7/28/08 East Rutherford, NJ Giants StadiumI have seen Bruce in Cleveland for the Devils and Dust tour and in Philly for The River tour and I saw him pop in for a duet with Bono & U2 @ JFK on the Joshua Tree tour to perform Ben E. Kings Stand By Me. This was my 1st time to see him in NJ. Bruce and the E Street Band certainly know how to work an arena crowd.
Bruce is the working man's hero. The traffic to get to the venue was insane and with a scheduled 7:30 PM start time the anxieties were building as thousands of concert goers snaked their way through the maze of parking to get to the stadium. We arrived @ 8:30 and were shocked that the show had not started as it dawned on us that Bruce knew a prompt arrival was an impossibility given the new stadium construction coupled with northern NJ/NY traffic.
Bruce is a love hate relationship--either you love him or hate him and to be gathered with 50,000 plus that LOVE HIM was amazing.
There is so much to share of this show---Many bands today get pestered with requests of their favorites and Bruce's shows were no exception, watching his genuine ability to take the fans homemade signs and pile them up as he determined which of the signs he would honor was pure genius. He laughed and then picked the song the band would play next pleasing the crowd as few could do. By doing this the audience gets treated to some rarities that makes for a memorable concert for even the Springsteen groupies. Songs that were rarely performed that became part of the evening's set list - It's Hard To Be A Saint, Held Up Without A Gun , Because the Night & Sherry Darling.
The set list contained numerous songs from his recent album Magic which the crowd loved. Few established artists can play a good number of newly released songs and maintain a happy sing along crowd and in this case it was accomplished.
Highlights for me were Tunnel of Love with Bruce and wife Patti sharing a song that became a work of artistic beauty. I also thought the band's performance of She's the One was stunning. Other standouts from this Bruce fan were too numerous to document--Badlands and the newer tune Girls in Their Summer Clothes were also performed with heart & soul.
For a stadium venue there is not a whole lot of variations and Bruce and the E Street band were right at home. The performance was like being at a backyard kegger with everyone laughing and enjoying themselves. People of all ages were in attendance and the closing Beatles cover Twist and Shout was done family style with Bruce & Patti's daughter singing background vocals with her friends. Life is good.
I don't think you get a bad performance with Bruce. His storytelling lyrics combined with musical abilities are hard pressed to find an equal.
Just regular people....doing regular things.
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