MUSIC: The Magic of Bruce Springsteen

There is no show like a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show. Performing for well over three hours, Springsteen and company delivered another sprawling, enjoyable, often humorous, sometimes emotional, but always a thrilling show and had the audience under their spell for the duration. They are relentless in their pursuit of entertaining the audience, providing value for money on a scale rarely seen these days. For well over three hours last Tuesday, Springsteen made you believe that nothing else mattered and he was there to entertain you and not that you there to see him sing a few songs. The man is out of this world in terms of being a performer and it is obvious he loves every minute of it, and it is reflected in his energetic performances that in turn drive the rest of the band.

It was obvious from early on that he was on mischievous form and in the mood for fun, making light of the Hyde Park curfew mess and using it as a starting point and setting the mood for a great rendition of 'I Fought the Law'. From there on, the band rampaged through 30 songs from their extensive back catalogue. Even songs I confess that I have no time for or dislike (songs like 'Dancing in the Dark' do nowt for me) were rip-roaring and the band had the audience in their raptures for large spells, blazing out classic after classic and the RDS was afloat with joy and pure entertainment. This brings me to perhaps what I think the main reason for Springsteen and the band being such an enduring presence and maintaining their high levels of popularity is their diversity and for every 'Dancing in the Dark' and 'Born in the U.S.A.' are a 'My City of Ruins' (which had me in awe and was arguably song of the night for me), 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' and 'My Hometown'. These are collections of songs so contrasting in style and substance, but which provide a perfect mix of emotions that allow for the band to remain relevant and to keep going for such a long time. 

Among other highlights of the night was the thrilling and lively 'Murder Incorporated' as well as a selection of the songs from the latest album, Wrecking Ball. The epic encore, consisting of crowd favourites like 'Born to Run', 'Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)' and another standout, 'Tenth Avenue Freeze-out', that contained a wonderful tribute to the late Clarence Clemons was a wonderful summarization of what this collection of musicians are all about. Even though it's my third time seeing them, it is still an awe-inspiring and breathtaking spectacle, there is no reliance on a light-show or big gimmicks, just a band doing what they do best.

SONG OF THE DAY: 25/7/12

A song taken from The Veils second album Nux Vomica; Jesus for the Jugular has all the peculiarity of the early Nick Cave output, but yet having enough oddness of its own to keep it from becoming a cheap knock off. I heard this originally in the film The Devil's Double, a film that is worth a look at purely for Dominic Cooper's terrific performance. Cool song, cool film, check it.

RETROSPECTIVE: The Bourne Identity (2002)

Director: Doug Liman
Starring: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Clive Owen
Running Time: 118 minutes
Genre: Action adventure

Matt Damon's first outing as Jason Bourne in 2002's The Bourne Identity was an exciting and occasionally exhilarating Euro thriller. The film (even more so with Greengrass's sequels) helped shape a new, darker and more realistic hero and take on action cinema, with its strive for realism over sensationalism and a reliance on intrigue and suspense filled action thrills over high and extravagant body counts. The Bourne Identity was the catalyst in the re-imagining of a genre on the wane. Released in the same year as the twentieth Bond film, the abysmal Die Another Day, Doug Liman's take on Robert Ludlum's spy franchise provided the perfect antidote to the now silly and irrelevant Bond saga that had began to sink under the sheer ridiculousness of the special effects driven gadgets and unimpressive villains/character development. Jason Bourne came at a time where films like xXx were being made and while being profitable, were just not very good. Bourne in essence returned action cinema to positive critical reception and reshaped Hollywood ideals on what the audience wanted to see.

Damon's Bourne is a complex character, one who is not the same man he was before the yacht shooting, a killer who has regained his conscience. In contrast to the ultra assured and confident guise of Bond (and backed by M16), Bourne is seen as a threat to his government, is suffering from amnesia and doesn't remember anything of his former life and has little to no backup or support. This change around, with the lead having to utilize basically a guerilla defence against his former employers and his constant being on edge with the prospect of assassins constantly on his tail allow him little time for wisecracks or any of the suave elegance Bond was afforded. There is a pace to the thrills in Bourne, they are quick and elaborate but never cross the borders of realism (on-screen 'movie' realism anyway). Perhaps the finest set-piece of The Bourne Identity (embedded below) that typifies the gritty and serious direction the film goes in is Bourne's confrontation with fellow assassin 'The Professor' (Clive Owen). There are no smiles, humour or show-boating, it is just what has to be done and the little talk between Bourne and The Professor (and with all credit to Owen, who gives a memorable performance despite the small screen time he gets) is not one hatred or illogical dislike for each other, it was what they are trained to do and The Professor's talk about the headaches (which Bourne complained about earlier) fills one with sympathy for him, as he is ultimately in the same predicament as Bourne. 

