It Ain't No Sin To Be Glad You're Alive

Last night, I made the trip...again...to Hartford for the opener of this leg of the tour. Similar to the first leg of the tour, Bruce chose to open close to home, but not exactly a home game.

After a pretty crazy work week which included a trip to Cincinnati on Wednesday, I wasn't 100% sure if I was going to make the show. However, my amazing wife showed up at my office at 11 a.m. Thursday morning with a change of clothes and encouraged me to hit the show. For me, there is something amazingly therapeutic about a great concert, especially a Bruce show. Being able to jump up and down, scream every word, pump my fist and lose myself in the music allows me to eliminate any stress in my life. My partner, Joe, told me he was looking forward to me going to the show because he knew I would show up in a good mood on Friday...no matter how little sleep I got.

As for the show itself, no one in the Hartford Civic Center had a better time than me. We were in the pit, dead center, about 12 people deep. The pit is truly the place to watch this show. There aren't a lot of opportunities to sit. It's a hot show, from the first note. Speaking of the first note, for the first time, Bruce opened with So Young And In Love off of Tracks. Radio Nowhere had been the typical opener during the first leg of the tour and as great an opener as it is, So Young just kicks the night off with a big boost of energy. Also making tour premieres were and Loose Ends and Janey Don't You Lose Heart. Backstreets was an audible in the encore and it was amazing. The encore is usually a trouble spot, but last night, it was great with Kitty's Back following Backstreets...and Born To Run after that.

For the full set list, please visit http://www.backstreets.com/setlists.html.

A few specific lines jumped out at me during the show, partially because I have been so crazy at work. A lot of Bruce's music is out redemption and last night, I needed it. I can't wait until March 10 for the show at Nassau Coliseum. Hope to see you there.

Special thanks to my partner in crime Sammy...and The Man, Rich Russo, who helped us in to the pit.

"Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive...if you can."

JN

What's old is new...and what's new is spring training

Last week, the 25th Anniversary of Thriller was released. Since I was with one of the people involved in working on the reissue, I went out and bought it last week. As of late last week, it was tracking as the #1 album in country for this week. They digitally enhanced the tracks, added some duets, an unreleased track, and an extra disc for videos and I bought it for $14.99. A venerable bargain for The World's Biggest Selling Album of All Time (it says so right on the disc). This week, what's old is new.

In music, at least what I like, what's old is new pretty often. Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood are playing a full concert together for the first time in over 30 years at Madison Square Garden.

Over the weekend, I went to see Southside Johnny at the Morristown Community Theater. For the first time since the original recordings, a string section was added to the show on certain songs. La Bamba wrote the charts for the Randolph High School Orchestra, which did an amazing job, especially on Hearts of Stone.

The Police just announced the last leg of their reunion tour and will play this leg with Elvis Costello as the supporting act. They come to the PNC Arts Center in early August. I think that's a can't miss show.

Billy Joel is playing the last concert ever at Shea Stadium. He hasn't released an album of new material since 1992's River of Dreams. That said, when I saw him at Madison Square Garden two years ago, it was much better than I thought it would be. I think I am skipping Shea though. It's too much a pain in the ass to get to.

Paul Simon is taking up residency at a theater in Brooklyn for a string of shows in April. He couldn't find somewhere in Manhattan???

So what's new? Well, Bruce's next leg of the Magic tour starts next week also in Hartford. For the record, it isn't new just because it's Bruce. It's new because unlike all of the shows mentioned above, he is actually touring behind a new release. Eddie Vedder is doing a two week solo tour of theaters on the west coast. I think the Vedder show is the first notable show that hasn't hit NYC since...well, ever.

All of that said, what's really new this week is that spring training is entering it's first full week. Hopefully, by next week, the Mitchell Report, the Clemens/McNamee fiasco, and all steroid talk will be OLD and we can focus on what really matters. The greatest game ever invented. Get ready...the last Opening Day at Yankee Stadium is six weeks from today. Who's in???

