Springsteen's Dream Still Works

The seats and floor section were both sparsely populated when the show was slated to start at 8 p.m., but filled in very quickly when the lights went down 15 minutes later and Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band launched into "Badlands." Practically the entire arena sang along and raised their arms in the air during the chorus, and saxophonist Clarence Clemons was given his first of many rousing ovations when he stepped into the spotlight for a solo.

Springsteen looked buff in jeans and a black T-shirt and vest and, briefly, a black cowboy hat during "Outlaw Pete," which has a very similar melody to KISS' "I Was Made For Loving You." The 59-year-old has to be fit for all the times he moved from side to side on the large stage and down on to the riser that led to the pit where all the hardcore fans stake out their turf for each show.

"Working On A Dream," the title track from his latest effort and one of my favourite Springsteen songs of recent vintage, worked really well. It also served as a platform for The Boss to make like a fervent southern preacher and deliver a spiel about building positive things. He didn't have to convert anyone in the arena to his cause, but he easily could have.

"Johnny 99" had a great honky-tonk vibe that had the crowd clapping along, and Nils Lofgren's steel guitar and Soozie Tyrell's violin gave it added vintage authenticity.

I'd previously heard "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" during Springsteen's 1996 Toronto Massey Hall show on the solo acoustic tour in support of the album of the same name. But with eight talented musicians and two backing singers behind him, the song became much more epic.

Springsteen started collecting signs with fan requests scrawled on them and, while he didn't take them all, there still must have been at least two dozen under his arm.

A spirited cover of the 1967 Eddie Floyd soul hit "Raise Your Hand" saw Springsteen climb on top of Roy Bittan's piano, and then he started granting wishes through the sign requests — beginning with the crowd-pleasing "The E Street Shuffle," where drummer Max Weinberg again proved he's much more powerful than he looks on Late Night With Conan O'Brien.

Weinberg played the entire show, unlike recent concerts when he's stepped down part-way through to let his 18-year-old son Jay bash away. The youngster will take over full-time on the European leg of this tour while his dad fulfills his television commitments with Conan, and he's being broken in before then so he'll be fully prepared when he's on his own.

Clemons' sax solo and Bittan's piano work shone on fan request "Prove It All Night," while the person who submitted "Louie Louie" must have done so with guitarist and garage rock saviour "Little Steven" Van Zandt in mind.

Springsteen and Van Zandt both strapped on acoustic guitars for "Waitin' On A Sunny Day," and the song worked much better live than on record. "The Promised Land" has always worked in every context, and tonight was no different, with New Jersey's favourite son wailing away on harmonica.

Things toned down for another request, "Racing In The Street," which was powerful despite its restraint. The new "Kingdom Of Days" — which Springsteen dedicated to his wife and E Street Band member Patti Scialfa, who was absent because she's still recovering from falling off a horse — didn't add much to the proceedings.

"Radio Nowhere," one of Springsteen's best recent rockers, picked things up a notch again. It was followed by "Lonesome Day" and "The Rising" from the album that shares that second song's title, and one that I found relatively disappointing.

But the set ended in a big way, and with all the house lights on so you could fully experience how excited people were, with "Born To Run." Springsteen let audience members maul his guitar, but the rest of the band remained as tight as that tiny gap between my teeth that keeps snapping off my dental floss.

There was a front-of-stage bow by the band members prior to a brief wander backstage before they returned for the encore.

Springsteen has been a longtime supporter of FoodShare, a non-profit community organization that strives to provide healthy food for those in need, and he dedicated the first number — a cover of Stephen Foster's 1854 song, "Hard Times Come Again No More" — to it. The two backing singers came to the front and added a gospel choir-like element to the song, while Charles Giordano (who became a full-time E Street Band member a year ago after the death of Danny Federici) came out from behind his organ to play accordion.

Things then moved forward 120 years to the brilliant Born To Run standout, "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." Van Zandt picked up the mandolin for "Land Of Hope And Dreams," and things became even more rustic with The Seeger Sessions' "American Land." Giordano and Bittan both played accordion and Tyrell bowed her violin to help create a Celtic atmosphere that had folks happily clapping and jigging along.

The house lights came up completely again to allow fans to bask in the glory of "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)," which may have been the highest of many concert highlights. It was followed by "Glory Days," wherein Springsteen and Van Zandt came together at the microphone like they had numerous times earlier. But this time instead of singing, they announced that it wasn't "quitting time, it was Boss time."

But after 165 minutes, it was quitting time. So this wasn't one of the four-hour shows that Springsteen and his comrades used to play and which helped establish their legendary status three decades ago. But considering the youngest musician on stage was 52, and that most of them are on the cusp of 60 (which Clemons passed seven years ago), it was a pretty amazing performance.

There was energy and virtuosity and, in the end, there was love. It was evident in the passion Springsteen performed with, and perhaps even more in the devotion displayed by his loyal followers.

You can see photos of the concert here.

Here's the set list:

"Badlands"
"No Surrender"
"Outlaw Pete"
"She's The One"
"Working On A Dream"
"Seeds"
"Johnny 99"
"The Ghost Of Tom Joad"
"Raise Your Hand"
"The E Street Shuffle"
"Prove It All Night"
"Louie Louie"
"Waitin' On A Sunny Day"
"The Promised Land"
"Racing In The Street"
"Kingdom Of Days"
"Radio Nowhere"
"Lonesome Day"
"The Rising"
"Born To Run"

Encore:
"Hard Times Come Again No More"
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out"
"Land Of Hope And Dreams"
"American Land"
"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"
"Glory Days"