Bruce Springsteen at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston

I have been a Springsteen fan since '84. Born in the U.S.A. 6th grade. Hit after hit after hit from that album. Probably one of the first 20 or 30 cassettes (?!) that I ever purchased.

I have a distinct memory of a history class where the teacher stepped out for the final 10 or so minutes of the period, and had a member of the high school wrestling team that he coached proctor us while we worked on some homework. Somehow he saw that I had written "Bruce Springsteen" on my binder and he excused me from the remainder of the class because he too was a fan. It's odd what drums up memories.

Fast forward through the rest of the 80's (Tunnel of Love) into college in the early 90's (Streets of Philadelphia) and then onward to 9-11-01. The Rising is still one of my favorite albums, and hearing the title song, an ode to the rescue workers who rushed up the Twin Towers' staircases while others rushed down, always drums up mixed emotions - incredible sadness yet thoughts of heroic redemption.

Tuesday night, I had the honor of finally seeing Bruce live - AND had great seats in a 6th floor luxury box.

What an experience!

His fans are passionate. I certainly brought the average age down in the arena, and I didn't know all of the words to all of the songs, but this was a concert that lived up to my expectations. The E Street Band sounded amazing. Every song was either a party or a sermon (or both). I was fully expecting a gospel choir to line up behind the stage and chime in during a few songs (but none did). Bruce even did his crotch-first stage slide into a camerman, a la The Super Bowl.

I found the setlist online already, thanks to www.backstreets.com.

Setlist:
Badlands
Adam Raised a Cain
Outlaw Pete
Out in the Street
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
The Ghost of Tom Joad
I'm Goin' Down
Raise Your Hand
I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide
I'm Goin' Down
Growin' Up
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The Wrestler
Kingdom of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run
* * *
Hard Times
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
Land of Hope and Dreams
American Land
Rosalita