Some thoughts from spring training so far:
- Randy Johnson must really love the competition to come back again from back surgery. Either that or he really wants to get the 16 more wins he needs for 300. Any which way, I commend him for the attempt.
- Pedro's quotes about dominating the steroid era clean were some of the best quotes I have seen in a long time and much to my dismay, he is 100% right. He was totally dominant when steroid use was at its peak.
- I am happy to root for guys that admit mistakes. For that reason, I will cheer for Andy Pettitte and vow to not harass anyone in the Mitchell Report who came clean. Doesn't Rocket know that if he has just admitted it, the story would have been gone by now?
- Joba shows up at camp with his nipples pierced and it's news. Gotta love this guy.
- Barry Bonds doesn't have anywhere to go for spring training. I hope that remains the case. I think we have all had enough.

That's all for now. "Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive...if you can."

JN

Changes...good? bad?

The one thing we can always count on is change. There are always big changes going on around us, but this week, I am keenly aware of some big changes happening in my world.

The New Yankee Stadium was in the media this week. The Yankees COO, Lon Trost, did a tour of the construction site with the local media and gave an update on the process, the costs, and the project overall. I, for one, am very excited about the new Stadium and can't wait for it to open. Yankee Stadium is one of my most special places on earth, but I have a lot of confidence in the Yankee brass that they will build the greatest baseball stadium money can buy. My confidence was boosted this week when they announced that they would NOT be selling the naming rights. The estimated price would have been $50m per year, and I can't express how important it is for die hards like me that they will be keeping the name Yankee Stadium.

The music business is changing, has been for years, and will never be the same. I was in my car on Friday, listening to my iPod on shuffle which is my standard. A song from Jon Bon Jovi's solo record, Destination Anywhere, came on. I took the iPod off of shuffle and listened to the entire record, just as I used to when I had a five-cd changer and had to listen to cd's front to back. That was how I got to learn entire albums and not just singles. Now, people download one song off of iTunes if they want as opposed to the whole album. The single off of the JBJ record is Midnight in Chelsea. That's one of my least favorite songs on the album. I think that there is some great material and Jon is missing the boat by not using some of it on tour. How loud would the girls scream if Jon sang a song titled Naked...even if they didn't know the song?

Two takeaways from the paragraph above:
1. The departure from entire albums is a great loss for music as an art. There are amazing songs that never become hits and less people will find those songs if they don't have to buy the whole album.
2. If you don't have Destination Anywhere, I highly recommend it. One of Jon's most adult albums as far as writing and while there are definitely typical Bon Jovi lines, the material is great. Janey Don't You Take Your Love To Town is still one of my all time favorite Jon Bon Jovi songs.

For the first time since 1995, Joe Torre will not be sitting in the manager's office at Legends Field overseeing Yankee spring training. Joe Girardi will be the new manager and I can only hope that he has half of the success that Joe Torre had. I will miss Mr. T (as Derek Jeter calls him) and wish him well in LA, but am rooting hard for Girardi, even if I wanted Donnie Baseball to get the job. Who knew he had a crazy wife???

I know that baseball is changing with the whole Mitchell Report. The way that we look at certain players will never be the same. I am sorry for that. I want to remember Roger Clemens for the competitor he was on the field...not the guy walking the halls of Congress fighting for his name and his legacy. I don't think we are any better off after The Mitchell Report than we were before it. The new rules are in place and were before the report. What good is dragging back the past?

The look of the blog has changed too. Gone is the black background thanks to Mr. Fresh. If anyone has any other suggestions or requested topics, I am happy to oblige. I am looking forward to pitchers and catchers reporting this week and the Bruce tour to kick up again at the end of the month. Hopefully, that will provide plenty of material.

Until then..."Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can..."

