Portland 28th November 2012 - show 82

Portland is one of the few destinations outside of France where you can take your dog into pubs.

This blog post is only short but it's interesting because it's the writer's first Springsteen show.

I attended my first Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band concert last night and it was possibly the best concert I’ve ever attended. Highlights included, well, just about every second of the three-hour and 15 minute concert. Seriously, it was that good.

He features some of the tweets he posted during the show - a real impression of how this person felt as it happened.  And... you've gotta laugh at the comment by Mike!

The bloggers were out in force that night here is another.  This time a seasoned Bruce concert goer. He opens with this:-

For those of us who have attended dozens of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concerts over the years, sometimes it can seem as though you have seen it all - the crowd interaction, the sign requests, the rarities and the genuine "holy shit!" moments - and that nothing can surprise you anymore.

and ends with this :-

For longtime veterans of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concerts, it can sometimes be a little tempting to become jaded, or to judge these shows merely by the unpredictable setlists. Part of this, is simply because Springsteen sets the bar so high, that his most ardent fans tend to become somewhat more naturally demanding themselves. These are of course the same fans who would probably scream the loudest if either "Badlands" or "Born To Run" weren't played at all, even though both have been dusted off at virtually every E Street Band concert since 1978.

Those fans had to leave the arena feeling pretty satisfied in Portland. But even if none of the rarities had been played at all, this would have ranked as one of the great ones. The newly expanded E Street Band played their asses off for over three hours making for one very high energy show. The band was tight, the new horn section sounded great, and Bruce and Steve in particular looked like they were having the time of their lives.

So to the set list 

As Stan Goldstein mentions LOHAD was very much a surprise opener to start with:-

It was the first time Bruce has ever opened a show with. LOHAD  

... and Steve chose Loose Ends for the band to play from a sign request - one of his favourites and one of mine. With Drive All Night in the set list too I would've been a very happy bunny that night.

	Vancouver  26/11/12 Time 8.16 to 11.23	Portland 28/11/12 Time 8.12 to 11.40
1	Shackled And Drawn (65)	Land Of Hope And Dreams (57)
2	Out In The Street (40)	No Surrender (22)
3	Hungry Heart (38)	Hungry Heart (39)
4	We Take Care Of Our Own (81)	We Take Care Of Our Own (82)
5	Wrecking Ball (81)	Wrecking Ball (82)
6	Death To My Hometown (81)	Death To My Hometown (82)
7	My City Of Ruins (81)	My City Of Ruins (82)
8	Spirit In The Night (48)	Spirit In The Night (49)
9	Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street (13)	Loose Ends (4)
10	Red Headed Woman (2)	Growin’ Up (5)
11	Streets Of Fire (4)	Jack Of All Trades (59)
12	Because The Night (34)	Seeds (5)
13	She’s The One (29)	Johnny 99 (23)
14	Cover Me (7)	Darlington County (27)
15	Darlington County (26)	Shackled And Drawn (66)
16	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (81)	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (82)
17	Raise Your Hand (11)	Drive All Night (5)
18	The Rising (65)	The Rising (66)
19	Badlands (73)	Badlands (74)
20	Land Of Hope And Dreams (56)	Thunder Road (45)
21	Racing In The Street (12)	If I Should Fall Behind (4)
22	Radio Nowhere (11)	Born To Run (82)
23	Born To Run (81)	Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (20)
24	Dancing In The Dark (81)	Dancing In The Dark (82)
25	Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (4)	Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (5)
26	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (80)	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (81)
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Vancouver 26th November 2012 - show 81

Vancouver aka Hollywood North, is second only to Los Angeles in TV production and third in North America for Feature Film production. 

There are good reviews out there, on the web, but none that really go overboard about the show.

The Vancouver Sun has this to say:-

Guessing the set list for a Springsteen gig ahead of time is as torturous a task as trying to take Boardwalk away from The Boss back in the '70s. Only one thing was for certain: It was going to be epic, and was it ever.

and The Seattle Times says :-

... his Vancouver show at Rogers Arena ran until nearly midnight, and showed him to be in incredible physical shape. When the encores finally ended with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," and Bruce jumped in the air, he appeared to do so with a young man's knees — and spirit.

Perhaps the Seattle folks were a bit miffed.

It's still not clear why Bruce Springsteen skipped Seattle on his current tour, in favor of Vancouver, B.C. on Monday night, and a Portland show coming up Wednesday.


Here's the story of the Santa - Steve Alexander - who was on stage with Bruce. The You Tube clip is below, and with apologies to Steve who was obviously having the time of his life, it gets a bit annoying after a couple of minutes.   In a nutshell:-

he and his buddy Phil Webb hatched a Christmas caper guaranteed to get them a star turn with the star himself. He would dress as Santa. Webb would be one of Santa’s elves. They would make an eye-catching sign. On it they would write: “We want to sing Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town with you. Merry Christmas E-Street Band.” They would attach a Christmas stocking to the sign with the singer’s name on it. They would pray for a Christmas miracle.

That prayer was answered during one of the encores. As Springsteen strode back onto the stage, he pointed directly at Alexander and smiled. “Come on up here, Santa.” (Webb’s elf had to stay in his seat).

Says Alexander: “I thought I was gonna have a heart attack.” A surge of adrenalin propelled him out of his seat and up onto the stage. Once there, he and The Boss belted out Springsteen’s version of the Christmas classic to wild applause. 


