You Can't Start A Fire Without A Spark

I didn't know what to expect heading into the Bruce Springsteen concert at Fenway Park, the other night. What I did know was that I was a fan of a handful or so of his songs and that from all reports, this guy and the E Street Band, are known for high-energy sets that can top out at about 4 hours. Throw in the historic 100-year old baseball mecca and you have the ingredients for a very special night. Taking the stage at 7:36 to a recorded version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame Springsteen quickly made this night special. "I used to start like this in the 1970s." And with that declaration he launched into an acoustic version of Thunder Road with just Roy Bittan on piano. It was spectacular and surreal all at the same time. I have a few versions of this song acoustically from some of those 70's show and this night's version was just as powerful.

It was then on into the "summertime set' as the whole band came on stage and did a rousing version of Hungry Heart. From all accounts, you don't hear this song as early as we were hearing it and not every night. More summer-themed songs followed including a cover of Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues. We Take Care of Our Own and Wrecking Ball came later and drew some jeers when a lyric in Ball mentions the NY Giants; not a well-liked team in these parts. Springsteen could only say 'Sorry" and grin. My City of Ruins was poignant as Springsteen paid tribute to former Red Sox player and skipper Johnny Pesky who passed away just a few days before. Putting a spotlight on the Pesky Pole at Fenway (seen below) drew some of the nights biggest cheers.

Then the sign requests started. Bruce gathered a lot of signs from down in front of the stage and started to sift through them. This gave us a really cool moment in the show. "This has never before been performed with the E Street Band, At least I don't remember it, I don't think it has. We're going to take the casualness of the evening. Great song by one of the great great soul singers, Eddie Floyd. Ladies and gentlemen, we want you to knock right now on wood." Knock On Wood actually had been played once before by Bruce and the band with Floyd (who did the original in 1966) at the April 29, 1976 show at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, Tenn. It was later that night that Bruce jumped the gate at Graceland and tried to meet Elvis.

The rain began to fall during Waiting On A Sunny Day. You can't make this stuff up. Badlands started to close out the main set as the rain intensified but who the hell cares? The momentum of the show was hitting it's peak and a little downpour wasn't about to ruin this night.

As the houselights were turned on Springsteen and company launched in to their signature song, Born To Run. An amazing song with such power, the whole place was singing in unison and dancing. A pretty awesome spectacle to see and be a part of. I never get tired of that song. Detroit Medley and Dancing In The Dar followed. No Courtney Cox this time but Laura did her best to reenact that unforgettable video from the 80's, and I have video to prove it!! Quarter To Three was played which gave the die-hards their WOW moment. This was the closer for many of the 1978 shows and had only been played 5 times since 1981. A beautiful and moving video tribute to Clarence Clemons came during Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out. The show wrapped at 11:02 with Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys joining the band for American Land. 3 1/2 hours. Who nowadays plays that long? Nobody. I guess that's why he's The Boss.

I don't know what took so long for me to finally see Springsteen, but I am glad I finally did. The venue was great. The setlist was great. Heck even adding the rain element made it great. I am not sure how much longer Laura and I will be in Boston, but Springsteen just gave us one special night that will be one of our best Boston memories. Thanks Boss!!