Talk about leaving it all on stage.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, live, Giants Stadium. Three hours and 15 minutes of rock ‘n’ roll, 28 songs and he looked like he could have kept going. Me, not so much. I’m wiped out today, with a torn-up set of vocal chords, sore knees and hands and — man I must be getting old.
But not Bruce. The man will be 59 in September and he has more stamina than most professional athletes. He ran through this massive set with only one ballad (the emotionally exhausting “Drive All Night”) and one break. And there was no doubt he was enjoying himself, perhaps even more than the 60,000 or so in the stadium.
Some other thoughts:
- Nils Lofgren may be the most unheralded great guitar player on the planet. His solos on “Tunnel of Love” and “Because the Night” (including a sick forward somersault completed without missing a note) are hard to describe they were so good.
- It was nearly 90 degrees and there was Clarence in a big slouch hat looking like he was sitting in air-conditioning — only “The Big Man” could have pulled that off.
- It was Springsteen family night, with Patti Scialfa celebrating a birthday (today) and daughter Jessica joining the band on stage for an encore. Plus, Jay Weinberg, Mighty Max’s son, took over the drum kit for “Born to Run” and showed he might be ready to step in should daddy opt to retire from the E Streeters and limit himself to his gig with Conan O’Brien.
- Taking requests by placard was an interesting touch.
- I’d never seen him do “Tunnel of Love,” “Because the Night,” “Held Up Without a Gun” or “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” before. “Saint” was the highlight for me in a show filled with highlights.
- The crowd seemed a bit antsy when he introduced “Livin’ in the Future” by criticizing the Bush administration for eight years of calumny. That’s OK. It needed to be said.
- On “Twist and Shout,” which closed the show, a pair of rockers who Bruce has lent helping hands to — Jesse Malin (Bruce duets with him on Malin’s “Broken Radio” on Malin’s latest disc) and Dave Bielanko of Marah — returned the favor (I learned this from Backstreets — we were too far from the stage to make out who was playing and I couldn’t understand what Bruce said when he thanked them).
Here’s the set list:
Out in the Street; Radio Nowhere; No Surrender; Two Hearts; The Promised Land; Hungry Heart; Summertime Blues; Tunnel of Love; Held Up Without a Gun; It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City; Sherry Darling; Waitin’ on a Sunny Day; Because the Night; She’s the One; Livin’ in the Future; Mary’s Place; Drive All Night; The Rising; Last to Die; Long Walk Home; Badlands
Encore: (Happy Birthday to Patti sung with the crowd); Girls in Their Summer Clothes; Thunder Road; Detroit Medley; Born to Run; Glory Days; American Land; Twist and Shout
Here is what Backstreets magazine had to say about last night’s show:
Notes: Night two at Giants Stadium, and another show to crack the three-hour mark, at 28 songs. Well, 29, if you count “Happy Birthday” — more on that in a sec. In all, it was a more fun, upbeat show than opening night, with lots of goofing around from Bruce. Everyone was on top of their game, with some choice rarities and some special guests, too.
During “Summertime Blues” Bruce began the nightly sign collection — “Send ’em down!” he chanted. Flipping through them after “Tunnel,” he found one to his liking, for a song previously only played twice ever: “Held Up Without a Gun.” “That’s a good sign for Steve,” he said, cackling, and went on: “I’m gonna dedicate this to what it cost you guys to drive here! We’re getting screwed somehow… This song was written in 1980 — and it was prophetic.” After blasting through all two minutes of it, Bruce hollered, “Goodnight everybody! That said it all!”
But there were more goodies to come — “Saint in the City” was next, and with some confusion about the key, it veered dangerously toward train-wreck territory… before Bruce and Steve shredded on an amazing guitar duel that salvaged it all and then some. As for guitar-work, Nils had a great night too — most astoundingly, pulling off a forward somersault in the middle of his “Because the Night” solo, playing straight through.
Some intra-family dedications, as “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” went out to Sam and Evelyn — “That’s for my boy,” Bruce reiterated at the end. After “Drive All Night” made its U.S. tour debut, an occasion in and of itself, Bruce added another dedication, turning to Patti to say, “Happy birthday, babe.” To start the encore he encouraged a serenade, saying, “Tomorrow’s my baby’s birthday, so go right ahead…” The 50,000-strong New Jersey crowd offered up a weak rendition of “Happy Birthday.” “That’s terrible!” Bruce said, and so he sang it himself as the band joined in to play along. On the “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” that followed, Bruce came down to sing and dance with daughter Jessica, too.
“Detroit Medley” always rocks the house, but the real highlight of the encore was when Bruce said “We’ve got the next generation!” and welcomed Max’s son, Jay Weinberg, who took over the kit for “Born to Run.” Mighty ambitious, you might think… but mighty seems to run in the family. Jay kicked ass — he’s got the power, and Max looked on with pride.
One more after “American Land” (“I don’t wanna hurt nobody — I want everyone to go home happy!”), and tonight it was the stadium-wrecker, “Twist and Shout.” Jesse Malin and Marah’s Dave Bielanko came on stage for the show-closer, and the birthday girl was joined at the mic by Jessica and some of her friends too. Happy birthday, Patti!
The Star-Ledger has video of the show, with its report.
On a related note — the people who manage traffic at Giants Stadium must be hired by James Dolan of Knicks fame. I mean, man, it took us two and a half hours to get from our house to Giants Stadium, where were forced to park on the top floor of a four-story parking. Then, when it was time to leave, we couldn’t. It probably took more than an hour just to get out of the deck. We didn’t get home until about 2:30.
As I said, incompetence.
Hank Kalet 