Tuesday, July 29, 2008

"I AIN'T GOT MY SHOES BUT I STILL GOT MY FEET": BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AT GIANTS STADIUM NIGHT 2

I went to see Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band for the second night in a row tonight. I wasn't planning on going; these concerts end up costing a ton of money when you put them all together. But I had some very, very good fortune and got a free ticket. Not just any ticket: a ticket for the much-coveted pit in front of the stage. A general admission section, center stage, that holds a few hundred people (someone said it was a thousand). It was more crowded than my last pit experience at "E Street boot camp" in October. But it was amazing. Like last night, they played over three hours, but they played about 16 different songs than they did last night (which is about half the show). 

The energy seemed pretty amazing tonight (although that may have been because of where I was located). I know I'm not writing eloquently here, so I'll keep this short: it's nearly 1 am ET, and I'm still experiencing that cool feeling after an awesome concert (and no I didn't drink or do drugs). 

What were my highlights? Something about "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" (a song I've written about already) followed by "Thunder Road" really moved me. I know some people think that the line from "Thunder Road," "So you're scared, and you're thinkin' that maybe we ain't that young anymore" is one of his best. I would agree. Somehow I loved hearing that next to "Girls," with one of my favorite lines, "I ain't got my shoes but I still got my feet." (I've taken that line to mean, "Well, I've grown past wearing show-offy clothes like fancy shoes, but I can still dance as good as I ever did!"). Another stragely moving part of the show was "Born To Run," which always resonates, but tonight Max Weinberg let his son play drums on it. The kid (who I heard is a Mastodon fan) plays more like Dave Grohl than his dad, but he was great. You could see how proud everyone in the band was. 

"Drive All Night," an audience request was incredible. So was the less than two minute "Held Up Without A Gun," a song Steven Van Zandt has always wanted to play (I think this may have been the second or third time the band ever did it). "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City" was just great. And Nils Lofgren stole the show with his guitar solo during "Because The Night," which included a somersault, and I'm not joking. 

I also love the way they end with a Seeger Sessions-era song, "American Land," it's another of Bruce's classics, and I like it more than the kind of similar "Land Of Hope And Dreams." 

Tomorrow night, I'm going to see The Foo Fighters, and Wednesday is Aimee Mann. Thursday: back to Giants Stadium for another Bruce show! 

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