Going to a Bruce Springsteen concert is a big event for any Bruce Head. We tend to discuss, ad naseum, the most insignificant minutia of of his songs, his performances, his music. I am no different and can be pretty annoying in the process.
Bruce and the E Street Band played their first of 3 shows at Giants Stadium last night, and it was a great concert. I originally was not going to go to any of the shows, but managed to get a really great floor seat a couple days before the show. It had been a while since I was on the floor at a stadium show, so I was really looking forward to it.
Bruce is my favorite artist and I have been fortunate to see him in almost every setting a fan could hope for: Arenas, Theatres, Stadiums, Clubs, Concert Halls. If I could just get him to play my living room I'd be set. Any time he tours we tend to get very excited and discuss what we think the tour will be like, and what songs he will do. I was lucky to see one of the rehearsal shows for the Magic Tour in Asbury Park and the one at the arena formerly known as Continental Airlines Arena. The Asbury Park show was fun, but still very rough around the edges. The show at the Continental Airlines Arena later that week was pretty great. It was not to far from being tour quality. It also included his new arrangement of Reason to Believe which borrowed heavily from Spirit in the Sky & La Grange. It was one of the best things I've ever seen him do.
For the "homecoming" shows at Giants Stadium, I expected a pretty standard setlist, as much as there is that sort of thing at this point on the tour. As with his previous tours, the initial shows have a pretty set structure and little variation. As the tours progress, he mixes songs up and constantly includes many songs from his extensive catalog. Chances are you will see as many as 8 or 10 different songs at back to back shows. This tour has seen a new twist. Fans are now writing song requests on signs, and Bruce usually performs a couple of these songs during the course of the performance. Usually they are songs they are pretty familiar with, but occasionally you'll get a real rarity( Held Up Without a Gun, Summertime Blues).
Well, the setlist was pretty standard, relatively speaking, but it was a good setlist. Tenth Avenue Freezeout opened the show. At first I was a little disappointed. I've seen the song live many times and was a little burnt out on it. But it turned out to be a great opener and really set the tone of the concert. Bruce got right into the crowd and looked like he was having more fun that I can recall.
Many factors play a part into what makes a concert memorable for the person attending. Frame of mind, the mood your in, your expectations. For me, the location I was in, the great crowd around me, the fact I hadn't seen the band in about 9 months, all made for a show. But the topper was that Bruce and the band were great. They play better than practically every other band that tours nowadays. Bruce could easily do a 2+ hour show and most people would be satisfied, ever the die hards. The average length of the shows in the early leg of the tour was about 2 hours. No one complained. The shows were suppose to be great, and who can blame a group of musicians in their 50's(the youngest members) for only playing for 2 hours.
Last night Bruce and the band played for 3 hours and 15 minutes, with no break, and rarely let up. There weren't really any ballads in the setlist. Bruce and the E Streeters time and time again deliver and never rest on their laurels.
People who have never seen him might see a show that could be considered subpar by his usual standards, and say how it was one of the best concerts they have ever seen. I've heard people say this, which says a lot about the quality of the E Street Band, and also other bands.
Bruce shows can run the gamut from intense to inspirational to plain fun. Last nights show ranks among the most fun I have ever seen, if not the most fun. As usual , I walked out remembering every reason I love Bruce and his music and the fact he has stayed a credible and topical artist.
Bruce gave me some of my older favorites(Growin Up', Jungleland, Tunnel of Love, Brilliant Disguise) and a few of my new favorites(Girls in Their Summer Clothes, I'll Work for Your Love). Nothing that made my jaw drop, but something I'll remember for a while.
I don't know when I'll see Bruce and the band again. Organist Danny Federici passed away this year, and it made all Bruce fans really be grateful for what this band has given and continues to give night after night and tour after tour. In an industry and a culture where bands come and go and what is popular changes day to day, it's nice to know that there are still artists out there like Bruce. He does what he wants to do, writes about topics which may not be the "safe' thing to write about and believes that music can still bring people together and also enlighten us or make you think. And he can do this in front of 50,000 people.
It's nice to know there's still a little magic in the night.
Here's the setlist.
