Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Absolutely fabulous
Today we went to the fashionable hotel Clarion to interview journalist Håkan Lahger. We had a very interesting conversation about the period 1975-1985, when Bruce was at his peak, according to Håkan.
"A lot has been said about Springsteen's performance at Konserthuset in 1975, and all is true. It feels almost embarrassing to use a word such as 'spectacular' but it really was. In a time when most rock 'n' roll bands were either too drunk, too stoned, played too loud, used too many effects, Bruce was totally different. He came on stage, happy as a kid who had gotten all the Christmas presents he wanted and he never wanted to stop playing, he could go on forever", Håkan said.
During the eighties the E Steet Band machine reached it's highest moments, according to Håkan. The musicians knew eachother so well, they were playing extremely tight and they had learn to master the great outdoor arenas.
But around 1985 Håkan started to lose interest. "I noticed that I started to wait for certain moments or for him to do certain things on stage, and that made it all predictable. But one thing that also put me off was that the journalists had started to cover everything Bruce did when he came here. And that part of journalism that is concerned about what an artist eat, where they go on a day off, is so far away from what really matters, namely their music. That bored me so I slowly drifted away from it all."
One of the things that Håkan thinks makes Bruce such an interesting artist is his ability to write about urban life. "Springsteen carrys on the tradition of Woody Guthrie. Guthrie was a singer songwriter who told stories about life on the countryside. In his early albums Bruce told the stories of a young man from New Jersey, who was discovering the big city and all it's adventures and setbacks. It wasn't the perfect world of popular songs, he portrayed a darker picture, where unhappiness and failure wasn't uncommon. But even if Springsteen's songs are very dark, there's always a glimpse of hope in them", he said.
We thank Håkan for a great interview and prepare for our last one this session, with journalist Mats Bråstedt on Saturday.
"A lot has been said about Springsteen's performance at Konserthuset in 1975, and all is true. It feels almost embarrassing to use a word such as 'spectacular' but it really was. In a time when most rock 'n' roll bands were either too drunk, too stoned, played too loud, used too many effects, Bruce was totally different. He came on stage, happy as a kid who had gotten all the Christmas presents he wanted and he never wanted to stop playing, he could go on forever", Håkan said.
During the eighties the E Steet Band machine reached it's highest moments, according to Håkan. The musicians knew eachother so well, they were playing extremely tight and they had learn to master the great outdoor arenas.
But around 1985 Håkan started to lose interest. "I noticed that I started to wait for certain moments or for him to do certain things on stage, and that made it all predictable. But one thing that also put me off was that the journalists had started to cover everything Bruce did when he came here. And that part of journalism that is concerned about what an artist eat, where they go on a day off, is so far away from what really matters, namely their music. That bored me so I slowly drifted away from it all."
One of the things that Håkan thinks makes Bruce such an interesting artist is his ability to write about urban life. "Springsteen carrys on the tradition of Woody Guthrie. Guthrie was a singer songwriter who told stories about life on the countryside. In his early albums Bruce told the stories of a young man from New Jersey, who was discovering the big city and all it's adventures and setbacks. It wasn't the perfect world of popular songs, he portrayed a darker picture, where unhappiness and failure wasn't uncommon. But even if Springsteen's songs are very dark, there's always a glimpse of hope in them", he said.
We thank Håkan for a great interview and prepare for our last one this session, with journalist Mats Bråstedt on Saturday.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Lost in the Flood of memories
Today we have met journalist Mia Gerdin. She worked for the newspaper Dagens Nyheter in 1975 and saw her first Springsteen concert in november that year, at Konserthuset.
That was such an mindblowing experience for Mia, that she didn't see any other show until 1992, because she didn't want anything to ruin her memories. She also told us a story of how she was chosen with three other journalists to interview Bruce in a restaurant in Gamla Stan (the old town). The four of them waited for hours, with no sign of Bruce. Mia thought about leaving, but the possibility that the other papers could get an interview and she wouldn't if she left, made her stay. Finally Bruce showed up, he was very slim and shy, wearing a leather jacket and obviously not so sure how to behave with the journalists.
"He had a Hell's Angels pin in the zipper of his jacket and I remember one of my first questions was if he liked motorbikes. He smiled a bit shyly, but then he opened up and said he did, and so we started talking", Mia told us.
In 1992 Mia went to see Bruce with his new band, she found him to be as good as ever as an entertainer, but the band couldn't fully match him, not int the way E Street Band did. "But I really liked the backround vocalists he brought along, that was someting new that I would liked to have seen more of", she said.
In 1996 Mia saw him again at Cirkus. "He performed in March, at a time when people always get a cold, but you couldn't hear a single sneeze or cough during the show, and that doesn't happen often! Going to that show was like attending a mass at church, people sat very silently but attentive. I liked it, but I missed the partyrocking. My body wanted to dance and move, but during this show you weren't allowed to", Mia said.
She also told us about how some of her women friends and collegues had found Springsteen's music macho, dull and out of date during the eighties, but she meant that they had failed to see the tenderness and complexity that also exists in the songs.
Mia thinks that one of the things that makes Bruce such a good live performer is that he really enjoys being on stage and he sets out to deliver something more personal to his audience than just a run through his greatest hits.
We thank Mia for a very interesting conversation, sha also showed us som pictures she took during the show in 1975, pictures that has never been published. Hopefully we can use some of them in our documentary too.
