But it's not his gig, is it? It's the gig of the paying customers, isn't it? If I go to the butcher to buy some chops and he insists on selling them to me pre-minted, I'm not going to say 'It's his gig', am I? I'm going to tell him to fvck off and buy my chops elsewhere. Why should I be expected to put up with similar arrogance from Bruce fvcking Springsteen?
Because the alternative is what you have previously described as 'corrupt art'. You dont just play the songs people want to hear anymore than you record the songs that the biggest number of people will want to buy.
Of course, you should still play the songs people want to hear, to some extent, particularly when those songs are clearly your best ****ing songs, whether the most popular or successful. Springsteen cant just play the ones you want to hear because he plays a different set each night. If he didnt, well.... it would get a bit boring and going to see him would be the same as going to see every other artist instead of being a genuinely remarkable, unforgettable experience that you become determined to repeat.
That said, if I went to see James and they didnt do Come Home I would ****ing kick off....
I went along to see Neil Young a few years back and there was nearly an uprising as he didn't play Harvest or whatever specific album people wanted to hear, despite the gig being very clearly labelled as being him and Crazy Horse.
There was letters to the Irish Times and all I think.
Here we see The Market operating as advertised, b. Bruce Springsteen used to play lengthy sets which sometimes included reworked versions of some of his songs, but since you refused to attend he has amended his ways and now just plays everything exactly the same way as on the record.
wd b.