Suite #44, which is the Steinbrenners' suite.  They had recently ripped up the original carpet because they didn't like it and will replace it this week.  The suite is probably three times the size of a normal suite and is in the same position as it was in The Stadium, just above the visitor's dugout.  

From there, we were off to the press box and in to the TV booth.  Again, none of the equipment was in place, but the view was from directly behind home plate.  See for yourself.

Our tour was coming to an end, but not before we made our way to The Great Hall.  This is the main corridor for The New 

Stadium and the hanging banners had color photos of recent greats on one side and black and white photos of Yankee legends on the other.

They spared no expense in making this the premier sports venue in the country.  Again, I will provide some more in-depth thoughts in a later post, but with larger 

concourses, better site lines, more bathrooms, more concessions, more restaurants, more of everything...no one will leave unimpressed or unhappy.  Hopefully, they did as good of a job putting together this year's team as they did putting together the stadium.

If you want to see the rest of the photos, shoot me an email and I will send a link.  

"It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive"  BS

JN

Who's who...and some random thoughts

About a week ago, I received the following email with the subject line "Blog Topic" from my good friend Rob Fisher.

"Redskins=Yankees
Giants=Red Sox
Discuss..."

Since I am happy to take requests, I have been thinking about it over the last week.  I have given it a lot of thought, done some research, and I am happy to report that I have several scenarios for debate.  After all, part of the reason why we follow sports is to debate our opinions.

First of all, the Redskins can't be the Yankees.  While the team has won championships, it certainly was not in the recent past.  The Redskins have a long history of spending and not winning.  I do agree that they typically spend on aging stars, possibly past their primes, similar to the Yankees.  However, I think they more resemble the Dodgers of the late-90's and early part of this decade.  The Kevin Brown/Shawn Green Dodgers.  The Dodgers that spent almost as much as the Yankees, but never had anything to show for it.  To me, that's what the Skins have.  Nothing to show for all of Daniel Snyder's spending.  Further, all of the coaching changes, is yet another similarity.

So if the Redskins aren't the Yankees, what team most resembles the evil empire?  If you want to talk about winning, the Yankees resemble the Patriots.  Both teams were underdogs in their first championship year.  The Yankees weren't supposed to beat the Braves and the Pats certainly weren't supposed to beat the Rams.  They each had unprecedented runs of success in recent history.  They each have an icon.  Derek Jeter is certainly baseball's answer to Tom Brady, or visa verse.  While Joe Torre and Bill Belichick will never be mistaken for having similar styles, they each had questionable resumes prior to becoming geniuses.  Was the 2007 AFC Championship Game similar to the Red Sox beating the Yankees in 2004?  Definitely.  Neither has won a championship since.

Do the Giants represent football's answer to the Red Sox?  I don't think so.  Both were built by smart GM's, not a lot of free agents, and maybe some free spirits, but I think the Giants need a sustained run of success and another Super Bowl win before they can be put up against the Sox.  For now, I think the Sox and the Steelers might be more suited for comparison.  Jerome Bettis could be Big Papi in pads.  The Steelers have won twice in recent history, same as the Sox, coming out of nowhere for the first one and as the favorite the second time around.  

Always fun to debate one side or another...I would love to hear your thoughts if you are reading this.  I fixed the comments section so it's easier if you want to comment.

Some random thoughts:

- I am sick of ARod and am glad he will be out for at least the first month of the season.  Maybe the Yankees will get back to the brand of baseball that brought them four rings. Moving the runner, sacrifice flies, pitching and defense.

- U2 doing five nights of Letterman was just damn cool.

- At this point, Max almost can't be replaced as the drummer for the E Street Band.  He can be replaced on Conan.  Without Max, the spontaneous nature of the show would be out the window.  I truly hope they figure out how to make this work.  Due to healthy concerns, this very well may be the last ride for the E Street Band and it would be a shame for a sub to be sitting in.

- Bill Simmons' podcast keeps getting better. If you aren't listening, you should start. His columns are great too, but the podcasts are truly entertaining.

- The economy certainly hasn't put a damper on the concert tours.  The Allmans, Bruce, Clapton/Winwood, and U2 are on my radar.  

- I am enjoying the World Baseball Classic so far...but I can't wait for Opening Day.

That's all for now..."It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive" - BS

JN