JN

My Lucky Charm

The Giants pulled off one of the biggest upsets in sports history yesterday beating the previously undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 to win Super Bowl 42 (I didn't use the roman numeral for my cousin Jared). I watched the game with my wife, Jared, my two sisters, my mother, David, Uncle Eddie, cousin Jeffrey, and most important...my lucky charm, my daughter Avery.

I know it's a little silly, but she and I have both worn our Giants jerseys throughout the playoffs, mine #80 (Shockey) given to me by Fresh as a 30th b-day present, and Avery's #10 (Eli) given to her by my cousin Keith, not coincidentally, Fresh's brother. When the Giants won the first playoff game, we decided that the jerseys would be worn, from start to finish, until we lost. Needless to say, we never lost.

At the start of the 4th quarter, I took my daughter to sit on my lap, partially because it was time for her to go to sleep, and partially because I thought the Giants needed some good luck. As soon as she came to sit with me, Eli completed a 45 yard pass to Kevin Boss and they were on their way. I won't recount the game...there is plenty of that, but I will say that the Tyree catch should go down in history as the greatest catch in Giants history. What a play!

I have said it in a previous blog entry, but I feel the need to repeat it. I was wrong about Eli and Coughlin. I was very critical of both and they did a great job of silencing the critics. While I always rooted for them, I wasn't convinced they could get the job done. They more than proved me wrong and I am happy they did so. Eli really came of age the last month and Coughlin went up against the best in the business last night and came out on top.

THE GIANTS ARE THE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!

Some quick thoughts:
- I am of the opinion that history will not remember the Pats. Teams start the season with the goal of winning the Super Bowl. They missed their goal. Everyone on that team would have traded the undefeated season for the Super Bowl win if given the choice.
- The defense was swarming and I hope Spags stays as the D coordinator.
- Tiki who?
- It's time to trade Shockey. His energy is great, but it can be a detriment to the team.
- If they raised ticket prices after the last two years, what are they going to do to us next year? Ownership should keep in mind, we only won three home games.
- I am happy that the boys were in AZ for the game...Scott, Keith, Strauss, Al, and Mike Levine had us well represented.

Less than two weeks until pitchers and catchers report. I am ignoring the nonsense in Washington with Congress and steroids and focusing on the Giants until spring training starts.

"Stay hard...stay hungry...stay alive if you can..."

JN

1/31/98 - Come Together...

Ten years ago today, Jon Bon Jovi organized a concert to benefit the Sgt. Patrick King Memorial Fund. Sgt. King was a Long Branch police officer who was murdered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time while wearing a police uniform. The concert raised money for his family, his children and their educations. While the concert may have been organized to help a fallen police officer, the show itself was a celebration of music, life, and friendship.

Looking back, I can't believe that it was only 10 years ago. At the time, my world was a different place, and the world itself was a different place. I was 23 years old, having just returned from a Cancun vacation with Ira (who I am still friends with) and Adam (who I am not still friends with) and was working for my family down the shore. The numbers 9-11 didn't yet have any meeting, the internet wasn't the driving force in the world, and people carried pagers and had no idea what a text message was.

The musicians took over The Paramount Theater in Asbury Park on the Thursday preceding the show for an all day rehearsal. Since I had some flexibility in my schedule that afternoon, I went down to the theater to see what was going on. While I was there, I met Matt Bon Jovi, Jon's brother. I offered to bring some food in from The WindMill for the guys and the next thing I knew, I was on bringing three huge bags of hot dogs, burgers, and fries through the stage door. While I wasn't able to stay long enough to see much, I was there long enough to see Jon Bon Jovi, Tico Torres, Bobby Bandiera, and some of the other musicians starting to run through a song that I had never heard. Then, Little Steven walked through the stage door and I was in total awe. He took the lead on this amazing song that I had never heard, but would later find out was "Until The Good Is Gone" off of his Men Without Women album. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay long, but I knew that I had tickets to the show two nights later (thanks to Ticketmaster New Mexico).

