NEW YORK — Times like these I’m glad I live in New York City and nowhere else in the world.
In the past three days, I was lucky enough to witness the Yankees celebrating their 27th world championship with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes; LeBron James making his lone Big Apple appearance of the season by dropping 33 on the Knicks; and Bruce Springsteen closing out a two-night stop at Madison Square Garden by playing The River in its entirety.
If only the lowly Knicks (1-6) stoked the New York fan base as much as Bruce.
I’ve probably seen 12-15 Springsteen shows in my life and this one ranks among the best. There wasn’t an empty seat in the joint.
Maybe it was the fact that he was following the Yankees and LeBron. Maybe it was that the E Street Band played The River — an epic, brooding, transitional double album — live for the first time ever. Maybe it was that he was closing out his run in New York.
Whatever the case, Bruce put on a special show Sunday.
I was lucky enough to score a pair of free tickets thanks to my guys at StubHub (thanks fellas) and I went with my boy Tony Corsano of The Family Jam. Tony has been teaching music to my kids, Grace and James, and other City kids for years, and nobody does it better.
It was fun to watch one musician take in another.
I saw Bruce recently at Giants Stadium when he played Darkness on the Edge of Town, which was also tremendous, especially “Racing in the Street.” Speaking of that album, we highly recommend Lawrence Kirsh’s new book, “The Light in Darkness,” about that album and subsequent tour. Check out the website here.
Back to Sunday. One night after playing The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (1973), Bruce broke into the 1980 album, which includes such classics as “Hungry Heart,” “Cadillac Ranch,” “Not Fade Away,” and the title track itself, which was epic.
Toward the end, he rocked with “Atlantic City,” “Badlands,””Born to Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and “No Surrender.”
Monday night I’ll be back to my beat covering the Utah Jazz-Knicks game, but this weekend will forever be stored in the New York memory banks.
And I can’t imagine the Garden will rock nearly as hard once the Knicks return.
Setlist (courtesy Backstreets.com):
Wrecking Ball (with Curt Ramm)
The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out in the Street
Crush on You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
I Wanna Marry You
The River
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I’m a Rocker (with Curt Ramm)
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck on the Highway
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
Atlantic City
Badlands
Born to Run
Seven Nights to Rock
* * *
Sweet Soul Music (with Curt Ramm)
No Surrender
American Land (with Curt Ramm)
Dancing in the Dark
Can’t Help Falling in Love
Higher and Higher
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