Bruce Springsteen V David Bowie

poundhound

I note theirs a huge number of Springsteen fans that frequent this site. I eventually seen him live last year and thought he was really good. However, Ive seen David Bowie 10 times and in my opinion was head and shoulders above Springsteen live.Springsteen's shows are normally stadium fillers, his music suits that envoirnment but Bowie's shows are more athmospherical.Just wondering what others think, but its Bowie for me, 100%.

shadey

Best gig I was ever at was Bowie in Dublin at the Hall of Fame. Only 300 people. Was in 1999 I think. He came out and sang the first three songs without any musical backing. Incredible. Free gig, Guinness launching the Witness label, they went around pubs a month in advance with a questionnaire, those who partook had a one in five chance of winning tickets to a special gig. Until we arrived we had no idea who we were going to see. Free booze. Placebo support act.

I've seen Springsteen a few times in the Point, once in RDS outdoor in eighties. He's very good live. Nothing on Bowie though.

jill_valentine

Bowie. Bowie, Bowie, Bowie, for God's sake, Bowie.

I like Springsteen, but Bowie's a whole other league.

mike65

How the hell can the two be compared? Chalk/Cheese.

Moved to music.

the bolt

poundhound wrote: »

I note theirs a huge number of Springsteen fans that frequent this site. I eventually seen him live last year and thought he was really good. However, Ive seen David Bowie 10 times and in my opinion was head and shoulders above Springsteen live.Springsteen's shows are normally stadium fillers, his music suits that envoirnment but Bowie's shows are more athmospherical.Just wondering what others think, but its Bowie for me, 100%.

bruce for me every time,have only seen bowie once and wasnt overly impressed tbh.maybe he was just having a bad night but i have never left a spingsteen gig with that feeling,best live band i have ever seen just piping ac/dc

Peyton Manning

Havent seen a Springsteen thread in ages. Thanks OP.

JeanH

Gotta be Bowie innit

JP Liz

Bruce Springsteen

Mars Bar

Bruce Springsteen

GhostInTheRuins

Bowie

Bubs101

The Darkness

Tristram

mike65 wrote: »

How the hell can the two be compared? Chalk/Cheese.

+1

Dancor

Im a fan of The Boss, But, Its Bowie for me.

The Swordsman

I only saw Bowie once at Slane - thought he was terrible. I've seen hundreds of gigs that were better.

Perhaps it was a bad gig by his standards. I have seen that old Ziggy Stardust stuff and that looked brilliant so perhaps I've been unfair on the guy. Maybe it's time to give him another chance. Any idea if he will be touring again.

el_tiddlero

BOWIE FTW!!

RichTea

Can't possibly compare Springsteen and Bowie......but if you could the Boss would win!

Andy-Pandy

David Springsteen

JeanH

The Swordsman, you saw Bowie on the Glass Spider tour. Even many hardcore fans will pan that one. Personally I ****in hate the Glass Spider tour image, big horrible stage show, and I hate the album 'Never Let Me Down' that went with it. So I think you were just unfortunate to catch him at the nadir in his career. Wish I had been around for Ziggy too but check out the Thin White Duke too. Actually check out the tours from the Berlin era too. Actually look up everything else

Btw I do agree with what a few others have said we're comparing two totally different artists here and Bruce seems ok to me, I'm just a Bowie anorak so I'm obviously gonna say Bowie. Did you know Bowie covered two Bruce songs and they're ****in brilliant - It's Hard to be a Saint in the City (which was to be included on the 1976 album Station to Station but was left off) and also Growing Up (which was to feature on the 1974 album Diamond Dogs and would indeed emerge on the 30th anniversary ed of it instead) Bowie also chose to play Bruce's version of It's Hard to be a Saint when he did a guest DJ slot back in the late 70s.

There's your Bowie trivia for today

RichTea

JeanH wrote: »

The Swordsman, you saw Bowie on the Glass Spider tour. Even many hardcore fans will pan that one. Personally I ****in hate the Glass Spider tour image, big horrible stage show, and I hate the album 'Never Let Me Down' that went with it. So I think you were just unfortunate to catch him at the nadir in his career. Wish I had been around for Ziggy too but check out the Thin White Duke too. Actually check out the tours from the Berlin era too. Actually look up everything else

Btw I do agree with what a few others have said we're comparing two totally different artists here and Bruce seems ok to me, I'm just a Bowie anorak so I'm obviously gonna say Bowie. Did you know Bowie covered two Bruce songs and they're ****in brilliant - It's Hard to be a Saint in the City (which was to be included on the 1976 album Station to Station but was left off) and also Growing Up (which was to feature on the 1974 album Diamond Dogs and would indeed emerge on the 30th anniversary ed of it instead) Bowie also chose to play Bruce's version of It's Hard to be a Saint when he did a guest DJ slot back in the late 70s.

