Once my toes defrosted, it was a great night.
I’ve learned to think twice before buying a GA ticket and trying for the pit in the middle of winter, but there’s nothing like being up close and personal at a Springsteen show in Philadelphia. There’s never been anything resembling a “standard set” in Philly (at least not in this century), so when I was looking for a second River show to follow up from the amazing Pittsburgh opener, Philly was an easy choice.
Philly is also my hometown, and it gave me a rare chance to go to a show with my brother Craig, who’s also a big Bruce fan. So I flew in from Seattle and hung out with Craig, his friend Barry, and my friend Marietta outside the Wells Fargo Center in the snow (there was nowhere else to go). We waited for the lottery, and we rejoiced when we made the pit. This would be Barry’s first show ever and Craig’s first time in the pit, and I was excited for the experience they were about to have.
There’s absolutely nothing like being in the pit at a Springsteen show–and in Philly especially, the adrenaline surge makes three and a half hours scream by.
We had just barely made it into the pit, so we hung out near the back of it–and were perfectly positioned for the “Hungry Heart” crowd surf. You can see me very clearly (if you know what I look like) in the lower-right corner around the 3:48 mark, helping Bruce make his way back to the stage!
The River main set was considerably fuller and more majestic than at the tour opener in Pittsburgh, and Bruce told a lot more stories. I’d listened to all the “official bootlegs” that had been released to date, and it was clear from the outset that Bruce was downright talkative that night in Philly. In particular, we got some new backstory for “Drive All Night:”
We got more backstory, more jokes and anecdotes, and even through the song count held constant at 33 (it was still early in the tour), by the end of the night we had seen the longest show of the tour to date.
At this point in the tour, there were usually only one or two wild card surprises each night–and the full album performance of The River pushes them all to very late in the set. The final songs of The River are majestic, but they’re also relatively slow–which means by the time Bruce finished “The Price You Pay,” “Drive All Night” and “Wreck on the Highway” and segued into “Atlantic City,” the energy level had been simmering for about a half hour.
Bruce fixed that by launching into “Prove It All Night,” and then the surprise highlight of the night: “My Love Will Not Let You Down.”
It was the joyous release we all needed, and the show barreled through the rest of the set: a welcome “Wrecking Ball” (such a fitting song in Philadelphia), the welcome return of “Jungleland,” (which hadn’t yet been played on this tour), and only the second time I’ve ever heard “Human Touch” live.
The encores may not have held any setlist curveballs, but this was still Philadelphia, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise when “Philly Elvis” (who I’d met in the pit line at the 2009 show where he made his first on-stage appearance) took the stage during “Dancing in the Dark.”
…and even stalwarts like “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” were off-the-charts with this crowd.
Walking out after the show, Craig and I marveled at what we’d just experienced and agreed that it would be tough to top that show on this tour. We had no idea what was in store for us not even seven months later when Bruce returned to Philly.
