BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : PHANTOM MAGIC NIGHT FOR DANNY IN ORLANDO

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : PHANTOM MAGIC NIGHT FOR DANNY IN ORLANDO

Disc One (75:02)

Blood Brothers (Video Tribute)
Blood Brothers
Night
Radio Nowhere
Out In The Street
Spìrit In The Night
The River
Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?
Candy's Room
Prove It All Night
She's The One
Livin' In The Future
The Promised Land
Fire

Disc Two (77:49)

Lost In The Flood
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season) (with Roger McGuinn)
Mr. Tambourine Man (with Roger McGuinn)
Jungleland
Born To Run
Dancing In The Dark
American Land

Label : Crystal Cat

Venue : Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida, USA

Recording Date : April 23, 2008

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : After Tampa, the tributes continued into Orlando. The last Archive Series release from the Magic Tour back in December 2022 took us to the end of summer 2008, with Nashville serving as a stimulating prelude to what would become a legendary night in St Louis. The newest release from the tour keeps us in the year 2008, but takes us back into spring for another show that pairs perfectly with a previous unearthing. In February 2019, the Archive Series gave us the release of Tampa 2008, the first show that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played following the passing of Dan Federici. Now, in April 2025 we have night two of the initial tribute shows to the Phantom, from Orlando’s Amway Arena. The night began similarly to April 22nd in Tampa, with Bruce’s “Good evening, Orlando” heavy in its sadness as he directed those in the house to the screens for Danny’s tribute video. Then, after the studio recording of “Blood Brothers” faded out came an opening song of the most profound emotional expressivity. In Tampa it was “Backstreets,” here in Orlando it was the electric version of “Blood Brothers.” Up to this point the song had only been performed twice in concert with the E Street Band, in the arrangement heard in the tribute video to mark the end of the Reunion and Rising Tours. The contrast here is haunting, and powerful, and as was the case the night before, the magnitude of the moment immediately hits Bruce. The ache in his voice is devastating as he goes to sing “brothers” at the end of the first verse. Here the E Street Band launch in to the music, and the next three minutes see them let it all out with an angry performance. Bruce’s guitar solo is blazing, and the organ riffs from Charlie Giordano hit us with force, especially as the man sings “my blood brother!” in a loud, then lamenting manner. The songs shaping the reminder of the opening – “Night,” “Radio Nowhere,” “Out in the Street” – maintained the extreme intensity, with Bruce’s “IS THERE ANYBODY ALIVE OUT THERE?!” a far cry from the tone in which he delivered his initial greeting. Be it in that interrogative, the roaring sax of Clarence Clemons, the fiery vocal of Little Steven Van Zandt, or the mighty “oh oh!” of the Orlando audience, these songs served as further high octane opportunities for everyone inside Amway Arena to let loose what was pent up inside of them. A strong “Spirit in the Night” followed in tribute to Danny, and although a howling scream is typical of Bruce at the start, we could be forgiven for thinking this was another example of him searching for some catharsis. This one also saw him searching for the right lyrics upon the start of the third verse, mistakingly singing “well now Wild Billy…” for a second time initially. A misstep, but not to one to worry about, though, as it just provides us another fun example of Bruce getting mixed up in this song over the years, which is something I’ve talked about in recent Archive Series-Live Downloads releases: September 21st, 1978, Passaic, NJ (incredibly, he stumbles with the very same line in this show) and September 1st, 2023, East Rutherford, NJ. There were no faults found in the song that followed. Preluded by an unconventional, albeit gorgeous piano intro from Roy Bittan, “The River” floored as a masterful, sobering ghost story following the rowdy ode to spirits. It’s the strength of Bruce’s vocal that really makes this performance captivate and stand out – something I feel is lost the older he gets. Our protagonist’s bitterness is striking as we hear Bruce sing “haunt me like a curse… or is it something worse” and his pain even more so once Bruce fully shifts into his falsetto for the ghostly wails. A harmonica coda with an equally strong gusto to see the song out ensures another unexpected Archive Series gem, and following a thanks to Orlando for their patience and prayers following Dan’s passing, a ‘memory test’ for the E Street Band restores a bouncing tempo. Complementing the “Growin’ Up” performance the night before, the first E Street Band outing of “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?” since May 2003 was a welcome return and a damn good spotlight for an in-form Big Man and Max Weinberg also, who’s hitting the drums with purpose throughout. Max hit with even more purpose next as “Candy’s Room” shifted the mood to lead a storming trio of powerhouse performances; featuring some Tom Morello-esque guitar playing during “Prove It All Night,” which placed Bruce, Little Steven and Nils Lofgren at the fore, before the three men combined with Roy, Clarence and Max for a titanic “She’s the One.” Clarence didn’t really relent afterward during “Livin’ in the Future,” but after that trifecta it can certainly be said that the touring track brought respite and a moment