Once Upon Cold River Time in 1980 the critic Greil Marcus identified Springsteen's charisma as "a unique combination of authority and a prank," adding, "he appears at once as the anointed successor to Elvis Presley and as an imposter who expects to be asked for his stage pass." Mixing Magic Ingredients Love, YammerWork, Sex and Fun
Fan fervor is one of the basic building blocks of rock and roll, but it's difficult to recall a rock star as tenderly beloved as is Bruce Springsteen in 2016. There are bigger legends who've evinced louder screams, like the baby boomer Boss's own early inspirations, Elvis and The Beatles. There are some who've earned stronger critical accolades, like Bob Dylan, whom Springsteen has called "the father of my country." There are those who own the current moment more dramatically, like Beyoncé, whose visual album Lemonade and Formation tour are the cultural touchstones within a crucial conversation about whose lives matter in America. These giants are revered, respected, adored.
But love, sweet love? Springsteen owns that. After nearly 40 years it still flows in great waves through the arena crowds who scream his name like a spell unlocking paradise (he's at nearly 2500 shows since 1968, with no slowdown in sight). It recently soaked social media via thousands of viral favorite-Bruce lists inspired by expert Caryn Rose'sepic ranking of all of his songs. It drenches the reviews of Born To Run, the memoir Springsteen published last week: Astute and usually more restrained writers like Dwight Garner, Rebecca Traister and Richard Ford telegraph their own superfandom in reviews that read like thank you notes. (Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield mentions in his that he saw three Springsteen shows in a row in September, no casual fan's feat.) And it's pulling Springsteen along on his first-ever book tour, where fans lucky enough to lottery in are lining up to tell him how he's saved their lives.
Google on Boss ...Following the play's February 14 opening, the San Francisco Chronicle's Lily Janiak reviewed the production: "Springsteen is the spark, the footnotes the fire in 'Born in East Berlin'"
BORN IN EAST BERLIN RUNS TWO MORE WEEKENDS IN SF
Last week, we reported about the new play Born in East Berlin, written by Rogelio Martinez and directed by Margarett Perry, mounted this month by the San Francisco Playhouse. Driving the action is the Tunnel-era effort to arrange Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's concert performance in East Berlin, a now-historic real world event that occured on the other side of the wall on July 19, 1988.
HELLO, WALLSpringsteen's 1988 East Berlin gig at heart of new stage work
Thirty years after the fact, Bruce Springsteen's 1988 concert in East Berlin continues to matter. At the time, it sounded so loud and joyous that it may well have pushed its 300,000 attendees — the most to see any Springsteen gig — to push for greater freedoms than those simply afforded by a rock show.Author Erik Kirschbaum chronicled the performance in his 2013 book Rocking the Wall, one of the few to take a single Springsteen performance as its topic. Now, the July 19, 1988 concert forms the central element of Born in East Berlin, a new play written by Rogelio Martinez and directed by Margarett Perry.
"In the play," writes Emily Wilson in a48hills.org post, "an American has come to try and arrange for Bruce Springsteen to play a concert in East Berlin. Authorities aren't quite what sure what to do — grant her request? Or no?"
As we know, the concert went ahead. This work adds another layer of intrigue: like Kirschbaum, playwright Martinez relied on primary materials and even workshopped the play at the old East Berlin headquarters of the Stasi. Showing generational continuity, Wilson writes of a key assist Martinez got from his young daughter, which helped tip the project.
Born in East Berlin premiered in San Francisco Playhouse's Creativity Theater, where it plays until February 29. For information and tickets, go to sfplayhouse.org.
REMEMBERING "MOMMA" JEANNE HEINTZ, 95 - Backstreets 3 March 2020
It's with sadness but with plenty of admiration, too, that we mark the passing of St. Paul, MN Springsteen fan Jeanne Heintz, who never did hang up her rock and roll shoes. She died on Friday at the age of 95, after seeing more than 300 Springsteen concerts over the decades since the 1988 Tunnel of Love tour (when she was in her 60s) — making them her "golden years" for sure. Common fond recollections of Jeanne include her opportunities to dance on stage with Bruce and her friendships with E Street Band members, but her passion for the music had positive reverberations through many aspects of her life — as her daughter Jackie Heintz tells us, "Momma had E Street Friends from all over the world!"
