She's the One Notes: Patti Scialfa is ill and unable to perform, prompting the first changes in the Springsteen on Broadway set since the official opening. Rosalita Bruce Springsteen may be the only man on the planet to whom surfing over a crowd is as everyday as going for a surf in the ocean before breakfast. Notes: Springsteen on Broadway runs Tuesday through Saturday nights, including show number 100 on March 28, Setlist: We smash into one another, screaming to the ceiling, laughing with joy. After this gift of a performance the show rocketed through encore favorites "Born to Run", "Dancing in the Dark," and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out" before "The Boss" cape came out for a spectacularly campy "Shout." The Wish (piano) A young blonde I've never seen before throws her arms around me, a temporary Wendy holding on for dear life, both of us charged by nearly three hours of a superhuman Springsteen. When my friend asked, "What's he doing?" - 2010 Thunder Road (guitar) Born to Run (guitar). Hungry Heart I looked over the crowd and saw a young girl watching with tears streaming down her face. Local doo-wop legend Nicky Addeo then came on to perform a solo version of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," accompanied on keys by Kazee, and guitarist Marc Ribler (Steven's new bandleader) took the helm for covers of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" and Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," ably assisted on the latter by Danny Clinch on harp. The Wish (piano) And the appearance of Asbury's unofficial "holy trinity" of Southside Johnny Lyon, Steven Van Zandt, and a surprise unbilled Bruce onstage together is also not something even longtime area residents have seen often. Something in the Night Springsteen flashed a little windmill guitar to close a stomping "Death to My Hometown," the line "No dictators were crowned" once again growled with outlaw menace. My Hometown (piano) Walking out at 7:30 sharp, Springsteen strapped on an acoustic guitar and said, "We stand before you (as) embarrassed Americans tonight… We're gonna use this to send a letter back home." Most importantly, I posed with it!" My Father's House (guitar) April 23 / Beacon Theatre / New York, NY Tenth Avenue Freeze-out "Glory Days," "Hungry Heart," and "Wrecking Ball" were all stadium-friendly rockers that popped but didn't sizzle. What's really annoying is how funny he is too. You plus me equals us. Tougher Than the Rest (piano) - with Patti Scialfa Springsteen People Have the Power (with The Patti Smith Group and Michael Stipe), Kicking off another week of #SpringsteenBroadway...? Hungry Heart No Surrender My Hometown (piano) Because the Night We know the Isley Brothers wrote "Shout," and it's been played by a million bands since. - 1999 Part 2 Because the Night Dancing in the Dark Brilliant Disguise (guitar) - with Patti Scialfa Springsteen Thunder Road (guitar) September 30 / Air Canada Centre / Toronto, ON Rendezvous "My Love Will Not Let You Down" had the pit bouncing and the band surrounding Max as he pounded the song to a rousing close. Waiting for you to pull something out of your hat, out of thin air, out of this world…. I join the jubilant throng and behave in a manner better suited to a Misfits mosh pit. It's Been a Long Time (with Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul) After losing so much grace and greatness in 2016, are we more aware of the mortality of our heroes? The Wish (piano) Dancing in the Dark While not a word of politics was uttered on this night — "American Land" was not played for first time since show four in Adelaide — "Badlands" vibrates with resistance, another arrow in Bruce's crammed quiver. In this lesson we will be learning the main theme song to Star Wars. when Kevin gave Bruce a fresh guitar late in the show, a thought no doubt shared throughout Melbourne's rugby stadium. - 2006 Setlists Born to Run (guitar). The Wish (piano) Growin' Up (guitar) This double shot of swagger ended with the harmonica intro to "The Promised Land," another song rebooted by current events. You gotta use your hands now." Lives that for some had been on hold for five weeks after this tour began on a January night in Perth, Australia when Bruce declared the band's allegiance with a "new American resistance." A moment of levity came when Bruce spotted a quartet in the audience dressed like the Honeymooners of '50s TV fame holding up a sign request for "Brown Eyed Girl." Bruce then began a mantra of "Well that change was made uptown now… when they made that change uptown now… when the change was made uptown now…" followed by a gut-wrenching repetition of "Now there's tears on my pillow, now there's tears…." Some commenters have expressed surprise at how "non-partisan" the show is, given Bruce's political outspokenness, but I'm not sure that's accurate. The Promised Land When he shouted Bruce Springsteen's name, the roar of the crowd was so loud that it drowned out the subsequent announcement that Little Steven would be joining too. Subscribe Now! Notes: Before Monday night's show, fans in Adelaide fans were discussing which songs belonged on Bruce Springsteen's perfect protest setlist. he exhaled) Bruce stood still at the mic and focused on the task at hand: "My City of Ruins." Other moments took on unexpected nuances. Bye Bye Johnny (same) What a moment to hang on to, thanks Bruce. Shout I Fought the Law Setlist old-timers like "The River," "Because the Night," and "Rosalita" absolutely smoked, while a twosome of "Rendezvous" and "Be True," a pair of late-70s gems never before played on Aussie/NZ shores, blew the minds of hardcore fans both for their appearance and back-to-back placement in the set. Well, while we like the idea of a bit more appropriate audience decorum for this new venture (we're not gonna actually make him tell us to "shut the fuck up," are we? - 2002 Setlists April 28 / Paramount Theatre / Asbury Park, NJ A wild, joyous, goofy, exhausting "Rosalita" ended this foursome of '70s thunderclaps that's a fountain of youth to older fans and an affirmation of rock 'n' roll's power to those weaned on a variation neutered by corporate-owned radio monopolies and TV "talent" shows. Long Time Comin' A lump