Posted by Bruce Springsteen rose from the Jersey Shore music scene, a feral singer/songwriter/guitar hero ready to take on the world, one fan at a time. Tens of millions of fans, and hundreds of performances later, he might find himself chuckling quietly that the kid from Freehold is now the hottest ticket on Broadway, thrilling audiences with an intimate telling of his life and musical times, but it always feels as though he is just a split second away from plugging in and calling out a gruff-but exuberant “ah one, two, three, four…” and lifting us all up in to the exalted revival that is the E Street Band experience.
From gritty Jersey Shore bars to gleaming stadiums around the world, these are the boyhood friends destined to become, nearly 50 years later, the Bruce-proclaimed “heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, air-conditioner-shaking, booty-shaking, Viagra-taking, love-making — history-making – Le-gen-dary E – Street – Band!”
This song, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out,” recounts the birth of the band. If there is one Broooooooooce tune to share with your kids that conveys the pure joy of this American icon, here it is. This one, from 1980:
But, wait there’s more! There’s always more with Bruce, but let’s just focus on the “Freeze-Out.” This is rock music’s tightest, most versatile group of musicians ever assembled, all working as one. They play each three-to-four-hour show today as though they trying to proving themselves as teenagers honing their chops at “sock hops” and VFW hall concerts. They can cover generations of music — their own and some of the greatest hits in pop, soul and R&B — whenever Springsteen turns to them with a gleam in his eye and an arched eyebrow, calling an audible to keep the party going.
If you haven’t been properly indoctrinated to this party, there’s no time like the present. This “Freeze-Out” clip — performed 30 freakin’ years after the one above full of boundless youthful exuberance — reveals just as much fire, more influences, and their constant nuanced search to find the healing powers, elevation of ourselves and the quest to find out if “anyone is realllllly alive out there!” Wake the kids, tell ’em you’ve got something to show them…
