The first thing I gotta ask is "When the hell did concerts get so damned expensive?"
A night with Brooooooooooce and his nine compadres starts at $49.50 for the nosebleed seats or $ 75.00 down low (including the standing room only general admission floor—didn't G.A. get outlawed after the Who debacle in Ohio?) Toss in a couple "Made in the USA" T-Shirts at $35.00 apiece, $ 3.25 for a bottle of water and $ 12.00 to park and you've got a date that would have called for some serious puttin' out two decades ago.
In between the damage to the Visa bill and "not tonight I'm too pooped to pop" came ten selections from "The Rising" and a baker's dozen plus one from the Boss's songbook of working class angst.
For the most part, the E Street Band hit its stride and became a rock and roll machine with the capacity crowd in Dallas riding shotgun through blistering versions of "Ramrod", "Born to Run" and "She's the One". Even at 53, Bruce delivers all the energy we remember from the old 33 1/3's. But somehow that same magic doesn't bless all the selections from "The Rising". "Mary's Place" never ramped up to what it could have been, interrupted as it was with a formulaic band intro and a sense that it never found the rhythm it was looking for. Conversely, "Into the Fire" suffered from a ponderous, driving beat that seemed overbearing against the song's tribute to fallen firefighters and its plea to "let your faith give us faith, let your hope give us hope".
Maybe it's the subject matter of "The Rising"—much of it inspired by the events of 9/11—that cause the songs to resist translation into an arena rock show. Indeed, the most dramatic renditions of the new songs were those that were most sparsely presented. "Empty Sky" backed with "You're Missing" was a haunting, powerful highlight of the evening. Bruce harmonized well with his wife and singer Patty Scialfa accompanied by Nils Lofgren on languid slide guitar while Danny Federici and E-Street newcomer Soozie Tyrell added just the right atmosphere on organ and violin respectively.
And don't get me wrong—other than a few disappointments, the show was as solid as they come. Particularly noteworthy was Bruce and his solo piano rendition of "Incident on 57th Street", a guest appearance by Don Henley for "I fought the Law" and four relative rarities on the tour to date: "Night", "Ties that Bind", "She's the One" and "Further on Up the Road".
Wrapping things up was "Land of Hope and Dreams"—a song from 1999 that sounds like it's been with us forever and presents a railroad metaphor for America:
This train
Carries saints and sinners
This train
Carries losers and winners
This Train
Carries whores and gamblers
This Train
Carries midnight ramblers
This Train
Carries broken-hearted
This Train
Carries souls departed
This Train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train
Faith will be rewarded
This Train
Carries fools and kings
This Train
Hear the big wheels singing
This Train
Bells of freedom ringing
After which Bruce shifted to acoustic guitar, donned a cowboy hat from the audience and delivered up "Workin' on the Highway" to close the show.
But let's face it—part of the fun of a "high steppin hemi with a four on the floor" is that the damn thing might careen off the road and wrap your ass around a telephone pole. We're just not going to see that kind of risky behavior from the journeyman from New Jersey. Instead, Bruce and the band are at their best when presenting soulful snapshots of personal relationships ripped asunder or when cranking out raucous reminders to be grateful we got out while we were young.
SETLIST:
The Rising/Lonesome Day/Ties that Bind
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Empty Sky/You're Missing
Waiting on a Sunny Day/Promised Land/Night/Further on Up the
Road/Badlands/She's the One
Mary's Place
Countin' on a Miracle
Incident on 57th Street (solo piano)
Into the Fire
ENCORE 1
Dancin' in the Dark/Ramrod/Born to Run
Encore 2
I Fought the Law (with Don Henley)
City of Ruins (solo piano)
Born in the USA
Land of Hope and Dreams
Workin' on the Highway