That show really changed music for me. I had seen great shows before, but nothing like this. I can still see the opening of the show in my mind. Danny DeVito did a little intro (he probably couldn't get a ticket otherwise), and at the end he said, "Are you ready? Because This Time It's For Real" and with that the curtain rose. A wall of sound erupted...horns, drums, guitars...and four men walked with amazing purpose towards two microphones at the front of the stage. Southside Johnny, Jon Bon Jovi, Little Steven, and Bruce. Jersey Shore Music royalty.

They shared vocals on Southside's This Time It's For Real with Johnny doing the first half of first verse, JBJ the second half...all four on the chorus...then Little Steven the first half of the second verse, and then Bruce with the second half...and the show was a freight train running down the tracks from the opening song.

From there, the band launched directly in to Two Hearts, which is still one of my favorite Bruce songs and at that time, I had never seen live in a full band version. Bruce and Little Steven shared the mic on that song for the first time since 1984 and for me, it was pure magic even though I was in the last row of the Count Basie Theater. Bad Medicine was next with Southside helping JBJ with the second verse and on a mean harp. From there, Bruce and Steven were back in the spotlight for Until The Good Is Gone. Seeing these great musicians take such joy in playing with each other is what I took away most from the night. 10th Avenue Freeze Out was next with JBJ singing the second verse and Clarence Clemons coming out for his solo mid-song to a raucous applause. Then Southside and JBJ sang duet on Broken Down Piece of Man.

Richie Sambora took center stage next for Hard Times Come Easy, a song off of his forthcoming album Undiscovered Soul, followed by Patti Scialfa with her contribution, Love's Glory. Southside then sang an old tune, There Goes My Baby with the horns. From there, Little Steven stole the show. He announced that Southside loaned him a few songs for the night, which was pretty funny considering that Steven actually wrote all of them. They launched in to Baby's Gone For Good with Johnny singing back up. Steven was amazing. You Give Love a Bad Name was shared by JBJ and Bruce, and while Bruce didn't nail it, it was still a lot of fun. Next up was a straightforward version of Promised Land followed by Little Steven taking back another of his songs from Southside, All I Needed Was You. Some straightforward versions of Someday I'll Be Saturday Night (Southside tried...but wasn't great), Bobby Jean (not yet ruined for me by the 99-00 tour), and Blood on Blood followed. During Blood on Blood, my Uncle Steven, forever thinking about me, came upstairs and allowed me and Andy to switch seats with him and go down to the 9th row. Amazing!

What happened next was the coolest song of the night. Someone in the front yelled out for The Fever. Southside said that they hadn't rehearsed it and that it would be a disaster. That didn't stop JBJ from signing a line...and then Johnny sang the first line and Bobby and Rusty Cloud followed along. Bruce wandered on stage and La Bamba was waving for Clarence to join them on stage also. Southside did the first verse and the first chorus and then said, "Bruce...one time" and Bruce took over for the second verse with Clarence singing his parts in the chorus. It was completely off the cuff and amazing.

After that, the band launched directly in to Working Too Hard with Southside and JBJ singing their parts just like on the album with Little Queenie being thrown in for good measure. I Don't Wanna Go Home was next and it was time for everyone to share the stage again, similar to the first song with everyone taking a turn for part of a verse. I remember thinking that the show must be starting to wind down. Wow, was I wrong. It's Been A Long Time followed with Southside, Little Steven, and Bruce sharing the vocals similar to the album version. "Just one coat between us and we never felt cold, yeah we were never gonna get old." The only difference was the schtick at the end, which culminated in Clarence being crowned The King of New Jersey.

The encores started with Wanted Dead or Alive and Bruce again taking a crack at helping out JBJ. He did a much better job the second time around and followed it up with a straightforward version of Backstreets. It was really my first time seeing Bruce play a lot of these songs with some of the E Street Band guys, Clarence, Steven, Max and Danny. One of the funniest lines of the night came next. After Backstreets, Little Steven said, "Notice how I get to follow all the Bruce songs...G-d damn Bon Jovi". That would have worked except that Steven really stole the show all night and the next song was no exception. "If I give you my heart, would you love me forever?" and the horns exploded. Forever was one of the night's highlights for me. Living on a Prayer and Badlands followed and then Little Steven stole the show again with I Played The Fool. At the beginning, he introduced each of the Miami Horns and had them do an extended intro to the song. He was a true showman that night.