Jeanne's "superfan" status was enough to earn her notable obituaries in the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press. We're grateful to Jackie for providing us her own:
Jeanne Heintz, age 95, HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan from St. Paul, MN, died on February 28, 2020 from complications of Alzheimer’s. She began listening to Bruce in 1978, listening to the album Darkness on the Edge of Town. Her favorite song was "Factory," but she had many, many favorite songs from all of his albums.
Jeanne would listen to her daughter’s Springsteen record collection and could sing along to all of his songs. Her first concert was in 1988 at the Met Center in Bloomington, MN. I promised her if Bruce got the E Street Band back together, I would take her to as many shows as she wanted. In 1999, when the band reunited, mom was ready to rock 'n' roll! We traveled extensively, night after night. The entire band called her "Momma." She met Bruce’s mom [pictured together below] — Adele couldn’t believe someone so close to her in age loved her son!
Jeanne became very close to Clarence and would visit him in Florida. She also became very close to Stevie Van Zandt. In all, she attended 311 shows.
After Clarence died, Stevie took her under his wings. She had the honor of Dancing in the Dark three times: September 20, 2009 in Des Moines, IA; November 11, 2012 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MNl; and again at the Xcel Center on February 29, 2016 — which would be her final dance, in front of her hometown crowd.
She wanted one more dance with Bruce, but she’s now dancing forever in heaven with Clarence and Danny! She is our superstar. Concerts will never be the same, but as Bruce said, “If we’re here, they’re here!” I believe that.
Bruce Springsteen at 70: 13 surprising facts about ‘The Boss’
Die hard Bruce Springsteen fans are queuing at Croke Park to get as close to the stage as possible. Among them is Aine Carville. It will be her 69th time to see The Boss perform live. Video: Ronan McGreevy
ImageDie hard Bruce Springsteen fans are queuing at Croke Park to get as close to the stage as possible. Among them is Aine Carville. It will be her 69th time to see The Boss perform live. Video: Ronan McGreevy
Mon, Sep 23, 2019
Bruce Springsteen is 70 years old today. To mark the occasion, here are 13 facts about The Boss:
1. Despite being one of the most well-recognised and biggest-selling artists, Springsteen has never had a Number One single in America or the UK.
2. Springsteen campaigned for Barack Obama during the 2008 US presidential campaign, and when the singer was presented with a Kennedy Center award in 2009, Obama said: “I’m the President...but he’s the boss.”
3. He had a planet named after him in 1999. The Boss claimed his spot in the heavens after a minor planet – now called (23990) Springsteen – was spotted by astronomers in Auckland, New Zealand. Springsteen’s music had entertained the observers on the night of September 4th.
5. There are about 60 Springsteen tribute acts currently working in the US and Europe, including Tramps Like Us, The Rising and The B Street Band.
6. When Bruce tells us that “they blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night” in Atlantic City, he’s referring to Phil Testa, the don of a Philadelphia crime family who got his nickname from his involvement in a poultry business. Testa was killed when a nail bomb under his porch detonated as he walked out the front door.
8. He got his nickname “The Boss” while playing with a band called Earth in the late 1960s when he was tasked with collecting the band’s fee from club owners and distributing it among the band afterwards.
9. Jessica Springsteen, his daughter with Patti Scialfa, is a champion show jumper who has represented the US in the Show Jumping World Cup. She was part of the US team that clinched the Aga Khan trophy at Dublin Horse Show in 2014.
10. He played his longest ever concert in Helsinki, Finland, in 2012, with the performance clocking in at four hours and six minutes long.
11. Springsteen made history in October 1975 by becoming the first rock star to feature on the cover of Time and Newsweek in the same week.
12. When The Boss dissolved the E Street Band in 1989, he gave each member $2 million in severance pay.
13. He won a best song Oscar in 1994 for Streets of Philadelphia, from the film Philadelphia. He’s also won a Golden Globe in 2009 for The Wrestler, from the film of the same name.
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