The films central villains Conklin (Chris Cooper) and Abbott (Brian Cox) are as reprehensible as possible, only self-serving and out to cover their backs which leads them to use Bourne as a scapegoat. Cooper is excellent and has a menace to his performance that draws you even closer to Bourne's fight. The most important plot point that makes Bourne likeable is his relationship with Marie (Franka Potente) and their relationship comes off as being genuine and Damon excels at these scenes, where you can see Bourne slowly falling in love with her, much like a boys first crush. A scene that Marie shows her obvious attraction to Bourne (but he is too preoccupied to notice) is when they arrive at the apartment in Paris, is a scene of genuine sweetness that only makes the viewer hope that they get away and live happily ever after. Despite all its strengths (and perhaps being held up to the vastly superior sequels), The Bourne Identity suffers from being too long and drawn out in parts and with Wombosi storyline in particular given too much screen time (despite it's necessity to the overall plot, it could have been handled better). 

Despite these small issues, The Bourne Identity all serves as a great origin story (much like Casino Royale, Batman Begins and countless others would do in the wake of Bourne's success) that Paul Greengrass would build on and elevate to unprecedented levels of greatness in the two sequels. Moreover, The Bourne Identity works as a great standalone thriller and equally serves as a good set-up for the sequels. Damon's now iconic performance as Bourne contains many of the traits that the modern action hero has come to embody, with his relationship with Marie as an emotional anchor and compass for him in his search for the truth and ultimately for freedom. Identity is a classic of modern action cinema.

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SONG OF THE DAY: 14/7/12

Taken from their 2007 album War Stories and featuring the vocals of Gavin Clark, Unkle's Broken was a song I first heard on the end credits of 2008 film The X-Files: I Want to Believe and perhaps remains one of the few positive aspects of that film (even as a big fan of Mulder and Scully). I've never really heard many of Unkle's songs except maybe their remixes of Ian Brown's F.E.A.R. and a couple of Queens of the Stone Age tracks they did which were on a QOTSA B-Sides album. This song is a nice little melodic and atmospheric tune with decent vocals by Clark. The chorus in particular is a standout for me, where all of Unkle's production skills come to the fore.

SONG REVIEW: Pure Love - Handsome Devil's Club (2012)

Artist: Pure Love
Song: Handsome Devil's Club
Genre: Alternative rock
Release Date: 22 July 2012

While not having the bang-wallop factor of 'Bury My Bones', Pure Love's second single is everything that the title of their debut album (the ever-so-aptly named Anthems) suggests an absolute rocking sing-along treat. 'Handsome Devil's Club' is such a catchy song (the chorus is immense) and grows in stature and impact on repeat listens. Lead singer Frank Carter's Morrissey-lite lyrics and raw delivery only reinforce the lovelorn and careless in love vibe of the song.

With Anthems not being released until the Autumn and a small UK tour inbetween now and then to rouse anticipation even further along with Handsome Devil's Club will satisfy fans needs until then with ease. It's hardly going to reinvent the rock world, but it is most definitely a catchy and infectious rock song that will you begging for more of these guys. Also, for anyone looking for more Pure Love material, be sure to check out Daytrotter's live sessions for terrific live performances of songs from the upcoming album. 

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SONG OF THE DAY: 13/7/12

One regret I will have for the rest of my life is not getting to see these guys perform live, especially their multiple visits to Dublin in the latter part of their career. R.E.M. loved Dublin and a collection of their Dublin concerts have become their official live releases. This song, The Ascent of Man, from their 2007 album R.E.M. Live exhibits all the range of Michael Stipe's immense vocal capabilities.  Never have the most basic lyrics of "Yeah" over and over again sounded so powerful with Stipe giving it his all. It is a wonderful little gem of a song. 

SONG OF THE DAY: 12/7/12

What I like about Seasick Steve is that he has been there and done it all before. His wise words are even truer because you know he has lived what he has said and has the life experience to show. As you go through life you learn things and often despite some peoples best attempts to unhinge and get to you, it only exposes their own direct lack of meaningfulness in their own lives. More annoyingly so, is the callousness and insincerity of people and lack of consideration of their actions and the hurt it causes. For that reason, Seasick Steve's opening track from the aptly named 2011 album You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks, called Treasures is a wonderfully poignant choice of song for today.