The best part of this Bruce concert: seeing it with Jim Andrukonis. So often shows get marred by lifeless ‘fans’ around you. This show got made by Jim, a lifelong fan who ended up singing, dancing, and jumping even more than me!
Below is an annotated breakdown of the night, the 4th night on the year-long River tour:
--- “Meet Me In The City.” It wasn’t easy to meet Bruce there, considering the snafu on the metro, and the long, cold lines to get in, but we made it.
--- Hushed story intro to the River album. “I wrote it to contain all -- for everything to belong.” “You belong here!” screams the row in front of us.
--- Yay, lights go down for “The Ties That Bind.”
--- The nosebleed crowd around me is awesome, including Jim. “Sherry Darling” is the rip roar it's supposed to be.
--- “Jackson Cage”…happened.
--- Should have done the acoustic version of “Two Hearts,” but the extended Stevie ending was cool.
--- Yay, story intro to “Independence Day.” Felt good to pull back and reflect.
--- “Hungry Heart” crowd surf!!! At 67!
--- “Out in the Street”! Forget “Meet Me in the City”; this is the start of the show.
--- “Crush On You” is more spirited/enjoyable than anticipated. He's throwing down!
--- HA, great verbal sparring with Stevie during “You Can Look.”
--- “I Will Marry You” features a moving intro. “I wrote this song in a daydream. I wrote this about a life without consequence. That life doesn't exist, but hey, that's youth.”
--- A minute from now, I will hear the first Bruce Springsteen song I ever heard performed live for the first time. This is going to be one long minute. Thanks, Jim for sharing the moment here tonight, and Mike for first sharing it all those years ago.
--- The higher-pitched coos and harmonica added at the end of “The River” are great additions.
--- “Point Blank”: whoa, dark instrumentation's way better than expected.
--- “Cadillac Ranch”: so! catchy!
--- “I'm a Rocker”: much more energetic than the album. “Fade Away” still fits its title. “Stolen Car” has a much clearer vocal and vibe.
--- “Ramrod” always feels like a watered-down “Cadillac Ranch,” but Jake Clemons makes it fun. As does Bruce telling us (no, commanding us!) to “shake our booty.”
--- “The Price You Pay”: meh until halfway through when the backing stops, his two fingers go up, and it gets real. Love how Jim is playing all the instruments with his hands!
--- “DRIVE ALL NIGHT.” Thanks to Mary Verbesey Fehse, the emotional high point for me.
--- “Wreck on the Highway”: yes, the 20-song album march is done. How's he going to bust out with the first non-album song? The suspense...
--- HA, as a young man, Jim heard “Darlington County” as Arlington County as he drove into Arlington!
--- I'm starting to get swept up, so I even like “Prove It All Night.” Great Nils guitar solo!!
--- “Promised Land” is no “Badlands,” but the harmonica and “go away” parts are great.
--- I don't even know or like “Tougher than the Rest,” but I love that he's not just churning out predictability. He probably made some fan's day by playing it.
--- “Wrecking Ball,” “The Rising,” and “Thunder Road” trifecta!
--- Bruce shares that some guy pushed a wheelchair 70 miles across America. Whoa.
--- “No Surrender”! Great electro shift halfway through. “Born to Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and “Rosalita” followed. Not a huge fan of the alternate “Shout” ending, but the show overall, as usual, was a pleasure.
Grade: A
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