Live in Dublin (2007)


						
Disc One
  1. Atlantic City
  2. Old Dan Tucker
  3. Eyes on the Prize
  4. Jesse James
  5. Further On (Up the Road)
  6. O Mary Don't You Weep
  7. Erie Canal
  8. If I Should Fall Behind
  9. My Oklahoma Home
  10.Highway Patrolman
  11.Mrs.McGrath
  12.How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live
  13.Jacob's Ladder
  
Disc Two
  1. Long Time Comin'
  2. Open All Night
  3. Pay Me My Money Down
  4. Growin' Up
  5. When the Saints Go Marching In
  6. This Little Light of Mine
  7. American Land
  8. Blinded by the Light
  9. Love of the Common People
  10.We Shall Overcome

 

Coming off the back of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, a work defined by its looseness and infectious spontaneity, it was inevitable — and entirely fitting — that Bruce Springsteen would take this folk-rooted revival show on the road. Live in Dublin, recorded with the rebranded “Seeger Sessions Band,” is a document of that tour: a sprawling, genre-spanning performance drawn from American folk traditions, gospel, Dixieland, and even bits of blues and ragtime. Yet, for all its raucous spirit, this particular live album, while competent, never quite escapes the shadow of its predecessor.

Part of the original Seeger Sessions album’s charm was its sense of unpolished immediacy. Recorded without rehearsal, it captured something rare — a group of musicians making music for the sake of joy itself. That energy was so palpable on the record, one could argue it was already, in spirit, a “live” album. Which begs the question: what, exactly, does Live in Dublin add?

In truth, not much. The performances are polished, the crowd enthusiastic, and Springsteen as commanding as ever, but the spontaneity — the serendipitous magic of the studio album — is now stylized and structured. Yes, there are minor rearrangements here and there, and some of the crowd sing-alongs (particularly on My Oklahoma Home) offer welcome warmth, but the overall effect is more reenactment than revelation. A museum piece, perhaps, more than a movement.

Where Springsteen does stretch, it’s with mixed results. Several of his own compositions are reimagined through the Sessions Band’s musical palette — some with success, others with unfortunate consequences. Open All Night, retooled with big-band swagger, emerges as the standout reinterpretation, transforming the stark Nebraska track into a jubilant, horn-driven number that would sound more at home in a roadside roadhouse than a folk club. It’s not only inspired — it’s arguably the most inventive track of the entire set.

Elsewhere, however, the results are more dubious. Atlantic City loses its haunting minimalism and gains little in return. Blinded by the Light is rendered almost unrecognizable, its lyrical momentum dragged down by a cluttered arrangement. And Further On (Up the Road) suffers most of all — stripped of its stark, fatalistic drive and replaced with a clunky, rhythmically awkward presentation that undercuts the song’s original menace. These aren't reinterpretations so much as reinventions — and not always to the songs’ benefit.

Vocally, Springsteen remains in fine form, but not all his collaborators fare as well. Patti Scialfa, whose presence on If I Should Fall Behind may have been intended as tender or communal, instead dilutes the song’s emotional core. The performance is strained and uninspired, especially when compared to earlier renditions from Live in New York City. It’s a moment that underscores the risk of reworking songs that have already found definitive expression.

The album closes much as it begins — with a nod to the folk tradition and a return to Springsteen’s well-established social conscience. Tracks like How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live and Eyes on the Prize carry weight, but their placement risks sapping the momentum from an otherwise celebratory set. The spirit of protest remains, but in a live context so oriented toward exuberance, it comes across more as lecture than invocation.

To be clear, Live in Dublin is by no means a poor live album. By the standards of almost any contemporary artist, it would be considered a triumph. But by Springsteen’s own considerable live legacy, it lands somewhere in the middle — worthwhile, but not essential. A faithful document, yes. A necessary one? Perhaps not.

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