Way, way, up near the top of my favorite shows list lies this one. Certainly one of the least predictable, absolutely one of the most memorable and (especially in retrospect) emotional.
One of the rules of Springsteen tours is that the penultimate show is almost always way better than the final show of the tour. This show was the exception, and over the last nine years it’s only grown in stature.
Not just because of one of the earliest performances of “Wrecking Ball” (two years away from official release)…
…or for the first-and-only-ever performance of Bruce’s very first album start-to-finish (including the first-ever E Street Band performance of “The Angel,” complete with viola), dedicated to Bruce’s original manager Mike Appel…
…or the live world debut of “Restless Nights” by request from Steve…
…or for Bruce’s own dedication of a rare “Surprise, Surprise” for Steve’s birthday (with cake!)…
…or even for the spectacular sign-request block, leading off with the it’s-almost-Christmas double-shot of “Merry Christmas Baby” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town…”
…followed immediately by the perfectly-apt-for-a-tour-finale “Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes” and a joyously intense pairing of “Boom Boom” and “My Love Will Not Let You Down.”
Not even for his subtle but unmistakable love letter and promise to his fans that opened the encore–an acoustic “I’ll Work for Your Love.”
And while the final two encores–“(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” and “Rockin’ All Over the World”–were perfect final notes for the tour, the show had already long since been elevated.
No, none of the above are the reasons why this show will always loom large for me.
Watch the video below–it comes early in the show, during the full album set. Although “Growin’ Up” is hardly a rarity, tonight Bruce seemed to be feeling nostalgic, and he did something during the song break that he hadn’t done for decades: he told a story. And not just any story, but the near legendary recollection of the first time he met Clarence Clemons. It’s funny and moving, and then comes the moment where he leans toward Clarence, rests his arm on his shoulder, and recreates the iconic album pose from 34 years prior that first recognized and celebrated their deep friendship and made it one of the most famous in rock and roll.
It was an unexpected and absolutely electrifying moment.
And it felt important. Significant in ways we couldn’t understand at the time, and Bruce almost certainly couldn’t have either. And yet, he did.
It was Clarence’s last public concert appearance with the E Street Band. He died following a stroke in 2011. Bruce couldn’t have known it at the time, but if he had, I think he would have played a show exactly like this one.
Going into the show that night, the rumor and fear among fans was that this was the swan song of the E Street Band–the last show of what would inevitably become known as their last tour. I don’t remember how the rumor started, but I remember believing it and feeling like I absolutely had to be there.
I didn’t know that not only would there be at least three more tours ahead of us, but even four-hour-plus marathon shows that would make setlists like this one pale by comparison.
But it didn’t take long for Bruce to dispel any notion of retirement. Early in the show he promised that the E Street Band was going away “for just a little while” and the encores of “I’ll Work For Your Love,” “Higher and Higher” and “Rockin’ All Over the World” sent a message and a promise loud and clear: there would be many, many shows to come.
But in a sense, it very much was the end of an era. The next time any of us saw the E Street Band again (other than a select lucky few who witnessed a private promotional concert in late 2010), it would be missing a big piece of its heart and soul.
Like all families, both the band and the fans would mourn, heal, grow, and go on to new heights and unforeseen triumphs.
But at the time, all we knew was that we’d just seen a magical show by our favorite band, and just in case it was our last, we stayed to watch them take their final bows.
Bruce and Clarence took theirs together, and then they walked off into the darkness, arm in arm.