Keep The Faith and Born To Run were supposed to end the night, but everyone was having a good time, so they improvised from there. Rocking All Over The World was next and I remember JBJ having to feed Bruce the words to the second verse. JBJ took the lead for Treat Her Right and then Southside started Havin' A Party, but he was overruled. A long on stage debate ensued and they finally agreed on Thunder Road. Southside tried to help with the second verse, but he butchered the first few lines so JBJ nudged him aside and took over, "Well I'm no hero..." All of the musicians were effusive in their praise of each other at the end...thanking JBJ for putting it together...thanking Bobby for rehearsing the band. It was just an amazing night.

I said earlier that this show changed music for me. It did because in my mind, this show is what music is supposed to be. The joy on stage, the camaraderie between all of the musicians, the spontaneity, the power...it was all there that night. As great as "tours" can be, there is something about a one off show that can't be replicated night after night, no matter who it is. I have seen better versions of most of the songs performed that night, certainly the Bruce songs, but this show will always be special to me. There have been shows in the same theater, with most of the same guys, but none have approached this show. I hope that someday they all decide to do it again...the same way...like a freight train and I hope I am there with Andy again. He and I used to go to a lot of shows together, but life intervenes. I hope we will find an excuse this summer and I am looking forward to it.

One last VERY important note. Tonight is starting a new anniversary. My daughter has graduated from her bassinet and is sleeping in her crib for the first time.

That's all for today..."Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can..."

JN

Yankee Stadium, and some quick hits

Someone that has never met me, but knows that I am a die-hard Yankee fan asked my mother how I feel about the Yankees moving out of The House That Ruth Built and moving in to The Palace That The Boss Built(my own little nickname). In a nutshell, I am a little torn.

Yankee Stadium, as we know it today, has been one of the most special places to me since 1980 when I attended my first game. I still remember having car problems on the way there, worried that we would miss the National Anthem. We did, but I survived anyway and have been attending games ever since. How many places do we visit several times a year, every year, for over 25 years and still get excited? I consider myself truly lucky that I have found such a place. I am so comfortable at Yankee Stadium, that I am happy to with just about anyone, anytime, and am also happy to go alone.

Some of my favorite sports memories occurred at Yankee Stadium. I have been lucky enough to be there for two clinching World Series games (Jared even caught a foul ball in the 7th inning of Game 6 in 1996), several pennant clinching games, countless World Series and playoff games, the day they clinched the AL East in 1996, Doc Gooden's no-hitter, Derek Jeter's dive in the stands, Paul O'Neill's last home game, Donnie Baseball's last home game (he even hit a home run), Roger Clemens' 300th win and 4,000 K game, the 2001 World Series where Tino and Brosius hit home runs with two outs in the bottom of the 9th on back-to-back nights...the list is truly endless for me. I am lucky. My daughter will attend her first game this year and while she won't remember it, I will, and I will always be able to tell her that she was there with me in the last year of Yankee Stadium.

One of my favorite memories has nothing to do with baseball. I don't remember what year it was, but it was Bat Day when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I called my grandfather who was at work and asked him if he would come home and take me to the game. He said that he couldn't because he was at work and that he was sorry. Well, about 20 minutes later, he came through the front door like a superhero and said, "Let's go." We were off to the stadium and when we got there, there was a long line at the ticket window. My Pop bought two off of a scalper, but didn't realize that the seats were about 8 rows apart from each other until we got inside. I sat on his lap the whole game and got my bat for Bat Day. Baseball doesn't mean a lot to my grandfather, but when I tell stories about how great he is as a grandfather, that's near the top of the list.

