“BORN TO RUN – FOR THE LAST TIME”

The T.A.H. executive staff went to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Friday night in nearby Baltimore and here are a few observations.

First off, when it’s over (some 31 songs and 3.5 hours later), The Boss doesn’t owe you any money. Not one dime.

Amid speculation that the E Street Band is going into mothballs if not permanent retirement, Springsteen played all of the Born to Run album as he said “for the last time.” Of course, he could have meant for the last time on tour as they played Greetings from Asbury Park on the tours final show last night in Buffalo. There were 21 dates on the fall version of the tour that started two years ago. There were five shows in nine days at Giant Stadium in September and October.

Hey, the dude’s sixty…yep, SIXTY, but you’d never know it as he has the energy level of a terrible-two-year-old. In Baltimore, he went out into the crowd, grabbed a swig of beer from a fan, and then crowd surfed some 50 yards back to the stage.

Nice, Bruce, NICE!

There were 14,000 people there and at least 13,000 of them knew the words to every song and Springsteen was quick to invite the audience to sing along. Imagine the opening notes of Hungry Hart with the Boss standing on the stage holding the microphone out to a crowd who greeted him with the opening line “I’ve got a wife and kid in Baltimore, Jack!!!” (video below)

Interestingly, while Bruce continues to invite folks up on stage during various songs (see video below) and to play song requests from signs fans bring into the show (which, of course, wouldn’t happen at FedEx field…har, har!), on Friday night he dispensed with the “end concert, leave, come back for encore set” charade. He simply kept playing.

When the band left Springsteen on the stage to say one last goodbye, the Boss couldn’t resist calling them back out for a rousing end-game version of Glory Days to finally conclude the show.

And, it wasn’t just a local event. The T.A.H. executive staff shared their row with Bruce fans from Spain, England and Italy.

Here is the review from the Baltimore Sun and the review from the Buffalo News of the finale (which is followed by the reader comment: “Insanely great show.”)

1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore Set list: Wrecking Ball (with Curt Ramm), Prove It All Night, Hungry Heart, Working on a Dream, Thunder Road, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Night, Backstreets, Born to Run, She's the One, Meeting Across the River, Jungleland, Waitin' on a Sunny Day, Spirit in the Night, Green Onions, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, The E Street Shuffle, For You, Radio Nowhere, My Love Will Not Let You Down, Long Walk Home, The Rising, Badlands, Ramrod, Hard Times, Land of Hope and Dreams, American Land (with Curt Ramm and Ali Weinberg), Dancing in the Dark, Rosalita, Higher and Higher and Glory Days.