Wednesday, April 09, 2008

The Ringing In My Ears

Trivia Question: What was the first compact disc manufactured in the United States for commercial release?

To answer that question, my dear readers, I must also ask: how did you spend your Tuesday night? I would imagine most people did not do anything too exciting last night; it is early in the week, you are probably still a little tired from the past weekend, you are already longing for the upcoming weekend to get here, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I think our general consensus is that your Tuesday night probably sucked. That, my friends, is why you need to go out there and find yourself an amazingly-awesome (awesomely-amazing?) Better Half.

Allow me to provide you with twenty-five reasons why my Better Half is (1) amazingly-awesome, and (b) better than your better half:

1. Thunder Road
2. Radio Nowhere
3. Lonesome Day
4. Gypsy Biker
5. Murder Incorporated
6. Magic
7. Atlantic City
8. Candy's Room
9. Reason to Believe
10. Prove It All Night
11. Because the Night
12. She's the One
13. Livin' in the Future
14. The Promised Land
15. Brilliant Disguise
16. The Ghost of Tom Joad
17. Last to Die
18. Long Walk Home
19. Badlands
20. Out in the Streets
21. Meeting Across the River
22. Jungleland
23. Born to Run
24. Dancing in the Dark
25. American Land

Confused? You should not be. If I asked you to name the only two great things that have come from New Jersey (besides those friends of mine who are from there . . . don't want to have Nosh whining in the comments section), what would they be? Bon Jovi (DING!). The Boss (DING!). Now, as you review the twenty-five reasons why my Better Half is amazingly-awesome (awesomely-amazing?), you may begin to notice that they look eerily similar to the set list from last night's Bruce Springsteen concert at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Although she is not the biggest Springsteen (wait, what? I might have to start rethinking this whole "til death do us part" thing . . .), my Better Half went out of her way to get me two tickets for Christmas this past December.

Some find it hard to believe that I am such a big Springsteen fan, considering his first album of commercial success, Born to Run, was released five years before I was born. In fact, my Better Half and I were probably the youngest people at the show, surrounded by people at least ten years our senior (not to mention some fabulously-awesome [awesomely-fabulous?] jean jackets). But when you love music as much as I do, I do not know how anybody would be surprised by this. I mean, sure we might not see eye-to-eye politically, and I might not be able to relate to the plight of the blue collar worker, but this is a man who has been musically relevant for over thirty years. He has had eight number one albums over his career (though, surprisingly, he has never had a No. 1 single on the Billboard charts), won eighteen Grammys, and he has even won an Academy Award.

As you can tell from the set list, the show mostly revolved around his most recent album, Magic. While I was not overly impressed with the album, the live versions did not disappoint. Sprinkle in some of his classic hits and a cameo from Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave fame) for "The Ghost of Tom Joad", and you have all the makings of a great show.

While it is hard to compare this show to the first time I saw The Boss in 2002, I will say this, I definitely enjoyed the company more (sorry Agman, I hope you understand). There are few things in this world I enjoy more than being able to share some of my favorites things with my Better Half. Who knows, maybe we will complete the "New Jersey Doubleheader" by catching Bon Jovi at Staples Center tonight.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot . . .

Trivia Answer: Born in the U.S.A.

1 comment:

nro said...

joisey rocks! literally. bruce and jon. the best. they comprise two thirds of my music in my car (on those old fashioned compact discs) - the third amigo being dave matthews (hey - i went to college in virginia). i am so jealous! every time i hear about concerts, i think: i should go to more concerts. i just set my (non)ipod to play all bruce songs for the rest of the day.