rose in my throat at the words "wrinkles round my baby's eye"; it causes me to wonder if we are too old for this fight. The great line about having "never worked five days a week until these shows" found an even bigger laugh with the gruff addendum "And I don't like it." Dancing in the Dark/Land of Hope and Dreams (guitar) How about a Chuck Berry song? - Joe Wall reporting - photographs by Rene van Diemen, Setlist: Wait, is "Brooocing" a Broadway convention? Out in the Street After asking if "the spirit was in the house tonight," he guaranteed its presence with a reminder of what we've lost — "And that change was made uptown now" sung over and over, Clarence looming in our hearts like he once loomed to Bruce's right — and a preacher's admonition to rise up and pray for peace. All of this however, had been done on someone else's stage. It's gonna be a corker.". That awakening for Springsteen — to the beauty of America, and to the promises and improbabilities of the American Dream — entered his writing in the late-'70s and early '80s; Bruce himself traces the subject back to Darkness on the Edge of Town. On three tours over four years he has delivered on his promise… and then some. He didn't quite get there, but then no one could catch Bruce on this night. The Wish (piano) After about an hour, the doors to the East Room were opened, and we filed in to take our seats in rows. The brilliant 2016 release American Band by Drive-By Truckers features a song called "What It Means" that includes these lines: "If you say it wasn't racial / When they shot him in his tracks / Well I guess that means that you ain't black / It means that you ain't black." Spellbinding, this has become one of the signature moments of the tour. The Promised Land (guitar) - 2007 Setlists It's clear he has developed quite an attachment with his Australian audiences after these repeated trips Down Under the past five years, and the feeling is mutual. New York City Serenade He got it, and he and his band of brothers and a sister responded with a breakneck, 13-song homestretch that ended with "Twist and Shout" and a sky full of fireworks. With a setlist already littered with rarities and tour premieres, Bruce moved the intensity up a notch with "Youngstown," "Candy's Room," "She's the One," and "Because the Night." - Joe Wall reporting - photographs by Joe Wall (2) and Bill Donohoe (the rest), Setlist: But slowly, slowly over the past ten years it's built itself back up. Those who predicted a third night in a small venue might be treated to full River performance weren't dead-on, but there were more songs from the album here than the previous two nights. No Surrender After a hearty "Good evening!" ); a lyric his entire audience could recite without thinking, and indeed often do, like schoolboys chanting the Rosary — or, for that matter, like lesser rock stars, rotely phoning in the hits. Growin' Up (guitar) Working on the Highway Hungry Heart Sherry Darling What Springsteen on Broadway demonstrates, as his performances have for decades, is that the equation actually makes sense — that in this kind of setting, something extra can happen so that there is a third thing, a bigger thing. Big, bad-ass, beloved, missing Clarence. Dancing in the Dark America is a nation of immigrants, and we find this anti-democratic and fundamentally un-American. and it's a hoary cliché, but it also means this Broadway upstart is doing it right. Our mothers and fathers, our country, our soldiers, trees in our front yards, our shared histories, these are all in the mix — as is, perhaps most of all, as Springsteen puts it, "waking from the youthful spell of of immortality." "The Ties that Bind" and "No Surrender" drove home the message that we are in this together. The Wish (piano) on the Vote For Change tour in 2004. April 4 -7 / Walter Kerr Theatre / New York, NY This last night of summer belonged to memories of Gregg, with Browne doing a wonderful "Sweet Melissa" and Steven covering the Allmans classic "It's Not My Cross to Bear." When cheers went up in the crowd before lights went down, one might have thought Springsteen had pulled a "Boss sneak" and come out early... but no, they were for Stevie Van Zandt, slipping into his seat in the orchestra to see his pal take on the Great White Way. New York City Serenade (with strings) There was no gap between these two, as Bruce segued right from one to the next. This didn't stop Steve from wearing them as the two traded vocals beside the pit. Darlington County Bobby Jean Notes: Other than the tour opener in Perth, which featured a remarkable string of seven songs from 1973, this Aussie tour has been notable for Performance Intensity over Setlist Eccentricity. And making things seem spontaneous is part of his job, part of his craft — call it the illusion of the first time. Two Hearts And don't forget, we can't do this alone... and we never have. Setlist: The River The bombardment lasted 3 hours and 25 minutes, victory declared on the jubilant faces of Aussies who'd come for a River show but got gobsmacked instead by a rock 'n' roll reckoning. We were among the last folks out the door, and as we strolled up East Executive Avenue toward Pennsylvania, we saw Bruce and Patti walk out of the East Wing toward their car. and "Are you ready for a house party?" Bruce made an unabashed appeal for that energy before "Mary's Place" — "Sydney, make me feel your spirit right now" — before unleashing "Candy's Room" and "She's the One" on a suspecting and highly worked-up crowd. It ended up being the 11th biggest hit song of 1981 in the States. The set opened with "New York City Serenade," augmented by an eight-piece string section. His choices ranged from trusty classics "Thunder Road" and "The Promised Land" to rarities like "My Father's House" and "The Wish." Nils was his usual energetic and upbeat self all night, but here he got to howl at a rising full moon with a typically jaw-dropping guitar solo. Long Walk Home (guitar) Dancing in the Dark - 2001 Setlists Born to Run (guitar). Murder Incorporated I work from the inside out; in other words, I'm inspired by something internally and I make a record based on what I can write about at a given moment. 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