Date: Tuesday April 22, 2008 @ 7:30
City: Tampa, FL
Venue: St Pete Times Forum
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I know this is neither “new” or “indie” music by any stretch of the imagination, but hey, come on… it’s THE BOSS! I’ve been a casual fan of Bruce for a while, nowhere near a fanatic. So when I saw a few months ago that he was coming around on tour, I didn’t hop on tickets right away. But being that he is “one of the greats,” I knew he was on my list of someone I’d like to see before it was too late. Thursday the 17th I got an email with concert listings, reminding me of Bruce touring. Still interested, I looked at prices and dates. I was going to be relegated to the nosebleeds based on how much I was willing to spend, but at least I’d be in the building. I checked the availability of Orlando: postponed. “Huh, that’s odd,” I thought to myself… so then i checked Ft. Lauderdale: postponed as well. Something was definitely afoot, so checked out his home page to see what was going on. It was then I learned of long time E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici’s death earlier that day, after a three year battle with melanoma. I now was determined to see a show knowing that there would be some sort of a tribute, and being that Tampa would be their first show back after the sad loss, I purchased tickets in a flash. My friend and I arrived in Tampa, found a bar for some food and beers, then made our way over to the arena.

As I mentioned in my previous review, I’m kind of anal about concerts, so I had avoided previous setlists as much as possible so that I would be surprised of things to come. I had my wishlist in my head of songs I’s like to hear. The band came on to an unlit stage some time before 8:30. Bruce said something short and simple to the effect of “This is for Danny,” and “Blood Brothers” was played with all the lights off, and a video montage playing on the screens, with clips of Danny throughout the years. Very touching. After the song, the stage light rose softly, and a spotlight appeared on an empty set of keyboards at the back left of the stage. The lights remained like this for the next song “Backstreets.” Again, very subtle and touching, the way it should have been. Federici’s death was nothing to make a spectacle of, but it did need to be acknowledged, and it was handled with class. Honestly, would you expect anything less from The Boss? It became apparent later when the light came on full that every member of the band was wearing black. As I stated before, I’m not a huge fan, I hardly know any songs post 1985 (save “Streets of Philadelphia” and “Secret Garden”), so I was hoping to hear some old ones. I was pleasantly surprised, and got to hear “No Surrender” and “Growin’ Up.” Then midway through the main set, I heard some familiar notes being played. I recognized it as “Because the Night” by the Patti Smith Group (famously covered by 10,000 Maniacs for their Unplugged set). It was incredible. When I got home I looked it up on the wiki, and found out that Bruce had actually written it, and gave it to Patti who was recording in the neighboring studio, who then changed it to a females perspective, thus becoming the version I came to know and love. A bit later in the set, one of my hopes came true: they played “The Promised Land.” I’m not much of a lyrics person (I usually just focus on the music), but these lyrics really speak to me more-so than most other songs I enjoy for whatever reason. The performance of this song was nothing short of a spiritual experience for me.

Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted

Still gives me chills. They closed out the main set with a blistering version of “Badlands,” then “Out In The Street.” When they came back out for the encore, they did a cover of “I’ll Fly Away” for Danny. Bruce then went to the crowd for a sign, and took it to his mic stand. I could barely read it, but I believe it said “Come Out Tonight,” and the band launched into “Rosalita.” Much hopping from those on the floor of the arena during this song which made me smile. After the song, Bruce signed the… uhh, sign, then gave it back to the person in the crowd. Then came the anthem “Born To Run.” For a song they’ve probably played thousands of times, he still sang and the band played with as much emotion as if they were playing it for the first time. Fantastic. They closed the night with “American Land.”

The setlist can be found HERE. One of the fan boards has these notes with the setlist:

0. Blood Brothers (NOT PERFORMED…PLAYED OVER SPEAKERS DURING DANNY VIDEO TRIBUTE)
1. Backstreets (Band on stage without Charlie)
2. Radio Nowhere (Charlie joins band)
3. Lonesome Day
4. No Surrender
5. Gypsy Biker
6. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (Bruce kisses Roy after song while crying)
7. Growin’ Up (Small Rap included)
8. Atlantic City
9. Because the Night
10. Darkness on the Edge of Town
11. She’s the One
12. Livin’ in the Future
13. Promised Land
14. Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
15. Brilliant Disguise (Bruce jokes about the brownies with no one at home watching kids)
16. Racing in the Street
17. The Rising
18. Last to Die
19. Long Walk Home
20. Badlands
21. Out in the Street

ENCORE #1
22. I’ll Fly Away *FOR DANNY* (Garry on Bass, Max on tambourine, Roy on accordion)
23. Rosalita
24. Born to Run
25. 10th Avenue Freeze Out
26. American Land

The show was not sold out (not surprising since they had pushed the show back one day due to the death), and there were many open seats in the upper deck. We were able to migrate to better seats directly across from the stage, rather than 1 row from the top of the arena and to the side. You couldn’t tell that the place wasn’t full from the appreciation and noise produced by the crowd that was there. It was loud. Not only the crowd, but the band. My ears are still ringing. I wasn’t expecting that being so far from the stage. I had held off getting tickets due to the high price, but it was worth every penny. Go see him if you haven’t already, before it’s too late. Another “Great” to scratch off my list… Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd: you’re on notice (hey a guy can dream right?!).

Pictures Thanks to DMR from the SPL furum.

Fan Forum Setlist Relay #1

Fan Forum Setlist Relay #2

Here is a recording of a phenomenal cover of “The Promised Land” by Sleater-Kinney with Eddie Vedder from 2005-10-03 in Philly (thanks to taper GW):