saved

As I was surfing the web tonight, I discovered something called The Bruce Springsteen Special Collection. This collection, which can be found at the Asbury Park Public Library, includes more than 10,000 pieces of writing about Bruce. I was delighted to find that something I wrote back in 1999 is included in the collection. My essay, about the 1999 Reunion Tour, ends with this paragraph:

So Bruce Springsteen constructs a show around a theme of rededication to community, closing each night with the only new song on the tour, "Land of Hope and Dreams," where there is room for everyone, sinner and saint, sending the audience off with the promise that "dreams will not be thwarted, faith will be rewarded." Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will move on to other towns, where they will work their magic once again. The true success or failure of the tour, however, will only be felt by the communities within which Bruce fans live their daily lives. If, having been saved by Bruce, we merely return to our former ways, then the concerts are nothing but a good time. But if we strengthen our ties to our communities, what kind of a concert do you have then? One that saves.

Remarkably, Bruce has never quit providing magic. This week, he ended his Magic Tour with shows that are already legendary, particularly the penultimate concert in St. Louis. A few of the friends I first met on that '99 tour attended those shows and sent missives full of rapture. The bootlegs are already making the rounds. St. Louis, being called the best show of the entire tour, kicked off with Bruce singing a gender-switched version of the old girl-group classic, "Then He Kissed Me." As has been happening with increasing frequency as the tour progressed, Bruce used signs from the audience to help choose changes from the initial set list ... at one point, he said the audiences had gotten "sassy" and started turning the shows into Stump the Band by requesting songs they hadn't played in decades. And then, referring to yet another audience sign, he broke into "Mountain of Love": "Standing on the mountain looking down on the city, the way I feel tonight is a doggone pity!" He stuck the old "Not Fade Away" intro onto "She's the One" ... he dug up "Drive All Night" ... and the encores? It was 1980 again. "Jungleland" and the Detroit Medley, and after the usual show-closer, "American Land," he tossed in "Thunder Road," and he STILL wasn't done, he added an eighth encore, "Little Queenie" (once again requested on an audience sign), reminding all that St. Louis was Chuck Berry's hometown. And then? Spotting a sign that read "Sophie Loves Bruce," he proclaimed "We gotta do one for Sophie!" and gave the crowd "the first song I ever learned on the guitar," his old standard, "Twist and Shout." Finally, after nine songs, the encore was complete.

The final night in Kansas City was apparently not quite as momentous, but made for a fine tour closer. He opened with "Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own," a tune so obscure even the hardcore fans didn't recognize it at first (a cut from Tracks, it had never been performed live before). The signs were out in full force, and Bruce paged through them until he found one that caught his fancy: "Let Max Sing." And so Max was given a mic, and they burst into the old Shirelles song "Boys" that was sung by Ringo and the Beatles. Bruce gave Soozie a lead vocal spotlight ... he played "Sandy" in memory of Danny ... he called out for Rosie one last time ... he segued into "Dancing in the Dark" by doing "Save the Last Dance for Me," and invited little Hannah onstage to dance with him (she'd done the same a couple of times earlier on the tour, and proved herself the only person on the planet who could upstage Bruce Springsteen ... this time, she capped her dance with a cartwheel). Finally, they played John Fogerty's "Rockin' All Over the World," and the tour was at long last over.

I was lucky enough to see four shows on this tour, with the latter two being among the best Bruce shows I'd seen in my 33 years and counting of going to his concerts. Not long afterwards, Danny Federici died, as did our own Maureen, who showed no surrender to the end. There's no telling what is next ... they'll play at some Harley Davidson thingie, Bruce is rumored to be showing up at the Obamafest, they are said to be playing halftime at next year's Super Bowl. But with Clarence's health always an issue, with Max's regular gig as Conan's drummer about to become a lot more intense as Conan moves to The Tonight Show, with Danny gone, with Bruce himself nearing 60 ... there may not be too many Bruce & the E Street Band shows left. It's good to know he's still blowing people away.