Bruce Springsteen rocks Giants Stadium with entire Born to Run album on Wednesday night

By Stan Goldstein
Newark Star-Ledger
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/
October 01, 2009, 3:32AM

A good night of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for the first of five shows at Giants Stadium on Wednesday night. A 29-song show that lasted 3 hours and 14 minutes, one of the longest shows timewise of this tour.

It was nice to have the show start off with a new song. I believe it's the first time Bruce has played a unreleased song (not including Working On A Dream which he played at a political rally last year) since debuting "Long Walk Home" with the Sessions Band in London in November of 2006.

Of course the highlight of the evening was hearing the entire "Born To Run" album from start to finish as well as a clasic 1978-style story in the middle of "Growin' Up."

The big video screens (two high-definitions on each side of the stage) showed Bruce and the band approaching the stage at 8:15 p.m.

Nils and Roy came out first, followed by Max, Cindy, Curtis, Soozie, Charlie and Garry Tallent who was wearing a black fedora hat, sort of something you would have seen on the River Tour. Then Steve came out.

Curt Ramm, the trumpet player who was on the Seeger Sessions tour and who was among the horn section at the Super Bowl, was also on stage.
Last out were Clarence and Bruce.

Show began at 8:18 p.m.

"Good evening New Jersey. Nice to be in my backyard. Join us tonight to shut the old lady down. We had a lot of great nights here and hope to have another one tonight," Bruce said.

"Here's something I wrote for tonight."

1. Wrecking Ball

A new song, and that is the name. I saw a handwritten setlist after the show.
Bruce sounchecked the song last week in Chicago.

They put the words to the songs on the big screens so people could follow along.

Some of the lines:

"My home is here in these Meadowlands. Where the mosquitoes grow as big as airplanes." .... Bring on your wrecking ball!" Hard times come, hard times go, bring on the wrecking ball." It's a nice ballad and a tribute to Giants Stadium. The Jets and Giants are mentioned in the song.

Kurt Ramm's trumpet added a lot to the song. The song was soundchecked several times in the afternoon.

After the song was over, the video screen kept the words up to the next song which read: "Badlands, Key of E" but instead Bruce played;

2. Seeds

Usual hot guitar work by Bruce

3. Johnny 99

With the "woo! woo!" parts. Steve and Bruce have a lot of fun playing the guitar together toward the end and were working the crowd. During Nils' guitar solo, Bruce was splashing him with the sponge.

4. Atlantic City

Always great to hear this at a New Jersey show. Crowd reacted well to it.

5. Outlaw Pete

Big screen above and behind stage showed Western scenes and at one point a blood red sky.. This song really hasn't changed much live since the start of the tour. Nice to see Bruce do the "Can You Hear Me" parts at the end to a huge stadium crowd.

6. Hungry Heart

A song Bruce has rediscovered lately, playing it at a lot of shows. He actually got off the stage and sang down the sides of the pit and into the back of the pit, all the way around to the other side and back up the opposite side of the stage.

He has been doing this at the arena shows lately, but to see him do it in a huge stadium pit is really amazing. When he was done he got back up on the stage and collapsed on his back, then got up and took a bow.

I've seen Bruce doing a lot of crazy stuff over the years and this was right up there. Pretty amazing.

7. Working on a Dream

The video screens showed stars in the sky.

"Good evening New Jersey. North to South, East to West it feels so good to be home," Bruce said.
"The mighty E Street Band has been on tour all year practicing for this moment."

Next up was the start of playing the complete "Born To Run" album in order.

"We were thinking of some things to make Giants Stadium special," Bruce said. "We had a lof of great nights here. Friday we're going to play "Darkness." Saturday, "Born In the U.S.A." top to finish. And tonight ..."

He said nothing more as the stadium went crazy and Bruce played the harmonica for the start of:

8. Thunder Road

What can I say. A classic. Is it ever bad in concert. No. And to hear it start off "Born To Run" brings us all back to 1975 when the album came out and we drop it on our turntables to play. And the 8-Track tapes and casettes.

9. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out

Bruce worked the crowd at the start to get them going. Kurt played trumpet along side Clarence on the sax.

At the end, Bruce was at the left-stage extension into the pit and someone handed him a beer. He took it and drank it.

10. Night

Bruce gave Clarence a high-five at the end.

11. Backstreets

Another song that takes me back to high school and the 1970s. Gave me chills tonight hearing it in the album seequence. Another masterpiece.

Bruce did a little rap in the middle of the song, "Just you and me baby until the end...."

12. Born to Run

So strange to see this is the middle of the set but so much fun too. House lights came up. The entire stadium appeared to be on their feet.

"Jersey! Jersey!" Bruce yelled during the song.

13. She's the One

Bruce switched guitars during the middle and through his one guitar to tech Kevin Buell who made a nice one-handed catch.

14. Meeting Across the River

The highlight of the evening for me and a very moving moment.

This is my favorite Springsteen song. The lyric: "Change your shirt, 'cause tonight we got style" is my favorite line of any song Bruce or non-Bruce.

Tonight it was Bruce, Garry on the bass, Roy on piano and Curt on the trumpet. Just beautiful, magical, amazing.

What can I say. I had tears in my eyes at the end, something that rarely happens to me. I was that moved.

Best version I've ever seen of it in concert.

15. Jungleland

Meeting into Jungleland. Just like the album, just like it's been played at times during past tours.
Very strong version of Jungeland. Clarence nailed the sax solo just like he always does.

