Bruce Springsteen With The Seeger Sessions Band Tour - Commercial and Critical Reaction

Commercial and Critical Reaction

Both the album and the tour proved more popular in Europe than in the U.S. The first sign of domestic weakness came when the local Asbury Park rehearsal shows, placed in the very heart of Bruce fandom, were not full; in the past, these had been extremely difficult tickets to get. European shows, on the other hand, did very well, with for example shows in London, Manchester, and Amsterdam all selling out in ten minutes or less. Some of Springsteen's most devoted fans were now overseas, and Milan and Barcelona provided especially fervent crowds, some of whom were mass singing the new album's songs even before the show started.

When the shows returned to the United States for the second leg, however, mediocre or poor ticket sales became quite noticeable; PopMatters talked of "the bizarre alternate universe that has swallowed Springsteen's strangely under-attended summer tour ... Rambling along languidly in almost clandestine fashion, it may take the prize for the Worst-Pitched Concert of the Summer." The shows were mostly booked in outdoor amphitheatres, and lawn areas as well as sections of seats were often deserted. Springsteen commented to the sparse crowd in Columbus, Ohio, "We are not great in numbers, but we are mighty!" The Indianapolis venue saw a "yawning green lawn (empty as it was)." A Milwaukee area venue, already cut down in size, was only about half full. For a show outside Chicago, The Chicago Tribune reported that "Springsteen faced a sea of empty seats ... The 11,000-seat pavilion was barely half full, and the 17,000-capacity lawn was barren."

Yet despite attendance woes, the U.S. shows received almost universal praise from critics and concert-goers. While they were without the E Street Band and do not include any of Springsteen's biggest hits such as "Born to Run", fans were consistently kept on their feet singing along.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News wrote of the tour, "In Saratoga Monday night, Springsteen kept a full house on its feet pretty much the whole show. No one left wishing for 'Born to Run'." Joan Anderman of The Boston Globe said that the "homespun symphony of accordions and fiddles, pedal steel guitars, and joyful voices was filled with the irrepressible spirit that's the very essence of folk music." Dan Barry of The New York Times, writing as an old folk music follower, described how "music exploded from the stage: rock and bluegrass, jig and reel, spiritual and swing, honky-tonk and acoustic blues... he raised his audience up with old songs and spirituals that he had infused with rocking urgency, then toyed with so that brass and guitar could harmonize, an accordionist could jam with the Boss, and a tuba player could know rock-concert adulation." The Chicago Tribute review quoted above went on to say, "The no-show Springsteen faithful missed a good one." Newsday said the show had both high points and stumbles. And Reuters' Erik Pederson wrote that even "without 'Born to Run' et al., this was Springsteen at his best – delivering impassioned, interactive, socially conscious music while never failing to entertain."

Explanations for the poor U.S. attendance varied, including two straight records without the E Street Band, aftereffects from the morose solo Devils & Dust Tour the year before, and backlash from the political stances of the Vote for Change tour the year before that. The most common reason offered was the title association with banjo-picking Pete Seeger, and the consequent (mistaken) impression that this tour was going to be dour folk music. As PopMatters said, "At first the idea of enduring a folk-powered evening of Pete Seeger songs made me want to sprint home and smooch my copy of Born in the U.S.A. ... And that's why this Seeger business is such an out-of-left-field surprise: against all odds, it's fantastically fun. Seeger's name is on the ticket, sure, but in Springsteen's hands the music gets an enormous, big-band, horn-powered treatment that can only be explained with commas: gospel, blues, folk, rock, and zydeco."

In any case, by the conclusion of the leg, things rebounded. Crowds were bigger and knew the material, and the final two New Jersey shows (which had sold out, although not right away) contained very enthusiastic audiences. Springsteen appeared quite grateful, and thanked the fans for "taking a risk by coming out to see us." He closed out the last American show with a "song that explains what we're trying to do ... not what we're trying to do – what we're doing", the 19th century circus ode and lament, "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze".

And, when tickets for third leg shows back in Europe went on sale in July, some shows such as those in Dublin sold out within minutes, and others sold out with unprecedented rapidity for music of this genre, usually unseen in arena formats, thus marking again a stark contrast in the tour's reception on the two sides of the Atlantic.

A year later, Springsteen rated the whole experience highly, saying that the Sessions Band were "a tremendous discovery, and just an amazing group of musicians," and saying that he looked forward to working with them again. "American Land" would retain prominence as the accordion-dominated show-closing jig in Springsteen's subsequent E Street Band Magic Tour.