Are you alive? yelled Bruce at the beginning of the show. We know for sure he was alive, because what followed next was a truly memorable performance. Both Bruce and the band were in superb shape from the very first note, delivering every song with intensity and passion. You could tell even from the standard songs such as «No Surrender» or «Lonesome Day», which was followed by the highlight of the night: «Streets of Fire» which sounded like a time machine had transported us straight back to the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on a cold December night in 1978. And from one highlight to another: «Saint in the City» followed by «Prove it all Night», both sounding like an earthquake (including fantastic guitar work) right before a stompin’ «She’s the One». And that wasn’t all yet. There was «Cadillac Ranch» (with the «Wisconsin night» line sung by the whole audience), and there was «Loose Ends» (first encore substituting «Girls») at «Stevie’s request», said Bruce.
Up to that point the show was already a candidate to «best show of the tour» (time will tell), when Bruce brought onstage legendary bass player Richard Davis, who had played on Van Morrison’s memorable album «Astral Weeks». In Bruce’s words:«We had Richard Davis, who played bass on [Van Morrison’s] Astral Weeks, come in — and Astral Weeks was like a religion to us». He plays on the first 3 Springsteen albums. Davis then joined Bruce on standup bass to perform a beautiful version of «Meeting Across the River», which was, as expected, followed by «Jungleland», which was just perfect with Clarence nailing the solo. By the end of the show, «Ramrod» substituted «Dancing in the Dark». The show had up to 4 different set lists with different choices, and even the final set list had last minute changes («My hometown» was an audible, and the various handwritten set lists included songs like «Two Hearts», «Jackson Cage», «Be True», «Racing in the street» and «Rosalita»).
See complete set list.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qROQSCW7qLA]