nerak_g is sitting next to me working on her setlist for tonight at Gotpoetry Live.

Don’t let her hard work go to waste! Come to Reflections Cafe tonight in Providence tonight for the show!!

Maybe Paul Simon will lend me his turkey suit.

The show was incredible.

I posted the setlist in my previous post, so I won’t include this here; go there if you want to see it.

In general: band was TIGHT, tighter than I’ve ever seen them. Even the relatively simple arrangements of songs from “Darkness” sparkled, and the complex work of the “Born To Run” and especially the “E Street Shuffle” songs were handled beautifully.

Sound at the Garden was perfect.

Spare stage set up, no obstructed views, big screens for closeups (of course).

Bruce, Nils and Steve traded lots of hot guitar leads and duels, more than I’ve ever seen. Nils did a lot of slide work, even jumping onto a pedal steel for one song. Bruce’s blues solo at the beginning of “Kitty’s Back” was extended and amazing by anyone’s standards; in later years he hasn’t showcased his lead ability as much as he can, but old Bruce fans know what he’s capable of — pre E-Street, he played in a hard metal band called Steel Mill and had a nickname of “Alvin Lee by the sea.” He showed off that blues-rock prowess last night in ways I’d never seen, with less of his sometimes dissonant and chaotic style that I think has led a lot of conventional rock guitar aficionados to overlook his skill.

The Big Man (Clarence Clemons on sax for the uninitiated) moves slower than he used to due to a pair of hip replacements, but sounded undiminished and in fine form.

The new material was perfect — “Magic” in particular was great, as was “Gypsy Biker,” and “Girls in their Summer Clothes” was the right opener for the extended encore.

A non-stop 2 and 1/2 hour show with minimal stage patter (no Bruce storytelling, which I really didn’t miss, as much as I like it when he does it usually).

Emotionally, it drilled me. Hard. The old stuff made me tear up with joy, and new stuff was terrific. Loved his treatment of “Reason to Believe” from “Nebraska” which included a John Lee Hooker/Canned Heat simmer from the band under his vocals and harmonica; he spoke/sang the last verse thru the distorted bullet mike for the harp which lent a Tom Waits flavor to it. And local boy Peter Wolf joined in for “Tenth Avenue Freezeout” clad head to toe in black leather, waving a bottle of red wine.

And now for “The Rising” — well, I had a hard time with that.

It’s a triggering song for me (interestingly, “Lonesome Day” didn’t get me as much — maybe because it was early in the set) because of its heavy association with 9/11, and even though it’s an uplifting song of healing, it brought up a lot of things, including an insulting and dismissive conversation some years ago with someone who couldn’t understand why that album meant so much to so many people. I sat down and I didn’t get to my feet until partway through the song because I thought I might not be able to stand, I was crying so hard. But I made it, which is after all the point.

After that, “The Last To Die” worked well to take me into anger from the sadness (“who’ll be the last to die from our mistake” indeed), and “Badlands” brought it all home and lifted me up again.

Catharsis — it’s what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner sometimes.

Anything I wish I’d heard? Sure — nothing from “Devils and Dust;” no “Rosalita” and nothing from “The River.” But no complaints.

I needed this badly. Thanks again to drgeorge for taking me, and to you for bearing with me.

More later, but here’s the setlist for anyone who cares:

Radio Nowhere
Night
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason to Believe
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Candy’s Room
She’s the One
Livin’ in the Future
This Hard Land
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
The E Street Shuffle
Working on the Highway
Devil’s Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

encore:

Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Tenth Avenue Freezeout
Kitty’s Back
Born to Run
American Land

A transcendent show…easily the best Bruce show ever, and that’s saying a lot and puts it automatically in the running for the best concert ever (I still think my first Who concert with Keith Moon probably beats it, but that’s the only close contender). I cried through much of it, most notably through “The Rising” — triggering, cathartic.

Hearing three songs from “E Street Shuffle” was amazing, as was the “Night/Darkness/Candy’s Room/She’s
the One” sequence. “Kitty’s Back” was the clincher here — I’d never seen it live.

I have more to say, but will process later and get back to you.

Thanks, Skip…for everything.