Now that I have some time.....where do I begin?? The marathon 4 hour long, 30+ song setlist concerts that are equal part Rock N Roll Show, Political Rally and Revival Meeting? The 6 straight sell-out nights at Madison Square Garden? Everytime he tours? The plethora of hit songs, including New Jersey State song? The numerous award winning movie soundtracks? The deep, heart felt lyrics? The epic voice? The most versatile backing band in the business....the Earth Quakin', Heartbreakin', Booty Shakin' E Street Band? I could go on an on for hours, but I'm going to let Bono sum up the greatness of Bruce Springsteen instead, as he did in The Boss's RnR Hall of Fame Induction ceremony:
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If any of you had the pleasure of catching Bruce and the Boys close out the 25th RnR HoF Anniversary concert, you had a birdseye view of what makes them so good. If you didn't, you owe it to yourself to check it out. The essence of this band is in the Live Show. It's where they really seperate themselves from all the pretenders and amatuers.
The Sign Thing
One of the most magical things I've ever witnessed at any concert was the Sea of Signs on the last Bruce tour. It just sort of sprung up one day early on in the tour, a request sign from the audience to play a song from the catalog. They accommodated on the spot. Well, word travels fast in the Springsteen community, so at the next show hundreds of request signs popped up during the show. This turned into an every show, every date thing, to where Bruce and the Band would take a few minutes out of each setlist, pluck some signs out of the crowd and launch into a few select, obscure choices. The more rare, the better. The fans were up to the task, challenging the band at every stop, but the tougher the request, the more the band responded, the harder they played, the better they delievered. Unreal. Though it doesn't truly capture the feeling of actually being there when they play 5 or 6 requests in a row to the absolute delight of the crowd, here's a sample of what it's like.........
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And even if you hate the Giants like I do, you know you wish we had someone, anyone, do this for Texas Stadium as it's last hurrah.....
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And finally, my favorite from Bruce....
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The Defense rests.....
