Illuminating a dream in the dark
Talking with “The Light in Darkness” author Lawrence Kirsch
Published: November 22, 2009, 12:30 am
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Afan of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band for more than 30 years, writer and editor Lawrence Kirsch released the photo-heavy coffee-table book “For You” in 2008. Compiled from hundreds of interviews Kirsch conducted with Springsteen followers of various ages and from various walks of life, the book offered a fan’s-eye view of Springsteen’s music, and provided insight into its significance in the lives of listeners.
“For You” ably laid the groundwork for “The Light in Darkness,” Kirsch’s new tome, which follows the earlier book’s fan-interview methodology, this time in service of an examination of Springsteen & the E Street Band’s groundbreaking 1978 tour.
The “Darkness on the Edge of Town” tour kicked off on May 23, 1978, at Shea’s Performing Arts Center. Kirsch was there, and it was this show that turned him into a devout Springsteen follower.
Here, in an e-mail interview, Kirsch discusses the impetus for “The Light in Darkness,” the now legendary Buffalo show, and the continued resonance of the “Darkness”material in the lives of fans:
“Darkness” is the album that made me a devout Springsteen fan, and it still has a place of its own in my heart. It is so passionate, so fiery, so angry, so primal. It spoke to me as a teen, and it speaks to me as an adult, still, and I know I’m not alone. What do you think makes this particular album so special in Bruce’s canon?
“Darkness” provided a much rawer and angrier sound than anything Springsteen had done previously. Coming at the end of a bitter, three-year legal battle with Springsteen’s first manager (Mike Appel), the album’s darker sound was difficult at first for many fans and critics to grasp. It was a long wait. From the time “Born to Run” came out until the release of “Darkness,” fans had to suffer through a three-year hiatus, a lifetime for a musician to be off the radar back then.
When Bruce finally came out victorious and replaced Appel with music writer Jon Landau, the stage was set for the next record to be released. But few would anticipate the frustration that had built up during those years, anger that Springsteen would channel into the new album.
The band really seemed to come into its own on this particular tour. Do you think this was due to the long delay between albums?
Much has been written and said over the years about the sense of desperation and emotion driving Springsteen on that tour—it’s all true, and then some. Bruce and the E Street Band, compared to now, played fast. And they played loud. The opening set was heavy on “Darkness” album material, and the songs were augmented, enhanced, and accessorized in a way that doesn’t happen these days. The organ/piano intro to the title track, the extended harmonica/piano intro to “Promised Land,” the now-legendary piano/guitar intro to “Prove It All Night,” the extended piano coda to “Racing in the Street,” the “Not Fade Away”/ “Mona”/“Gloria” lead-in to “She’s the One,” along with the instrumental break in the middle of it –these flourishes made the songs even more special.
By the time “Jungleland” closed the first set, some first-timers in the crowd thought the show was over, such was the quality and quantity of what was delivered in the opening set.
The tour kicked off in Buffalo, at Shea’s. I’ve heard this show, and it is indeed a powerful one.Did Buffalo have any special significance for Bruce and the band?Was the Shea’s show a particularly great one, in your estimation?
I’m not certain that Buffalo had any certain significance as a city for the tour opener. The atmosphere was certainly charged with electricity, as the audience had no idea what to expect, since the album had not been released yet. Bruce was finally able to break out of creative jail by performing the new songs how and when he wanted to. What I remember the most was the raw emotion that he presented on stage that night –I would even say that he was a bit tentative and nervous. But by the time he launched into “Something in the Night” and screamed so his body shook, we all knew he was going to take no prisoners that night, even if it killed him and us.
I remember the thick smell of marijuana the moment I walked into the old theater, and the humid heat in the air. The sound was fair that night, the lighting slightly behind the mark, but Springsteen and The E Street Band were back where they wanted to be, where they belonged, for the first time in three years. For this, May 23, 1978, in Buffalo will always be remembered.
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