Tonight, Bruce in the USA came to New Hampshire. It was my first time at a tribute show. So very strange, on many levels. First you watch fake Bruce (fb), really closely, to see if he's got it down. He "presents"impressively as 45 year old Bruce, the body, the head movements, the speaking and singing voices. He has definitely put in hundreds of hours studying the audio and the video. His guitar playing is weak, with fake Steve (fs) doing the heavy lifting there, and yes, he's got the bandana and those fancy boots. And then there's fake Clarence (fc). FC is probably the only black person in the auditorium. It is a fake Springsteen show after all, and this is New Hampshire! FC presents as Clarence, the latter years, not really moving nimbly but he's pretty impressive with the demands that Jungleland requires. The real Bruce/Clarence bromance schtick is successfully recreated. About 20 songs, mostly drawn from early years, ending with Tunnel of Love, are faithfully played. There isn't always the E Street oomph, but again, a satisfying recreation. This isn't Branson, Missouri, but the audience is long in the tooth. And I wonder, how many of them are getting all squishy for their lost youth, and nostalgic for those carefree summer nights when everything still seemed possible...and how many of them will vote for Trump Tuesday? And what happened along the way that caused that?

One final detail, I thought the rushing to the stage of fake Mike Appel, demanding decades of lost royalties was a stretch, as was fake Jon Landau's coming to fake Bruce's aid with a body slam of fake Appel. The authenticity was impressive but the casual Bruce fans were bewildered by the mayhem! 

Okay, the last bit didn't happen, just checking to see if you really know your Springsteen history.

Peter T.