I've been waiting 6 months for this show, and I wanted to treasure and remember every second, because I'm pretty sure that Bruce will never come back to this city which is, as Bruce himself sang (in Sherry Darling), the most isolated city in the world.
Actually, I've had the tickets for only 6 months, but I've been waiting for thirty years for these precious three hours.
I did take a few pictures right at the end, but only with my mobile phone (I can't connect my phone to my computer anymore, so I had to use my camera to take a photo of the phone's screen). They didn't come out very well, so I decided to get a bit artistic and apply some special effects to try and salvage something:
The show was a bit late starting. Pure genius. Let the punters get a bit restless, a bit anxious, so that when Bruce finally hits the stage, all this nervous tension is released in a single moment. Brilliant.
There were many highlights, as there probably is with every Bruce show. In no particular order, here's what I liked tonight:
The Ghost of Tom Joad - Sung by Tom Morello. What a great voice. It's the first time I've heard him.
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out - Bruce jumped up on the lighting console, which was just a few meters from me. My near brush with greatness. He doesn't look as tall close up.
Save My Love - Rapidly becoming my favourite Springsteen song. A lost gem from the mid seventies, rescued on The Promise CD. It was a pitty that the people around me didn't seem to appreciate it. It was pretty obscure though.
Pay Me My Money Down - with the thirty second timer (to get up out of our seats and shake our Western Australian asses, as Bruce put it...)
Rosalita - Bruce introduced the song as the premier Australian performance. Something just for us second nighters. Bruce managed to mess up one the verses by coming in too early. He's only human after all, folks. Only Springsteen can turn a mistake into a joyful highlight.
Born To Run/Dancing in the Dark - No further comment needs to be made. The place went wild.
Waiting on a Sunny Day - sung by a little kid that Bruce met at the beach yesterday. I don't think his parents will ever let him forget it.
Johnny 99 - A bleak lyric turned into an all out party song. One of the top highlights.
Thunder Road - Last song of the night before everyone went home. Just Bruce and his guitar sounding glorious.
There were a few classics that did not make an appearance, and I for one am glad they didn't because the show would have felt unbalanced. There was no Born in the USA, Glory Days, not much from Wrecking Ball unfortunately. We got Hungry Heart and Light of Day. He did a killer acoustic version of Girls in Their Summer Dresses. In fact, all his acoustic stuff, of which there was very little, sounded superb. I wish there could have been more. There were a couple of songs from High Hopes, including High Hopes and the Aussie classic, Just Like Fire Would. The Rising was sensational, coming just before the encore. It was so good I would have been happy if the show had ended right there, but then we had the Baseball bat to the head encore with Rosalita, Born To Run and Dancing in the Dark, all brought home with Twist and Shout, just in case your senses hadn't been assaulted enough already. But that wasn't the end. Bruce strapped on the accoustic guitar and finally finished things off with Thunder Road. There never has been, and never will be anything that will ever come close to the epic experience that is a Bruce show. Calling it big just doesn't do it justice.
I can see why many people are addicted to going to show after show. If I was living in America I would be too. Bruce plays every show like it's going to be his last show. You can see it in all the DVD's, and you can certainly feel it when you are actually there. You never want it to end, but you know that when it is inevitably over, there's nothing more that needs to be said.
And of course, I have to mention the lighting guy, whose name I know not, whose performance was almost as entertaining as Bruce's. Now there's a guy who obviously loves his work, and who wouldn't love having the job of turning the lights on and off at a Springsteen show every night?
