CASPER
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NEW YORK – A uniquely crafted new Springsteen concert video promises to stoke the souls of insatiable Bruce buffs. And, judging from the wild response at its big-screen premiere, film fanatics may be captivated as well.
Grammy and Emmy award-winning director Thom Zimny made the film last December at the historic Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, N.J. It gives viewers an up-close-and-personal view of the stark stage, from every conceivable angle, as Springsteen and the E Street Band perform an entire album just for themselves, with no live audience.
The "Darkness on the Edge of Town" video is being released to fans Nov. 16 as part of a deluxe CD and DVD set that also includes "The Promise: The Making of `Darkness on the End of Town,'" a documentary on the 1978 album.
The concert video's recent DOC NYC film festival premiere was met with unbridled enthusiasm. Shouts of "Yeah!" and "Wooooo!" ricocheted through Manhattan's stately Ziegfeld Theatre as the crowd got swept up in the musical and visual moments, beginning with a rousing rendition of "Badlands."
The cameras bring the viewers eyeball to eyeball with the band, capturing Springsteen's taut upper torso, a bead of sweat, the arching eyebrow, the veins popping out on his neck as he becomes lost in the angst. Even the pores on his skin are detectable on the big screen, amid a hint of facial stubble.
Zimny said he was struck by how simultaneously focused, relaxed and in perfect synch the musicians are. He and E Street drummer Max Weinberg said the film captured small, unconscious queues, the way the musicians communicate with small gestures.
