Paris 5th July 2012 - show 40

The Eiffel Tower is painted every 7 years, in 3 shades of brown with darkest shade at the bottom. Approximately 60 tons of paint is required to paint it. Even today the Eiffel Tower is painted using mere brushes.

Well we set off for The Eiffel Tower. We have seen it before but that was 20 years ago on our honeymoon. Obviously it hasn’t changed but, hey, that was before the days of digital photography and I hoped to improve on the one ‘snap’ I took at the time. As it was I took 49 photos today. Happily I’ve whittled them down to 19.  

We were pretty knackered and the weather wasn’t getting any cooler so we headed back to the hotel early, stopping off for a Croque Monsieur at the same bar/restaurant we visited for after show drinks the previous night.

Given the set list yesterday I predicted a first three of Badlands, We Take Care Of Our Own and Wrecking Ball so we were both pretty surprised to get Ties That Bind as an opener. When No Surrender came up second followed by Two Hearts and then Downbound Train It seemed quite obvious that something special was happening here!

We were sitting much further back and lower down than the previous night. The crowd around us were pretty lively but some of the folks in the next block had obviously been superglued to their seats. Whole rows sat down for most of the show. Mike did point out at some time that a few were up and dancing but don’t think it was for long.  

It was without a shadow of doubt the most surprising show we have ever been to. The set list was right out of the left field and every song was a winner for me. I didn’t recognise I'm Going Down from the intro but when it dawned I  think I might have been the most excited at a Bruce show than I had ever been. I mentioned the song waaaaay back in my second post as the only track from 'Born In The USA' that we hadn’t heard live. It just might be my favourite song on the album so this alone would have made my night.

We saw Bruce at Parc Des Princes in 2008. The outstanding moment from that show was For You on the piano. I've talked about this before because we have never heard a crowd so quiet.  So Bruce walks up to the piano and plays ... For You.  What a coincidence !

Favourites are coming thick and fast. Racing next with a very long outro prompting Mike to remark that he’d much rather have the 2012 outro to Racing In The Street than the 78 intro to Prove It All Night. 

Out In The Street may be a regular but I like it. I’m always pleased to hear Land Of Hope And Dreams although we both prefer the original version.  Of course he can’t go wrong with Thunder Road - love the audience participation in this one. We danced together during Dancing In The Dark. I don’t think I have ever had so much fun at a gig.

A lot of people said after Manchester that it was the best show they had ever been to. I remarked at the time that I found it hard to choose but this just might be snapping at the heels of 'The River Night' at MSG. That night had a completely different feel. It was a privilege to be there at, what will probably be, a unique show and a dream for us to be in New York City. I can hardly believe I was there and it was just special for us. It was our last show of the tour and we knew it would be the last for some time- so a little sad. It seemed like the end of an era.

But if that’s the case this could be the start of a new era and it might just be the best yet. The Paris show was joyous, full of energy and joie de vivre (a bit of the local lingo there!). Bruce was clearly enjoying himself and so were we. We came out of the show bouncing and although it’s our last gig of the scheduled shows so far it doesn’t feel like the end.  

So to the set list. We will be talking about this night for a long time to come.

	Paris 04/07/2012 Time 8.35 to 12.00	Paris 05/07/2012 Time 8.58 to 12.39
1	We Take Care Of Our Own (39)	Ties That Bind (9)
2	Wrecking Ball (39)	No Surrender (13)
3	Badlands (33)	Two Hearts Are Better Than One (5)
4	Death To My Hometown (39)	Downbound Train (4)
5	My City Of Ruins (39)	Candy’s Room (8)
6	Spirit In The Night (17)	Something in The Night (2)
7	E Street Shuffle (11)	We Take Care Of Our Own (40)
8	4th July Asbury Park (Sandy) (1)	Wrecking Ball (40)
9	Jack Of All Trades (37)	Death To My Hometown (40)
10	Because The Night (14)	My City Of Ruins (40)
11	Darkness On The Edge Of Town (6)	Spirit In The Night (18)
12	Johnny 99 (11)	Incident On 57th Street (2)
13	Darlington County (6)	Because The Night (15)
14	Easy Money (13)	She’s The One (15)
15	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (39)	Working On The Highway (14)
16	Promised Land (27)	I’m Going Down (2)
17	The Way You Do The Things You Do (27)	Easy Money (14)
18	634-5789 (27)	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (40)
19	Independence Day (1)	The Way You Do The Things You Do (28)
20	The River (17)	634-5789 (28)
21	The Rising (38)	For You (1)
22	Out In The Street (19)	Racing In The Street (5)
23	Land Of Hope And Dreams (26)	The Rising (39)
24	We Are Alive (36)	Out In The Street (20)
25	Born In The USA (16)	Land Of Hope And Dreams (27)
26	Born To Run (39)	We Are Alive (37)
27	Bobby Jean (10)	Thunder Road (24)
28	Dancing In The Dark (39)	Born To Run (40)
29	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (39)	Glory Days (8)
30	American Land (4)	Seven Nights To Rock (9)
31		Dancing In The Dark (40)
32		Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (40)
33