the boss

The past few days have been strange. Because of our landlord's financial difficulties, we may need to move in the next week or two, I have been sick, and then passed the sickness on to Lelaine. Those aspects haven't been good. Luckily, we had a couple things going for us. First, Brian was in town on Saturday night for a visit. Second, yesterday was the second annual Post Hunt. And third, last night we went to see Springsteen at the phone booth.

It was the second time we have seen Bruce and the E Street Band. The first was back in 2004 at the Vote for a Change tour, when we saw Pearl Jam, REM, Springsteen, and a lot of others who probably deserve mentioning on the same stage. But The Boss only got to play for an hour or so that night, so this was our first proper show.

We - Jean, Justin, Lelaine, and I - had high expectations, in part because Lelaine scored floor tickets from the ticketing behemoth that shall not be named. Here are a few thoughts: Started with Badlands. Loved it. Played four songs off the new album. Didn't think much of Working on a Dream before the show and still don't after seeing them live. I didn't have much company in liking the Ghost of Tom Joad. Don't remember which song, but at one point the big screen showed a a fret cam on Nils Lofgren's guitar. That was a great shot. For a sign request, he brought a nine year old up on stage whose sign read something like "Jonas Brothers Smonus Brothers. Real Nine Year Olds Are Out in the Street with the ESB" and he let her sing Out in the Street. Pretty neat. The next sign request was Hava Nagila (the sign was a scroll). Max must have been happy. I really, really like The Rising, but last night's version didn't knock my socks off (a couple versions I have seen in the internets and on a show they play on the music channel have been amazing). Born to Run was as good as you could imagine. The show closed with a great version of Rosalita.

We went home with big smiles on our faces. The sounds was a bit muddled, but that could have had more to do with my sinus infection than the mix or the phone booth's acoustics. I realized that I don't know as much of his catalog - or at least songs he plays at shows - as I thought, but even the unfamiliar songs were pretty terrific. The best part was, in true Bruce fashion, how much energy he expends. You can feel every word. You imagine that he is as tired after each show as an NHL goalie is after a double overtime playoff game. He loves what he does. I hope I am the same way when I am 59.

[Thanks to the Washington Post for the pictures. A little better than the ones I took from my iPhone.]