Charlottesville 23rd October 2012 - show 70

Charlottesville is named after Princess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburd-Strelitz, the wife of King George III of England.

So after the short excursion over the border we are back in the USA. I've found a couple of reviews but as the tour goes on there seems to be fewer of them.  Well, there is only so much you can say, even if you are reviewing a Springsteen show.

Like many reviews The Richmond Times gives us nice opening and closing paragraphs either side of the nuts and bolts description of the show.

Bruce Springsteen sang of "Glory Days" back during his 1980s commercial peak, and while nearly three decades have since passed, The Boss hasn't lost an inch of stature. That said, there's no denying that having Jersey's favourite son joined onstage with his old pals the E Street Band guarantees an evening to be stamped with event status.

After a show of hands from those seeing the E Street Band for the first time, an enthused Springsteen struck a boxer's stance with fists raised. "Makes me feel like I've got something to prove. I'm an old man, but I don't want to go home." Those who have seen him perform over the years knew that, on the stage with this band, he was already home.

In the middle of this article is an observation about Bruce's dancing:-

Springsteen is no Gene Kelly, but he has always been an enthusiastic dancer onstage, and last night's moves even included a quick, giddy bit of gangman style.  Everyone's a critic... but let's be fair I don't expect Bruce will be appearing on 'Dancing With The Stars' any time soon!

One of our Greasy Lake friends was at the show and has shared some thoughts with us.  I see he says that the opening was more exciting than it appears on paper. Sometimes you just have to be there.

Actually I think Shackled and Drawn makes a good opener and the dance critic I mentioned above says it was a thunderous version. 

So here is the setlist.  Quite a short show again but Bruce had been busy already earlier in the day at the Obama rally. 

	Hamilton  21/10/12 Time unknown	Charlottesville 23/10/12 8.17 to 11.19
1	My Love Will Not Let You Down (9)	Shackled And Drawn (54)
2	Out In The Street (34)	Lonesome Day (23)
3	Hungry Heart (28)	We Take Care Of Our Own (70)
4	We Take Care Of Our Own (69)	Hungry Heart (29)
5	Wrecking Ball (69)	Wrecking Ball (70)
6	Death To My Hometown (69)	Death To My Hometown (70)
7	My City Of Ruins (69)	My City Of Ruins (70)
8	Spirit In The Night (39)	Spirit In The Night (40)
9	Does This Bus Stop On 82nd Street (11)	Seaside Bar Song (4)
10	Jack Of All Trades (57)	Give The Girl A Kiss (1)
11	Trapped (14)	Lost In The Flood (5)
12	I’m Goin’ Down (5)	This Depression (5)
13	She’s The One (23)	Murder Inc (12)
14	Because The Night (28)	Johnny 99 (21)
15	Working On The Highway (34)	Working On The Highway (35)
16	Shackled And Drawn (53)	Darlington County (22)
17	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (69)	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (70)
18	Terry’s Song (1)	Backstreets (10)
19	The Rising (59)	Badlands (62)
20	Badlands (61)	Land Of Hope And Dreams (46)
21	Land Of Hope And Dreams (45)	Jungleland (6)
22	I’m A Rocker (3)	Born To Run (70)
23	Born To Run (69)	Seven Nights To Rock (18)
24	Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (16)	Dancing In The Dark (70)
25	Dancing In The Dark (69)	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (69)
26	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (68)
27
28
29
30
31
32
33

Hamilton 21st October 2012 - show 69

Hamilton is a very safe city made up of smaller, older communities. It provides rich, luscious scenery and a wonderful, culturally diverse setting.

I like the start of this review:-

Reviewing a Bruce Springsteen concert is like reviewing Father Christmas.

The Boss and Santa have very different gigs, but they never put on a bad show and, in the end, you always feel like you’ve been given a gift -- even if you’re the one paying for it ... 

The reviewer notes that the show can sometimes be cheesy and asks  how does he manage to find so many little girls who know the lyrics to Waiting On A Sunny Day? but he goes on to say  the show was passionate, even inspired.

There's nothing in the review that we don't already know, nothing to surprise us except ... the clarity of the sound system.!  I think this is the first time I have ever heard anyone compliment the sound at a Springsteen gig. 

I can't let the night go by without mentioning Terry's Song - a true rarity which according to Stan Goldstein has only been played once before. The song was apparently played in honour of Sydney Wood.  Here's the full story which I spotted on this forum :-

Hello, 

I just wanted to give you some of the back story to the dedication of "Terry's Song" that was performed last night in Hamilton. My 11-year-old daughter Grace was good friends and a basketball teammate of Sydney's, and as you can imagine Sydney's sudden death has been something Grace has tried to understand. She thought about the message in "Terry's Song" that love is a power greater than death, and so she decided that would be her sign. She would ask Bruce to sing "Terry's Song".

This was the fifth concert Grace has been to (what can I say, her Dad and I are fans) and I warned her that he has only played this song once before, but Grace was sure he would see the sign. This was the first time we were going to try to get into the pit; previously we had thought our girls were too little. We made it into the pit by 13 spots — 13 was Sydney's soccer number. The last person in the pit was bracelet number 311 — 11 was Sydney's basketball number. Grace's faith that the Big Man, Terry, and Danny were all working some Magic seemed to be well founded. In the pit it was strangers who held her up and put her on their shoulders to get the sign to Bruce.

The first time Bruce collected signs he passed her by; undaunted, Grace held up her sign again and this time Bruce leaned over and took it. I explained that he might not play the song, but he read the sign, and that may be enough... however something magical happened, and Bruce told a story of friendship, love, and hope, and dedicated that song to Sydney. Grace at that moment was the picture of pure joy; joy that so many people now knew how loved Sydney is by her friends.

