Magazine


Previews

Conrad Astley
5/ 5/2006

AMERICAN rock `n' roll superstar Bruce Springsteen is in town this week for an intimate acoustic performance at the MEN Arena.

The Boss is showcasing his latest album, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, which features personal interpretations of 13 traditional songs associated with American folk singer Pete Seeger.

A specially formed 17-member Seeger Sessions Band will back Springsteen (below) as he performs a mix of gospel, folk and blues with his vocals, guitar and harmonica.

Only half of the 17,000-capacity venue is being used to create an intimate atmosphere and, as a result, it was sold out months ago.

If you lived through the 1980s it's difficult not to think of Springsteen as the apple pie munching, Ruskie hating all-American boy, responsible for Born in the USA after all, and famously pictured on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine wielding an electric guitar against the backdrop of the stars and stripes.

As Springsteen fans will tell you, probably more than once, Born in the USA was really a protest song about the way Vietnam vets were treated on their return but being misunderstood has been a constant throughout Springsteen's career.

For every commercially accessible rock album there has been a sombre folk orientated alternative and the majority of his lyrics are about the struggle of America's working class and Americana sentiments about his native New Jersey.

All-in-all it's a good week for fans of geriatric rock.

Following The Boss's appearance at the MEN Arena, blues-rocker Eric Clapton makes an appearance there on Tuesday.

The guitarist, dubbed Slowhand for his laidback style, was a member of British rhythm and blues groups The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith before embarking on a solo career in the 70s, and finding proclamations that he was God scrawled on the walls of London Underground stations.

But while one of his biggest hits during the 70s was entitled Cocaine, his latest album is a tribute to the joys of parenthood. The five-minute guitar solos haven't changed though.

Morrissey's back for three concerts in as many nights.

There was a time when the former Stretford lad wouldn't go anywhere near the M60, but now we just can't seem to keep him away. The ex-pat, who had opted for life in London, LA and, most recently, Italy, rather than the grimy North West he immortalised in song, said farewell at The Apollo back in 1992.

He was here just a few weeks ago for a gig at The Lowry, but now he's back again, hitting the Apollo on Saturday, the Opera House on Sunday and the Bridgewater Hall on Monday, to promote his new album, Ringleader Of The Tormentors.

Hard-Fi play the Apollo on Sunday and Monday. Fighting their way out of the mean streets of Staines, Surrey, singer Richard Archer claims they offer "a roar of defiance from below the breadline Britain".

Ali G never put it any better.


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