San Jose, CA
HP Pavilion
HP Pavilion
So Bruce Springsteen opened his tour in San Jose last Wednesday night and of course I was there. Alas, due to going to the show with a sore throat (always the first symptom of illness for me) it's taken until today to get around to writing about it! So without further ado....
Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!!
Now, it hasn't exactly been ages since I last saw Bruce and the boys in San Jose. In fact, it was almost exactly a year ago. Last April, I hit the show after some serious family insanity that had me this close to missing the show. When I woke up Wednesday with a sore throat I thought "uh-oh... Well, I'll just drink lots of water and suck on cough drops, I'll be fine. At least nothing crazy is going on today." Famous last words. I got in to work and have a message from the fire department that they need to come in for an inspection. Today. And a major piece of lab equipment has gone down. AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
I survive the day, and head out to meet Cheryl and Emerson for dinner. Cheryl is supposed to join me for the show and we're meeting Emerson for a belated birthday dinner. I arrive early and head straight for the bar and a glass of wine. Cheryl had given me a heads up that she too wasn't feeling well and might not go to the show, but maybe Emerson will use her ticket. Well no luck. We have a very pleasant dinner and after failing to convince Emerson to join me, I head up to the arena by myself.
In line before the show I'm standing behind a fellow who has a t-shirt with images of the ticket stubs of all the Springsteen shows he's seen. Very cool. I chat with him and the couple behind me and we span the spectrum of Springsteen fans. The fellow with the t-shirt had been going to shows since the mid-70s, the couple behind me were at their 3rd show. And here I was attending about my 8th or 9th show since the early 90s (I tried to get tickets before then but was woefully unsuccessful!)
The ticket time said the show was at 7:30, but I knew it wouldn't start then. I was in my seat at 8, but it was another half hour before the lights went down and the band came out. I spent that time chatting with a couple of guys next to me who'd flown in from out of state -- one attending his first Springsteen show ever.
I mention these brief conversations with strangers who share a common passion because I've found over the years that finding common ground with perfect strangers makes the world a much smaller and friendlier place.
So, on to the show. Like most tour openers, there were some awkward moments, but they were few and far between. The show kicked off with "Badlands" which just got the crowd roaring. Going in to two new songs -- "Outlaw Pete" and "My Lucky Day" -- the show sagged a little. Not because Bruce and the boys weren't giving their all on these new songs, because of anyone I've ever seen Springsteen sells the new stuff with huge conviction, but in the end they are new songs and in my opinion they aren't as strong as some of his other material.
I was quickly appeased, however, when they launched into one of my favorite tunes from Born in the USA -- "No Surrender". I LOVE LOVE LOVE that song and it was my first personal highlight. Many people have commented that Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band are made for times like these, and that was shown when they performed what I have dubbed the "economically appropriate" tunes of "Seeds", "Johnny 99", and a totally rocked up version of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" back to back to back. It was a perfect commentary for the current state of our economy and didn't require any lecturing.
Another personal highlight for me came about 2/3 of the way through the show when Bruce pulled signs out of the audience and one read "Growin' Up," the other (from the brief glance I got) said something about an 18th birthday. Bruce and the boys launched into that classic -- another big favorite of mine.
As always, the show closed out with a rousing version of "Born to Run" with the crowd roaring along. The 6-song encore, however, was phenomenal and included "Dancing in the Dark." The part of Courtney Cox was played this night by a girl who looked to be about 14. Pulled out of the crowd to dance along and then picked up and handed back into the crowd by Bruce. Lucky kid.
The band this time has been complimented by 2 back up singers that I believe were part of the Sessions band. I was sitting on Clarence's side of the stage (and by the way, I will always recommend the side and behind stage seats -- next best thing to being in the front row!) and was stunned at how fragile the Big Man seems. I know he's had a hip replacement (both?) but he looked much more mobile last year than he did last week. He stayed mostly in his spot all night and when the rest of the band went off before the encore, took to his seat on stage rather than walk off and back. In counter to Clarence's aging -- Bruce seemed ageless. I swear if I didn't know he was 59 I'd say he was at least 20 years younger than that. He is in amazing shape and has an energy that is unmatched.
The show ended much too soon, and I headed back to my car -- now sneezing to go along with the even MORE sore throat -- but the crowd walking out of the arena were all commenting about songs they loved and ones they wish had been played. Isn't that always the way??
All in all though, not a bad way to start my 2009 concert season! (Even if I did wind up spending Thursday afternoon through Saturday pretty much flat on my back sick!)
Set List (thanks to brucespringsteen.net):
Badlands
Outlaw Pete
My Lucky Day
No Surrender
Out in the Street
Working on a Dream
Seeds (first since 1996!)
Johnny 99
Ghost of Tom Joad
Good Eye
Good Rockin' Tonight (1947 jump blues)
Darlington County
Growin' Up
Waiting on a Sunny Day
Promised Land
The Wrestler
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
Born To Run
Encore:
Hard Times
Thunder Road
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Land of Hope and Dreams
American Land
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