The Newark Star-Ledger
http://www.nj.com/starledger/
Monday July 28, 2008, 3:38 PM
TONY KURDZUK/THE STAR-LEDGERBruce Springsteen reaches out into the crowd as he performs with the E-Street Band at Giants Stadium on Sunday night.
For most rock musicians, it would have been enough: 29 songs, spread over more than three hours. But after playing "American Land," the 29th song of his Sunday night concert at Giants Stadium, Bruce Springsteen couldn't resist adding one more: fan favorite "Rosalita."
It was a perfect ending to a generous and high-spirited show, the first of three Springsteen and his E Street Band will present at the stadium this week. The second was scheduled for last night; the third will be on Thursday.
It was an overstuffed show -- and that's a compliment. Springsteen and the band -- who kicked off the final leg of their 2007-08 "Magic Tour" with this show -- played for three hours and 12 minutes, giving themselves time for a bit of everything. They mixed decades-old material with their most recent tunes; greatest hits with obscurities; party songs with anthems of anger and desperation. There were peaks and valleys, but no throwaways. Everyone sounded totally committed to everything.
Springsteen was in constant motion. On "Mary's Place," he slid across the front of the stage, on his knees. At the end of "Rosalita," he dropped to the floor and spun around as he played his guitar. On a handful of songs, he ventured out onto a small ramp that extended into the audience. The entire band, except for drummer Max Weinberg, joined him there for part of the Celtic-rock song "American Land" (with keyboardists Roy Bittan and Charles Giordano pumping accordions).
Thunderstorms hit the area earlier in the day, but by the time the show started, the sky was clear and the air was pleasantly cool. The 55,000 capacity crowd was with Springsteen from the first note; even before he began singing show-opener "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," they were singing along with the band, enthusiastically.
"Can you feel the spirit?" Springsteen asked, like a gospel preacher, before "Spirit in the Night." Before an elongated version of "Mary's Place," he asked "Are you ready for a house party?", but then said it was really the audience's responsibility: "We can only take you so far."A cover of Eddie Cochran's rockabilly classic "Summertime Blues," featuring saxophonist Clarence Clemons on the comical bass vocals ("I'd like to help you, son, but you're too young to vote!"), came off like loose garage-rock. That's a compliment, too.
"Growin' Up" was performed at the request of a fan, who wrote the title on a sign along with the words "10 Yr. Old Fan" and "P.S.: My Name Is Rosie." Springsteen noted that the song was written a quarter century before she was born. The next song, "Janey Don't You Lose Heart," was a request-via-sign too.
The show's most impressive guitar solos came on "Youngstown" and the song that followed it, "Murder Incorporated." Guitarist Nils Lofgren was given his longest showcase of the night on the former, while Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt traded memorable solos on the latter.
"Tunnel of Love" and "Brilliant Disguise" spotlighted Patti Scialfa's backing vocals, while Van Zandt had an emotive soul-vocal segment during "Long Walk Home."
Even before "Rosalita," the encores were special, with the band investing the moody epic "Jungleland" with all the majesty it requires, and roaring through Springsteen signature tunes "Born To Run" (with the house lights on) and "Dancing in the Dark" (faster and more propulsive than the studio version).
There was a significant difference between this show and the three the band presented at the nearby Izod Center (then still called the Continental Airlines Arena) at the start of the tour, in September and October.
Those concerts were more focused on Springsteen's new (at the time) "Magic" album, with between seven and nine "Magic" songs per night. Sunday's show, though substantially longer, had only six.
Taking requests via signs, which Springsteen has been doing since March, adds to the intimacy of a show, even in a stadium.
Mostly, though -- and this happens on every E Street tour -- the band simply gets better as it goes along, weeding out the songs that aren't working, focusing out the ones that do, and taking more chances. This has been a bittersweet tour, with the death of original E Street keyboardist Danny Federici, in April, adding a sense of loss. But it's hard to imagine the band playing better, or meaning more to its longtime fans, than it does right now.
Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerBruce Springsteen sings out into the crowd as he performs with the E Street Band at Giants Stadium this evening.
Setlist:
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-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"
Encores:
"Girls In Their Summer Clothes"
"Jungleland"
"Born To Run"
"Bobby Jean"
"Dancing In the Dark"
"American Land"
"Rosalita"
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Where: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford.
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday. How much: $65 and $95. Call (201) 507-8900 or visit ticketmaster.com
Jay Lustig may be reached at jlustig@starledger.com or (973) 392-5850.
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