Recap of May 15th Springsteen Show
Fun show at Hershey Park Stadium on Friday night and I can now say I finally saw Bruce Springsteen Live, something I have always wanted to do. I just have never had an opportunity before and was extremely disappointed I could not make the show last August. Friday was a beautiful night with temperatures in the low 70s and a packed stadium of 30,000 brought out a lot of energy from Bruce and the band. This was the first stadium show of the tour and the second show featuring Jay Weinberg, Max Weinberg's 18 year old son. Jay was AWESOME! He thundered the house all night long on the drums. I thought the show might have been the longest of the tour so far and I confirmed that at 2:58 it was indeed the longest show so far featuring a tight 27 songs. The show began at 8:19 p.m.
"Hello Hershey, are you ready to be delivered?" Bruce asked as the band took the stage.
1. Badlands
2. Spirit In The Night
3. Outlaw Pete
4. Radio Nowhere
5. Out In The Street
6. Twist and Shout (sign request, tour premiere)
The sign read: "If U play Twist and Shout" I'll burn my Hannah Montana CDs"
7. Working On A Dream
"Good to be here tonight in the wonderful home of candy" Bruce said to the crowd.
8. Seeds
9. Johnny 99
10. The Ghost Of Tom Joad
11. Raise Your Hand
Bruce collected signs, there were so many.
12. Give the Girl a Kiss (sign request, tour premiere)
I met a guy from the Baltimore area and he said many people thought Bruce would play this at the Hershey show in August of 2008 but he did not. Bruce picked up a sign that was a big Hershey kiss and on the white wrap it read: "Give the Girl a ...." This was soundchecked earlier in the afternoon. "This is very obscure," Bruce said. "Being we are in Hershey, Pa. we'll play it." Then he was asking the band "How does it start? What's the first guitar part? Oh, just sing it... Who knows this one?"
13. Trapped (sign request)
"I've seen a lot of signs for this one," Bruce said.
14. Waitin' On A Sunny Day
15. The Promised Land
16. Backstreets
17. Kingdom of Days
Bruce mentioned how Patti was home recovering from falling off a horse and that she was also home because it was, "Prom night. My daughter is 17. Security!"
18. Lonesome Day
19. The Rising
20. Born To Run
House lights go up, 30,000 people in Hershey Stadium go crazy. Even the kids, many 10 years old and younger were singing every word to every song. You could feel that Bruce and the Band were feeling it.
Encores:
Before the encores Bruce said "I love all the signs but it's getting a little ridiculous." He then mentioned "18-year-old Jay Weinberg taking over for his Dad. he's the first guy to sit in that seat for 35 years except for his pop. If you want to sit in that seat - that's saying something."
21. Hard Times
22. Thunder Road
23. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
24. Land Of Hope And Dreams
25. American Land
26. Rosalita
The band was ready to leave when Bruce shouted out "We'll do one more!" He called Jay and the others back out as they were leaving the stage.
27. Bobby Jean
Show over at 11:17 p.m. I first discovered Bruce Springsteen when I was 13 years old during the "Born in the USA" craze, immediately dug the story telling style of his songs. I quickly realized he had a whole lot of other awesome music way before that. Though I have always had a soft spot for "No Surrender" and "Glory Days" both off "Born in the USA", neither one was played at this show. But so many other great songs were played that I cannot say I was at all disappointed. Let me tell you, this was three hours of music, with no long guitar or drum solos while the rest of the band disappeared, there was no intermission. It was three hours of the Boss rocking the house and the entire E Street Band doing their thing.
