Born to play
A critic picks Bruce's 10 best shows
My fate as a Bruce Springsteen fan was sealed when I first caught him at Boston Garden in 1978. He jumped into the crowd, ran down the aisle with guitar in hand, and popped up on an empty seat next to mine while singing "Spirit in the Night". His eyes flashed sparks as he screamed and waved a fist toward the upper balcony. It was an addictive, totally primal moment, and I've come back dozens of times since. So before he and the E Street Band play Fenway Park this Saturday and Sunday, here's my top 10 list of Springsteen shows that have helped make this job so worthwhile:
1. Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Saratoga Springs, NY, 07/28/1984
This was the first New York area show of Springsteen.s "Born in the U.S.A". tour, so the mood was electric. More than 30,000 fans caught a 3-hour, 15-minute marathon that opened with "Badlands," "Prove It All Night," and "Out in the Street"; moved into three songs from his acoustic "Nebraska" album ("Atlantic City," "Johnny 99," and "Highway Patrolman"); and hit overdrive with "Glory Days," "Promised Land," "My Hometown," "Born in the U.S.A.," and "Thunder Road". And that was all just in the first set. Springsteen also twice slid across the stage like Ty Cobb, and guitarist Nils Lofgren did a back flip off a trampoline. The second set soared with "Because the Night," the rockabilly-fueled "Pink Cadillac," "Rosalita," and delirious encores of Mitch Ryder.s "Devil With a Blue Dress" and the Stones' "Street Fighting Man."
2. Somerville Theater
Somerville, Ma., 02/19/2003
Chalk this up as a once-in-alifetime opportunity to see Springsteen in a 900-seat hall, a benefit for Double-Take magazine. Switching between six- and 12-string guitars and a piano, he did songs that he rarely plays, such as "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" from his first album, "Greetings From Asbury Park,N.J". He talked about how he wrote his songs, and he reworked some magnificently, including "Born in the U.S.A". with a slide-guitar treatment that had a Led Zeppelin "Kashmir" flair. He opened the show with the powerful one-two punch of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "Adam Raised a Cain," later pulled out "Nebraska" and "Stolen Car," and didn't let up for 2 1/2 riveting hours.
3. Boston Garden
Boston, Ma., 09/25/1978
This was my first review of Springsteen, and he opened with Roy Brown's rock classic "Good Rockin' Tonight," which was also a hit for Wynonie Harris and done by Jerry Lee Lewis. The Boss was showing his knowledge of rock's roots, and I was immediately hooked. He had opened with Buddy Holly's "Rave On" on West Coast dates, but chose "Good Rockin' Tonight" for Boston. I'd love to hear it again. Maybe at Fenway?
4. Continental Airlines Arena
E. Rutherford, N.J., 07/15/199
Seeing Springsteen in his native New Jersey is like seeing Aerosmith in Boston. It's damn the torpedoes all the way. Reuniting with the E Street Band (it was the first time Lofgren and Steven Van Zandt were in the band together), Springsteen unveiled a new rock evangelism in his stage banter ("We.ve come to regenerate you and re-sexualate you," he said) and an incredible mix of material from the haunting "Streets of Philadelphia" to the driving "Backstreets," with saxophonist Clarence Clemons going wild. A new song, "Freehold," celebrated Springsteen's Jersey roots while recalling his Catholic grammar school education and his "first kiss in a YMCA canteen on a Friday night."
5. FleetCenter
Boston, Ma., 08/27/1999 (Last of five shows)
Capping a sold-out, fivenight run in which he drew 98,500 people to the FleetCenter, Springsteen opened with the express-train rock of "Candy's Room," with drummer Max Weinberg leading the way. Then came "Ties That Bind," and the crowd was at the band's mercy. We got a rare performance of the poetic oldie "New York City Serenade" and robust versions of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," "Jungleland," and "Light of Day". Former J. Geils Band singer Peter Wolf hopped out for a dance-crazed version of the Eddie Floyd / Steve Cropper chestnut "Raise Your Hand."
6. Carnegie Hall
New York, N.Y., 12/07/1987
At this Harry Chapin tribute, Springsteen shared the stage with Paul Simon, Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, and Judy Collins, but he stole the show. Playing solo, he sang Chapin's "Remember When the Music," an ode to the '60s, when music "was a rock we could cling to so we would not despair," according to Chapin's lyrics. But it was Springsteen as orator who was spellbinding. "Back then it seemed music had a greater sense of unity and shared purpose than it does today," he said. "We come from a generation that was going to make the world a little less lonely, try to make it a more just place. And it seemed when that promise was broken, we lost faith. Today, it's .I got my music, and you got yours, and the guy up the street has his" So you can sit back and say cynically, .Maybe men are not all brothers, maybe we'll never really know each other" But Harry instinctively knew it would also take more than love to survive it. It was going to take hard work with a good clear eye on the dirty ways of the world."
7. Maple Leaf Gardens
Tornoto, Ont., 09/15/1988
This was the first North American stop of an Amnesty International world tour that included Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, and Youssou N'Dour. Springsteen and the E Street Band were jet-lagged after performing in Paris, Turin, Barcelona, San Jose (in Costa Rica), and Toronto in one week. Springsteen was as tired as I've ever seen him, but he got by on sheer sweat. His universal plea of "Promised Land" was an inspiring highlight.
8. Providence Civic Center
Providence, R.I., 01/23/1985
Outside, a black sports car had the license plate "Bruuuuce". And inside, a group of fans unfurled a banner that read, "On the 8th day God created Bruce". This was the height of his hero worship, back when he not only did his own songs, but roared into oldies such as the Isley Brothers. "Twist and Shout," the Dave Clark Five's "Do You Love Me," and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Travelin' Band." A rock party that was hard to beat, as was Springsteen's confession to the crowd: "Man, I hated high school! I'm so glad that when 8 o'clock comes around at night, I get to rock rather than do my homework".
9. Hartford Civic Center
Hartford, Ct., 05/07/2000
The key to this show was a revitalized Clemons. The previous summer, he had appeared out of shape, but he hired a personal trainer and was back in the game, dancing with Springsteen and echoing the Clarence of old. Springsteen's newly added "Human Touch" (from an album he made without the E Street Band) was a nice stroke, as was his tender dedication of "No Surrender" to friend Lenny Zakim, the head of the New England office of the Anti-Defamation League, who had died the previous year of cancer.
10. Providence Performing Arts Center
Providence, R.I., 09/19/1996
Springsteen's acoustic tour to back his John Steinbeckin .uenced "Ghost of Tom Joad" album was an often grim affair, as anyone recalling his dates at the Orpheum will attest. But his show in Providence some months later struck a much better balance, mingling his poignant defenses of migrant workers with some just plain fun songs such as "Red-Headed Woman" (about his wife) and the new "There Will Never Be," about tabloid sensationalism. It brought home the many sides of Springsteen, from caring social observer to tonguein-cheek humorist.
