Originally
published in The Aquarian Weekly
August
20, 2008
Bruce
Springsteen & The E Street Band
Giants
Stadium
July 27,
2008
—by
Ken Shane
EAST
RUTHERFORD, NJ—What is there left
to say about
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street
Band? After
more than 35 years, and hundreds
of shows, it
seems that everything that can be
written has
been written. The man and his music
have been
dissected, analyzed, deconstructed
and
reconstructed.
I saw my
first Springsteen show in October of
1973 at The
Capitol Theater in Passaic. IÕve lost
count along
the way, but I must be closing in
on 50
Springsteen shows at this point. A number
of these
shows have been high points, not just
in my
concert-going experience, but in my life.
To be
honest, the thought of a stadium show
did not fill
me with anticipation. IÕve been to a few.
The sound is
never good, and the performers
are too far
removed from even the best seats in
the house.
But when Bruce Springsteen plays
in New
Jersey, The Aquarian has to be there.
It was hard
to escape the fact that this was the
first show IÕd
ever seen the E Street Band play
without
keyboard player Danny Federici, who
died a few
months back. His shoes have been
ably filled
by Charles Giordano, who toured with
Springsteen
in the Seeger Sessions Band.
Federici
couldnÕt be missed though, because his
spirit
seemed to be everywhere on the stage.
As usual
with a Springsteen show, there had
been a lot
of speculation about what songs might
be included
in the set. HeÕs opened many of the
shows on
this tour with ÒRadio Nowhere,Ó from
the Magic
album, but on this night it was clear
that
something special was in the air when the
opener was ÒTenth
Avenue Freeze Out,Ó a history
lesson on
the formation of the E Street Band.
Over the
course of the next three hours plus,
and 30
songs, the 58 year-old Springsteen
astonished
the sell-out crowd with unexpected
choices and
unholy energy. If there were lulls,
they were
few. There were stunning versions
of ÒMurder
Incorporated,Ó ÒYoungstown,Ó ÒAtlantic
City,Ó ÒTunnel
of Love,Ó ÒJungleland,Ó and ÒLast To
Die,Ó along
with set staples like ÒBadlands,Ó
ÒLonesome
Day,Ó and of course the state anthem,
ÒBorn To
Run.Ó The choice of ÒRosalitaÓ to close
the night
sent the crowd home happy.
Beyond all
expectation, the sound was actually
pretty good.
Special mention should be made of
the video
screens which let everyone in the
stadium get
a good look at the show. I donÕt know
who directed
the video shoot, but it was wonderful,
creating
cinematic art on-the-fly.
The years
have created a familiarity among
the
musicians in the E Street Band that results
in an
interplay that is almost telepathic, and
yet the
hunger to make each show special is
obviously
still intact. It is clear that these musicians
were born to
do this, but the joy written across
their faces
on a summer evening indicates that
itÕs never
grown old for them.
THE SET
LIST:
THE SET LIST:
ÒTenth Avenue Freeze-OutÓ
ÒRadio NowhereÓ
ÒLonesome DayÓ
ÒNo SurrenderÓ
ÒAdam Raised a CainÓ
ÒSpirit In the NightÓ
ÒSummertime BluesÓ
ÒBrilliant DisguiseÓ
ÒAtlantic CityÓ
ÒGrowinÕ UpÓ
ÒJaney DonÕt You Lose
HeartÓ
ÒIÕll Work For Your LoveÓ
ÒYoungstownÓ
ÒMurder IncorporatedÓ
ÒThe Promised LandÓ
ÒLivinÕ In the FutureÓ
ÒMaryÕs PlaceÓ
ÒWorking On the HighwayÓ
ÒTunnel Of LoveÓ
ÒThe RisingÓ
ÒLast To DieÓ
ÒLong Walk HomeÓ
ÒBadlandsÓ
ENCORES
ÒGirls In Their Summer
ClothesÓ
ÒJunglelandÓ
ÒBorn To RunÓ
ÒBobby JeanÓ
ÒDancing In the DarkÓ
ÒAmerican LandÓ
ÒRosalitaÓ
Bruce
Springsteen & The E Street Band
PHOTO BY
Daniel Elliot