Twenty Nights to Rock: Touring with The Boss [Hardcover]

Bill Tangen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2005

Twenty Nights to Rock. . . Touring with The Boss is an account of what it is like to follow Bruce Springstein on tour. Author Bill Tangen and his wife Christine went to twenty concerts across the United States and in London, England during "The Rising" tour in late 2002 and 2003. Sometime between the second and third concert they attended, Bill wanted to put the excitement of the tour down on paper and let others witness what it is like to see and hear "The Boss" from a fan's perspective. In this book, see what it is that Bruce Springstein possesses to bring generations of loyal fans together to celebrate his music.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

*Feature Story in Tri-State Gazette, Port Jervis, New York *Radio show on WTSX Radio 96.7 FM, Port Jervis, New York

About the Author

Bill Tangen is a former Port Jervis, New York high school athlete who served the Air Force in southeast Asia following graduation in 1965. He returned to his hometown and became a reporter at the local newspaper. In 1977 he was named New York State Sportswriter of the Year for his coverage of scholastic wrestling. Bill had become sports editor at the Union-Gazette in 1973 and in 1976, personally interviewed heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali at the Concord Hotel, prior to his title defense against Ken Norton at Yankee Stadium. Bill attended the American Press Institute sports editors seminar (Reston, Virginia) in 1976 and interviewed New York Knicks basketball legend Willis Reed in 1978. Bill married the former Christine Goble in September, 1970. The couple has two grown daughters and seven grandchildren. Bill's first book, Choices...Memoirs of a Sportswriter, includes his successful struggle to overcome alcohol addiction.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: Tangen (August 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976742209
• ISBN-13: 978-0976742203
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,537,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Felt Like I Was There, September 10, 2005

By 

Betsy D "babycat" (New York State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Twenty Nights to Rock: Touring with The Boss (Hardcover)

Just finished reading Twenty Nights To Rock, This book is written in a very different way. Instead of being just about Bruce, Bill takes you on this tour from the fans appreciation and love for Bruce. Bill has gone to great length, discribing each of the concerts he attended on the tour. Talks of the settings, the songs, the attitude of not just the preformer, but of the fans present. While reading, many times, I felt as if I were there with the author as he viewed the crowd, the different personalities, the whole scene. If one wants to know how it feels to be a fan, all they have to do is read the wonderful accounting that Bill has written. Myself, I have never been to a Bruce concert, but you can bet I will some day, and I am sure as I look around at the people I will recall much of Bills' writing.
Thank-you Bill, for your time and effort, and for giving me such a great insight to Bruces' works.

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed, February 27, 2009

By 

J. Cox (Bowling Green, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twenty Nights to Rock: Touring with The Boss (Hardcover)

This book takes a great concept-- travel around following the Springsteen road show circa 2002-2003-- and makes it incredibly dull.

First, Tangen writes like a mediocre junior high student. Misspellings, punctuation flaws, and grammatical mistakes are too numerous to count. Secondly, it's boring. This book rapidly turns into a set pattern:

It was a beautiful/murky/cool night. Bruce was fired up and the crowd was engaged in the show. He played "Glory Days"/ "Dancing In the Dark"/ "Born to Run". We liked it. Afterward, I met whocares and stewpidname from the Internet Springsteen board and I found a bar where I sang some karaoke, which lots of people loved.

That's pretty much it. I just saved you the trouble of buying the book. The information imparted is trivial, the musical content is basically a recounting of the setlist, and the style is dull.

This idea had so much potential, and while I'm sure this guy is a nice enough fellow with a genuine appreciation for Springsteen, I can't help but be disappointed.