{"id":1750,"date":"2018-04-29T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2018-04-29T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2025-04-21T15:09:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T22:09:31","slug":"where-the-band-was-philadelphia-april-29-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/29\/where-the-band-was-philadelphia-april-29-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Where the Band Was: Philadelphia, April 29, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a rule that Night Two of a two-night stand is always better than Night One<\/a>. Bruce tends to play it safe on the opening night and let loose on the last night.<\/p>\n

But in Philly,\u00a0all<\/em> nights are special, and at these first two of six shows on the Working on a Dream Tour (the other four were six months away), it’s a toss-up as to which was the stronger of the two.<\/p>\n

I’ll set “The Fever<\/a>” aside, because nothing would top the exhilaration I felt hearing that for the first time. The only thing that would come close is hearing “Kitty’s Back,<\/a>” which moved to the number one spot on my wishlist when I retired “The Fever” 24 hours prior.<\/p>\n

What did Bruce deal Philly in the wild card pack on this night? First up, the E Street Band premiere of The Clash’s “London Calling,<\/a>” played by Bruce only once prior, at the Grammy Awards six years earlier; next, a rollicking arrangement of “Red Headed Woman<\/a>” to welcome Patti back to the stage (she’d missed a few shows due to an injury), and finally the best performance of “Thundercrack<\/a>” I’ve had the privilege to see (somehow, I’ve managed to catch this rarity five times).<\/p>\n

You can watch all three wildcards below.<\/p>\n