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A
Prisoner of Rock
and Roll
In
August of 1975 in a little known club called the Bottom Line near Greenwich
Village, Bruce Springsteen put on a show that landed him on the cover of
Time and Newsweek. It was an historic and possibly the most famous
performance he ever gave.
February
27th 1999, a young guy out of Rockland County, New York gave us a glimpse
behind that 24 year old curtain and showed the full house at New York
City's now legendary Rock club what it must of been like that night.
Joe D'Urso in his Bottom Line debut, gave an historic performance of his
own and left the audience hoarse, drenched and gasping for air.
|
In
the opening slot for long-time Springsteen crony Joe Grushecky,
D'Urso brought the crowd to it's feet with a show that was at times
passionate, touching, heart wrenching and ultimately
unsurpassed. Fighting what he later admitted to, as some nasty
end-of-winter flu, Joe and his band Stone Caravan stole the
show. It was a homecoming that featured his own brand of Roots
rock and roll, a spontaneous standing ovation and that rarest
animals; an opening act being returned to the stage for an
encore.
To the chants of "One more song, One more
song", Joe and the band came back out and launched into a
runaway-train version of 'Hippy Hippy Shake'. He expended every
ounce of energy and more Saturday night and the crowd rewarded him
with the kind of response reserved for the people Joe lists as his
musical influences. Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Harry Chapin,
they've all graced that hallowed stage and Joe D'Urso and Stone
Caravan did nothing to diminish the echoes of those New York City
icons. |
Joe
on stage at The Bottom Line |
At
one point about halfway through his second show of the night he stepped to
the microphone and reminisced about his days as a struggling songwriter in
Greenwich Village......"I used to go to Open Mic nights on Mondays over in
the Village and this was the goal. It was all we talked about over in
MacDougal Street getting to the Bottom Line. I remember sitting right
there [pointing to the foot of centre stage] and watching Suzanne Vega, I
never would have imagined this......Thanks". After which he
proceeded to tear the house down with a 7 or 8 minute version of 'Noisy
Guitars'. This is his classic showstopper. A song Joe wrote as
a warning not to let life make you feel old.
As
I watched the extended ending, watched Joe venture out onto the tables
furiously strumming his guitar over his head watched the whole room on its
feet thundering their approval, I couldn't help but feel alive with the
spirit of The Bottom Line's 25th anniversary. To paraphrase another
famous performer, I was just a prisoner of rock and roll, and mister;
there's a new Warden in town. His name is Joe D'Urso.
Gord