The Springsteen Wrigley Weekend

Getting this out of the way fast...I think these were both stellar shows. The fact that I heard The Ghost of Tom Joad with the Tom Morello guitar solo twice makes that a solid report on my part. Having Eddie Vedder show up for each show helped, too.

On top of all that, I just felt like The Boss was in a fine mood, and ready to have a good time. He certainly came with the themes that have been in place for the whole tour, loss of old friends (Danny and Big C), as well as the continuing economic environment. No, we didn't get a four-hour show, but we did get three and a half on Friday (right up to curfew), and about three-fifteen on Saturday (and I think he'd have gone longer if not for the rain).

I'm going to be honest...the whole weekend is a whirlwind of excitement and awesome for me. It's kind of a blur. That said I'm going to try to give my impressions.

Night One: September 7th

Setlist:
Prove It All Night ('78 intro)
My Love Will Not Let You Down
Out in the Street
Hungry Heart
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death to My Hometown (with Tom Morello)
My City of Ruins
Spirit in the Night
Trapped
Jack of All Trades (with Tom Morello)
Atlantic City (with Eddie Vedder)
Lonesome Day
I'm Goin' Down
Darlington County
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
None But the Brave
The Ghost of Tom Joad (with Tom Morello)
Badlands (with Tom Morello)
Land of Hope and Dreams (with Tom Morello)
* * *
We Are Alive
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Jungleland
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (with Morello and Vedder)
Twist and Shout (with Morello and Vedder)

Prove it All Night w/'78 intro was, I have to admit, an odd way to start the show, with a long instrumental jam that wasn't readily identifiable to at least half the audience. Probably more, because it was really apparent that a lot of the crowd were "Wrigley fans" rather than "Springsteen fans." (To the guy who tried to dig up some grass from the field as we were walking out...stay classy, dude.) Drinking is always prevalent, but man...it was out of hand for some folks. I wonder if that doesn't account for Adam Raised a Cain and Lost in the Flood, which were on the setlist to be changed on the fly to Out in the Street and Hungry Heart.

I have to, grudgingly, admit this was the right choice (I LOVE Lost in the Flood). Those songs are where the crowd started to get with it. And, yeah, it is pretty cool to see a whole stadium in the palm of his hand with Hungry Heart.

The new stuff plays really well live, too. We Take Care of Our Own was great, and Death to My Hometown and Shackled and Drawn are just...astounding in a live setting. Having Tom Morello around for large chunks of it really helped, the guy obviously REALLY gets into this music. Of course, the electric Ghost of Tom Joad was....jaw dropping. Just killler. Eddie Vedder was great dueting on Atlantic City. I was even happy to hear I'm Going Down, surprised too. It's a sorta one-note song, but wow, do crowds respond to it.

The encore had to be a "casual fan's" dream. Rattling off a strong chain of big, recognizable songs. Including my first ever Jungleland without Clarence Clemons. Clarence was in the air at both shows, with My City of Ruins being a tribute to fallen E-Streeters Danny Federici and The Big Man ("If you're here, and we're here, then they're here"), and a moment of silence with a video montage right after "they made the change uptown, and the Big Man joined the band" in Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.

Big C's nephew, Jake Clemons, has obviously become a touchstone of sorts for Bruce. He's got big shoes to fill, and I have to say I'm impressed. There's no sense that he's "replacing" Clarence, but he is carrying on the traditions, and it is glorious. My tears at the end of Jungleland are my tribute to him.

Night Two: September 8th

Setlist:
The Promised Land
The Ties That Bind
No Surrender
Hungry Heart
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death to My Hometown (with Tom Morello)
My City of Ruins
E Street Shuffle
Pay Me My Money Down
This Depression (with Tom Morello)
My Hometown (with Eddie Vedder)
Darkness on the Edge of Town (with Eddie Vedder)
Because the Night
Working on the Highway
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Who'll Stop the Rain (solo acoustic)
The Ghost of Tom Joad (with Tom Morello)
Badlands (with Tom Morello)
Thunder Road
* * *
Rocky Ground
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
American Land (with Morello and Vedder) 

Now, I'm going to have to say that night two trumped night one, for me. This may be an unfair comparison, because I was in the GA pit for the second night, and that's ALWAYS more exciting. That's despite the rain, which started around Working on the Highway, and sent me home sopping wet. Still, when Bruce Springsteen isn't hiding under the covered part of the stage, getting drenched himself, and continually asking "are you wet enough? Do you want to go home?" There's no way to not scream back, "Hell no!"

In fact, while I do believe the show would've been longer without the rain, it also clearly sparked a lot more fun and playfulness out of the band. This was, hands down, the finest Rosalita I've personally seen, and it was in no small part because of the goofing that the rain and technical problems inspired in Bruce and Little Steven. Bruce couldn't hear his guitar out on the ramp (in the rain) and Steven was telling him the monitors were out, ending up with Bruce just flipping off everyone on stage (playfully, of course).

Earlier in the show I saw my first E-Street Shuffle, ever, and, with the full horn section on this tour it was over-the-top great. Followed by a Sessions Band-era treat Pay Me My Money Down, chosen, I'm certain, to continue to feature the horns. It was energized, electric and tons of fun. Jake was in fine form again. 

Vedder did My Hometown and Darkness on the Edge of Town with the band. Morello did, essentially, the same songs he did the night before, and the bot returned for Tenth Ave and American Land, which closed out the show, and which Vedder clearly didn't know the words for. Still, it was great fun, and I didn't even mind the wet ride home.