Next we meet journalist Håkan Lahger on Wednesday, so stay with us!
That was such an mindblowing experience for Mia, that she didn't see any other show until 1992, because she didn't want anything to ruin her memories. She also told us a story of how she was chosen with three other journalists to interview Bruce in a restaurant in Gamla Stan (the old town). The four of them waited for hours, with no sign of Bruce. Mia thought about leaving, but the possibility that the other papers could get an interview and she wouldn't if she left, made her stay. Finally Bruce showed up, he was very slim and shy, wearing a leather jacket and obviously not so sure how to behave with the journalists.
"He had a Hell's Angels pin in the zipper of his jacket and I remember one of my first questions was if he liked motorbikes. He smiled a bit shyly, but then he opened up and said he did, and so we started talking", Mia told us.
In 1992 Mia went to see Bruce with his new band, she found him to be as good as ever as an entertainer, but the band couldn't fully match him, not int the way E Street Band did. "But I really liked the backround vocalists he brought along, that was someting new that I would liked to have seen more of", she said.
In 1996 Mia saw him again at Cirkus. "He performed in March, at a time when people always get a cold, but you couldn't hear a single sneeze or cough during the show, and that doesn't happen often! Going to that show was like attending a mass at church, people sat very silently but attentive. I liked it, but I missed the partyrocking. My body wanted to dance and move, but during this show you weren't allowed to", Mia said.
She also told us about how some of her women friends and collegues had found Springsteen's music macho, dull and out of date during the eighties, but she meant that they had failed to see the tenderness and complexity that also exists in the songs.
Mia thinks that one of the things that makes Bruce such a good live performer is that he really enjoys being on stage and he sets out to deliver something more personal to his audience than just a run through his greatest hits.
We thank Mia for a very interesting conversation, sha also showed us som pictures she took during the show in 1975, pictures that has never been published. Hopefully we can use some of them in our documentary too.
Next we meet journalist Håkan Lahger on Wednesday, so stay with us!
Monday, April 26, 2004
Follow that dream
Two days ago Mikael and I went to Jönköping to film the performance of The Hungry Heart Band. They played at the local theatre for two nights, and gave the audience an intense show with some of Springsteen's best songs.
We filmed the band during soundcheck, and afterwards we made an interview with Hans "Ludde" Ludvigsson, singer in the band and the man behind the tributeshow.
Ludde has a long relationship with Springsteen's music, he first got in contact with it in his teens, when he heard The River. But it would be some time before he got to see his first concert, although he had tickets to the show at Hovet in 1981. But his father said he was to young to go, so he had to wait until 1985 when he finally managed to see Springsteen live.
Ludde who is a singer in the coverband Fun Club, and he has been dreaming of putting together a show based totally on Springsteen's material. "I wanted to do this simply because of egoistic reasons. I've found a lot of comfort in these songs and I wanted to share my love for this fantastic music with an audience." The Hungry Heart Band has been rehearsing since December and it hasn't been easy to find their special touch to Bruce's music. "The music is very complex. Take a song like Jungleland, it's like an opera. And each song also vary quite a lot in tempo in itself, which make it difficult to play well", Ludde told us.
Lasse Strand, bass, Hans Ludvigsson, lead singer, Ingemar Albo, guitarr, harmonica.
But apparently Ludde and his band did well, the comments from the audience after the performance was overwhelming. Funny and touching was his presentations of the songs, small monologues very reminiscent of what Bruce himself used to do during the seventies and early eighties.
Hans Ludvigsson, in close contact with the audience.
Hopefully Ludde can take his dream project out on the road and perform in other cities as well. We give the Hungry Heart Band a big hand and hope they will reach a bigger audience, they have really proved they can play Springsteen's music with great feeling.
We filmed the band during soundcheck, and afterwards we made an interview with Hans "Ludde" Ludvigsson, singer in the band and the man behind the tributeshow.
Ludde has a long relationship with Springsteen's music, he first got in contact with it in his teens, when he heard The River. But it would be some time before he got to see his first concert, although he had tickets to the show at Hovet in 1981. But his father said he was to young to go, so he had to wait until 1985 when he finally managed to see Springsteen live.
Ludde who is a singer in the coverband Fun Club, and he has been dreaming of putting together a show based totally on Springsteen's material. "I wanted to do this simply because of egoistic reasons. I've found a lot of comfort in these songs and I wanted to share my love for this fantastic music with an audience." The Hungry Heart Band has been rehearsing since December and it hasn't been easy to find their special touch to Bruce's music. "The music is very complex. Take a song like Jungleland, it's like an opera. And each song also vary quite a lot in tempo in itself, which make it difficult to play well", Ludde told us.
Lasse Strand, bass, Hans Ludvigsson, lead singer, Ingemar Albo, guitarr, harmonica.
But apparently Ludde and his band did well, the comments from the audience after the performance was overwhelming. Funny and touching was his presentations of the songs, small monologues very reminiscent of what Bruce himself used to do during the seventies and early eighties.
Hans Ludvigsson, in close contact with the audience.
Hopefully Ludde can take his dream project out on the road and perform in other cities as well. We give the Hungry Heart Band a big hand and hope they will reach a bigger audience, they have really proved they can play Springsteen's music with great feeling.