And to finish off tonight's post here are Five reasons to see Bruce Springsteen in Vancouver. This also appears in 'The Vancouver Sun'.  My favourite is number 4

4. To replace Clarence Clemons, the E Street Band member who played saxophone with Springsteen for nearly 40 years, the tour is employing no fewer than five horn players, including Clemons’s nephew Jake Clemons. And who knows how many mugging, bandana’d guitarists the Boss would have to hire if something happened (God forbid) to Miami Steve Van Zandt?


And so to the set list

	Denver  19/11/12 Time 8.12 to 11.14	Vancouver  26/11/12 Time 8.16 to 11.23
1	Get Out Of Denver (1)	Shackled And Drawn (65)
2	I’m A Rocker (5)	Out In The Street (40)
3	The Promised Land (39)	Hungry Heart (38)
4	Hungry Heart (37)	We Take Care Of Our Own (81)
5	We Take Care Of Our Own (80)	Wrecking Ball (81)
6	Wrecking Ball (80)	Death To My Hometown (81)
7	Death To My Home Town (80)	My City Of Ruins (81)
8	My City Of Ruins (80)	Spirit In The Night (48)
9	Spirit In The Night (47)	Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street (13)
10	The E Street Shuffle (22)	Red Headed Woman (2)
11	Bishop Danced (2)	Streets Of Fire (4)
12	Human Touch (4)	Because The Night (34)
13	Savin’ Up (2)	She’s The One (29)
14	Working On The Highway (38)	Cover Me (7)
15	Shackled And Drawn (64)	Darlington County (26)
16	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (80)	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (81)
17	Raise Your Hand (10)	Raise Your Hand (11)
18	Lonesome Day (25)	The Rising (65)
19	Badlands (72)	Badlands (73)
20	Land Of Hope And Dreams (55)	Land Of Hope And Dreams (56)
21	Across The Borderline (1)	Racing In The Street (12)
22	Born To Run (80)	Radio Nowhere (11)
23	Bobby Jean (16)	Born To Run (81)
24	Dancing In The Dark (80)	Dancing In The Dark (81)
25	Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (3)	Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (4)
26	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (79)	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (80)
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Denver 19th November 2012 - show 80

 Denver brews more beer than any other city with 80 different beers brewed here daily.

The photo above is taken from a review by Westword.com.  I've copied these couple of lines especially for our Irish and Welsh friends

Springsteen fused pure rock and roll, Pentecostal fervor and Celtic bravado in the course of three hours.  There were too many ... memorable moments to count. The effect was dizzying, inspiring and intoxicating, all at once.

This review sums up the show in a few words:-

Stage-diving. Tubas. Santa Claus. Crowd-surfing. And no politics.

The writer clearly understands the rapport between Bruce and his fans: -

The songs are important, as any Springsteen mega-fan will attest. But more pressing is the feeling of being near the Boss. Springsteen has a smile that is more infectious than the office cold. He has an enthusiasm that is as genuine as it is boundless. When he looks your way, the connection is real. And when he grabs your hand, that current is live.

More exciting than Springsteen’s steady gaze is the look of his fan — the young girl he brought up to help him sing, or the older dude who landed a high-five when the artist was making his way through the crowd — when they come into contact with him. He’s a rock star, yeah. But he’s also more than that. He’s Bruce.

The full set list is here.  Is Santa Claus Is Coming To Town going to be a regular from now on? I Love the song myself - so cheesy but so Bruce!

	Kansas City 17/11/12 Time 8.20 to 11.23	Denver  19/11/12 Time 8.12 to 11.14
1	Kansas City (1)	Get Out Of Denver (1)
2	Prove It All Night (26)	I’m A Rocker (5)
3	Candy’s Room (13)	The Promised Land (39)
4	She’s The One (28)	Hungry Heart (37)
5	Hungry Heart (36)	We Take Care Of Our Own (80)
6	We Take Care Of Our Own (79)	Wrecking Ball (80)
7	Wrecking Ball (79)	Death To My Home Town (80)
8	Death To My Hometown (79)	My City Of Ruins (80)
9	My City Of Ruins (79)	Spirit In The Night (47)
10	The E Street Shuffle (21)	The E Street Shuffle (22)
11	Fire (3)	Bishop Danced (2)
12	Incident On 57th Street (6)	Human Touch (4)
13	Because The Night (33)	Savin’ Up (2)
14	Cover Me (6)	Working On The Highway (38)
15	Downbound Train (10)	Shackled And Drawn (64)
16	I’m On Fire (6)	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (80)
17	Shackled And Drawn (63)	Raise Your Hand (10)
18	Waitin’ On A Sunny Day (79)	Lonesome Day (25)
19	Raise Your Hand (9)	Badlands (72)
20	The Rising (64)	Land Of Hope And Dreams (55)
21	Badlands (71)	Across The Borderline (1)
22	Land Of Hope And Dreams (54)	Born To Run (80)
23	Light Of Day (4)	Bobby Jean (16)
24	My Beautiful Reward (1)	Dancing In The Dark (80)
25	Born To Run (79)	Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (3)
26	Dancing In The Dark (79)	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (79)
27	Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (2)
28	Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (78)
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This is really quite beautiful.  Bruce is so good at covering other artist's songs.