Broooooooooooooooooooooooce!!

You may have noticed me mentioning yesterday being the 20th anniversary of the day I met Bruce Springsteen. Here's a write-up/setlist from the show that night (which was also my first ever Bruce show).

March 7 / Atlantic City, NJ / Boardwalk Hall
Notes:A true Jersey-style house party. The show was bookended with Atlantic City treats, but from start to finish it was one for the ages. The band came out as a group to the strains of the Miss America theme, and Bruce was in high spirits, clearly touched to be playing Boardwalk Hall, later saying that it was "real old school tonight" and mentioning the bands (Beatles, Stones) who once graced that stage. He also had plenty to say tonight, particularly after "Empty Sky:" "One thing that bothers me, as a songwriter you always write to be understood." He discussed the "I want an eye for an eye" line, contending that "I wrote that as an expression of the character's confusion and grief, never as a call for blind revenge or bloodlust....we can't be too careful about these things these days....We're living in a time when there are real lives on the line...had to make sure that line was clearly understood." From the Bus Stop/Saint in the City 1-2 punch (with some killer piano work by Roy on the latter) to a solo piano version of "Jersey Girl" (dedicated to "you know who") there was plenty of fodder for long-time fans. Bruce dedicated The Beatles' "Tell Me Why" to his mom, who brought him down to Atlantic City when he was a kid to see Chubby Checker, and to "all the bands that played in this room that inspired us." High energy throughout, a strong setlist within the Rising framework, a killer show.
Setlist: Atlantic City/The Rising/Lonesome Day/Prove It All Night/Empty Sky/You're Missing/Waitin' on a Sunny Day/Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street/It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City/Worlds Apart/Badlands/Out in the Street/Mary's Place/Countin' on a Miracle/Jersey Girl/Into the Fire
First Encore: Tell My Why/Glory Days/Born to Run
Second Encore:My City of Ruins/Born in the U.S.A./Land of Hope and Dreams/Dancing in the Dark/Roll of the Dice