A very moving moment when Jungleland finished. Bruce brought out to the front of the stage Clarence, Max, Roy, Garry and Steve.

"These are the guys who made the magic. And Phanton Dan Federdici," Bruce said, choking up a bit when he mentioned Danny.

"Now get back to work. Get your asses back to your instruments" he then joked.

16. Waitin' on a Sunny Day

OK, back to reality. I think most diehards wish for something else here but it does work well with a stadium crowd for the most part.

Bruce made a long guitar toss to tech Kevin Buell who was able to catch it, but it wasn't easy. "That's a nice" Bruce said after Kevin's catch.

Bruce brought onstage Spenceer, a 12-year-old boy from Jackson, N.J. to sing along. He did it very well.

17. The Promised Land

Not much to say. Always a classic. Been played at every show this tour.

18. Into the Fire

Bruce played this in Des Moines last week. One of the highlights of the show. A very good song for Curtis and Cindy to contribute on and you can hear them pretty well.

Long, haunting intro by Bruce, had many trying to figure out what the song was.

Very happy to see this back in the setlist.

19. Lonesome Day

A song that needs to take a break from the setlist, but the crowd does get into it.

20. The Rising

I do like hearing this but again this has been played with Lonesome Day the entire tour. Needs to be mixed up.

21. Badlands

This was the second song on the handwritten setlist but was an audible here. "Land of Hope and Dreams" or "Born In the U.S.A." were in this spot on the handwritten setlist.

22. No Surrender

An audible. Not on the setlist. Bruce wanted to keep the crowd going. Even started the finish of the song again to keep it going.

Encores:

"It's too cold to stop" Bruce said. "I've got two words, no three words: Play it Steve!"

23. Raise Your Hand (collecting signs)

Bruce brought out a sign that read: "It's Boss time" and placed it in front of his microphone and a "I (heart) Stevie" and put it in front of his microphone.

Bruce looked at one sign and said "that's too old!" The request was for "Jennifer" a Steel Mill song.

They did play the entire "Raise Your Hand" tonight, it was not just the instrumental version. Bruce jumped on the piano toward the end of the song and then came up to the front center extension and started to sign "I believe in miracles! Where you from?" a few times from the 1970s "You Sexy Thing" song by Hot Chocolate.

24. E Street Shuffle (sign request)

Bruce has fun, crowd has fun. Curt back onstage to play the trumpet. Worked well with Clarence's sax.

At the end Bruce was saying: "Just a dance you do everyday to get through the bull****."

25. Growin' Up (sign request)

The sign was great, it was a picture of different Bruce albums and different pictures of Bruce through the years.

What made this so great tonight was that Bruce broke into a story in the middle of the song, just like he did on the Darkness Tour in 1978.

See if I can get most of the story:

"Hey C!" Bruce yelled to Clarence. "I had the weirdest dream I ever had. It's one of those dreams that make you shudder. You wake up and go 'Oh (****)!" that you thank Jesus it wasn't real.

"I was back in my house and there was a lot of people. A ****load of people. It was filled with all my relatives. All the relatives I had since I lived in Freehold. It was a bigger population than all of Freehold!

I'm walking through thye house and all the lights go out. Then there's this cake with 60 ***** candles on it."

The crowd then started to sing "Happy Birthday" to Bruce.

Story continues:

"There are thousands of people reminding me of something I was trying to forget. I woke up and then when I woke up... "

He then broke back into signing "I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere and you know it's really hard to hold your breath."

It was great and a lot of fun.

26. American Land

Willie Nile came on stage to play guitar.

Fireworks were set off from the side of the stage during the "E Street Band!" part at the end.

"That's right, we splurged for fireworks" Bruce said to the crowd.

27. Dancing in the Dark

Bruce brought up a woman to dance with him.

Bruce looked like he was ready to play another sign request (it was "Jersey Girl") and he was taking his time looking at it. But he did not play it.

"Hope you packed a lunch" Steven joked to the crowd as Bruce took a few seconds to get ready.

"Thank you. We got a few left." said Bruce as he wanted Willie Nile to come back onstage "It's only got three chords!"

Bruce then went into a bit of a PSA, taking more this tour than any other time about some current issues.

He mentioned how people are needing work and said "Mr. President. Put us back to work." "

He talked about how years ago when he would play "Born To Run" he would always say "Nobody wins unless everybody wins." But he stopped saying that a while back .

He said the middle class was squeezed under the Reagan administration abd the there should be affordable health care for all.

28. Hard Times

At the end of the song he again said: "Nobody wins unless everybody wins."

29. Rosalita

"i'm going to send Rosalita out to Patti, where ever you are come out tonight. She'll be here on Friday," Bruce said.

At the end he said "Patti come out tonight!"

Show over at 11:32 p.m.

Bruce was the last to leave the stage.

Fun show, great at times.

Stadium looked to be mostly full.

Only thing on the handwritten setlist that wasn't played was "41 Shots." It was listed with a ? in the spot after Promised Land.

GA process ran pretty well. A little mixup as they were allowing people in the stadium, but it was corrected pretty quickly.

A cool night at Giants Stadium. It was actually cooler in the afternoon but it did warm up by showtime.

Definitely jacket weather though.

"Long Walk Home" and "Last to Die" was also soundchecked.

Next show: Friday at Giants Stadium. I'll be there.