Expectations for the Rochester concert on Halloween night were very high. And though none of the obvious song choices materialized (like «Sandy» or «Lost in the Flood») there was a great atmosphere in the air and Bruce brought up many surprises. The show openend with the live premiere of «A Night With The Jersey Devil», the Halloween song written in 2007 and published only as a video on the artist’s official website.
Bruce went inmediately to his standard set list for the tour, with «We Take Care of Our Own» as the second song. «My City of Ruins» was particularly powerful, with Bruce talking about the recent storm:
«We wish you a happy Halloween, but we are a rock ‘n’ roll band form the Jersey Shore, and tonight we carry a lot of sadness in our hearts » (…) «So we’re gonna do this tonight from our hometown to your hometown. We’ll send this out to all the people working down there: the police officers, the firemen, and also to the Governor, who has done such a hard job this past week.»
A powerful «Spirit in the Night» followed, with the audience singing most of the lyrics, and then a new surprise when Bruce picked up a sign and played, for the first time ever, «Monster Mash» (a song by Bobby Pickett which was a hit in 1962). As he recognized, they had rehearsed it during soundcheck too.
Highlights from the Halloween show included «Atlantic City», «Cover Me», «Drive All Night» and some very strong performances of «Jackson Cage», «Something in the Night» and «She’s the One».
The encores brought one more surprise, «Jersey Girl», which was dedicated to «all the folks suffering in New York City, Connecticut, the Tri-State area, and especially for our fans suffering down on the Jersey Shore«.
The «Detroit Medley», another sign request, made a nice addition to the encores, though it brought some chaos in the band, and the song had to be re-started.