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New York and Springsteen


26th August

A couple of hours after landing at JFK I took the Subway and got off at Wilson Avenue in Brooklyn. It was a short walk to Moffat Street where I was met by my host Joshua. My residence for four nights was ‘The Loft’, fifteen apartments in an old factory each fitted out uniquely by local artists. Feeling tired after a long journey I left Joshua and his boyfriend to their game of dominos and headed to bed.

27th August

The following morning I took the subway to the Westside of Manhattan and Chelsea Market. From here I walked to David Bowie’s Lafayette Street apartment via Greenwich Village and Electric Lady Studios. During a brief stop off in a coffee shop I heard a summery southern band on their stereo called ‘Small Forward’. I have included their song 'The Reservoir' on the Spotify playlist below.

Feeling refreshed I made my way to the the ‘High Line’ spotting the apartment from 'Friends' on the way. The ‘High Line’ is the result of a restoration project which took the overgrown goods railroad lines, discontinued since the 80s, and made an urban walkway lined with plants, trees and other horticultural delights. It passes parallel to 10th Avenue providing a great vantage point to look down on the streets below. Having reached the end of the 'line' I walked to central park and visited ‘Strawberry Fields’. A commemorative meadow to John Lennon who lived and was sadly murdered at the adjacent Dakota building in 1980. The park is a wonderful place for observing domestic dramas unfold. The highlight was watching the many gallant men employing a series of unconvincing rowing methods in a valiant attempt to propel their dearest across the boating lake.

Back at the apartment Joshua gave me some local eating and drinking suggestions. He also introduced me to another good new band that he had playing, 'The Internet'. I opted for the 'Queens Brewery' where they had both good beer and an excellent playlist, some of it captured below.

28th August

Up early again to take the subway to Bedford Avenue in the heart of Williamsburg. I walked around the local area for the remainder of the morning including a short jaunt to Rough Trade NYC.

After a little recuperation from the stifling heat I headed out for ‘Springsteen on Broadway’. The Boss and his songs have been in my life since birth, literally! They have provided solace and empathy during difficult times and a soundtrack during better ones. I remember all sorts of moments - Mum and Dad playing his greatest hits on Saturday nights when I was young (I pretended not to like it as a statement of rebellion); buying ‘The Rising’ for dad when it came out but sneaking a listen before handing it over and having to acknowledge that, 'actually... this Springsteen guy is alright' or discovering ‘Tunnel of Love’ at university.

'Springsteen on Broadway' is part solo gig, part performance, with Bruce flitting between piano and guitar. Unlike a standard live show, the set, carefully selected to illustrate themes from his 2016 autobiography, has stayed fairly static in the 100+ appearances he has made at the Walter Kerr theatre thus far. Over the course of 2.5 cathartic hours Bruce effortlessly intertwined passages from the book bringing them to life on stage with song. He covers his relationships with his parents, wife and band and ruminates on mortality, giving special mention to those no longer with us. Parts of it are very funny and others moving.

To see the man who crafted these timeless songs pour over each so intimately was a real privilege. For the most part the audience observed proceedings in raptured silence. ’The Wish’, ‘Tenth Avenue Freezeout’ and ‘The Rising’ were transformed whilst ‘Tougher than the Rest’ and ‘Brilliant Disguise’, both performed with Patii Scialfa, had more resonance than ever. Without the E Street Band to jostle with, Springsteen's lyrics were able to take centre stage. ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘Tougher than the Rest’ stood out.

He closed with ‘Born to Run’. In solo form the song still exuded masculinity and strength but not like the super charged anthem of escape as recorded with the E Street Band. Here it sounded constant rather than explosive, world weary not wide eyed and maybe this was the intention. As Bruce exits the stage I felt a sense of finality - let us hope not.

29th August

The next day I visited the World Trade Centre memorial. The respective ground floors where the ‘twin towers’ once stood have been hollowed to their foundations creating a pool with water flowing from the four perimeter walls into a hole at the centre of each. Around the circumference of both memorials are inscribed the names of those lost. To see the scale of loss that irreversibly damaged so many families on one day felt impossible to put into context.

From here I walked across Brooklyn Bridge to take in the views from the East river. I then took the subway back north for a look at Grand Central station and the New York Public library, both pretty spectacular. After a final glimpse at the Walter Kerr theatre on the off chance that Bruce was around I headed home.

That evening Joshua and a friend kindly offered me dinner. With Etta James, Aretha Franklin and Edith Piaf playing in the background they told me about their day at the beach and his friend informed me that her dog ‘Bowie’ was in fact none other than the 'Thin White Duke' re-incarnate!

30th August

On my final morning I made it to JFK in good time only to discover that my Norwegian airlines flight had been delayed by 5 hours. I eventually arrived back at the flat at 7AM only to get up at 11AM to receive a Tesco delivery consisting mainly of beer that needed to be driven to Bristol for my old chum's stag do, what larks!



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