karohemd | Entries tagged with clarence clemons

Friday was Sacrilege which turned out to be a very trad goth affair (with

nevla as one of the guest DJs) until just before I had to leave because of knackeredness and the EBM came on. :/ Click the thumbnail and then on the link for the set on the right hand side for the rest of the photos:

Saturday I went shopping, relaxed, watched DVDs, processed Sacrilege photos and braised an awesome lamb shank for dinner:

More telly and DVDs later and then, just before I finally wanted to go to sleep, I read that Clarence Clemons had died. That news really got to me, although I had been fearing it after his suffering a stroke the previous weekend. As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of Springsteen's music and the Big Man's saxophone and stage presence are an integral part of the experience. Here's a video of Jungleland, forward to 4:15 for the sax bit if you like, and you'll see/hear what I mean:

On Sunday I was mostly depressed and didn't do anything constructive except two loads of laundry and a simple dinner (ratatouille with couscous). I also watched the dire remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still (mostly because Jennifer Connelly was in it) on telly and then the superb Lemmy documentary on DVD.

Now I'm at work and moping but I'm going out for dinner tonight so that should pick me up.

Current Mood: blah

Just as I was switching off everything to finally go to bed, @blackjoelewis tweeted "RIP Clarence Clemons". He'd suffered a stroke last Sunday and was on the long way to recovery but apparently there were complications and he passed away earlier today.
Clarence Clemons had been playing saxophone with Bruce Springsteen for almost 40 years and been an integral part of the classic E Street Band sound, just like Roy Bittan on piano and Danny Federici (who lost his fight with cancer three years ago) on organ.
I will never forget the first time I saw them live in Munich in '89. There was this huge red zoot suit with matching hat playing saxophone because you couldn't really see his face from that far away. During the tracks that didn't feature the saxophone, he would play the tambourine and other percussion instruments and provide his booming backing vocals. His stage presence and the chemistry with the other band members but especially Bruce were always things that made the E Street Band's sound special.

I want to write more but can't. All I can do is sit here, stare into empty space and listen to the '75 Hammersmith gig.

Current Mood: sad
Current Music: Bruce Springsteen - Spirit In The Night