I went to see Bruce Springsteen in Vancouver on Monday night, Nov 26.   It was a GREAT CONCERT!!!  We couldn’t get tix when they first went on sale… but some seats were released and I got a single seat – 7th row – Sec 112 – directly across from the stage.  I had been checking ticket prices, wondering about going, fretting about my budget, and resolving the situation by arguing to myself that I was already attending the Paul McCartney concert.  And since I had already since Springsteen 4 times, the toss-up choice was McCartney tickets… but in my heart, I still wanted to go.

I was at the McCartney concert the night before, and as fantastic as Sir Paul and his songs were… it was controlled and planned.  But Springsteen takes it to a whole other level, unsurpassed in sheer energy and spontaneity.  At a Springsteen concert, anything can happen… and surprises usually do. Springsteen picks audience requests out from the signs that people hold up. He walks into the audience… he has a young girl sing the chorus to “Waiting on a Sunny Day”… he brings an 80 year old woman to dance along with him to “Dancing in the Dark”… and during the encore songs, he pulls a fan dressed as Santa Claus up on stage to sing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”

Soozie Tyrell on violin, Charlie Giordano on accordion, Max Weinberg on drums, Springsteen, and Nils Lofgren on banjo. – photo T.Wong

I love the picture above because it demonstrates the acoustic side of Springsteen’s music.  Violin, accordion and banjo are more associated with blue-grass and country music.  But that is also at the heart of Springsteen’s roots.  Listen to the Dylanesque first album of Greetings from Asbury Park, the starkness of Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad, and especially the hootenanny style of the Seeger Sessions played live.  Springsteen opened with Shackled and Drawn from his latest Wrecking Ball album which has a strong Celtic influence.  It is not unlike the Celtic tunes we play in the Black Bear Rebels ceilidh ensemble.  Death to My Hometown leads with a tin whistle and a marching beat, while Land of Hope and Dreams has a more gospel feel reminiscent of the classic tunes This Train is Bound for Glory and People Get Ready.

I went with my bagpiper friends Allan and Trish who sat up on the top level.  They may have been Springsteen concert virgins, but they are stout musicians and have both seen and been in lots of performances.  They are big David Bowie fans, and we both saw him on his ’83 concerts in Vancouver – both of them!  It was only about 2 months ago we went to see The Chieftains together with some other musician friends.  This summer I loaned Allan a lot of my Springsteen concert cds, hoping to bring him up to speed.  We sang along to Thunder Road and Sandy on the way home in my car.

This was the 5th time I had seen Springsteen, and it was fresh and exciting! The E-Street band lives up to the hype – as Springsteen himself introduces the “‘The heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, Viagra-taking, love-making – Le-gen-dary E – Street – Band!” Incredible musicianship, that can play almost any style of music: soul, rock & roll, rockabilly, country, gospel and new wave punk (who do you think wrote the big Patti Smyth hit “Because the Night?

I remember back in high school Physics class, when my friends Mike and Chris asked me to join them for the Springsteen concert in June 78.  But I didn’t know his music then.  My friends and I listened to Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Crosby Stills & Nash, John Denver, Elton John and Earth Wind & Fire.  But it was in 1980 that I was forced to discover Springsteen’s music during my summer education tour of Taiwan.  One of my room mates, Dennis was from California, and a huge Springsteen fan – he taught us the lyrics to Born to Run and Thunder Road.  We actually formed a music group with our roomies.  Dennis on harmonica, Lindsay on washboard, Calvin on keyboard, sometimes me on keyboard or just singing along.

Here are my pictures from the Springsteen concert on my Flickr photo account

Springsteen 2012

Video: Bruce Springsteen in action in Vancouver | Vancouver Sun

My friend David HT Wong, launched his 1st book Escape to Gold Mountain on Sunday afternoon November 18th at the Sun Yat-sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver BC.

It is the first ever graphic novel to tell the story of the Chinese immigration to North America.  David gave many thanks to his publisher and editors at Arsenal Pulp Press, as he had just returned from a week-long book tour in California.

For 30 minutes, David Wong explained the process of how he created his graphic novel.

Would he do it again?  David told the audience that if you had asked him that question four months ago, he would have said “Never again.” But now after speaking to many audiences, and seeing the delight in people’s faces, and receiving their encouraging feedback, he says… “maybe.”

Has it been successful?  The first printing of the Escape to Gold Mountain has already been sold out.  The book is now in its second printing and is ranked #1 for Asian North American literature.

David knows his subject.  He has been active in the community and promoting Chinese Canadian history for many years now.  I have known him when he was a board member for Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society in 2002, then later as a founding director for Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC.   He has been a blogger at the Ugly Chinese Canadian and author of the Generasian website.