Tenth Avenue Freeeze-out
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
No Surrender
Adam Raised a Cain
Spirit in the Night
Summertime Blues
Brilliant Disguise
Atlantic City
Growin' Up
Janey, Don't You Lose Heart
I'll Work for Your Love
Youngstown
Murder Incorporated
The Promised Land
Livin' in the Future
Mary's Place
Working on the Highway
Tunnel of Love
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Jungleland
Born to Run
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
American Land
Rosalita
Bruce and the E Street Band played their first of 3 shows at Giants Stadium last night, and it was a great concert. I originally was not going to go to any of the shows, but managed to get a really great floor seat a couple days before the show. It had been a while since I was on the floor at a stadium show, so I was really looking forward to it.
Bruce is my favorite artist and I have been fortunate to see him in almost every setting a fan could hope for: Arenas, Theatres, Stadiums, Clubs, Concert Halls. If I could just get him to play my living room I'd be set. Any time he tours we tend to get very excited and discuss what we think the tour will be like, and what songs he will do. I was lucky to see one of the rehearsal shows for the Magic Tour in Asbury Park and the one at the arena formerly known as Continental Airlines Arena. The Asbury Park show was fun, but still very rough around the edges. The show at the Continental Airlines Arena later that week was pretty great. It was not to far from being tour quality. It also included his new arrangement of Reason to Believe which borrowed heavily from Spirit in the Sky & La Grange. It was one of the best things I've ever seen him do.
For the "homecoming" shows at Giants Stadium, I expected a pretty standard setlist, as much as there is that sort of thing at this point on the tour. As with his previous tours, the initial shows have a pretty set structure and little variation. As the tours progress, he mixes songs up and constantly includes many songs from his extensive catalog. Chances are you will see as many as 8 or 10 different songs at back to back shows. This tour has seen a new twist. Fans are now writing song requests on signs, and Bruce usually performs a couple of these songs during the course of the performance. Usually they are songs they are pretty familiar with, but occasionally you'll get a real rarity( Held Up Without a Gun, Summertime Blues).
Well, the setlist was pretty standard, relatively speaking, but it was a good setlist. Tenth Avenue Freezeout opened the show. At first I was a little disappointed. I've seen the song live many times and was a little burnt out on it. But it turned out to be a great opener and really set the tone of the concert. Bruce got right into the crowd and looked like he was having more fun that I can recall.
Many factors play a part into what makes a concert memorable for the person attending. Frame of mind, the mood your in, your expectations. For me, the location I was in, the great crowd around me, the fact I hadn't seen the band in about 9 months, all made for a show. But the topper was that Bruce and the band were great. They play better than practically every other band that tours nowadays. Bruce could easily do a 2+ hour show and most people would be satisfied, ever the die hards. The average length of the shows in the early leg of the tour was about 2 hours. No one complained. The shows were suppose to be great, and who can blame a group of musicians in their 50's(the youngest members) for only playing for 2 hours.
Last night Bruce and the band played for 3 hours and 15 minutes, with no break, and rarely let up. There weren't really any ballads in the setlist. Bruce and the E Streeters time and time again deliver and never rest on their laurels.
People who have never seen him might see a show that could be considered subpar by his usual standards, and say how it was one of the best concerts they have ever seen. I've heard people say this, which says a lot about the quality of the E Street Band, and also other bands.
Bruce shows can run the gamut from intense to inspirational to plain fun. Last nights show ranks among the most fun I have ever seen, if not the most fun. As usual , I walked out remembering every reason I love Bruce and his music and the fact he has stayed a credible and topical artist.
Bruce gave me some of my older favorites(Growin Up', Jungleland, Tunnel of Love, Brilliant Disguise) and a few of my new favorites(Girls in Their Summer Clothes, I'll Work for Your Love). Nothing that made my jaw drop, but something I'll remember for a while.
I don't know when I'll see Bruce and the band again. Organist Danny Federici passed away this year, and it made all Bruce fans really be grateful for what this band has given and continues to give night after night and tour after tour. In an industry and a culture where bands come and go and what is popular changes day to day, it's nice to know that there are still artists out there like Bruce. He does what he wants to do, writes about topics which may not be the "safe' thing to write about and believes that music can still bring people together and also enlighten us or make you think. And he can do this in front of 50,000 people.
It's nice to know there's still a little magic in the night.
Here's the setlist.
Tenth Avenue Freeeze-out
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
No Surrender
Adam Raised a Cain
Spirit in the Night
Summertime Blues
Brilliant Disguise
Atlantic City
Growin' Up
Janey, Don't You Lose Heart
I'll Work for Your Love
Youngstown
Murder Incorporated
The Promised Land
Livin' in the Future
Mary's Place
Working on the Highway
Tunnel of Love
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Jungleland
Born to Run
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
American Land
Rosalita
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