Number 201

 Bruce

In March, 2023, I will go to see Bruce Springsteen (& the E Street Band) for probably the last time. I spent way too much for the tickets; but when I reflect back on how significant his music has been to me over my life, the experience of seeing him live one more time is, as the commercial says, "priceless." Cindy will be coming with me. She knows very little about Bruce or his music. As she's never seen him live before, I'm almost jealous of her - you only get to experience your first Bruce show once.

What's that? You've never seen him either? You think he's an over-rated has been with gravel for a voice, or that he used to be okay before he became a liberal shill? That's okay. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. You're wrong, of course, but that's an issue for another day.

Actually, I'm of the opinion that Bruce is merely a cult artist (as opposed to a main stream superstar). He might have the largest audience of any cult artist in history, but it's always seemed like you 'get' Bruce, or you don't. And I've listened to myself enough times when I say something like: "No, really, if you just paid a little bit more attention to his message..." to know I sound like some evangelist trying to get someone to convert to my religion. So I don't try anymore. You say you're not interested, and I just say "OK," and leave it at that. (Although inside, I'm still thinking: "Your loss, if you would just pay a little bit more attention...")

He's been, as he describes himself, "a prisoner of Rock 'n' Roll," for sixty years now. That's a long time. The core of the E Street Band has essentially remained unchanged since 1974, except for the (natural) deaths of two members. That's incredibly unique in the "here today, gone tomorrow" culture of popular music. Their performances together have been buffed to a high sheen over the decades, and like a fine wine, they seem to have gotten better with age. Still, they're all in their mid 70's now, and Bruce doesn't go out on tour very often, so this might be their last hurrah.

Of course the evening will be full of well-played rock n' roll music, but that's not what makes a Bruce concert so special. It's the fact that he is somehow able to turn the whole show into a party with 20,000 of your new best friends. A Bruce concert starts with an implicit agreement between Bruce, and the audience: Bruce promises that he and the band will play and sing their hearts out; and the audience promises to reflect back the energy and passion coming at us from the stage. All that's left to do is to turn up the house lights and marvel at all the dancing fools caught up in the magic spell being conjured up on stage. Of course, the fact that you're one of those dancing fools goes without saying...

Since I'm thinking this is my last show, I decided to put together my "Ultimate Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band" Setlist. It was a fun activity. I limited myself to 30 songs (a longish, but not unheard of number of songs for an average Bruce show). I started by picking one song from each studio album so that I would be sure to have a show that was a reflection of his whole career. Then I went back and picked up other essential songs from the albums, as well as some of his live highlights which had never made it onto an album. Of course I ended up with way more than 30 songs, and some of the ones that ended up on the floor were painful choices to make, but such is life. You'll notice that my setlist actually consists of 32 songs. In the end, I decided that Bruce, especially revered for his epic encores, wouldn't want to leave me disappointed. Rock on, dudes!

Set one

1. Rave On!

2. Growin' Up

3. Thunder Road

4. No Surrender

5. Ghosts

6. Sandy (4th of July, Asbury Park)

7. Tougher Than the Rest

8. Because the Night

9. Mona/She's the One

10. Pink Cadillac

11. Detroit Medley

12. Ramrod

13. Prove it All Night (with the '78 intro) 

14. Rosalita

Set two

15. Racing in the Street (with the ’78 coda)

16. Death to My Hometown

17. Born in the USA

18. Badlands

19. 41 Shots

20. Tom Joad (electric)

21. Backstreets

22. Drive All Night

23. My City of Ruins

24. The Rising

1st encore

25. Thundercrack

26. Saint in the City

27. Cadillac Ranch

28. Born to Run

29. Jungleland

2nd encore

30. 10th Avenue Freezeout

31. Quarter to Three

32. Twist & Shout