Springsteen: Can You Feel The Spirit?

By Paul Gotham

Life is not meant to be lived in a straight line. Each of us gets a starting point, and ultimately there is an end. The path taken between those points should include plenty of twists, turns, hills, and valleys. It is these detours that make life worth living.

Sunday night, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band delivered the power of rock ‘n roll with a 34-song performance taking congregants on a wild romp that deviated  from any possible linear connections. Someone could calculate the total time of the set’s studio versions. But there is no need. The sum would fall far short of what Bruce and the band busted out at the tour’s finale.

A set consisting of  favorites, obscure songs, new hits, old hits, covers, and sing-alongs left the  capacity crowd drained of any and all emotions.

The complete performance of Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. proved just another example of Springsteen’s ability to play the heck out of any song. For the last two months, the E Street Band has performed a variety of complete albums –The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, Born To Run, Darkness on the Edge of  Town, The River, and Born in the U.S.A.. But on this night Springsteen performed his 1973 release for the first time.  The album took on a new life powered by the E Street Band.

After a playful rendition of “Blinded By Light,” the Boss returned to old form during “Growin’ Up” with a story about first meeting Clarence Clemons. With tale completed, the two struck their Born To Run pose. Bruce followed with a stark version of ‘Mary Queen of Arkansas.’ Nils Lofgren accompanied on harp. “Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?” felt like a romp in a sea side bar.

Bruce quickly changed tone as the band transitioned to “Lost in the Flood.” If not clear before, Bruce gave Nils the night off on lead guitar and ripped into a stunning end which reached epic proportions. The result left many in awe wondering where this came from, and where has it been hiding?

Prior to the show, Sparky mentioned that “The Angel” had never been performed live. Another reviewer suggested one occurrence of this haunting tune. For my money, I’m going with Sparky’s account. Roy Bittan on piano and a guest performer on viola held the intimacy of this song. A slight smile by Springsteen in its last moments gave approval.

Three decades later, Springsteen still feels the urgency of “For You.” From there things turned raucous as Charles Giordano played those familiar opening notes to “Spirit In The Night.” JD has aptly dubbed this classic as the ultimate Springsteen stomp. With a tight groove that leaves room for spontaneity “Spirit’ draws in everyone.  “It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City” closed out the album. Bruce and Little Steve Van Zandt dueled guitars.

The night opened with the spit-in-your-eye “Wrecking Ball” – “come on and take your best shot, let me see what you got.” Curt Ramm’s trumpet playing on this song lived up to its billing.

Bruce wasted little time launching into a pair from The River: “The Ties That Bind” and “Hungry Heart.” Yes, the 60-year old had a blast surfing on the hands of his disciples.

After Greetings, the band kicked it back into the set with “Waitin’ On A Sunny Day.” Bruce grabbed a littlun from the pit and let her sing the chorus on stage. The Boss quieted the crowd, so the girl’s voice could be clearly heard. From there, Bruce counted off and into “The Promised Land” – “Mister I ain’t boy. No, I’m a man. And I believe in the Prah-ah-ah-mised land.”

Birthday greetings were in order. Bruce dug into his bag of tricks for birthday boy-Steve’s fav: “Restless Nights” (I must have heard some bad information along the way because I thought “Fade Away” was Steve’s top of the list). The jingle-jangle melody of “Surprise Surprise” continued in honor of Steve’s day.

“Green Onions” accompanied the request section. As Bruce collected signs, I wondered if this ritual started in Rochester when the Boss took a sign during the encores and sang of a certain senorita. Feeling the yuletide spirit, the band took a moment to decide the right key before grooving into “Merry Christmas Baby” followed by “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town.”  Another request left Bruce cursing a pair ‘stalkers’ intent on stumping the band. After fumbling for the words, Bruce bopped into a version of “I Don’t Wanna Hang Up My Rock’n Roll Shoes” with a “Smokin’ In The Boys’ Room” feel. Another request and more tasty licks on the ax as the Boss nailed John Lee Hooker’s, “Boom Boom Boom Boom.”

Requests finished. The band exploded into “My Love Will Not Let You Down.” Props to JD for recognizing this gem after just a couple of notes. “Love” was released as part of the Tracks compilation.  Max Weinberg and Gary Tallent pounded out the rhythm.

Steve bore his soul for “Long Walk Home” before the tone turned to a revival. Bruce led everyone through the title track from The Rising. House lights went on, and “Born To Run” thundered down upon us – “will you walk with me out on the wire. ‘Cause baby, I’m just a scared and lonely rider.”

No stopping at this point, Bruce gave the cue, and the intro started: “Is there anybody alive out there? Let me tell ya the story of the band! Teardrops on the city Bad Scooter searching for his groove.”

On to the encores – Bruce thanked his fans playing “I’ll Work For Your Love” – “Pour me a drink Theresa in one of  those glasses you dust off…”

An emotional version of “Thunder Road” followed.  Kick it up a notch, bring the band front and center and let fly “American Land.”  Then came “Dancing in the Dark” leading into “Rosalita.”

Just when everyone thought there couldn’t be any more, Bruce led into “Higher and Higher.”  Cindy Mizelle, Curtis King, and Soozie Tyrell joined Bruce at the back of the pit. Cindy took the lead on vocals for a verse.

Bruce dismissed all rumors of the band’s retirement closing with a raucous version of “Rockin’ All Over The World” – cheers to Dooley for picking up on this John Fogerty classic. Anyone in attendance could recognize that is a band happy with their existence and ready for more.

The band made their way to the front of the stage for a bow. One by one they exited – Bruce the last to leave. With guitar in hand he turned for a moment and shot a grin as if he was thinking of taking the mike for another. Then he thought better of it.

We made our way to the exits wondering what just hit us – another circuitous route courtesy of Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.

By the end of the night a sign had made its way to the stage: It’s only rock ‘n roll. But it feels like love (taken from Springsteen’s eulogy for Danny Federici). Yeah, and what a great ride. The power of of the music according to the gospel of the E Street Band. I’m a healed!!!

I like it; I like it; I like it; I like it; I la la like it la la like it; here we go-oh…