EVEN the Boss gets tired.
Bruce Springsteen was the first to admit that Friday was a long, hard day cracking rock. He and his E Street Band had been up at dawn for a mini concert at Rockefeller Center, and that night was the final two-hour dress rehearsal at the Meadowlands (with full lights and video) before tomorrow’s tour opener in Hartford.
The band and man got on the arena-wide, double-tier open stage at about 9 p.m. when Bruce, looking like he’d ridden hard down Thunder Road, referred to his morning start, saying, “I still got pajamas on under my clothes – it was too early.”
Despite this being a rehearsal concert, played for a small audience that was just less than a quarter of the arena’s 18,000 capacity, Bruce & Co. were ready to take the tour on the road. They proved it all night, from the zip of the new song “Radio Nowhere” hitched to “The Ties That Bind,” through a stunning encore set that included a breezy “Waiting on a Sunny Day” and the Jersey-side anthem “Born To Run.”
This show was a 22-tune shuffle of E Street classics and the fresh songs from the “Magic” album that was released on vinyl last week and hits stores in a CD format tomorrow. The songs are strong, sequenced nicely in a set that finds its muscle in the arena rockers and only occasionally dares to be quiet.
There’s little here for Seeger session fans – Bruce is plugged in and turned on. Even the song “Reason To Believe” is turbo-charged. On that one, Little Steven led the guitars with a power boogie rhythm, while Bruce blew blues harp and wailed. (Bruce’s harmonica work was also outstanding on the new number “Gypsy Biker.”)
“Reason To Believe” was a very welcome piece in the set, especially after the dud “A Town Called Heartbreak,” where Springsteen did a “Ricky ‘n’ Lucy” duet with his wife, Patti Scialfa.
It wasn’t a perfect show, but no one expected it to be. The kinks are still getting straightened. One sign that this was a rehearsal, rather than an official gig, was in the stage blocking.
At times it seemed like guitarists Steve Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren were playing musical microphones as they scrambled to be in the right place at the right time.
While you might think that the sparsely occupied arena would have been a distraction for a band used to wall-to-wall audiences, it wasn’t. Despite the planned emptiness of the hall, the hard-core Bruce boosters present were loud and raucous beyond their numbers.
While this show was really a fan’s event, Tony Sirico, who played the role of Paulie Walnuts on “The Sopranos,” was the night’s celebrity-fan who got cheers almost as loud as the Boss as he cruised the floor waiting to see his castmate Little Steven onstage.
The fan enthusiasm was clearly appreciated by Springsteen, whose initial long day into night weariness wore off as the band played on.
Some of the personal best during this show were from saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who made “Livin’ in the Future” sizzle with his solo. Clemons, who has had double hip replacement surgery, was less active than usual and often sat when his sax wasn’t required center stage. Still, whenever the much-loved Big Man blew, the crowd screamed for more sax.
Drummer Max Weinberg is the heart of the band and was terrific weaving the Bo Diddley beat into the E Street warhorse “She’s the One.” Max also earned his keep with his rhythms on “The Promised Land.”
Even though this was just a rehearsal the show had flow and a good vibe designed to unglue the fans from their seats and sing along with the Boss. Everyone will be doing just that when Springsteen plays the arena at the Meadowlands again next week (Oct. 9 and 10) and Madison Square Garden Oct. 17 and 18.