If you want surprises, go to a tour closer and you’ll get plenty.
It’s the last chance for the band to tick off items on their own bucket lists as well as their fans’, and you’re bound to get a loose, unpredictable show.
Or as Bruce put it early in the tour closer at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, “This is the last official night of our Magic Tour, so anything can happen!”
And anything did.
Some surprises were jaw-dropping, like opening the show with the world premiere of an obscure outtake:
…and some were comical, like following up that “Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own” open with “Cynthia,” establishing an early Farfisa mini-theme.
Some were generous: Bruce allowed both Max and Soozie a turn on lead vocals. Max’s selection was by request, when Bruce caught a sign that simply read, “Let Max Sing!” That sign cracked Bruce up so much that I wasn’t sure he was even going to be able to get through the rest of the sign collection. It turned out to be an irresistible suggestion, and Max picked a cover of “Boys” for his Ringo moment.
Soozie’s turn wasn’t by request, but it wasn’t setlisted either, so Bruce must have decided he was in a sharing mood that night. (He could have been a bit more generous in his choice of compliments, however–I’m not sure how Soozie took being called the band’s “workhorse.”) Bruce and Soozie shared the mic on a swinging cover of “It’s All Over Now.”
Some surprises were poignant, like the full band premiere (sort of, anyway: Bruce played solo for much of it before the band gently joined) of “Devils & Dust.”
…and some were intimate: Bruce’s almost-final encore of “Save the Last Dance for Me” was quiet, soulful, and a genuine love note to E Street Nation… right up to the surprise pay-off, a perfect segue into “Dancing in the Dark.”
The Magic Tour finally came to a close with one last tour-premiere and promise: a cover of “Rockin’ All Over the World.”
Coming off the for-the-ages show in St. Louis the night before, I didn’t have the foggiest idea of what to expect for tonight. How in the world could Bruce–could anyone–top that St. Louis show? As it turned out, he didn’t–but not for lack of trying. The surprises came just as frequently as the night before, but the show itself was less cohesive, more a grab-bag of last-chace/last-dance performances, and you know what? That was just fine with me. I still got six songs I’d never heard live, plus another three I’d never heard full-band. I’d have been greedy to ask for that much, let alone more.
The Magic Tour was a heck of a run start to finish, and it left me eager to see what would come next–and as it turned out, we wouldn’t have to wait very long at all.
