LIGHTS OUT TONIGHT -- TROUBLE IN THE HEARTLAND: Yes, that was something special last night -- seeing BRUUUUUUCE! and the E Street Band perform all of Darkness on the Edge of Town in sequence, plus a three-accordion version of "Sherry Darling," plus early rarity "Thundercrack" and the underrated "Human Touch" (with Bruce and Patti) and, yes, minus the let's-all-go-to-the-lobby anti-classic "Outlaw Pete," apparently for the first time this tour.
It's a bit difficult to talk about Darkness as an album without touching on the borders of the blog; so much of it is about class and desperation in the working, the working, the working life, the only escapes from which being the car and, perhaps, love. It's written entirely in the first person and in a world without male friends to help you through the day -- no "me and Terry" or "me and Wayne on the Fourth of July" -- and even the songs which are most triumphant musically ("Badlands" and the title track) there's no sense of victory at the end, just defiant gestures and hopes unfulfilled.
So, yeah, it was awesome, and it was pulled off without too much ornamentation, save a moving extended solo by the Professor at the end of "Racing in the Street." Seeing "Candy's Room" live is especially revelatory -- it requires a lot out of Max Weinberg to pull it off. As for the rest, most of the rest of the album finds its way into concerts pretty often, but pulled together it reminds you what a ballsy, non-commercial move the whole Darkness album was as the successor to Born to Run.
As for the rest of the show, it was more Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band rather than Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band -- unlike the 99/00 Blood Brothers tour, especially, there wasn't a ton of interaction with the rest of the band, and especially during the Darkness set there was darn little for Clarence (in his Hogwarts robes, as Jen noted) to do. This was Bruce as lead showman, as shaman crowd-surfing during "Hungry Heart," picking up request signs from the crowd and remaining at the center of it all. (Also, it's hard to top an encore that starts with "Ramrod" and the Detroit medley and ends with "Rosalita".)
Two Spectrum shows remain -- one more Born to Run, then Born in the U.S.A. for his final concert at the 40+ year old venue.
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