20000309-10 – Springsteen

 

We lit out down to Florida we got along all right

Time for a Spring Break! Off to Fort Lauderdale for a couple shows! In years past, Teri and I have taken trips to Florida for baseball spring training so this year we do a Springsteen training! We did take in a couple of spring training games and went to Key West. A great trip over all.

20000228 – Springsteen

Kicking off the new year with the first Springsteen show of the new century! We are off to Happy Valley, Penn State University, PA. This was an interesting trip. One of my friends from the local Springsteen group, Shannon LaVoy, got a few people together and I ended up taking a group of 5-6 people in my van to Penn State for the show. It turned out that my friend Flynn McLean gave Bruce the suggestion for the opening song, Lion’s Den (Nittany Lions are the mascot for Penn State). A great way to kick off the year of a bunch of Bruce shows!

 

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20000204 - Def Leppard/Joan Jett

 

This was GREAT double-bill. Def Leppard with Joan Jett opening! Heather and I attended this show, it was an odd location in Salisbury, MD, but it was worth the trip! A small town arena with big time performances. 

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19991228 - Barenaked Ladies

 

The final concert of the 20th Century (I know the whole century thing) for me, The Barenaked Ladies! Went on a double date with Dave and Cindy Brown. I think we had a good time. We saw them earlier in the year at the Farm Aid show, and they do put on an entertaining event. While I didn't know ALL the songs, I think we enjoyed the ones we did know. Now it's off to the 21st Century! Who knows what it will bring!

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19991115 - Springsteen and RnRHoF

Round two for Bruce in Cleveland!

Early in the day, Teri and I visit the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame! Four years earlier we went to the concert that opened the museum, but tickets for that day were sold out quickly. But it all turned out well. What was interesting, was that as we were going through the museum, several members of the E Street Band were also visiting at the same time! I thought that the band would have actually known a bunch of the people who had displays in the museum. I think they were impressed with what they saw.

The show itself was fantastic! Many times the second show is better than the first and no exception here. Between the two nights, there were about 40 different songs. Musicians rarely (if ever) for this today.

 

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19991114 - Bruce Springsteen

The Reunion tour moves on to Cleveland, OH. "Are the Cleveland Boys in the house?!" This is always a great city to take in Bruce. Cleveland has been a big supporter of Bruce since the early 70's, These were back-back shows, so the CDs that were recorded were released as one big set.

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19991025 - Melissa Etheridge

 

First time seem Melissa on a solo tour. Teri and I attended the show and we were very impressed! I don't have a lot of information at this point (it was many years ago). One thing that we really interesting was her drummer, Kenny Aronoff. He is one of the best out there. During one of the songs Melissa went back to the drum riser and he played the a beat on the strings of her guitar, fantastic to experience.

I can't find a setlist for this show.

19990925 HFStival Fall 1999

There is a blog out there that was run by WHFS back in the day. Here is the announcement for the show:

HFStival '99 -- FALL EDITION, BABY! That's right, folks, for the first time ever, the year of 99, the year of HFS, will host not one but TWO HFStivals! This second HFStival will take place on Saturday, September 25, at RFK STADIUM, unlike the earlier HFStival. Tickets go on sale on Saturday, August 28, at 10:00AM, and are available through TicketMaster Outlets, TicketMaster PhoneCharge, and, in an interesting twist, through TicketMaster Online.

And now on to what's really important, the bands. HFStival Fall '99 will featured such acts as Limp Bizkit, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Everclear, the Chemical Brothers, Buckcherry, 311, and the Long Beach Dub Allstars (basically Sublime without Brad Nowell). Sounds awesome, although this list seems short to me, and there is always a possibility that other bands will be announced later.

My friend Ray Dizon joined me at the show. It was a fine show, some of the bands I wasn't into, and never got into. Listed below are a few of the setlists.

 

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19990912 - FarmAid 1999

 

And the concerts continue! This was a busy year, and a particularly busy month. This show was a double-date with Dave, Cindy, Teri, and myself. Honestly I had high hopes for the show, and we left a little disappointed. We actually left early. It was a long day, and it was taking forever between acts. Since this was being broadcast, they had to build commercial breaks into the set, it wasn't a lot of fun waiting it out. To sum up from the Farm Aid webpage:

In 1999, Farm Aid ventured into the Washington D.C. area for the first time. The concert energized farmers and advocates and became a rallying point for a flurry of events. Hundreds of farmers came to Washington bearing an urgent message for legislators: “Act now to stop the destruction of family farms!” Their primary target was the “Freedom to Farm” bill that had been in place since 1996. This bill had resulted in record profits for multinational grain traders and big food manufacturing companies while leaving family farmers bankrupt. The Farm Aid events inspired farmers to keep on fighting for fair prices and educated the public about important farm issues. The concert aired live on CMT: Country Music Television for the second time. The stellar lineup included Susan Tedeschi, Keb’Mo’, Deana Carter, the Barenaked Ladies, Dave Matthews Band, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and others. The music was so good that it went on for an extra half hour!

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19990908-09 Springsteen

 These shows were originally scheduled for my birthday! But, the schedule was a bit hectic and the shows were moved to September 8 & 9. Teri and I flew in for the shows. Our first time traveling for shows since the R&R HoF show in 1995. We had good seats for the first night, but GREAT seats for night two. For the show on September 9, they were second row seats. For this tour you had to pick up your tickets in the the first 17 rows from will-call. The attendant who gave us our tickets remarked, she had never given anyone second row seats before. Being right on the stage makes a difference, and a much more enjoyable show.

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19990831, 0901, 0903 Springsteen

 

Local Springsteen shows! Until 1995, these were the only type of shows that I would consider. I tried to make the most of them. I liked the idea of community and getting together with fellow Springsteen fans. I planned a gathering at a bar across from the arena for all three shows with a nice turn out from the locals and non-locals. Attendees signed the banner with a message they want to send to Bruce, or to remember the day. 

19990831

There were six of us together, myself and Teri, my brother Chuck and his long-time live-in, Barbara (RIP), and Dave and Cindy Brown. It was great that we could all attend the show together. I think everyone had a great time.

19990901

Second night had great seats that were right at the stage. Just like the previous night, we had a gathering at the bar across from the arena. On this night it was Dave and I attending the show. I wasn't sure that he would want to take in back-back shows, but he was all for it and we had a great time together.

19990903

The third of the shows on this DC run brought it all home. I wrapped up the gathering at the bar and it was good to see all these people on a common joy of wanting to go to the Springsteen show. I went to the show with Shannon LaVoy, who we drove to NJ in July. Originally I didn't have anyone to go with, but I posted a message on the group message board and she said she would go. I thought that she was going to the show with some of her friends and as she put it, 'If I can get a GREAT seat, I'll see my friends later.' So we went to the show. 

This show was special for me as I finally heard my all time favorite song, Jungleland, performed for the first time. I had a great time and glad that I ad three great nights of Springsteen shows!

 

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Edit this setlist | More Bruce Springsteen setlists