Bruce puts on a show that few could top, though he’s topped it many times before.
By: Hank Kalet
Saw the Bruce Springsteen show at Giants Stadium on Saturday and, as usual, the Boss left us all spent and exhausted at night’s end.
That said, the show was a little disappointing but only by Bruce standards. Of the six I’ve seen, it was one of the less-impressive shows it was the shortest of the Giants Stadium run at 2 hours and 45 minutes and featured just (JUST?????) 23 songs. Thinking about the show afterward, I had the sense he was holding something back or that the toll of the current run had wore him down some.
I’d give the show about a 6.5 by Bruce standards, but probably an 8.5 by normal human standards. Soozy Tyrrell was far more present and integrated into the band this time (a good thing her violin really adds something to the sound) and the guitar work by Springsteen, Little Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren was stellar, though Nils spent a good amount of time on the pedal steel and Little Steven on the mandolin. Highlights were "Adam Raised a Cain" with a wicked guitar solo, a full-band version of "Atlantic City," a really tight version of "Waiting on a Sunny Day" and "Rosalita" which really got the crowd pumped.
Here is the set list with some additional notes:
1. "Adam Raised a Cain." This is one of Bruce’s angriest tunes and he opened it with a violent attack on his Stratocaster that set the tone. This was to be a guitar-heavy concert.
2, 3, 4. "The Rising," "Lonseome Day" and "The Ties that Bind." Great rockers, no surprises.
5. "Atlantic City." As I said, this was a full-band version with a big sound that really grabbed the crowd and made me wish he’d recorded it with full instrumentation rather than as a solo acoustic (don’t get me wrong, the solo acoustic on "Nebraska" is great).
6. "Empty Sky." He asks for quiet and gets it. The crowd sings along and you could see some of the more macho men in the audience wiping away a tear.
7. "Waiting on a Sunny Day." This song has become one of the best things he does live, a bouncing, rocking showstopper that live is better than the sum of its parts (it is probably the weakest lyric on "The Rising"). There were 65,000 people singing in unison on this one.
8. "Darlington County." Full of energy and hand-clapping fun. (One of Bruce’s darkest lyrics and part of a suite of songs on "Born in the U.S.A." that focuses on people who cannot let go of their youth and the trouble it can cause.)
9. "Worlds Apart." This was a guitar tour de force with Bruce, Nils and Steve taking turns soloing (Nils is by far the best of the axe players and, to my taste, underused by the band in this regard), topped off by Soozy’s transcendent violin. It amazes me that the crowd has not been gathered up by the power of this song there was a mass exodus to the restrooms and beer lines when it began. I have screamed myself hoarse by this point.
10, 11 and 12. "Badlands," "Two Hearts" and "No Surrender." A trio of straight-on rockers that continued to ratchet up the energy level.
13. "Mary’s Place." A house party with 65,000 guests. He introduces the band and engages in some of his more explosive preaching and rambling. I think it was on this tune that he began swinging from the mike stand and to the delight of the crowd hung upside down.
14 and 15. "My Hometown" and "Into the Fire." A pair of slow numbers to cool down by. Bruce even wiped at his eyes on this (a tear? Some sweat?)
16. "Promised Land." A big rocker shouted out by the crowd. Bruce leaves the stage and we’re all screaming.
17. "Tenth Avenue Freezeout." Bruce comes out and castigates the crowd for being too meek in demanding an encore. Then he rips into the story of the band.
18. "Glory Days." Another house party. He tells the crowd it’s time to go home, it’s getting late, go home and eat "your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." He continues, telling us he expects more from a Saturday night crowd and continues to rock hard through the song.
19. "Born to Run." Lights on, everybody up and singing the unofficial New Jersey anthem. Bruce and the band walk off stage.
20. "My City of Ruins." Bruce comes on with a single spotlight on him. He sits at the piano and praises the volunteers who try to make things better for the state’s poor and underprivileged and then encourages everyone to visit Asbury Park to help in its revival. He then dedicates the song to Asbury Park and in recognition of the state Community Food Bank. He opens up solo on piano and then, after a couple of verses, the band joins in and he steps away from the piano, Roy Bittan returning, the song building into the more gospel-influenced arrangement of the album.
21. He comes back on stage and offers the following:
"People come to my shows with many different kinds of political beliefs; I like that, we welcome all. There have been a lot of questions raised recently about the forthrightness of our government. This playing with the truth has been a part of both the Republican and Democratic administrations in the past and it is always wrong, never more so than when real lives are at stake. The question of whether we were mislead into the war in Iraq isn’t a liberal or conservative or Republican or Democratic question, it’s an American one. Protecting the democracy that we ask our sons and daughters to die for is our responsibility and our trust. Demanding accountability from our leaders is our job as citizens. It’s the American way. So may the truth will out." Then he offered "Land of Hope and Dreams" as a prayer for the well-being and safety of our soldiers and the civilians in Iraq.
22. "Rosalita." After threatening to close the show, he is "enticed" back on stage and kicks into a long-lost classic. Back in the day, Bruce used this as his show-stopper, introducing the band and revving up the crowd. It still revved us all up. What a party.
23. "Dancing in the Dark." Great version, but not the song I would have chosen to close with. Left me feeling, somehow, that things were not quite complete.