Two Hearts Are Better Than One

I'm still buzzing from this last weekend where I had the opportunity to see the E Streeters. Two completely different shows (TEN songs played on Saturday not played on Friday). At Arco Arena, I had a great seat only thirteen rows from the direct side of the runway, enabling me to catch all of the great asides among the band members as well as the reactions from the crowd as Bruce passed out picks and harmonicas, grabbed signs with requests and joked with people all around. I was also able to watch the flow of the show among the band and caught Bruce several times deviating from the setlist and calling the audibles, among them Backstreets. The audience was intense and the band fed off the wild energy from the Sacramento fans. Three tour debuts and five new songs for me that night. While I went by myself, I enjoyed the show from the opening Spirit In the Night to the ripping American Land.
Saturday was nearly a train wreck as my Fresno partner had to cancel at the last minute. I scrambled in finding someone else to go with me (I had simply a couple of hours or so to find a partner) and I contacted about a dozen people. I ended up selling my ticket to someone from Backstreets.com, a guy named Joe, who ended up being a completely cool and wonderful person. He bought me a beer and we had a blast, except for the peanuts being thrown at me by a smug concert-goer behind me who was bent out of shape by my wanting to dance and stand all night. Three more tour debuts Saturday night and five more new songs for me, including Incident on 57th Street and a totally ripping Glory Days. The energy was lacking on Saturday that of Arco but the band was in fine fine form and both nights were totally enjoyable. Especially on Friday night, the band, sensing the crowd's love and energy, stayed at the end of the stage after the show soaking up the love for several minutes, shaking hands, waving and otherwise sending (in my mind) the tacit message that the band was out to party for that one last time, city to city, until the summer's big stadium shows.
I will spare the intimate details but can't get away from the fact that with the new material hitting its stride and the classics being nailed anew, I really was able to experience the best of the E Street Band. No sense of fear with the newer songs like in October and a passion and excitement for the older songs, Bruce and the boys gave us the shows of a lifetime for me. If I never see them again, I can say that this was in my top five experiences in all of my concert-going days. Now, to be a total geek, the stats:

# of times seeing Bruce: 7
# of times seeing the E Street Band: 5
# of times going by myself: 3
# of times with Lefty Brown: 2
# of total songs played in the 7 shows: 95 (!)
# of $ spent on this damned band: I can't count that high

The setlists:
Friday, April 4, 2008, Arco Arena, Sacramento:
Spirit in the Night
Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Murder Incorporated
Candy's Room
Because the Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
The Promised Land
Sherry Darling
Backstreets
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Rosalita
Born to Run
Ramrod
American Land

Saturday, April 5, 2004, HP Pavilion, San Jose:
Out in the Street
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Something in the Night
Magic
Trapped
Reason to Believe
Prove It All Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
The Promised Land
Fire
Incident on 57th Street
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Detroit Medley
Born to Run
Glory Days
Bobby Jean
American Land

Check out the awesome photos here.

I can only hope and dream for a West Coast stadium show...

On a separate note, here's what's been in my jukebox, so to speak:

Jackie Greene - American Myth
James Taylor - Mudslide Slim and the New Horizon
Paul Simon - Paul Simon
Beachwood Sparks - Once We Were Trees
Willie Nelson - Stardust
Wynton Marsalis - Live at the House of Tribes
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes - I Don't Want to Go Home/This Time It's For Real
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Bruce - E Street Shuffle
Sonny Stitt - New York Jazz