Where the Band Was: Oakland, October 26, 2007

My first show of the Magic tour was on a gorgeous autumn day by the Bay with good friends from the Pacific Northwest. Bruce decided to skip us on the first leg, and although we were reasonably confident we’d get a show eventually, we weren’t about to take the chance. Road trip!

When I think back on the Magic Tour, it’s mostly the later legs that stand out, when the stops were pulled out and the wild cards were truly wild. But going back and listening to this show again… man, this was a solid set.

We weren’t sure what to expect–when we bought our tickets, this was originally the only area show on the itinerary. A second show was eventually added, but it was scheduled before the first show. So would we get a Night One or a Night Two setlist?

The latter, as it turned out, with three tour premieres for the very young (this was show number fourteen) tour.

We all made the pit, and showtime came fast, with a blast of energy right out of the gate. We knew it was coming (it was Bruce’s standard opener for the tour), but it was our first time hearing “Radio Nowhere” live, and it was fresh and exciting.

“No Surrender, “Lonesome Day,” and “Gypsy Biker” rounded out the standard opening pack (“Gypsy Biker” being a particular standout, and then Bruce established the theme for the evening with “Magic.” Bruce was still somewhat circumspect with his political comments, but that would change as the tour progressed.

One of the highlights of the entire tour came next. Since I knew I’d be seeing an early show, I’d avoided listening to any bootlegs prior to the show, as had my friends, so we were completely blown away by Bruce’s dramatic reworking of “Reason to Believe.”  In all the shows I’ve seen before or since, I’m not sure I ever experienced the bolt of lightning that hit the audience the moment the E Street Band comes in with full force. I still get chills when I re-listen to it.

Our first premiere–“Two Hearts“–followed by “She’s the One” kept the energy high. I remember wondering how Bruce was going to be able to sustain the intensity through an entire show.

Turns out a break was coming: Bruce took the pace down a bit to get topical again with “Livin’ in the Future,” before segueing to the wild card part of the show with “The Promised Land.”

I was looking forward to a Patti spotlight tonight–Bruce had been rotating her “Town Called Heartbreak” in and out of the setlist–but it wasn’t to be. It was hard to be upset about it, though, when the consolation prize was “Tunnel of Love” — the first time I’d heard that song live since its original tour.

Following “Tunnel” were two tour premieres, and while neither were exactly rare, both are always welcome: first a majestic “Racing in the Street,” then a rollicking “Working on the Highway.”

The Magic Tour had a theme, of course, and that message was delivered home nightly in a fixed sequence of songs that closed out the main set. Each song is powerful on its own, but in sequence they delivered an unmistakable message to fans as an election year approached. That string of songs–“Devil’s Arcade” into “The Rising,” “Last to Die,” “Long Walk Home” and “Badlands.” was a highlight of each and every show. I still hadn’t come to terms with the new arrangement of “Long Walk Home” (I’d fallen in love with the Seeger Sessions version), but I was starting to warm to it.

The main set was fantastic, but the encores disappointed just a bit. Bruce opened with “Girls in the Their Summer Clothes,” which is one of my favorite songs. I was thrilled to hear it live, but it needed an uptempo follow-up to close out the show on a high note.

Unfortunately, Bruce chose to give us “Thundercrack.” I was delighted–I love that early showstopper and had never heard it live before–but I quickly realized that hardly anyone in the audience seemed to recognize it, and the energy level just crashed. Bruce tried his best to get the audience to sing along, but it ended up being a train-wreck of an encore. The band was great, but the audience just wasn’t feeling it.

Bruce recovered with “Born to Run,” but by that time the show was almost over. “Dancing in the Dark” was great, but the E Street Band hadn’t quite wrapped their arms around “American Land” yet–where the Sessions Band swung their way through it, the E Street Band seemed to stomp their way along. They’d get better–much better–as the tour progressed, but as a show closer during this leg of the tour, it didn’t quite pass muster.

All in all, Oakland ’07 was a solid early-tour outing. I try to always attend shows at the very beginning and very end of a tour. The early shows provide the best opportunity to hear the new music and message before Bruce inevitably drops songs to make way for older classics and wild cards; the later shows feature expanded arrangements, looser performances, and more surprises.

So as far as my goal was concerned, it was mission accomplished. And although I didn’t know it at the time, I’d just seen my last show with Danny Federici, so I’m grateful to have had the opportunity.

But I was already looking forward to the next leg: I had tickets for my first Italian E Street Band show only weeks away.