Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 10-14-09

Wachovia Spectrum · Philadelphia, PA

BY STEVE KLINGE / PHOTO BY JOSEPH QUEVER

Few artists are as at home in big venues as Bruce Springsteen is, and the arena that has been his home the longest is Philadelphia's Spectrum (now branded the Wachovia Spectrum). He played his first arena show there in 1973 opening for Chicago, and he's been back over thirty times (a banner proclaimed 47 Philadelphia sell-outs, but that includes neighboring sites). With the 43-year-old venue slated for demolition after Pearl Jam plays the last show there on Halloween, Springsteen returned for four final concerts, just after he played his farewell shows at New Jersey's Giants Stadium.

It's easy to wax nostalgic for the end of landmark, and the old Spectrum has its merits: for a venue that seats over 17,000, it is "intimate": the rows are so close together that the neighboring Wachovia, although it seats a similar number, seems cavernous. But the place is old: the concourses are narrow, with no logical traffic flow, and women end up using the men's room because there are so few stalls. Still, it has its charms, and its history is one of its main ones.

A few weeks ago Springsteen announced that he would perform one of his albums straight-through each night: Born To Run on October 13^th and 19^th, Born in the USA on the 20^th,and Darkness on the Edge of Town on this night, the 14^th. (On a personal note, I had my own nostalgic reasons for picking the Darkness night: my first Springsteen shows were at the Spectrum in 1978, once in May just before the album came out, and then twice in August.)

Philly is an important city in Springsteen's history, and he often treats it to something special. On the previous night, which was by all accounts a rowdy three-hour marathon, he opened with the old rarity "Seaside Bar Song" and included a new song, "Wrecking Ball," written to commemorate the demolition of Giants Stadium but with lyrics tweaked for the Spectrum. On this night, after taking the stage to Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man," he opened with another old surprise, the Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ outtake "Thundercrack," which became a joyful ten-minute jam centered on sax and violin solos from, respectively, Big Man Clarence Clemons, dreadlocked and in a black priestly robe embroidered in gold, and Soozie Tyrell, looking like Emmylou Harris's sister.

The tendency can be to look for messages in Springsteen set lists, and choosing The River's "The Ties That Bind" as the next song might have been a site-specific statement about community and long-term allegiances. But then again, that theme comes up in about 25% of Springsteen's catalog, so who knows? The rest of the show's first section included the night's only tracks from his current album, "What Love Can Do" and the title track, "Working on a Dream" - the former with a grander crescendo than on the album, but still overly repetitive and under-written (although the "mark of Cain" line may have been a bit of foreshadowing); the latter a crowd-pleasing bit of romanticism. Those two sandwiched a showboating version of "Hungry Heart" that began as karaoke for the audience as Springsteen strolled to the end of the catwalk. As he sang the verses, Springsteen sauntered back to the midpoint of the floor. And then the 60-year-old crowd-surfed his way back to the stage. Looked like he was having fun, too, and he certainly wanted that fun to be infectious, soon thereafter slipping into preacher cadences, stating that the band was going to "build a house out of music and spirit" and exhorting the crowd to "bring the noise" (which, sad to say, was not a Public Enemy allusion).

After that half-hour section, Springsteen introduced Darkness saying that it is "a record that means a great deal to me" and that, coming three years after Born to Run, it "wasn't greeted with the kind of affection that it's gained over the years." With Darkness, Springsteen turned from "pulling out of here to win" escapism to an "I believe in the hope that can save me" blend of idealism and fatalism that would dominate most of his future work. True to its title, it's a dark and edgy work, and an especially coherent statement about the psychic costs of working class monotony when performed front to back.

Highlights: "Badlands," slowed down slightly and with Springsteen singing behind the beat, with more bitterness than affirmation. "Adam Raised a Cain," with Springsteen leading a five-strong army of guitars and boring into a bent-note and powerfully dissonant guitar solo. "Candy's Room," with Max Weinberg ramrod-straight as he played the machine-gun rhythm and with another searing Springsteen guitar solo. "Darkness" itself, done as a grand epic.

But the real treats were the ballads: "Racing in the Streets" and "Factory," both with gorgeously delicate and lengthy piano solos from Roy Bittan, urged on by Charles Giordano's organ playing (Giordano replaced the late Danny Federici, who died last year), and the seldom-performed "Streets of Fire," that was full of heavy anguish and more impassioned guitar soloing, this time with Nils Lofgren stepping to the fore to join Springsteen.

With the exception of "Badlands," "The Promised Land" and "Prove It All Night" - the ones that have stayed the most prominent in Springsteen's set lists for three decades - these aren't fun songs: they're by turns gut-wrenching and empathetic, angry and resigned, and they don't hide their bitterness in the way Springsteen would on Born in the USA. And they have lost little of their emotional resonance.

At the end of the hour-long run through the album, the original E Streeters-Clemons, Bittan, Weinberg, bassist Garry Tallent, guitarist Steve Van Zandt-joined Springsteen at the front of the stage to take a bow. And then party time began.

The current ritual for Springsteen shows is for the crowd to interact through handheld signs for requests and acknowledgements. (The most unusual request, unfortunately ignored, was for Randy Newman's "You Can You Leave Your Hat On.") One sign, held by a girl of about six, said "Can I PLS Sing With You?," and she got her dream (or, perhaps more likely, her parents' dream) of joining in on "Waiting On A Sunny Day," even managing an a cappella chorus. Very cute. Then came a joyful, loose "Sherry Darling," also by request, with Bitten, Giordano and Lofgren on accordions for a carnival flavor and with Springsteen grabbing wife Patti Scialfa to share his mic (that song prompted Springsteen to shout, "Now that's entertainment!"). A spiritual trifecta followed, with "Human Touch," "Long Walk Home" (with Little Steven doing some soul-style testifying at the end) and a stagey "The Rising" (no need for the crucifixion pose, Bruce).

Amid the surefire finales of "Born to Run," the old "Detroit Medley" of "Devil with a Blue Dress" / " Good Golly Miss Molly" / "C.C. Rider" / "Jenny, Jenny," "Dancing In The Dark" (with a 13-year-old birthday girl taking the role of Courtney Cox, rather awkwardly), and "Rosalita" came a few surprises: A crowd-requested "Ramrod" (the third highlight from The River) done as a garage rocker complete with Big Bopper-style brrrrrrs and a sax and piano call-and-response section; "American Land," done in full Irish jig style with guest trumpeter Curt Ramm and fiddler Tyrell taking leads. (Sadly, the great B-side "Be True" was dropped from the set list.)

That's a lot in two hours and 45 minutes, and in some ways, it seemed like two shows: a preamble and then Darkness, and then a romp through the past. It might not have been as coherent or provocative or exhilarating as some of the past thirty-odd shows Springsteen had performed at the Spectrum. Sometimes the showmanship and the audience participation took precedence over the rock and roll itself, and while Springsteen constantly engaged and interacted with the crowd, he didn't make any statements, political, social or personal, and his ability to articulate insights in the context of a rock and roll show is unique. But it was a fitting examination of his range and history, and Darkness, in its dark glory, was powerful indeed.

Set list:

Thundercrack

The Ties That Bind

What Love Can Do

Hungry Heart

Working On A Dream

Badlands

Adam Raised A Cain

Something In the Night

Candy's Room

Racing In the Street

The Promised Land