Nothing can take away those memories and they will always be special. However, time moves on and the new Stadium across the street will have every amenity known to man. The concourses will be wider, the site lines better, more options for food, and everything will be new. Sometimes, new is better. Sometimes, it's not. For me, I am looking very much forward to the new Stadium and seeing how they mesh the old with the new. I am sure it will be an experience like no other in sports...I just hope it's still special.

Some quick hits:

- The Giants are in the NFC Championship Game. I mean, how did this happen??? I was ripping Coughlin and Eli just a few weeks ago, but it seems that everyone has hit stride precisely at the right time. Do they have enough to win in Green Bay?
- Best thing that happened to me last week was being asked to be a part of the faculty for C&W's Emerging Broker Training this year. I graduated from the program last year and it's pretty cool to be invited back. What I am most grateful for is that I was able to get my mother a birthday present that she actually likes and is excited about. We bought her the iPod nano, and loaded it with songs and pictures so she could take it away on vacation. Happy Birthday Red!
- The Wii rocks.
- Keith and Fresh are down at Yankee Fantasy Camp this week. If anyone ever wants to buy me a really expensive present...that's it.
- Is Live Nation trying to put Ticketmaster out of business? If so, it's about 20 years too late.
- One month until pitchers and catchers report. Is it too early to start doing mock drafts for fantasy baseball?
- My daughter is obsessed with ceiling fans. I am not sure why, but she loves looking at them.

That's all for this week. "Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can..."

JN

Some purely random thoughts on a Monday

We try to go to my parents' house on Fridays for Shabbat dinner. It's about the most peaceful time of the week. During the meal, we go around the table and say two things: 1. The best thing that has happened to us during the week and 2. What we are most grateful for. There is a revolving guest list on Fridays and those of us that are regulars know to come prepared. We try and encourage everyone to participate, and everyone usually likes the game. I am going to try and write them in my blog each week.

Last week, the best thing that happened to me was being able to spend a relaxing New Year's Eve with my wife, daughter, sister-in-law Donna, and my nephews, Nicholas and Anthony, which was followed up by a relaxing day with some of my closest friends, The Kaplans and The Romms. Donna and the nephews checked in to a hotel so they could hang out, swim in the pool, and have a fun night out. We went out for dinner, and then went back to the hotel. Anthony and I swam in the pool for a while, and then we just hung in the room, played the game of Life, watched a movie and just relaxed. Christine, Avery and I were home by 11 and watched the ball drop together.

New Year's Day was great too as we went next door to the Kaplans for lunch. Ken and his wife Carrie (The Romms) came up from South Jersey...it's been way too long since we have seen them...and we just hung out all day, playing with the kids, putting together toys, and eating (way too much). There is really something very special about living right next door to your best friend and his family.

What I was most grateful for last week was my mother. She really is the glue in the whole operation. She manages to take care of everyone, putting everyone else first and her last. The fact that all of her children like coming home for Friday night dinners is a real testament to the home that she created for all of us. I tell her all the time that I am grateful for all that she does for us, and she tells me that she never thinks that she is doing enough.

Some other quick thoughts:
- The Giants really are a different team on the road. Eli finally looked like a professional quarterback and the defense was swarming. They have only lost one game on the road this year...at Dallas...which is where they travel to this weekend for a rematch with the Cowboys. Can they pull it off?
- Does anyone believe that Roger Clemens didn't know that Andy Pettitte took HGH until the Mitchell Report came out? I didn't think so.
- This week was the 35th anniversary of Greetings From Asbury Park...Bruce's first record. He is still putting out great records and for my money, no one does it better live.
- I still am not sure if Obama is electable, but I am starting to think that he might just be exactly what this country needs. The same rhetoric won't work...no matter which side of the political fence you sit on.

That's all for now. More soon. Until then..."stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can..."

JN

PS I am looking for a consistent sign off line...any suggestions are welcome.