Let’s start by getting the negatives out of the way. He didn’t play Growin’ Up or any other songs from his first two records nor did he play Atlantic City, which he had played a couple of nights ago. The new arrangement of Thunder Road was really disappointing; he slowed the tempo down, which drained all the energy from the song, and basically took out the little riffs (like the one after “I got this guitar and I learned how to make it sing!”) that gave it an edginess. The show was nearly an hour shorter than in previous years, which probably explains why there was so little material from some records (only Ramrod from The River, nothing from Nebraska, Tunnel of Love, Human Touch/Lucky Town, Ghost of Tom Joad, Tracks). Except for introducing the band, Bruce didn’t talk to the audience at all during the show, no cute or funny little stories at all. One problem is more to do with Compaq Center than Bruce: the bass sound was really muddy and seemed to be right at the resonance level, so Gary Tallent’s playing was sort of overwhelmed. Finally, most of the crowd sat down for the whole show, until the encores, although they did clap and sing along pretty good, though this is not counting those in the Floor section who had no seats to sit in.
Summing the last paragraph up: When you’ve held someone up as an idol for 27 years, and you’re seeing him in concert for the first time in 17, he has a hard time living up to the expectations.
We had a great time though! Bruce and the band rocked the joint! After they’d been playing for awhile, I asked the Sweet One what time it was and she said nearly 10:30. Which meant the show had been going for two hours and it seemed like maybe 20 minutes to me. A cool guy, another Bruce fan from way back, was sitting next to me and made the show better by getting into it as much as me. He sang along with me and pump his arms in the air too. We had really good seats, in the upper section but straight across the arena (section 209, row 9). At the end of the main set the band walked offstage and we expected maybe a ten minute break but they must have just towelled off, had a quick sip of water, and walked right back on in less than a minute. And the band played over two hours of great music!
Details:
- The Rising – Good choice to open the show and set the tone (since so much of the song selection came from the new record).
- Lonesome Day – I really like this song and it shows how Soozi Tyrell’s violin playing fits into the overall sound.
- Prove It All Night – First song that everyone seemd to know and a huge cheer went up with the opening notes.
- The Fuse – I like this more than some others, apparently, but the live version is even better than what he recorded.
- Darkness on the Edge of Town – Interesting update of Bruce’s guitar part here, making it fit in more organically with the sound of the new record, though it took me a few extra seconds to identify the song.
- Empty Sky – Done as a vocal duet with Patti, mainly just Bruce on acoustic, and tastier than the recorded version. Springsteen did ask the crowd to quiet down before this one though some doofii in the audience used the quiet to scream out silliness.
- You’re Missing – Full band acoustic.
- Waitin’ on a Sunny Day – All four guitarists kept their acoustics strapped on for this tune but they made it swing! A really fun R&B tune. Lots of audience participation, among the best for the new songs.
- The Promised Land – The electrics came back out as the rocking continued, yowsa!
- Worlds Apart – Good but one of The Rising tracks that I would have easily traded for an older number.
- Badlands – Last song of the night from Darkness, we were pumping fists in the air on the downbeat and shouting, and Clarence really had the sax jamming on his riffs.
- Bobby Jean – Although this song was written by Bruce as a loving farewell to Little Steven, they did nothing special with it and Steven just kind of hung back without really playing much at all. Fun and enjoyable, even so, a good party tune.
- Mary’s Place – The crowd got up for this song, with Bruce asking if everyone was ready for a house party. Lots of singing along on the “Let it rain” and “Turn it up” refrains.
- Countin’ on a Miracle – Not much of a song on the album or in concert, kind of generic Bruce.
- American Skin (41 Shots) – I was a little surprised to have this song in the set, would have preferred, say, Thundercrack or Where the Bands Are from Tracks. Plus, I was expecting to hear Thunder Road at this point and took a minute to get over the disappointment as I didn’t realize it would show up later on.
- Into the Fire – Nils stood out with his acoustic slide guitar part.
- Dancing in the Dark – This was one new arrangement that really worked! Forget the original pop tune and crank up the guitar parts!
- Ramrod – Rockabilly time!
- Born to Run – The big blaster, Clarence got a huge ovation for his solo.
- Thunder Road – as above, I was disappointed with the slower tempo and the changed guitar parts.
The show finished with My City in Ruins, Born in the U.S.A., and Land of Hope and Dreams but we had to leave as Ruins was beginning.
Need I say it? Highly recommended
BillSaysThis 
