Caryn Rose's Blog, page 12

Memories of Bleecker Bob’s

Bleecker Bob’s closed today, and like the end of CBGB’s, I find myself lamenting the end of a place I hadn’t been to in years. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need or want the Village to be turned into more of an NYU-blanded mall than it already is, and I genuinely miss the days that I could wander the streets and find odd mom and pop shops who carried interesting things.

But I always had a conflicted relationship with Bleecker Bob’s. An older music-loving friend introduced me to the existence of...

Springsteen Night at WORD in Brooklyn

Tonight at WORD in Brooklyn, Marc Dolan and I take our Twitter debate to real life. There will be readings and discussions and video and trivia (with prizes courtesy Backstreets Magazine) and cold beer at a reasonable price (courtesy Sixpoint).

The Daily News, Time Out, Brooklyn Paper, Flavorpill and Brooklyn Based are all fans of the event.

C’mon down! It’s a short walk from the G train and parking is actually manageable in the neighborhood. Facebook RSVP is encouraged but not required.

Relate...

Nothing To Say: Soundgarden at Terminal 5

I have not been certain at all about this reconstituted Soundgarden, so uncertain that despite my great love for that band and their music I did not leap through hoops or get on planes to go see them. I missed all the gigs last summer because I was on the road anyway and so when they turned up back in NYC, I decided it was time. I heard all the whispers of separate tour buses and less than cohesive energy between the lead singer and the rest of the band, and it was just time that to go, to fi...

“Tumbling Dice” : Bruce & the Stones

Bruce & Mick. Photo by Mayumi Mo. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

I WASN’T THERE, regrettably (sort of), I deliberately chose to sit this circuit out (and why is a much longer and very different post). But friends were there (many, many friends were there, from all over the world) and my best friend Sharon’s husband was kind enough to send me video clips of the moment, and I watched the (illegal) clip from the PPV multiple times last night because IT IS A MOMENT.

One, Bruce is absol...

A (Re)view From The Cheap Seats at 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief

I am generally not a fan of festivals, mega-concerts, or gimmicky guest appearances. I try to stay away from these things. However, the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief was a confluence of too many artists I cared about for me to avoid it, and we were lucky with tickets.

My $150 “obstructed view” tickets were side-stage, just past the video screen. Two seats away and across the aisle, the $250 section started. This was a pricey gig. Obstructed meant obstructed by the side video screen, and e...

Concert Review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, jobing.com Arena, Glendale, AZ, 12-6-12

I thought the show was going to open with one of those numbers where Bruce walks onstage solo with an acoustic guitar, and was later perplexed when only Max, Roy and Bruce walked onstage – only to be followed a few moments later by the rest of the band. The perplexity did not end when the band kicked into a mostly-acoustic version of “Surprise, Surprise,” for reasons that still escape me: did they drive through Surprise, Arizona? Did someone meet up with Bruce at the hotel and make a request?...

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, 12-3-12

Walking onto the floor and seeing the Rust Never Sleeps set at the other end of the Barclays Center was this combination of disbelief and deja vu. I never got to see the Rust Never Sleeps tour; by the time I read about it in Rolling Stone it was long gone, and I used to sit in front of my stereo with the records and bemoan that I had missed what had to have been one of the most amazing things ever.

Monday night made up for all of that in so many ways. I applaud Neil bringing back the theatric...

Travel report: Omaha & Kansas City

We flew the day before the show, because these days I just do not trust flying the day of the show, and overnighted in Kansas City near the airport. I started feeling flu-ish while sitting at LGA, and all I wanted to do when we arrived was go to bed early and get a good night’s sleep. We hit Waffle House and then Target in the morning (where I stocked up with about 4 different kinds of Vitamin C products, as well as drinks and snacks) before getting on the road. There was nothing exciting abo...

Concert review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO, 11-17-12

I suppose there are set openers less cliched than coming out and starting with “Kansas City” when you are, in fact, in Kansas City, but there aren’t many. It was cliched — Bruce even admitted as much when the lights came up — but it was also one of the finest musical performances by the Wrecking Ball-era E Street Band I have yet to witness. They were rehearsing it as the GA line was brought onto the concourse and I was a little sad to have the surprise ruined, but what they did in rehearsal (...

Review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, CenturyLink Center, Omaha, 11-15-12

One, two, three: “Reason To Believe,” finally back in the set; then “Johnny 99,” and you think, HMMMMM. And then “Atlantic City,” which is dark if you think of it that way, the way I do, the images of the wrecked boardwalk in my head, but if you’re the people next to us, who have never seen Bruce before, you’re just excited because you’re getting to hear your favorite song. I am kind of standing there and wondering and thinking, what is going on, trying to guess at what, exactly, Bruce is thi...