inTuneMusic

For the fifth and final night at Giants Stadium, Bruce Springsteen took things back to 1984 with a full performance of Born in the USA. The Boss’s biggest commercial success, Born in the USA was certified Diamond by the RIAA, indicating sales of more than ten million units. The twelve-track LP spawned seven top ten singles, transforming the already-successful Springsteen into a 1980s American icon.

As he did on the each of the previous four nights at Giants Stadium dates (please read inTuneMusic’s review of The Boss’s first night for more information), Springsteen began the night with “Wrecking Ball”. Darkness on the Edge of Town leadoff “Badlands” followed, engaging the entire crowd with its enormous chorus. A strong performance of “Spirit in the Night”, from Springsteen’s debut album, followed before the lights were cut and the eerie opening notes of “Outlaw Pete” quieted the crowd.

“Hungry Heart”, the lone song from The River was a full-stadium singalong–it had to be, with Springsteen crowdsurfing as the the audience sang every word. Recent single “Working on a Dream” was also warmly received, but it was the pounding synthesizer of  “Born in the USA” (the first song ever performed by Springsteen and the E-Street Band at the Meadowlands in 1985) that took the crowd to a new level. With passionate cries, the song’s chorus found Springsteen and indeed all of Giants Stadium shouting, “I was born in the USA, I was born in the USA!”

With a massive performance from the E-Street Band, Springsteen plowed through Born in the USA. “I’m on Fire” was especially haunting, and songs like “Cover Me”, “No Surrender”, “Glory Days”, and “Dancing in the Dark” are some of The Boss’s singles–the crowd reacted wildly to each. Following “My Hometown”, Springsteen and the E-Street Band took a bow.

The band returned with Tunnel of Love‘s “Touger Than the Rest” and a few cuts from the normally under-represented Magic (“Last to Die”, “Long Walk Home”). Title tracks “The Rising” and “Born to Run” finished the band’s scheduled set and the Boss took requests, resulting in “The Last Time” by The Rolling Stones and Moon Mullican’s “Seven Nights to Rock”.

The last goodbye to Giants Stadium and its packed house was in the form of a Tom Waits cover, “Jersey Girl”. The song’s final words, “nothing matters in this whole wide world, when you’re in love with a jersey girl”, echoed through the stands as Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band said their final farewell. The full set:

Bruce Springsteen's setlist, noticably different than what was actually performed.

Wrecking Ball
Badlands
Spirit in the Night
Outlaw Pete
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Born in the USA
Cover Me
Darlington County
Working on the Highway
Downbound Train
I’m on Fire
No Surrender
Bobby Jean
I’m Goin’ Down
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
My Hometown
Tougher Than the Rest
The Promised Land
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
The Rising
Born to Run
Raise Your Hand (Eddie Floyd cover)
The Last Time (The Rolling Stones cover)
Waiting on a Sunny Day
Seven Nights To Rock (Moon Mullican cover)
Kitty’s Back
American Land
Jersey Girl (Tom Waits cover)

The final night at Giants Stadium was bittersweet, not only in its farewells but also its song selection. The night found The Boss ending with a cover–perhaps not the best way to close the House that Bruce Built. With the excitement and hype surrounding the event, a slightly longer setlist or perhaps some surprises along the way would have proved incredibly rewarding.

Still, Springsteen sounded great, and it’s hard to pick apart a setlist filled with so many great songs. The Boss’s tour with the E-Street Band continues into the end of November, with local stops in Philadelphia and New York City along the way.

inTuneMusic is very interested in any submissions/corrections from this event including photographs, setlists, and audio/video. Please contact us, you will receive complete credit for any submission.

To write about Bruce Springsteen is to write about forty years and hundreds of songs across more than twenty albums. The Boss has sold out the enormous Giants Stadium more than fifty times in just twenty years; in one night at Giants Stadium, Springsteen plays to more fans than most bands play to all year. It’s that massive.

In front of a soldout crowd in chilly East Rutherford, Springsteen arrived on stage at 8:15 and began with “Wrecking Ball”, a brand new song unveiled to commemorate his final shows at Giants Stadium (the building is being replaced with the brand new $1.4B Meadowlands Stadium). “I was raised out of steel here in the swamps of Jersey some misty years ago,” Springsteen sang for a fitting eulogy. “Through the mud and the beer, and the blood and the cheers, I’ve seen champions come and go.”

