GUEST POST: PASTOR CHRISTOPHER B. WOLF REVIEWS BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND

Christopher is a family friend and a fellow New Jersey resident. So when he told me that he was going to Bruce's show at MetLife Stadium, and it was going to be his first Bruce show, I asked him to write a review for No Expiration and he graciously agreed to do it. Also, he's a published author! And a Pastor.  So when he says "Bruce is a preacher and a very effective one," he knows what he's talking about.  Anyway, thanks for sharing this Chris.  By the way, how have you lived in NJ for so long and never saw Springsteen before last week?

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Worth the wait.

 I finally saw my first live Bruce Springsteen concert last week - and it was the first one at MetLife Stadium for Bruce and the E Street Band. I've always heard about the energy, the duration, catalog breadth, and the atmosphere of a Bruce concert. It was all there Wednesday night.

 As a concert, it truly is an amazing event. Nearly four hours of almost continuous music. Even the encore breaks don't last for more than three minutes. The music itself is something to behold. The arrangements, the brass section, the back-up singers (who frequently sounded like a church choir), Bruce's singing and his interaction with the crowd. Bruce's early guitar solo was impressive as well as later in the concert when Bruce and "The Professor" Roy Bittan on the piano collaborated on an extended guitar and piano duet - just a beautiful serenade.

 In particular, crowd singing and participation seemed to peak with “Waitin' on a Sunny Day,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Born to Run” and “Rosalita.” The audience responded affectionately nearly every time the Big Man's nephew Jake Clemons had a solo; as well as during the tribute to the Big Man himself during "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out."

Thematically, Bruce spoke often about ghosts throughout the concert. Prior to “Spirit in the Night,” and other songs; as if to honor Clemons but also to acknowledge that the ones we love are always near. Continuing with the spiritual, Bruce spoke of the E Street Band "consecrating" the proceedings, as well as prior to “Spirit,” leading a near musical revival along with his back-up singers.

 In particular, spiritual or not, Bruce's music continues to move the faithful. I couldn't help but weep when he sang "The Rising" knowing that within view of the stadium outside the new One World Trade Center rises and sparkles in the night. To live in North Jersey, one can't help but think of September 11th when we hear the lyrics, "Sky of love, sky of tears...Sky of glory and sadness...Sky of mercy, sky of fear."

Whether he would admit it or not, Bruce is a preacher; and a very effective one. You see, too often today, it's very easy to preach all good news. But real, true preaching includes, as Bruce said Wednesday night, "The good news and the bad news and all the rest of it." Because, in Gospel terms, it's bad news before it's good news...we're lost before we're found, we're hurting before we're healed. And this is perhaps the essential quality of Bruce's work and catalog, it's not trivial pop music, it's angrier and louder than folk, and it's deeper than rock; yet it somehow mixes elements of all these. Because for nearly 40 years Bruce has been articulating and speaking for you and me. The pain, the struggle, the loss, the lament - the truth about life in America; “Death of My Hometown,” “My City Of Ruins” and more. This is why stadium-sized audiences keep coming out to hear him.

 But fortunately and appropriately, he doesn't leave it there in lament and tears. The last 40 minutes of the show were just pure party and celebration. Perhaps that it is no coincidence that the last four songs could rightly be considered New Jersey anthems – “Thunder Road,” “Born to Run,” “Dancing in the Dark” and “Rosalita.” And for me, who admittedly favors earlier titles, the highpoint, what made it worth the wait of thirty some years to hear Bruce live - was to sing “Born to Run” with Bruce and 50 thousand of my fellow "tramps." Bruce and E Street Band have been all over the world. But being at a stadium in the Meadowlands, listening to a Jersey guy so poignantly sing about us and for us on many levels makes it not just a rock concert, but part community, part sacred.

Christopher B. Wolf is a pastor and author living Saddle Brook, NJ.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: MY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN @ IZOD REVIEW

Photo by Maria Ives

I've been a bit behind on my blogging, but I couldn't NOT review the Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band show that I recently saw. Actually, I did review it for my day job -- but I wanted to give my more personal account.

I went to the show a bit apprehensive.  I've reviewed lots of Bruce shows at my blog, and they've pretty much always been glowing.  One of the things that I respect about Bruce is that he always makes it matter. Unlike so many of his peers,  he doesn't simply glide on his greatest hits, and he still has something to say. His new albums (generally) feel important. I also always have gotten the sense that he will know when to call it a day.   After Clarence Clemons passed away, I thought that it might be time to retire The E Street Band. I was really surprised to find out that he was bringing them out on tour, and even more so when I found out that Wrecking Ball isn't an E Street Band album.  But I think Clarence's passing - and Danny Federici's - reminded Bruce that time is passing, and a five year break between tours might be too long of a break to return from.

Still, I wasn't sure if this would be one tour too many. How long can this band - most of whom are over 60 years old - continue to be the best band in the land?

Well, it turns out that they can hold on to their collective crowns a bit longer. They kicked ass, and Bruce has lost none of his power.  And - importantly - Wrecking Ball is great, and it goes over well in concert.

As I mentioned in my CBS piece, all eyes were on Jake Clemons, nephew of Clarence, and one of two sax players in the newly installed horn section. He did great, playing iconic solos on "Badlands," "Promised Land," "Out In The Street" and "Dancing In The Dark."

