Critical and Commercial Reaction
Due to the small venues played on the tour, often in the 2,000-to-3,000 capacity range, tickets were often hard to get, creating a "ticket scalpers' heaven." Dave Marsh's Two Hearts biography assessed the tour as not expanding Springsteen's audience any, but helping to solidify it, especially in Europe.
The Asbury Park Press characterized a November 1995 Count Basie Theatre show as Springsteen "spinning his acoustic tales of desperation and hope ... he played with power and poise ... The lyrics are bleaker than usual for Springsteen and the music reflects the solemn mood." The New York Times said a December 1995 Beacon Theatre show "easily qualifies as the most earnest concert of the year," that "Where once saw open highways, he now sees roads to nowhere," and that "Springsteen turned in a painstaking and convincing performance. But with that material, he has turned himself into nearly a one-note performer." The Washington Post, on the other hand, found a December 1995 DAR Constitution Hall performance showing strains of the "sense of triumph" that Springsteen's previous work had evoked, although his physical appearance made him "look more like the custodian at Constitution Hall than the star attraction."
The biography Hard Travelin': The Life and Legacy of Woody Guthrie by Robert Santelli and Emily Davidson found praise for the tour, saying the album's songs gained onstage and that the shows, "although hushed and void of the anthemic rockers that made him the greatest performer that rock has ever known, managed to bring Woody Guthrie back to life again." Jimmy Gutterman's Runaway American Dream: Listening to Bruce Springsteen criticized the first leg of the tour for producing "the most dour performances of his career," but praised later legs that incorporated new material that was "sly, low-key, and funny."
Read more about this topic: Ghost Of Tom Joad Tour
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