Last night as we tucked our excited but exhausted little girl into bed she looked up at us and said, "Sydney is smiling tonight!" Sydney and a whole lot of other people, thanks to Bruce's kindness. If you could pass on a message to him somehow that he has made a little girl's grief at the loss of a friend a little lighter, knowing that love is a power greater than death, we would appreciate that very much.

Thank you,

Mary and Grace Mahler

What more can I say except here's the set list

	Ottawa 19/10/12 Time 8.13 to 11.22	Hamilton  21/10/12 Time unknown
1	The Promised Land (38)	My Love Will Not Let You Down (9)
2	The Ties That Bind (17)	Out In The Street (34)
3	No Surrender (20)	Hungry Heart (28)
4	Hungry Heart (27)	We Take Care Of Our Own (69)
5	We Take Care Of Our Own (68)	Wrecking Ball (69)
6	Wrecking Ball (68)	Death To My Hometown (69)
7	Death To My Hometown (68)	My City Of Ruins (69)
8	My City Of Ruins (68)	Spirit In The Night (39)
9	Spirit In The Night (38)	Does This Bus Stop On 82nd Street (11)
10	The E Street Shuffle (18)	Jack Of All Trades (57)
11	Jack Of All Trades (56)	Trapped (14)
12	Prove It All Night (25)	I’m Goin’ Down (5)
13	Candy’s Room (11)	She’s The One (23)
14	Darlington County (21)	Because The Night (28)
15	Shackled And Drawn (52)	Working On The Highway (34)
16	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (68)	Shackled And Drawn (53)
17	Drive All Night (3)	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (69)
18	The Rising (58)	Terry’s Song (1)
19	Badlands (60)	The Rising (59)
20	Thunder Road (41)	Badlands (61)
21	Queen Of The Supermarket (1)	Land Of Hope And Dreams (45)
22	We Are Alive (55)	I’m A Rocker (3)
23	Born To Run (68)	Born To Run (69)
24	Glory Days (19)	Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (16)
25	Dancing In The Dark (68)	Dancing In The Dark (69)
26	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (67)	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (68)
27
28
29
30
31
32
33

Ottawa 19th October 2012 - show 68

Approximately 25 per cent of Ottawa's residents were born outside of Canada.

Well here we go again after a well earned rest and it seems a good time was had by all.  The Ottawa Citizen had this to say finishing with :-

... it was a incredible musical experience that made everyone in attendance happy to be alive.

There's a sweet little review here from a first timer who obviously wasn't a huge fan... before the gig anyway.

Backstreets has a full review suggesting Bruce was on good form:-

The request section didn’t turn up at this show, but Bruce did grab one card for the first encore song. "Nobody ever requests this!” he shouted, revealing to the crowd "Queen of the Supermarket." Still laughing, he leaned over to the woman who had provided the request, who revealed that she was "Caroline from Sobeys" (Sobeys is a venerable supermarket chain in Canada). He dismissed E Streeters from the stage because "the band doesn't know it" and spent about a minute reminding himself of the changes on the acoustic — then he nailed it, even throwing in the ad libbed line "She's waiting at Sobeys...." It would be interesting to see if Sobeys gets a sales bump in Ottawa this weekend.

"Glory Days" provided another great moment: someone in the pit had brought a life-size (well, actually a bit taller) cutout of Bruce, Lucky Town era, that found its way on to the stage. Little Steven propped it up ceneter stage, where he and Bruce danced around as if in a tribal ceremony. Bruce held the mic up to Cardboard Bruce ("Sing it for me, Bossman!"), but, sadly, got no response. Cardboard Bruce stayed up for "Dancing in the Dark" but got booted from the stage for the final song,

So here's the set list along side the previous list for comparison.

I'm always envious of any crowd who gets to hear Drive All Night but Queen Of The Supermarket  - no comment !

	East Rutherford 22/09/12 Time 10.27 to 1.55	Ottawa 19/10/12 Time 8.13 to 11.22
1	Out In The Street (33)	The Promised Land (38)
2	The Ties That Bind (16)	The Ties That Bind (17)
3	Cynthia (1)	No Surrender (20)
4	Badlands (59)	Hungry Heart (27)
5	Who’ll Stop The Rain (7)	We Take Care Of Our Own (68)
6	Cover Me (3)	Wrecking Ball (68)
7	Downbound Train (8)	Death To My Hometown (68)
8	We Take Care Of Our Own (67)	My City Of Ruins (68)
9	Wrecking Ball (67)	Spirit In The Night (38)
10	Death To My Hometown (67)	The E Street Shuffle (18)
11	My City Of Ruins (67)	Jack Of All Trades (56)
12	It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City (5)	Prove It All Night (25)
13	Jole Blon (2)	Candy’s Room (11)
14	This Little Girl (2)	Darlington County (21)
15	Pay Me My Money Down (4)	Shackled And Drawn (52)
16	Janey Don’t You Lose Heart (2)	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (68)
17	In The Midnight Hour (1)	Drive All Night (3)
18	Into The Fire (1)	The Rising (58)
19	Because The Night (27)	Badlands (60)
20	She’s The One (22)	Thunder Road (41)
21	Working On The Highway (33)	Queen Of The Supermarket (1)
22	Shackled And Drawn (51)	We Are Alive (55)
23	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (67)	Born To Run (68)
24	Meeting Across The River (1)	Glory Days (19)
25	Jungleland (5)	Dancing In The Dark (68)
26	Thunder Road (40)	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (67)
27	Rocky Ground (35)
28	Born To Run (67)
29	Glory Days (18)
30	Seven Nights To Rock (17)
31	Dancing In The Dark (67)
32	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (66)
33	Twist And Shout (26)

So here it is for a girl who works at Sobey's.  The sound isn't so good.