One of the most amazing things about the E Street Band isn’t just its longevity, but its longevity across generations. Jake Clemons ably fills his uncle’s shoes and then some; Jay Weinberg sat in for his dad when prior commitments conflicted with ESB tours; and on this night in Los Angeles, Danny Federici’s daughter Madison and son Jason made their ESB debut on tambourine and accordion respectively for “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out” and a video tribute to their dad. Jarod Clemons (Clarence’s son) and Olivia Tallent (Garry’s daughter) also joined the band for a brief, joyous, tender, multi-generational moment.
Bruce was visibly moved tonight. The performances and setlist were more sentimeI Wanna Marry Yountal, and there were callbacks galore: “Pretty Flamingo” was name-checked during “,” and “Dream Baby Dream” and “I’ll Work for Your Love” making cameos within “Drive All Night” (which makes you realize: “I’ll Work for Your Love” and “Drive All Night” are thematically pretty much the same song).
This was the first Night Two of the tour, and as predicted, the setlist started to open up. Typically, the show only varies 2 or 3 songs per night, because so much of the show is taken up by the River album. This night, however, featured five songs not heard on Night 1, two of which were tour premieres: “Death to My Hometown” and “American Land.”
Both delighted me: Bruce may have played them for their Irish melodies (it was St. Patrick’s Day!) but they’re also two of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums. Throw in a beautiful Bruce and Patti duet on “Brilliant Disguise” (only the second time I’d seen that song performed), and I was a very happy fan.
What would Night Three bring?
