Newsday
6:15 AM EDT, March 11, 2008
Of all the feats Bruce Springsteen has mastered over the course of his 35-year career, perhaps the most frequently overlooked has been his ability to trick perception. He's got the ability to make small dreams -- like blowing out of a matchbox town and winning the heart of a beautiful girl -- seem like epic quests. He's likewise able to make reversals -- like national tragedies and open-ended wars -- seem thoroughly surmountable.
He's also got the ability to make a three-hour concert feel like it's whizzed by in 10 minutes, which was just one of the skills on display at Nassau Coliseum Monday night. Opening with a searing run through "Night" -- one of those songs about tiny towns and beautiful girls -- Springsteen and the E Street Band delivered an arena show that felt by turns both spectacular and intimate.
Three decades into a near-perfect career, with a reputation for raucous and roof-raising performances, the question is no longer, "Were they good?" The question is, "How good were they?"
Well, here's the answer: on Monday night, they were very good. Though they were down original two members -- Springsteen's wife, guitarist Patti Scialfa, was home with their teenage sons and keyboardist Danny Federici is on a leave of absence as he undergoes treatment for cancer -- the band still ignited early and often.
Monday's show was the sixth on the summer leg of Springsteen's tour in support of "Magic," a record that grows in character and nuance with each listen. As the concert progressed, a clear and deliberate narrative began to emerge. After a barnstorming opening, the show settled into a string of dark, searching songs. The set seemed to be arranged as a series of questions and answers: "The Promised Land," which longs for an ideal nation, came on the heels of "Livin' in the Future," a deceptively riotous song Springsteen introduced by saying, "What's been done in the past seven years in this country has been an affront to the Constitution."
"The Rising," a glimmering gospel number written in the wake of September 11th, was followed by "Last to Die," a grim, blistering critique of the Iraq War built around the repeated question, "Who'll be the last to die for a mistake?" "Magic" became a windswept prairie ballad, sewn up by Springtseen's acoustic guitar and Soozie Tyrell's weeping violin. By the time they arrived at "Badlands," which was given riotous, volcanic treatment, it felt like blessed absolution.
If the bulk of the show was dedicated to optimism in the face of darkness, the encore was pure revelry. The group turned in an incendiary performance of the rarely-played "Ramrod," and dove headlong into a speedy, sweltering run through "Dancing in the Dark."
On the surface, it's a song about gnawing dissatisfaction and romantic longing, but in this context, following so many songs about global and personal crisis, it seemed to take on a new meaning. If "Magic" outlined the problem, this delivered the antidote: three minutes of pure bliss in increasingly stormy times. Dancing in the dark, indeed.
Setlist:
Night
Radio Nowhere
Adam Raised a Cain
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason to Believe
Because the Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
The Promised Land
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Incident on 57th Street
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Jungleland
Born to Run
Ramrod
Dancing in the Dark
American Land
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