Treegans.com - the continuing adventures of two vegans living in the woods

greetings from buffalo, ny

Well, this is it.  We're in Buffalo for the last stop of the E. Street Band's year-long "Working on a Dream" tour. 

We've managed to make it to eight shows this year, including historic stops at Giants Stadium in Jersey and The Spectrum in Philly.  And tonight we're shutting down our Springsteen caravan in the not-yet-snowy confines of Buffalo, NY.

Bruce and the E. Streeters are wrapping up the WOAD tour by going back to where it all began, with the first start-to-finish performance of their debut album: "Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ".   Historically, just about anything goes during the final stop on an E. Street Band tour - and with an extended break of as long as two years expected for the band - we're guessing this one will be something special.  

So now, for the last time...for a while.... it's the heart stoppin', earth quakin', booty shakin', viagra takin', history makin', Legendary E. Street Band.

bruce says goodbye to the Spectrum with an epic performance Tuesday night in Philly

What can we say that doesn't sound dickish?  Amazing night. The final Bruce show at the Spectrum was 31 songs strong, clocking in at whopping 3 hrs & 20 minutes - longest of the tour. The best E Street show we've EVER seen, and as you know - we've seen a lot of 'em.  Plus we were 6 seats over from Bruce's mom, Adele, which was very cool.  Last, but not least - Kasey got a handful of The Boss as he walked by, which means I'm off the hook for holiday gifts this year, 'cuz I'll never be able to top that moment for her. 

If you can get to a Springsteen show or 12 before you die:  do it.  But get plenty of sleep before you go, because you'll probably be in for a late night.

one more for the road

In South Philly Monday night for the next-to-last show by the E. Street Band at the Spectrum (which, by the way, still bills itself as "America's Showplace".  If the Spectrum is still America's showcase, this country has really gone down the crapper.)

Despite its sticky floors, claustrophobically-narrow concourse, and mysterious water on the bathroom floors (at least we hope it's water), the Spectrum remains a terrific venue to see a rock show.  At the end of October, the process of tearing this old girl down begins.  And I think that - in some strange way - we'll be sad to see her go.

But before the wrecking ball arrives, the E. Street Band will be taking the Spectrum stage one final time on Tuesday night.  If the first three shows are any indication of what will happen tonight, we wouldn't miss it for all the warm beer and soft pretzels on Broad Street.

giants stadium 2009

We just returned from our second trip to "the swamps of Jersey" in one week, as the E. Street Band wrapped up a series of five shows at Giants Stadium: the last concerts to ever be performed in the venue. 

We made it to three of the five shows: nights 2, 3 and the final night 5 event.  There's nothing quite like seeing the E. Street Band on their home turf.  The weather forecast for the final night sounded potentially crappy when the day began - with rain predicted for much of the night - but we remained dry until the house lights came up and the 3 hour & 15 minute show had come to an end.

The final show was front page news in the New York Times, and was billed as "The Wrecking Ball" (with new song of the same name making its debut in the Meadowands).  Great concerts, exceptional people-watching, and one of the worst soft pretzels we've ever had.  Sometimes it's hard to be a vegan in the city.

jersey tour

We're back from a whirlwind tour of the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ for back-to-back concerts from a couple of our favorite bands. 

On Monday, we spent three-plus hours with 50,000 of our closest friends to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Giants Stadium. There's nothing quite like seeing Bruce at home in Jersey. The following night, we rocked with the Foo Fighters at the Izod Center, adjacent to the stadium.  (Thankfully, we watched the mosh pit from a safe distance.)  Between shows, we squeezed in a quick trip to Greenwich Village, including lunch at one of our favorite joints, Red Bamboo. 

A long weekend in northern Jersey.  Do we know how to live, or what?

is there anybody alive out there?

Here's our definition of a perfect night out:  it starts with the world's greatest vegan cheesesteak at Gianna's Grille, followed by a second night show by Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band in South Philadelphia. 

We don't mean to brag, but the band threw it into overdrive Saturday night at the Wachovia Center.  When all was said and done, they'd performed seven songs not heard the previous night (click the item on the left to see Bruce's handwritten set list, courtesy of brucespringsteen.net).  Seriously, when Bruce pulls "Incident on 57th Street" out of his hat, you know you're witnessing another classic Philadelphia Springsteen moment.

What's not seen on the set list is where Bruce called an audible and threw in "Cadillac Ranch".   The move was a surprise to everyone in the house, including Little Steven, who was caught offguard when Bruce called on him for an impromptu solo.

The place was electric for 2+ hours.  We watched in amazement, as even a few Event Security staffers started dancing in the General Admission section of the floor during the encore set. When it was all over, we needed a nap!

DVR Alert:  You can catch the opening of Bruce's show, live from East Rutherford, NJ - Wednesday, October 10th at 8:30 PM on VH1 Classic. 

what we're listening to

Anyone who knows the Treegans could guess that we'd have the new CD from Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band in heavy rotation in advance of his Philadelphia shows.  But even we were surprised when we received our pre-ordered copy of Magic in the mail on Friday, four days before its official release date.

Simply stated - we love this album.  It's classic Bruce...and we can't wait to see him live this weekend, which will be our fifth Springsteen show together.  We think the chances are pretty good that #6, and maybe even #7, will happen in the summer of 2008 when Bruce returns from Europe for the second leg of his North America tour.

on tour with bruce

The Treegans were VERY excited to hear the news that Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band were hitting the road in October.  We were even MORE excited when KC scored us tickets to one of the Philadelphia shows.  Sweet!  And she did it the old-fashioned way - by phone (she's a regular renaissance woman).