Bruce Springsteen / The E Street Band

  Bruce Springsteen
  Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

Date:

Friday, April 24, 2009

Venue:

XL Center

Location:

Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Notes:

$105.00
Notes: Hartford fans have been treated to some special night over the past decade, from peak performances on the reunion tour to an exceptional Devils & Dust show and opening two different legs of the Magic tour. This night was no exception—sandwiched between high-expectation, two-night stands in Boston and Philly, but no letup from Bruce and the band, on a mission to show they're at the top their game.

Jay Weinberg came out early this time, "Radio Nowhere" moved to the post-"Working on a Dream" slot to give him a familiar warm-up, and then his first public stab at the recession arc of "Seeds," "Johnny 99," and "Joad." And of course he kicked ass.

Max was back for the request portion, again a high point of the show, with the Unstoppable, Unstumpable E Street Band tackling three covers in a row: "Raise Your Hand" followed by "Wild Thing," an E Street first, and John Fogerty's "Rocking All Over the World." Max was all over the Troggs tune, which was, yes, wild... and Bruce was spot-on with the vocals, milking the pauses for all they were worth. The Fogerty classic is familiar from tours past, but quite a surprise to get it here in the main set. And the requests weren't done yet, with Bruce leading the band through a groovy, bluesy, guitar-oriented "E Street Shuffle" to cap it off. A brilliant stretch.

Following that, "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" and "The Promised Land" still proved to be a drag on the show. But not much dragged down the Hartford crowd. The tour premiere of "Jackson Cage" in slot three, a welcome deep reach into The River, didn't do much for the room in general, but for everything after that the Hartford crowd was on its feet, really into it through the end. "Cadillac Ranch" was one reward, following "Born to Run" to close the main set, with a hilarious guitar dance at the edge of the stage, Bruce, Steve and Nils working to get in sync.

In the encore, "Land of Hope and Dreams" retains its power, with an excellent drum solo from Max, and a goofy, raucous "Rosie" closed it all out, Bruce mugging for the camera, planting kisses on Steve's mug, doing the Three Stooges face rub, the whole deal. Setlist:

Seen By:

Lori K