Ah, Philly. As I like to put it: a good place to be from.
I escaped to the Pacific Northwest half my life ago, but as long as Bruce continues to tour, I’ll keep going back. (Also, I have family there.)
Pretty much every Springsteen show is great. But in some cities, you’re more likely than not to get the jaw-dropping, rarities-filled setlists that fans dream of. And in Philadelphia, you’re pretty much guaranteed it: Philly is consistently and reliably the site of legendary Bruce shows dating back well before “Born to Run.”
This show certainly fit that mold. It started out normally enough, with a standard “Badlands” opener kicking off the usual WOAD opening pack and recession-themed mini-set. But then came sign-collection time, and we were off to the races.
First, a rare outing of “Fire” in response to a sign deserving of attention…
Reliving that moment as I write this, it’s so wonderful to see Bruce and Clarence share the mic and enjoy each other’s company… we didn’t know at the time that our remaining opportunities to see moments like that were so limited.
Next, the song I’d always chased–the song at the very top of my as-yet-unheard-but-must-hear-someday mountain: “The Fever.” Bruce plays it so rarely in concert (other than at special bar sets and benefits, he’d played it only twice in 30 years), I’d resigned myself to it being forever out of reach. And then…
How do you follow a moment like that? With a so-rare-he’s-only-played-it-once-in-30-years cover of “Mountain of Love.” Oddly, I was there the last time he played it–in St. Louis the year prior, a strange coincidence–but it seemed more fitting here. “Mountain of Love” featured in several 1975 setlists, but only in Pennsylvania shows.
Setlist rarities weren’t the only thing that made this show stand out–it was also the first time I got a glimpse of next-generation E Street, when Jay Weinberg sat in for his dad on drums for the back half the main set (as he would go on to do for much of the tour), and he was a force of nature.
This show was pretty early on the first leg of the Working on a Dream tour, so I was lucky enough to hear two of my favorite songs from that album that would be dropped from the set soon enough: “The Wrestler” and “Kingdom of Days.”
When Max returned for the encores, Bruce kicked off with “Hard Times (Come Again No More)” and then pulled out another gem for Philly: a cover of a 1963 hit by local legends The Dovells, “You Can’t Sit Down” that lengthened the encore set, but Bruce still wasn’t done. He sent us home with a raucous “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” that left us exhausted but exhilarated for Night Two.
