A Time to Sing
Yesterday afternoon I picked Miriam up from work and we drove to Orlando to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play at the Amway Arena (the same venue we where we saw them in 2004, when it was named the T.D. Waterhouse Center). Some smart navigating kept us from having to sit in any traffic, and we made excellent time. Of course, we had missed the pit lottery, but we found the general admission entrance without difficulty. The many steps were hard for Miriam to negotiate since her roller derby injury last Sunday (that’s another story). We staked out a spot in the middle of the floor behind some shorter people, and there we stood for the next three hours.
The show started about 8:15 with a video tribute to the late Danny Federici, and it was a touching scene. In addition to a handful of songs from Magic (not “I’ll Work for Your Love”, alas), and “The Rising”, the set-list was mostly old favorites. I’d never seen him play “Lost in the Flood”, “Fire” (which was preceded by a funny story about Babyface making, in Bruce’s opinion, the best version of the song ever, such that, so sure was he that it’d be a hit, he went out and bought a new car), “Out in the Street”, “The River”, or “She’s the One”, but I last night they were all there. I had heard “Prove it All Night” in 2004, but last night it had the most over-the-top solo by Nils I have ever heard. It went on forever, and just when you thought it couldn’t get any more ridiculous, it got much, much more ridiculous. “Badlands” is a personal favorite, and though it’s often included, I was still glad to hear it again. A seldom played oldie, “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?” was offered to a person in the front holding a sign that had instead asked for “Growin’ Up”. “We played ‘Growin’ Up’ last night”, said Bruce. Oddly, he played “Does This Bus…” in Tampa in 2002, but last night it included to great mid-’70s intro. He seemed unsure before hand if he could remember it. I had been crossing my fingers for “Racing in the Streets”, which was played the night before in Tampa, but I had to settle for “Candy’s Room”, instead. He fulfilled a sign request for “Spirit in the Night”, which I’d never seen live, but didn’t answer another sign for “The Fever”. God bless the person in front of us with a sign reading “Drive All Night”, which is my second favorite rock song. He didn’t play it, but I appreciate their effort on behalf of an unloved masterpiece. And that brings us to “Backstreets” – from which “Drive All Night” was born: he opened the Tampa show with “Backstreets”, so I was crossing my fingers it’d show up last night, but it wasn’t to be. However, as though some sort of angels were smiling upon us, he reached out and took a sign from someone in the pit, held it up, and it read:
I’ve been waiting 30 years to hear Jungleland.
Then, lo, the band played “Jungleland”, and it was good. Roy Bittan is a rock pianist without peer.
Now, if I said that “Jungleland” wasn’t the most amazing moment of the evening you might think I was a liar, or simply stupid. And, under any other circumstances I’d believe you were right. But something even more astonishing happened last night, and, thanks to the magic of YouTube, you can witness it for yourself.
Filed under: Popular Music on April 24th, 2008 | No Comments »