A string of Nebraska cuts followed, including the non-album take on “Atlantic City”. The crowd-pleasing singalong “Hungry Heart” snuck into the middle of two Working on a Dream songs before the setlist took a sharp turn: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band set their sights on 1975′s Born to Run.

“Thunder Road” began with Springsteen on harmonica and exploded into a full Band experience. Powered by saxophonist Clarence Clemons, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” was enormous; rarely seen “Night” sounded great. The anthemic “Backstreets” united the crowd and concluded the first half of Born to Run.

Springsteen and his Band performed a colossal rendition of the album’s title track; “She’s the One” followed and sounded great.  The powerful “Meeting Across the River”, featuring a trumpet solo from Curt Ramm, was played for just the second time this decade before a thunderous performance of “Jungleland” had the audience in a frenzy. Springsteen and the Band took a bow in a moment that found The Boss celebrating not only Born to But also the incredibly important E-Street Band that made the album come together in 1975.

Featuring a singalong with a random child in the audience, “Waiting on a  Sunny Day” had the entire stadium singing, “I’m waitin’, waitin’ on a sunny day, gonna chase the clouds away, waitin’ on a sunny day”.  Two more cuts from The Rising, including the staple title track, and a few from Darkness on the Edge of Town rounded out the end of Springsteen’s set before the E-Street Band started what was technically an encore with “Raise Your Hand”, a ’60s hit written by Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd, and Alvertis Isbell.

The next few songs were requests, taken by Springsteen in the most diplomatic fashion: fans were encouraged to toss cardboard signs on stage of the songs they wanted to hear. The Boss raced around the crowd collecting signs, some of which were used as stage  decoration (“It’s Boss Time” was placed in front of drummer Max Weinberg). “The E-Street Shuffle” (which, according to The Boss isn’t a dance at all) was the first of the requests. “Growin’ Up” followed; midway through the song Springsteen recounted a recent dream about his sixtieth birthday, which led to an impromptu “Happy Birthday” song from the crowd.

Folk-singer and guitarist Willie Nile joined the Band for the next three songs, including an excellent cover of Stephen C. Foster’s “Hard Times Come Again No More”. “American Land” was a great, and “Dancin’ in the Dark” was the night’s biggest singalong…

…that is until The Boss screamed “Hey Patti, won’t you come out tonight?”, a reference to his wife and E-Street Band member Patti Scialfa who was curiously absent from the performance. The line was also a reference to “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”. Clocking in at over seven minutes, the song tells the story about a musician and his love, the titular Rosalita. In New Jersey, there is no bigger Bruce Springsteen song. At Giants Stadium, there was no bigger singalong. The entire crowd couldn’t help but jump and dance to Springsteen’s rapid-fire delivery over the E-Street Band’s bouncy tune.

Anchored by the eight-song Born to Run, Springsteen’s two-hundred minute setlist spanned twenty-nine songs. With hundreds of songs at his disposal, The Boss should be commended on his set selection. The full set:

Bruce Springsteen's setlist, noticably different than what was actually performed.

Wrecking Ball
Seeds
Johnny 99
Atlantic City
Outlaw Pete
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Night
Backstreets
Born to Run
She’s the One
Meeting Across the River
Jungleland
Waiting on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Into the Fire
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Badlands
No Surrender
Raise Your Hand (Eddie Floyd cover)
The E-Street Shuffle
Growin’ Up
American Land
Dancin’ in the Dark
Hard Times Come Again No More (Stephen C. Foster cover)
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band were absolutely amazing. To perform for more than three hours is no small feat, but to perform nearly thirty incredible songs during that time is astounding. Springsteen performed into exhaustion, frequently visiting the crowd and even dancing with an older woman who was pulled on stage during “Dancin’ in the Dark”.

It’s hard to imagine a better goodbye to Giants Stadium than a five-night stand from The Boss and his legendary E-Street Band, and the first night of those dates proved to be nothing short of spectacular. Oh, yeah, there were fireworks as well, as if it mattered. Springsteen’s performance was the focus of the evening, and everything else just slipped out of mind, into the swamps of Jersey.

inTuneMusic is very interested in any submissions/corrections from this event including photographs, setlists, and audio/video. Please contact us, you will receive complete credit for any submission.