COMMENTS/FURTHER INFORMATION

Setlist from Keith Liker:

Another fine performamce by Bruce and the band. The crowd, however, was quiet and hesitant. Bruce initiated conversations with the audience by commenting on the tight (paranoid?) security at Downtown Disney. He stated that security had searched his vehicles and equipment upon entering, used mirrors to look under the chassis of the vehicles, similar to what he had experienced when crossing into the former East Germany years ago. Someone shouted out that they were looking for his "rocket launcher", which brought laughter from everyone.

Julie Wolf is a nice addition, adding several dimensions to the performance; she added to, but did not eclipse Bruce. She did a fine keyboard solo on Mighty Trucks Of Midnight. Bruce introduced Postcards From Cambodia as a "landscape piece", but said little else by way of introduction. (I went to Cambodia in 1999, before Bruce visited, and this piece is Very Accurate of what I also saw. Cambodia is simply not for the squeamish). The crowd was courteous and respectful, but very quiet. I had the impression that Bruce was trying to "draw out" the audience into conversation/interaction, but was disappointed with the audience's tentativeness.

Set 2 opened with Wondering Where The Lions Are. Bruce commented on the fact that most people who have 'covered' this perhaps best-known song of his have no idea what a Petroglyph is. He stated that Leo Sayer's cover of this song changed the lyric from 'petroglyph' to 'dinosaur', and we were treated to some sarcasm when Bruce rhetorically asked, "What the F**k was that all about?" It brought more laughter, and he seemed to enjoy the response. If I Had A Rocket Launcher produced a bangin' electric guitar solo, as did the re-worked version of To Raise The Morning Star. The distortion used works well, and this version rocks. All Our Dark Tomorrows was very accurate to what is recorded on the album, complete with frogs and forest background sound effects. Very well done. You've Never Seen Everything was eerie, and made even spookier by the fact that this unusually quiet audience was dead silent. I could hear background noise from the restaurant next door, which made it even more surreal. A very powerful and moving, if disturbing, piece.

I was very disappointed by the extreme and overt security at this location for such a small, well-behaved crowd. It seemed as though one's every breath was being scrutinized by the security presence, which was eveywhere. No chance at getting an after-show autograph, as Bruce didn't come out afterwards for autograph duty. Julie Wolf came out afterwards, and spoke with anyone who stuck around. She's a very warm and talented person. Eventually, the paranoid security personnel made it clear that it was time for us to go. With the tight security, just having Bruce there, at what is in effect Disneyland, singing and commenting about our new "national paranoia" (my term) seemed to be an act of subversion in and of itself. It would have been entirely appropriate for him to have sung The Trouble With Normal under these circumstances.

John Julsing adds:

I came in from the desert with a friend of mine who had never seen Bruce before. Bruce came out with support from Ben Reilly on drums, Steve Lucas on bass and a young lady [Julie Wolf] on keyboard and accordion. Bruce started with cuts from his new CD. He stopped to share his security story (similar to my experience getting into the venue). “What did security expect I was carrying under my car? An illegal alien hanging on to my exhaust pipe?” He then said the security was worse getting into Disneyland than crossing to West Germany in 1988. Obviously, he stated, the security forces did not listen to his songs. Bruce’s guitar work was superb as always, and I enjoyed his new twist on Burn. My friend loved If I Had A Rocket Launcher.