There's your Bowie trivia for today

Good post. I've heard the It's Hard to be a Saint in the City bootleg. Great rendition.
Two bonafide music legends in their own right.

The Swordsman

JeanH wrote: »

The Swordsman, you saw Bowie on the Glass Spider tour. Even many hardcore fans will pan that one. Personally I ****in hate the Glass Spider tour image, big horrible stage show, and I hate the album 'Never Let Me Down' that went with it. So I think you were just unfortunate to catch him at the nadir in his career. Wish I had been around for Ziggy too but check out the Thin White Duke too. Actually check out the tours from the Berlin era too. Actually look up everything else

Btw I do agree with what a few others have said we're comparing two totally different artists here and Bruce seems ok to me, I'm just a Bowie anorak so I'm obviously gonna say Bowie. Did you know Bowie covered two Bruce songs and they're ****in brilliant - It's Hard to be a Saint in the City (which was to be included on the 1976 album Station to Station but was left off) and also Growing Up (which was to feature on the 1974 album Diamond Dogs and would indeed emerge on the 30th anniversary ed of it instead) Bowie also chose to play Bruce's version of It's Hard to be a Saint when he did a guest DJ slot back in the late 70s.

There's your Bowie trivia for today

I knew he had covered 'Saint' - Didn't realise he also also covered 'Growing Up' - he must have liked 'Greetings from Asbury Park'. Though I haven't heard Bowie's versions, I can see why those songs would suit him.

I like Bowie a lot and possess a couple of best of/greatest hits compilations. I used to have a few of his albums on vinyl, including the brilliant Ziggy Stardust, which I never got around to replacing when I made the step to CDs.

You've convinced me. If he ever returns here, I'm going.

BTW has he played here much? I remember he was at the Point at one stage (back in the 90s, I think) but I can't recall any other gigs.

af_thefragile

They're both two very different musicians.

Bowie is more rock n' roll, experimental, concept musician.
Where as Springsteen is more towards the folk side. You can't really compare the two. Its like using that beaten up apples and oranges metaphor.

I like both of them. Though i've gotta say i like Bowie more for this innovative and experimental style. I like musicians who don't stay with the generic and push boundaries.

poundhound

David Bowie has played the following shows in Dublin/Meath... Slane Castle 1987, Point depot 1990 (2 shows), The Waterfront & The Baggot Inn 1991 (with Tin Machine, 2 shows), The Point 1995, The Factory studios 1997 (live rehearsal), Olympia Theatre 1997 (2 shows), The Academy 1999, The Point 2003 (2 shows).Unsure of Belfast dates. I agree with the previous poster who said the Slane show was disappointing, it was at the lowest productive time in his career. But having attended 8 of the 12 shows listed and 2 shows abroad (New York 2002 and Manchester 2003), I can honestly say that he was consistently brilliant live.

JeanH

Yeah, Rich Tea, It's Hard to be a Saint can be found on cd2 of the S&V box set. It crops up for a reasonable price in HMV every now and again. Great version, would've fit onto Station to Station no problem. He turned it into a completely different song. When he goes up high on the parts like 'Southside sisters' and 'don't that man look pretty' it actually sounds ok and suits this song but on Growing Up he tries to reach some notes that just don’t work. Still good though on the whole.

The thing about the Glass Spider show as well was the stage was meant to be lit up and in turn look more impressive but you didn't get to see it lit up at Slane. However, I've heard some stories about some girl in white trousers rolling up and down in the muck... that would've been more entertaining than what was happening on stage :P

Let's hope he comes back, Swordsman. Even if he does though the thing is he's a stubborn sod. He won't necessarily do many 'hits', he'll do exactly what he wants to do which usually involves new material plus whatever else he likes. I love that about him though. You must get playing that vinyl again or buy the CDs. He's so diverse that it can take a while to get into some of his stuff, notably stuff like 1995s 1. Outside and 1997s Earthling, 2002s Heathen but persevere with it and it'll click eventually. He's fascinating. Love him. Changed my outlook.

Bowie's done loads of gigs here. I don't have a comprehensive list on me but Poundhound has covered much of it there. He did Belfast in 1995. I know it says on some sites that it was cancelled but it was just rescheduled.

Edit: The Academy 1999. I'm curious about this one. I knew he did the HQ Club in 1999, is it the same place?

thermo66

No contest - Springsteen.

Borneo Fnctn

Bruce Springsteen without a doubt. He's the boss sure.

poundhound

The Daily Star detailed on Tue that Bowie was possibly going to headline a night at ******e, however, I think its extremely unlikely. Theres not so much of a ripple of a rumour regarding impending live dates.I think after his 2004 heart problems he has decided family time is more important than touring the world, and at 62 years of age, thats fair enough. However, a new album is long overdue!