Actor/playwright David Yip holds a large fan upon which images are projected for his project “Gold Mountain.”-  photo courtesy of Van East Cultural Centre.

Gold Mountain will feature exciting multi-media technology in an interesting collaboration of  Montreal’s Les Deux Mondes and Liverpool’s unitytheatre.

The media promo states that “David Yee is trying to piece together the broken jigsaw of his father’s life. In an epic journey from a small village in China, to war-torn Liverpool, through the horrors of the Atlantic convoys, follow Yee Lui’s story of friendship, addiction, and adversity. This stunning production features breath-taking imagery, engaging film, moving music, and extraordinary soundscapes. ”

Gold Mountain would be of interest to any immigrant group to any country, and the aspect of Chinese in Liverpool is an interesting twist, similar to the diversity of multiculturalism in Canada.  Stories of the Chinese diaspora have much in common to the stories of the Italian, Irish, Indian and the Jewish diaspora to Canada, as well as the recent immigrants from Iran, Taiwan and Tibet.

It is the “Telling of Our Stories” that made “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” or “Bend It Like Beckham” stories that related to all immigrants. But what makes Gold Mountain more interesting is the multi-media angle of a global story.  It’s a new perspective of story telling with awesome use of modern technology.

Canada is a country of immigrants, and so Gold Mountain will relate to all Canadians, wherever they came from.  But maybe for this story, BCers and Vancouverites are especially interested because BC is seen as the Gold Mountain of Canada, as thousands of Chinese migrant workers came to Canada first seeking gold in 1851, then building the railway in the Fraser Canyon, and working in the coal mines of Vancouver Island.

http://www.thecultch.com/content/view/363/527/

Here is the link to the Georgia Straight article by Alex Varty:

http://www.straight.com/article-812491/vancouver/painful-history-paved-gold


Around the web:
Les Deux Mondes official website
unitytheatre’s official website

(Left to right) Author Lawrence Hill, Miranda Hill (creator of Project Bookmark), Wayson Choy, Anna Ling Kaye (president of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop) and her husband Alex gathered for photos before the dinner. photo courtesy of Charlie Smith/Georgia Straight.

The Georgia Straight wrote up both a preview story and posted pictures of the event.

http://www.straight.com/article-811146/vancouver/community-honours-jade-peony-author-wayson-choy-chinese-banquet

A total of 15 speakers graced the stage to share intimate stories of growing up as childhood friends of Wayson such as Garson, to fellow students during his time as the first Asian-Canadian in the UBC Creative Writing MA program.  As well, industry representatives and community leaders also spoke including author/editor/community organizer Jim Wong-Chu, Vancouver Public Library Chief Librarian Sandra Singh, and BC Bookworld publisher and author Alan Twigg.  The evening was co-hosted by CBC Radio One broadcaster Sheryl Mackay who also hosts the CBC Radio One Bookclub, and Todd Wong creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, as well as president of Historic Joy Kogawa House and vice-president of Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop – some of the events’ presenting organizations.

Sid Tan of W2 Media filmed much of the evening along with sound technician Elwin Xie.  Both have worked with event organizers Jim Wong-Chu and Todd Wong for many . It was the conclusion of the Wayson Choy Special Tribute Evening

1. 10:37

   W2TV: Wayson Choy – Bookmark Canada Community Dinner

   Wayson Choy gave this talk in Saltwater City Vancouver BC, Canada on Sunday, October 14, 2012. It was the conclusion of the Wayson Choy Special …

I am very pleased to be part of the organizing committee for this very special dinner for Wayson Choy, author of The Jade Peony.

It will be an incredible evening of insider stories about Wayson, as well as leaders from the literary community sharing insight and praise.

It was my honour to get to know Wayson, when I was on the inaugural One Book One Vancouver committee for the Vancouver Public Library in 2002, as we encouraged the entire city to read Jade Peony, and discuss it with their neighbors, and attend related events.

In 2004, Wayson gave the Bill Duthie address for the Vancouver Writers Festival, and in 2009 he gave the Multiculturalism lecture for the Laurier Institution – both were brilliant.

Please join us.

Got this message from my friend Jim Wong-Chu

If you get a chance, you should see this photo display. Its totally awesome. Its at Crystal Mall, 2nd floor, straight ahead when you come off the escalator – by Food Court and ends October 10th. The era is early 1900’s -1950’s or so…….maybe you know of some of the families like I did ……………the churches included in the display from that era are Chinese United, Chinese Presbyterian, Good Shepherd Mission, and Chinese Anglican…………wonderful display that also features some well known Chinese Canadians from that era……great pics…….lots of reading too……..