Bruce Springsteen in Belfast

I was excited last week to hear that Bruce is to play Belfast later this year. I believe he included Belfast in his schedule as a last minute tribute to local promoter Jim Aiken who passed on recently.

As the weekend progressed, though, I’m less excited at the news. And this comes from someone who has long worshipped the ground the Boss has walked on and has seen him in his prime.

Why? Well I heard the new single the other day and I thought it was a dull, blustery big stadium type of thing with Bruce doing his ‘new voice’ – a ‘new voice’ that has grown a bit irritating over the last few albums. The thing is, it’s not his voice. He’s borrowed it from somewhere and forgotten to give it back. At least when Dylan recorded Nashville Skyline in a strange voice – Lay Lady Lay in particular – he had the decency to revert to type pretty pronto. Bruce was better when he had his own voice and and told his own stories and wasn’t concerned with being Woody Guthrie. Only Uncle Bob is allowed to do that.

And the appeal of the E Streeters has waned a lot too. Miami Steve is now just that crap actor from The Sopranos. And Clarence – well, rock and roll saxophone doesn’t do it for me any more.

When the Stones played Slane a few weeks back I thought, these guys need to spend more time sorting out their tax and leave the stage to younger bands. Maybe the E Streeters need to do the same.

Bottom line, much as I fit the Dad Rock demographic, I prefer going out to see a younger band. Apart from Uncle Bob. Because if Dylan plays anywhere remotely close, I’ll be there.

Oh, and if James Murphy of LCD Sound System is out there reading this, it’s great to see you’re playing Dublin. But please organise a visit to Belfast on your next tour. I’ll be the old bald guy in the corner at the back.