Review: '2013 MusiCares Gala Honoring Bruce Springsteen'

I will be the first to admit that I am biased when it comes to Bruce Springsteen.

My first live rock concert was seeing Springsteen, though it was really an accident. I had run away from my Southern Indiana home in high school, ended up in Chicago for a few days and one night talked my way into a club in Chicago called "The Quiet Knight." It was this small little place on the second floor of a building right next to an el train platform. I went in to get warm and to see a cappella group called The Persuasions. But it turned out to be a double bill featuring a very raw Bruce Springsteen.

This was really early in his career. He was out promoting his first album and to put the show in context, the four night Quiet Knight stint took place just before the Max's Kansas City shows in NYC that began to put him on the map (thanks to some infamous soundboard recordings).

I don't remember much about the night, except that I was just in awe of the guy. His confidence, his swagger, the way he just didn't seem to give a damn about anything but the music. I walked out of the club and into the cold Chicago night as a lifelong fan.

Looking back, his music has always seemed to be a constant in my life. Oh, I'm not obsessive about the guy. I can go weeks without listening to his music. But at some of the defining moments of my life, he has managed to always be near.

A few years later I was going to college in L.A. and was as close to desperation as one can come without losing everything. My college sweetheart had recently been murdered, I had taken up binge drinking and stand-up comedy and frankly didn't care if I lived or died. And yet when friends dragged me out one night, we ended up at the Roxy, crammed into a little staff section off-stage watching Bruce and the band power through one of the defining shows of this career. A few of the tracks ended up on his live album set in the 1980s. But as good as those tracks are, they can't capture the noise and the sweat and the way the building just shook. If music has the power to take you somewhere better than you can imagine you deserve, that night did it for me.

Over the years I've seen Springsteen maybe 20 times in different settings and for different reasons. In some ways he's both a reminder of my youth and an indication that I'm getting older. I don't feel middle-aged. But seeing Bruce Springsteen moving a bit slower, hearing his voice get raspier and a bit less urgent also means that I'm getting older too.

Cable channel AXS is premiering "2013 MusiCares Gala Honoring Bruce Springsteen" on Sunday and I have to admit that I had mixed feelings going into the show. I'm not expecting this generation's answer to "The Last Waltz," but most of these "tribute" shows - even the most well-meaning ones - tend to be so reverential that they also end up being a bit souless.

It didn't take me long to realize that I had nothing to worry about. Host Jon Stewart opens the show with a great riff about Springsteen's place in his life and the impact that he had on New Jersey. Then comes a series of performances of Springsteen's music, from a suitably eclectic group of performers. Some of the renditions sound pretty much the way you would expect: Elton John's reverent "Street of Philadephia," John Legend's slow and piano-heavy "Dancing in the Dark." But there are some great surprises as well. The show opens with the lesser-known Alabama Shakes ripping through "Adam Raised A Cain" and country's Zac Brown Band team up with gospel great Mavis Staples on a stirring version of "My City of Ruins." The most successful performance comes from Sting, who somehow manages to sound ballsy and relevant in his version of "Lonesome Day." Neil Young offers a characteristically odd performance of "Born In The U.S.A," that manages to rock and still be off-key at nearly every turn. Then there are the older women dressed as cheerleaders, who don't quite dance on stage while Young is singing. And let's not forget Patti Smith, who shows up to sing her lone commercial hit, the Springsteen-penned "Because the Night." Other performances include Mumford & Sons with "I'm On Fire" and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on "Tougher Than The Rest."

While not every performance is a great one, they don't sound like a wake, either. It's not an accident that many of the song choices aren't necessarily Springsteen's hits. While he had a string of hit singles, that part of his career wasn't what people were there to celebrate. It was his passion and energy, his committment to the working man and his willingness to constantly push his music in new and sometimes unpopular directions.

Springsteen then took the stage for a few words and he actually seemed to be enjoying himself. He talked about his career and shared some memories of friends and fellow musicians. He doesn't often talk on camera like this and it was a really fun moment.

The night ended with a live performance, as he was joined by members of the E Street Band and a group of other musicians. He kicked things off with a rollicking "We Take Care of our Own," and it was a reminder that while the song has a deep emotional meaning, it's also the best rocker he's recorded in ages. The came a more somber "Death to My Hometown," followed by "Thunder Road" and "Born to Run."

Watching Springsteen perform those final two numbers was a reminder of how far we both have come in the past few decades. When the songs were new, Springsteen threw himself into them with a frantic energy that made it seem as if he would explode if he didn't get out the next word. He was haunted and driven and had a core emotional passion that seemed to make the songs matter in a way that is difficult to describe.

But for all the workmanlike beauties of this performance, these songs didn't have the needy compulsions of youth. Springsteen is heading towards retirement age and while he can outlast just about everyone on stage, he's also content and happy. These songs are no longer a reflection of the need to make something of yourself. They're a reminder of how much your life has changed and improved over the years. Of what he's accomplished and what he means to his fans.

Bruce Springsteen is not the performer he was in 1973 or even 1993. But you know what? I'm not same guy either. And that's okay. Music isn't just about youth and energy. It's about passion and love and the desire to leave a piece of yourself behind in the world when you go.

"2013 MusiCares Gala Honoring Bruce Springsteen" premieres on AXS TV on Sunday, March 30th 2014 at 8:00 p.m. EP/5:00 p.m. PT.