Mark your calendar: 20th of October, 2009. The last Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band concert at the legendary Spectrum, before the wrecking ball comes. And Bruce celebrated it with a special, 3 hour and 20 minute show that will hold in Bruce’s history as the day he brought back two long-lost gems: «The Price You Pay», opening the show, and «Higher and Higher», closing the main set.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kfcnFbXZaE]
Born in the U.S.A. was the chosen album for the night, and they nailed it, performing it from top to finish. But the show will no doubt be remembered by the first performance in 28 years of «The Price You Pay», the lost masterpiece from The River, that was played just a handful of times on that 1980/81 tour, and never again. More than two hours later, and after «Born to Run», the show went on with another special request: Jackie Wilson’s «Higher and Higher», closing the main set in style, in a terrific performance. The song hadn’t been played in 32 years and only resurfaced for this special night.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qONLqF3OWOg]
The encores followed and kept the level up. Former E Street drummer Vini Lopez guested on «Spirit in the Night», with Bruce going around the pit again. It was followed by a vibrant «Loose Ends«, another semi-lost gem from his catalog, and then a delirious «Kitty’s Back», with numerous solos from Curt, Roy, Bruce and Charlie.
And when it seemed that «American Land» and «Save the Last Dance For Me» would send everyone home, Bruce went on and on, with «Waitin’ on a Sunny Day», «Thunder Road» and the final «Rosalita», leaving the audience in ecstasy and exhausted, just like in St. Louis last year. And St. Louis is precisely the next stop of the tour.
See complete set list.
The original genius, Jackie Wilson, plays two of his greatest hits: «Higher and Higher» and «Lonely Teardrops»:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-R9z__WzI4]