of focus on core socio-political themes. Just like the previous night, it was paired with a powerful version of “The Promised Land” that hits us with force on a thematic and emotional level. The final “YEEEEEAAAHHHH-EAAAAHHH!” from Bruce just before he starts the harmonica outro is a truly spine tingling moment. It’s then time for a little more fun – and little did Orlando know they’d need it with the pairing that was to follow – with local radio station “pick a song!” winner “Fire.” This one was preceded by a fantastic intro in which a bemused Bruce answered the questions behind the radio promotion, as well as asked a few questions of his own as to why this particular song. Of course, with that came a brief run-through of the song’s origins, from it being written as a potential Elvis Presley hit to it becoming a hit for Robert Gordon and the Pointer Sisters and a recommendation to go home and play Tuff Darts’ “All For the Love of Rock and Roll” ‘on your damn thing’ – not to forget his quick shout out to Babyface Edmunds’ version, his favourite. The subsequent performance ensured the intro wasn’t in vain. Audience enthusiasm and vibrant efforts from Little Steven and Garry Tallent, as well as Bruce whose vocal was again excellent (as evidenced with “I say I wanna stayyyyyyyy”) stood out before the Big Man got involved, stealing the show alongside with Bruce for an intimate and very crowd pleasing finale. On this night, these little moments between band members were very much needed. The feeling of fun became a feeling of despair as Roy led all into a “Lost in the Flood” that soon towered by way of Charlie’s organ riffs and a crushing Springsteen guitar solo. Interestingly with this one, there’s a similarity to last month’s Archive Series release – November 15th, 2012, Omaha, NE – as it starkly follows a crowd pleaser only to be outdone by the next song. Nonetheless, with “Devil’s Arcade” afterward we have a pairing here of what are very arguably Bruce Springsteen’s greatest uncelebrated epics and the performances really do them justice. The Magic behemoth was played with a softer menace than the Greetings thunderer before it, but it captivates and disturbs us like no other on this night en route to its fiery finale, anchored by another aching Springsteen vocal. A typical tour de force followed to end the main set, fronted by an inspired reading of “The Rising” to juxtapose the sentiments of the two songs prior, as well as the ravenous “Last To Die” that it segues into. The optimism of “The Rising” is then further contrasted by the realism of another tour stand out, “Long Walk Home,” which saw Springsteen, Orlando and later Van Zandt sing with an immense amount of passion. Stevie’s spotlight efforts at the end of the song could be an acquired taste for some given his likewise vocal approach, but the heart with which he sings is undeniable. Concluding the main set was “Badlands,” which saw more of that immense passion exuded over a whirlwind six-minute spell. Amidst the thundering guitars and drums, listen out for the stirring riffs coming from Charlie’s keyboard in the last thirty seconds. Dan Federici was irreplaceable, but Charles Giordano was here to show Orlando that he’d be doing his best for them. As Bruce would refer to him later on during the band introductions, “the man who saved us on this tour.” At the top of the encore, something very special. Tampa twenty-four hours earlier saw the entire E Street Band join Bruce up front for a most communal singalong of “I’ll Fly Away”; tonight the band remained in position as The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn joined them for a double shot of songs to help heal. First, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” does what all previously released live songs do when released in the scope of their full show (it featured on the 2008 Magic Tour Highlights EP) and hits with even more power. The E Street Band thrived as we might expect for this first cover and while McGuinn leads the vocal, we can hear Bruce sing his verses with great emotion. As I wrote in a summary of this show a couple of years ago, he wanted to ensure his “fans inside the Amway knew there’s a time for everything; mourning, weeping, healing, and that they wouldn’t be going through it alone.” The second song McGuinn guests on is The Byrds’ famous cover of Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man” (never before released) and once again, while McGuinn takes centerstage, Bruce is unrelenting in his emotion as he joins in, singing in with a smooth, oh so soulful vocal. As McGuinn left the stage Bruce would describe The Byrds’ music as “some of the most beautiful ever written in pop music – and some!” and that beauty really transcends here. A lovely moment. The remainder of the encore was naturally compact for the Magic Tour, and it was a strong one, too, thanks in particular to the inclusion of “Jungleland.” Capping off a good night for Clarence with one more serving of scorching guitar to boot, its emotional power was the ultimate moment of catharsis that the Amway Arena was searching for on April 23rd, 2008. The extra touch of rage in Bruce’s final howls assures us of that. A driven epilogue in the form of “Born to Run” was a reminder that this mission doesn’t stop until the tank is fully empty, and the final moments were danced away by way of that 1984 mega-hit and “American Land.” The night’s closer may not feel entirely fitting in the grand scheme of the show’s tributes, but in Orlando it surely achieved what Bruce knew was a primary task as he stepped onstage: sending these people home with a smile on their face.