RichTea

poundhound wrote: »

The Daily Star detailed on Tue that Bowie was possibly going to headline a night at ******e, however, I think its extremely unlikely. Theres not so much of a ripple of a rumour regarding impending live dates.I think after his 2004 heart problems he has decided family time is more important than touring the world, and at 62 years of age, thats fair enough. However, a new album is long overdue!

How many years in a row have there been rumours of Bowie headling that yoke? It's beginning to get a bit silly now, always dishearting when it's revealed that he won't.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

Bowie, hands down, man's a legend. I like Springsteen but seriously, why are they even being compared?

Mr. Presentable

Hmmm. Bruce has never covered Bowie (oooer missus), but Bowie is a fan of the Boss and has done some covers - most notably "......Saint in the City"

Danny Federici worked with Bowie in 72-ish.

Bowie is a prima genitor, Bruce is a definer. They are both at the top table.

tdavfc

nipplenuts wrote: »

Hmmm. Bruce has never covered Bowie (oooer missus), but Bowie is a fan of the Boss and has done some covers - most notably "......Saint in the City"

Danny Federici worked with Bowie in 72-ish.

Bowie is a prima genitor, Bruce is a definer. They are both at the top table.

Have to agree with you nipple, both very different performers...

But I yet to see any band beat The Boss on stage performances. The last RDS Concert I went to he played 28 songs non stop and he puts 100% into every song... E-Street Band are Legends also...

Mr. Presentable

I don't think anyone can beat Bruce on stage. He brings it every time. Even the musically deaf - my wife, for example - are left dumbstruck by the sheer passion of his show.

Of course, he's had 40 years to get it right.

thermo66

Emory Fierce Pin wrote: »

Bowie, hands down, man's a legend. I like Springsteen but seriously, why are they even being compared?

Because they are both very successful performers who both have a huge following. Its pretty obvious really.

mikom

David Robert Jones every time.

Red Sleeping Beauty

mike65 wrote: »

How the hell can the two be compared? Chalk/Cheese.

Exactly

Springsteen vs Dylan maybe. Bowie's something different.

The Swordsman wrote: »

I only saw Bowie once at Slane - thought he was terrible. I've seen hundreds of gigs that were better.

Perhaps it was a bad gig by his standards. I have seen that old Ziggy Stardust stuff and that looked brilliant so perhaps I've been unfair on the guy. Maybe it's time to give him another chance. Any idea if he will be touring again.

One bad gig doesn't really make or break a band/artist but I'm sure someone else has alread said that.
Bowie's never touring again - in 2004 someone in Norway threw a lolipop on stage and it landed in his eye then he had heart surgery and said he's never touring again.

thermo66

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

Exactly

Springsteen vs Dylan maybe. Bowie's something different.



One bad gig doesn't really make or break a band/artist but I'm sure someone else has alread said that.
Bowie's never touring again - in 2004 someone in Norway threw a lolipop on stage and it landed in his eye then he had heart surgery and said he's never touring again.

Ha ha ha ... what a wimp. Bruce wouldn't retire cos someone threw a lollipop at him!! I think we have our WINNER !

starn

Bowie hands down

nyarlothothep

bowies music is more interesting, not into springsteen

Red Sleeping Beauty

nyarlothothep wrote: »

bowies music is more interesting, not into springsteen

I used to think that too but Springsteen has got about 16studio albums.
There's a tad more to his songs than just Courtney Cox,blue jeans and stadium chants of "BORN-IN-THE-USA-I-WAS--BORN-IN-THE-USA"

Xavi6

nyarlothothep wrote: »

bowies music is more interesting, not into springsteen

^^^ This

Don't really like Springsteen too much but Bowie's stuff is just awesome.

No contest personally.

poundhound

I attended Springsteen's 28 song setlist in the RDS, however, Bowies last Irish show was made up of a 35 song setlist that was 10 minutes short of 3 hours!

Red Sleeping Beauty

poundhound wrote: »

I attended Springsteen's 28 song setlist in the RDS, however, Bowies last Irish show was made up of a 35 song setlist that was 10 minutes short of 3 hours!

The unedited version of that was better

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

thermo66 wrote: »

Because they are both very successful performers who both have a huge following. Its pretty obvious really.

What's equally obvious is that they're vastly different artists. It's difficult to decide objectively who's better. Also obvious that someone's had too many cranky pills today :P

thermo66

Tomayto tomahto !!!

I'm not cranky!!!:pac::eek::cool::P:mad::p:rolleyes: