Show a little faith there's magic in the night
Today is my birthday but I never was much for celebrating it. Some people may argue that I have an issue with getting older and perhaps that's true, although I've always thought that age is just a number and what really matters is how old you feel not what it says on a paper. My... Continue Reading →
The song Hunter of Invisible Game (released on the album High Hopes in 2014), sprung from a title that Springsteen came up with and wrote down. At that time Springsteen had done some post-apocalyptic reading and wanted to incorporate that in a song. Subsequently the title evolved into a full song. The setting is a wasteland... Continue Reading →
This blogpost was supposed to be a celebration of Clarence "Big Man" Clemons, as June 18th marked the 7th anniversary of his passing. As I started writing I realised rather quickly that it was also going to be a celebration of comradeship. The story of how Clarence Clemons met Bruce Springsteen for the first time... Continue Reading →
American singer-songwriter and guitarist, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit are a really strong live act. Their show in Gothenburg has been sold out for some time now. Their latest album the Nashville Sound was released in June 2017 and has been rewarded two Grammys (Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Song). On the... Continue Reading →
Gaslight Anthem's frontman Brian Fallon's solo career started, when the band decided to take an indefinite break in 2015. The first solo album "Painkillers" was released in 2016 and it was quite successful. Last time Brian Fallon was in Gothenburg in December 2016, I didn't particularly like the show to be honest (though the reviews... Continue Reading →
It's June 25th 2016, a nice sunny Midsummer's Day in Gothenburg, Sweden. 62 676 fans, packed in the pitch and in the stands of Ullevi, eagerly awaits the arrival of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It's the first of three concerts in Gothenburg (the River 2016 tour). Finally Bruce Springsteen strolls onto stage,... Continue Reading →
Foo Fighters' last show in Ullevi (June 12, 2015) is a modern classic: already in the second song, during the audience's favourite Monkey Wrench, singer/frontman Dave Grohl takes an unluckily step and falls off the stage slap-bang down on the ground. Nobody understands what has happened at first, but from the look on drummer Taylor... Continue Reading →
It's notable from the start that the band Mando Diao have decided not to let Gothenburg's ongoing heat wave stop them from doing a great show. It's never easy to play on a sunlit stage in an amusement park, but the band is doing their very best to reach out to the audience and they... Continue Reading →
One of the most excellent show openers is Badlands, the leadoff track on Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album Darkness on the Edge of Town (ranked as the second best Bruce Springsteen song ever by the Rolling Stone magazine). The song is characterised by Max Weinberg's dynamic drumming of the famous beat, a one-two-three-four-five-six-(double time) one-two-three... Continue Reading →
We are currently being overflooded by countless releases of old Bruce Springsteen material. As much as I appreciate listening to and discovering exclusive versions of songs, rare cuts, outtakes and remastered concert downloads, Springsteen repeatedly releasing old material seems to be a big rip-off. Pockets somewhere are filled with money – and they sure as... Continue Reading →
Stray Bullet 