Review (Nugs.net) : The delta between going and gone is a chasm. Danny Federici took a leave of absence from the E Street Band in November 2007 to battle melanoma. March 20, 2008, he returned to the stage in Indianapolis to play one last time with his band of brothers, a performance available in the Live Archive series. He died on April 17 of the same year. With Springsteen on tour, two concerts were rescheduled by a few days to accommodate Federici’s funeral and attendant events. The show in Tampa on the 22nd was released in the Live Archive series in early 2019. Now, Orlando, April 23, 2008 completes a two-show celebration of life for Phantom Dan. The 25-song set blends perseverance, nostalgia, and catharsis via a very special guest, all while still supporting Magic, the album Springsteen released the previous September. There’s a noticeable sense of purpose in the evening’s attempt to counterbalance undoubted emotional exhaustion. Another coping strategy employed seems to be turning up the guitar amps. Like the night before in Tampa, the show begins with a five-minute video tribute to Federici played on the arena’s big screens accompanied by “Blood Brothers” from Greatest Hits. But in Orlando, the true set opener is also “Blood Brothers”; this time it is a full-band rock arrangement similar to the one released in 1996 on the Blood Brothers EP. Rehearsed in soundcheck, the electrified “Blood Brothers” is captivating. With a slight quiver evident in his voice, Springsteen sings the first verse a capella before the band smashes into a take that sounds like a cross between a great River outtake and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Refugee.” Moving into more familiar territory, “Night” retains its sharp edge. The Magic tour was something of a renaissance back to 1977 levels for the song, where it regularly featured, as it does here, paired with “Radio Nowhere,” played with vigor and a helping of Stevie Van Zandt vocal sauce. “Out in the Street” carries forth this strong opening salvo ahead of “Spirit in the Night,” dedicated to Dan and the first of three songs from Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ to honor him. Professor Roy Bittan places a lovely prelude in front of “The River” in a stately, fitting version. Interestingly, for all its up-front piano beauty, the end of the song eschews any keyboard flourishes. Back to Greetings for a ragged-but-right audible of “Does This Bus Stop 82nd Street?” A return to sharper focus with the always welcome “Candy’s Room” which bristles with big guitar energy that sustains into a cracking “Prove It All Night.” Nils Lofgren takes his guitar solo into intriguing Theremin directions, then trades riffs with Van Zandt down the stretch. “She’s the One,” like Born To Run counterpart “Night,” was having a moment on the Magic tour. It cooks in Orlando, and it’s right about here in the set when you might start to ask yourself, “are those guitars louder than they usually are?” Clarence Clemons comes to the fore on the always sprightly “Livin’ in the Future,” its sentiment eerily apt in 2025. “The Promised Land” precedes the night’s setlist outlier, “Fire,” included as the result of a radio promotion. “What puzzles me,” Springsteen says, “[is] everytime I mention this, everybody goes, ‘Huh? Huh? I didn’t vote’,” before doing what all great artists do in a situation like this, blame management. “Fire” is buoyed by a long introduction where Springsteen recounts the history of the song including several known covers, his favorite of which is Babyface’s 1998 version featuring Des’ree. The third and final visit to Asbury Park comes as “Lost in the Flood,” that rare OG song that isn’t played often but is always played well. In Orlando, the band really grabs hold of it, turning the entire performance up a notch and staying there. Springsteen takes a ripping guitar solo and again the gain knob seems to be moving clockwise. “Devil’s Arcade” follows, arguably the best Magic song translated to the stage, and the guitars go off again; this gripping rendition might be the best of the night. Two more from Magic follow “The Rising”: the melodramatic “Last To Die” and the anthemic “Long Walk Home.” Fun fact: “Last to Die” namechecks “Truth or Consequences,” a town in New Mexico renamed after the radio and late TV game show of the same name. “Badlands” gratefully accepts the night’s guitar settings to close the set ahead of a unique encore. “We have a special guest with us tonight,” Springsteen says, “somebody whose music we really grew up on and who’s been a tremendous influence in my music. This is the guy that kind of single-handedly invented Country Rock, invented jangling guitars, Folk Rock and Space Rock too…. So much incredible, beautiful, beautiful music. We´re honored to have on our stage, from the Byrds, Mr. Roger McGuinn.” McGuinn leads a primed and ready-for-the-feels E Street Band through “Turn! Turn! Turn!” which delivers a measure of release given the occasion. This version was previously released on the Magic Tour Highlights EP back in July 2008, but not McGuinn’s second song, the Bob Dylan-written Byrds’ hit “Mr. Tambourine Man” which is played splendidly. What a treat. Putting an exclamation point on the night is a request for “Jungleland.” Soozie Tyrell echoes Suki Lahav’s pre-Born to Run era violin intro and the band delivers the goods across the board, with a strong showing by Clemons and Van Zandt on their solos, and purging vocals from Springsteen for the song’s epic conclusion. It’s hard to believe Danny Federici has been gone for 17 years. While he didn’t perform on Orlando 2008, his presence in this welcome Archive addition is undeniable.