The emotional center of the show, for me, was "My City Of Ruins." The song was originally written for Asbury Park, but Bruce played it, famously, at the post-9/11 telethon, and at that point it became about 9/11. But now, it's more personal. During the song, he takes a "band roll call," introducing everyone in the group, and noting the absence of Clarence and Danny. When he said, "If you're here, and we're here, they're here," there may have been some dry eyes in the house, but my eyes weren't among them.  I could only think of my boss and dear friend Allyson, who took me to two Bruce shows over the past few years. I did feel like she was there.

The setlist was great - it didn't feel like a retro show, they played a lot of Wrecking Ball, and although they skipped Working On A Dream (fine with me), Magic and Devils & Dust, they also played four songs from the now-classic Rising album. Because it's not a greatest hits revue, that gives the hits that they play - "Born To Run," "Badlands," "Thunder Road" - even more power. And it was cool to hear real rarities like "So Young and In Love" and "Seaside Bar Song."

Judging by the setlists and reports on Backstreets, the shows have gotten even better... so I'm glad I have tickets to see the band two more times in the fall when they play Metlife Stadium.

CLARENCE CLEMONS - R.I.P. TO THE BIGGEST MAN YOU'VE EVER SEEN

I was waiting for Eddie Vedder to take the stage tonight when I heard the awful news that Clarence Clemons passed away.  It wasn't a huge surprise: he had a stroke last weekend. But still, really, really sad news.

I don't know what makes a good sax player from a technical standpoint. But I do know that his playing added something to Bruce Springsteen's music that added even more heart, soul and excitement. Listen to "Jungleland," "Night," "Secret Garden," "Pink Cadillac." Of course "Tenth Avenue Freezeout."

Clarence tried lots of other stuff outside of E Street: his solo career, playing with other people, smooth jazz, acting, writing.  I think he'd admit that things never clicked for him more than when he was onstage with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. I remember seeing the reunion tour in 1999, it was just electric.  Seeing those guys onstage together, it was larger than life.

I remember I interviewed Clarence during the long years between the breakup and the reunion.  I think it was around the time of Bruce's first solo acoustic tour for The Ghost Of Tom Joad. I told him that my prediction was, after that tour, he would reunite with The E Street Band. That made him perk up, and he asked me why I thought that.  I said that I thought that he just wanted to try playing with other people (the band he used in the mid-'90s), and, by appearances, he seemed to have been wanting to do a solo acoustic thing for a long time, and now he'd done that also.  I knew he'd go back to rock and roll, I doubted he would reassemble his '90s band, and I didn't think he'd put together a new rock band. So, my feeling was, his next project would be The E Street Band. That seemed to make The Big Man happy and he thanked me for sharing my theory.  I'm glad I was right and I'm glad I had that bit of time with the man.

It's weird that his last performance was playing sax for Lady Gaga on American Idol, but life is weird sometimes.  The fact that he played with Gaga turned a new generation on to his talents and he was probably grateful for that.

I wonder if Bruce can possibly have the E Street Band go on without Clarence. I guess it would be a shame if those guys never played together again, on the other hand, how do you replace a guy like that.  My suggestion: use an entire horn section, but retire "Jungleland" and "Freeze-out."

TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT - POP, POP, POP MUSIC

First off: this (very obviously) photoshopped image is from Rolling Stone.

Second: sorry I haven't been posting in the past week.  Things have been busy.

Onward! So tomorrow morning I will be on SiriusXM OutQ's The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick  (and co-host Keith Price) at about 9 am ET. Every so often, I go against type and bring in a bunch of straight up pop records.

Right now, the biggest pop record on earth is the latest from Lady Gaga, Born This Way. I don't have as strong of an opinion on her as everyone else seems to.  I think she is talented, she's written some good songs, and she's a savvy marketer. On the other, I think she goes way out of her way to prove her intelligence, her artsiness and how much of an outsider she is.  I don't buy into her like other people do.  I think her new album is pretty good, but it's about as edgy as a Loverboy or REO Speedwagon album from the '80s.  I do enjoy the fact that she used Clarence Clemons from The E Street Band on two of the songs.  His playing is very '80s: it reminded me of his playing on "Dancing In The Dark" or Aretha's "Freeway Of Love."

I choose a couple of other prominent pop records: a Britney/Ke$ha/Nicki Minaj collab, a Katy Perry/Kanye West collab and some new Beyonce songs.  I have to say, I wasn't really impressed by any of them. Also a newer artist named Christina Perri: she's not my thing, but I can appreciate her a bit.

And also, the artist who I think will be one of the stories of 2011: Adele.  Right now, I bet that 21 will be one of the big Grammy albums, and it may make lots of critics lists also.

And what's that you say?  You don't have a SiriusXM subscription?  Get on that! Get a free online trial and check out what you're missing!

CLARENCE CLEMONS' AUTOBIOGRAPHY

E Street Band sax player Clarence Clemons will release his autobiography, Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales in October. I was kind of surprised to hear about that. Bruce Springsteen (or his management team) tend to keep "inside info" about the man and the band under pretty tight wraps. I'm sure he Clarence had to produce some cool E Street stories to get the book deal, I wonder if he had to go through Bruce first.