Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ 10/9/09

Expectations ran understandably high for the last-ever concert at Giants Stadium.  After all, the show was added after the third had been billed (and subsequently sold-out) as the “final show.”  We already knew that we would be hearing Born In The USA in its entirety once again and that Bruce would play “Wrecking Ball” once again at some point in the set.  Might it be the last song, we wondered?  However, he began the show with it, as he had the other four nights.  Conversely, the one-two punch of “Badlands” into “Spirit In The Night” sounded like it came right out of the mid-1970s.  It was that energetic.  In fact, Bruce grabbed the wool hat from a fan in the front row and even looked like his pre-Born To Run self while finishing the song.

He surfed the crowd once again during “Hungry Heart” and ended the prelude set of tunes with the title track off his newest albums.  Before launching into tonight’s “album suite,” he reminded the crowd that “Born In The USA” was the album that actually launched the band into stadiums in the first place.  Bruce reminded the crowd that this was the song the band opened with during their first Giants Stadium appearance in 1985.  Even though he had played this very album less than a week before, this was an entirely different animal.  Every song was played harder and better.  There were two solos in songs that had seen only one last Saturday.  Bruce was urging the crowd to give him back the energy so he could egg on the band.  It worked.  This was the way this album was meant to played…balls out.  He followed with a stellar “Tougher Than The Rest” that featured a nice duet with the missus.  Curt Ramm also leant his trumpet to the tune.

The last four songs of the main set were identical to the end of Saturday’s show (sans “Jersey Girl”).  But once again, these performances were far superior.  You just had the sense that a set of special encores were to follow.  However, we were let down by the expectations that the show had caused us to raise so high.  “The Last Time” appeared in its mid 60s garage band form and “Seven Nights To Rock” brought us back to the 2003 stadium shows.  “Kitty’s Back” appeared again and was even better than Saturday’s standout performance.  “American Land” hinted that we were getting near the end, but surely we could count at least on a “Rosalita,” right?  Even after the prerequisite “Jersey Girl,” there seemed to be some confusion as to whether the show was really going to end.  After witnessing an expanded fireworks display during the show and even facilitating a marriage proposal, Bruce seemed to linger on the stage a little longer than usual.  The lights went on and off after he left the stage, giving us hope that there was more to come.  However, the show was really over and many were left with a “really?” feeling upon leaving the stadium.

There seemed to be the sense that something was held back.  What we got was great, but it felt like we were promised more.  Peeking at the subsequent setlists in Philadelphia, it appears that we were right.  But Bruce has always played the show that he wants to play and we’ve followed him up to this point.  We’ll keep taking the ride with him until he decides it’s time to stop.

Setlist:
Wrecking Ball, Badlands->Spirit in the Night, Outlaw Pete, Hungry Heart, Working on a Dream, Born in the U.S.A., 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

Encore: Raise Your Hand, The Last Time, Waitin’ on a Sunny Day, Seven Nights to Rock
Kitty’s Back, American Land, Jersey Girl