"Born To Run" night at Giants Stadium, with
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing the entire landmark album, in order.
But with other album themed nights planned "Darkness On the Edge Of Town" on Friday, "Born In the U.S.A." on Saturday and Oct. 9, and "Born To Run" again on Thursday keep in mind that the album section ended up being less than a third of this gig.
Springsteen played 29 songs, staying onstage for more than three hours and ten minutes. "Born To Run" has eight songs, and takes less than an hour to play. Even without "Born To Run," this concert would have been longer than most rock headliners’ sets.
"Born To Run" was one of the brillient many particular things about this gig, which kicked off the last concert series ever at Giants Stadium.
"Join us tonight to shut the old lady down ... we’ve had a lot of great nights here ... another one let’s make this,"
Springteen said after taking the stage.
He opened with a song written for the occasion: "Wrecking Ball." It’s a rousing anthem about seniority, and resilience.
"Through the mud and the beer and the blood and the cheers/I’ve seen champions come and go,"
Springsteen sang, before paying tribute to the venue itself: "My home is here in the Meadowlands/Where mosquitoes grow big as airplanes/Here where the blood is spilled and the arena is filled/And Giants play the game."
The defiant chorus was directly inspired by the stadium’s upcoming demolition: "You take your best shot/Let me look what you’ve got/Bring on your wrecking ball."
The song set the tone for the evening perfectly. At times,
Springsteen gazed into the heart of darkness ("Seeds," "Johnny 99," "Hard Times"), but he also performed some of the brightest, catchiest pop songs he has ever recorded ("Hungry Heart," "Waitin’ On a Sunny Day") with manic energy and crowd pleasing stunts. During "Hungry Heart," for instance, he ran around the arena floor, making a circle around the huge "pit" area in front of the stage, singing and pressing flesh the whole way.
Other highlights included oldies "Growin’ Up" and "E Street Shuffle" (both requested via fan signs), the gig closing "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)," and "Into the Fire" with an powerful addition: an intro of eerie wailing by
Springsteen.
The "Born To Run" songs arguably the richest and most majestic of Springsteen’s career were a treat to hear in their original order. "Thunder Road," coming first, served as an invitation. The romantic vision of the frenzied "Night" complimented the romantic vision of the slower but more emotionally cathartic "Backstreets." The atmospheric, gritty story song "Meeting Across the River" set up the gritty closing epic "Jungleland."
Late in the evening,
Springsteen added a spoken word segment to "Growin’ Up," talking about "the weirdest dream I ever had."
There were a lot of relatives at his house, he said, and a cake. "This is the part you won’t believe," he said. "There were 60 (expletive) candles on it."
It was easy to forget at every other point in this gig, but
Springsteen turned 60 on Sept. 23.
For live blogging from the four upcoming concerts, videos and other
springsteen coverage, visit NJ.com/
springsteen.
Here is the gig’s setlist:
"Wrecking Ball"
"Seeds"
"Johnny 99"
"Atlantic City"
"Outlaw Pete"
"Hungry Heart"
"Working On a Dream"
"Thunder Road"
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-out"
"Night"
"Backstreets"
"Born To Run"
"She’s the One"
"Meeting Across the River"
"Jungleland"
"Waitin’ On a Sunny Day"
"The Promised Land"
"Into the Fire"
"Lonesome Day"
"The Rising"
"Badlands"
"No Surrender"
"Raise Your Hand"
"E Street Shuffle"
"Growin’ Up"
"American Land"
"Dancing In the Dark"
"Hard Times"
"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"
