I had a nice dinner with Ben Marzouk before the concert. Unfortunately that meant I missed the first five songs! He usually starts earlier than other performers, but I was shocked he did all that before 8:45. I was especially disappointed to have missed “Badlands.” I hoped he’d make up for it with “Jungleland” later, but he didn’t.
The quiet highlight of the night was “The Wrestler.” As I was writing my Death Cab and Jack Johnson reviews, I started to believe that low key songs were not meant to be heard live – that they will always pale in comparison to the version on the album. Bruce proved me wrong. The live “Wrestler” was even better than the album version, given greater poignancy by the fact he was sharing Mickey Rourke’s story with 16,000 people – who never said a word.
The exuberant highlight of the night was “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.” Outside of a concert, it’s not a song I particularly like to listen to. Like “Workin’ on a Dream,” it’s too straightforward to capture my attention – to make me want to listen again. In concert, though, it was a joy. He turned on the lights well before “Born to Run,” believably connected it to the economy, and had this adorable little girl sing along. Similarly, he allowed Max Weinberg’s son Jay to play the drums for “Promised Land” and the remaining ten songs. What a guy…
Grade:A-
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