
As I reported last
May, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band returned to the Meadowlands for five shows at Giants Stadium before it is torn down. I wanted to go, of course, and even had gone so far as to look for tickets and put them in the "cart" before deciding to think about it a little longer. Then they announced that he was coming to Madison Sq. Garden in November and I knew I wanted to go to that show, so I got tickets for MSG and decided to skip Giants Stadium.... Until.... I was listening to the radio yesterday morning and heard that he planned to play the entire

album of "
Born to Run" from beginning to end during the show. This is (probably) my favorite album of all time. Months ago, I heard that he was going to do this in Chicago and I thought that was a fantastic idea and I had to be a part of it. But again, I looked for tickets and then changed my mind before I actually went through with it. Now that I heard he was going to do
the same thing in my neck of the woods, that was all I needed. I got to work, found a ticket, and that was it. I was going that night! The only regret I had is that since I didn't know I was going before I left for work, I didn't bring my Jersey Girl shirt to change into (too cold anyway).
Typical things that happen at most of the shows, and this one is no different: I'm waiting in a long line for the bathroom and thus miss the band taking the stage, he starts off slow (read: boring) and ends on a high note which makes me want to go to the next show (e.g. Friday he's playing "
Darkness on the Edge of Town" from beginning to end--still tempted), I sit next to annoying people, he plays for over three hours and therefore I get home in the middle of the night.
Set list:
Wrecking Ball (
new for this show)
Seeds
Johnny 99
Atlantic City
Outlaw Pete
Hungry Heart (
here's where it starts to get good, according to me)
Working On A Dream
*Thunder Road (Track one, side one, Born to Run)
*Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
*Night
*Backstreets
*Born To Run
*She's The One
*Meeting Across The River
*Jungleland (Last song on Born to Run)
Waiting On A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Into The Fire
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Badlands
No Surrender (
then Pretends to leave, but dispenses with the formality and goes straight into the encore because "it's cold")
Raise Your Hand (
collects posters with song titles)
E Street Shuffle (
by request)
Growing Up (
by request -- my first time seeing him perform this one)
American Land
Dancin' In The Dark (
pulls up an old lady to dance with on stage -- quite a difference from Courteney Cox in the 1984 video)Hard Times
Rosalita
Highlights for me (i.e. the times I went totally mental): Jungleland, Thunder Road, Growing up, E Street Shuffle.