BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 12, 2016

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 12, 2016

Disc One (59:02)

Meet Me In The City
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

Disc Two (70:15)

The River
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I'm A Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck On The Highway
Atlantic City

Disc Three (78:26)

Prove It All Night
My Love Will Not Let You Down
Wrecking Ball
Human Touch
Jungleland
The Rising
Thunder Road
Born To Run
Dancing In The Dark
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Shout

Label : BruceSpringsteen.net

Venue : Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Recording Date : February 12, 2016

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : On night ten of The River Tour 2016, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band return to Pennsylvania and the longest show of the tour so far (don’t worry, you’ll be reading that a few more times as the tour goes on) brings several changes in comparison to opening night in Pittsburgh. Carrying on from last time out in Hartford, The River sequence here suggests that the album is well on its way to being the finished product, but there are still a variety of introductory, vocal and instrumental nuances that tell us there’s still some ways to go. Also notable is in where this contrasts Hartford and is similar to Pittsburgh, as there are no additional outtakes from The River to make for an extra special occasion. Although with that said, the two debuts Philly do get ensure a memorable night, one in particular that I’m very sure everyone in the Wells Fargo Center was delighted about. Let’s get stuck into it! “Philadelphia! My brothers and sisters! Oh alright we’re so glad to be here in the City of Brotherly Love tonight! Are you ready to be entertained? Are you ready to be entertained?!!“ Opening with the usual “Meet Me in the City”, Bruce’s gritty vocal leads a rousing rendition, and what’s immediately exciting for the night ahead is the loud response this audience give to his “if you can hear me then say alright!“. The connection between artist and audience was imperative towards making Hartford a thrilling night, and it’s promising to get an early glimpse of it here too. Also thrilling in this opener is the meshing of guitars and Jake’s sax from 2:24, the urgency Bruce sings with from 3:29 – which is important in confirming to us he’s still incredibly motivated despite the consistency of the setlist – and the return of Patti, who really lets us know she’s back with her participation at 3:55. With a near-voice breaking command of “if you can holler then say alright!” by Bruce (4:04) and a delightful call of “meet me in the city tonight!” from Stevie at 4:32 also shining as the song comes an end, it’s a damn good first five minutes in the Wells Fargo Center, will the next three hours and twenty-two follow suit? “So, uh, thirty years on, we want you to come along with us again, as we go down to The River, let’s see what we find!“ We’re ten shows in, but the playing to kick off “The Ties That Bind” refuses to grow stale, and if it’s any hint of an answer to the question pondered above, we’re in luck. The persistence of Bruce’s gritty vocal doesn’t hinder his efforts, and as has been the case over the last month, he’s backed well enough by Patti and Stevie’s harmonies to where it wouldn’t matter if that was the case anyway. The album opener is highlighted best by an awesome Jake solo (2:04) and while Jake standing out has also been a recurring aspect of the track since Pittsburgh, tonight may well be his best yet. Here’s hoping there’s more to come! Of course, having warmed himself up, Jake leads us into the “party noises” of “Sherry Darling” and I like the way his sax actually trails off at the end of his intro, segueing into another gritty Bruce vocal, however it’s one that works quite well in adding to his exhaustion – “if she’ll just shut up!“. Typically stirring, this one finds more strengths in the form of “Uncle” Steve’s guitar solo, Patti further cementing her return with spirited vocals (2:43) and a loud declaration of the chorus from the crowd. While the relatively predictable nature of setlists made for a lack of interest outside of the arenas on this leg, it’s class to hear just how invested the audiences are inside of them. No intro missteps tonight with “Jackson Cage”, as a swift and sensational start leads to a likewise performance. Interestingly, Bruce’s gritty vocal is absent in the opening stages, and when it appears for lines such as “blinds are closed” and “things she don’t wanna know!“, we can infer he’s using it for select lyrics and in full control of how it fluctuates. Aside from the vocal aspect of the song, his and Stevie’s guitar combination alongside Jake’s harmonica is particularly good tonight at 2:02, and the combination of Roy and Charlie moments later at 2:26 serves as a delightful bonus in a song really spurred on by them, Garry and Max. The latter is also imperative in driving “Two Hearts” forward, and leading to it being as animated and dedicated as it is. Of course, Bruce and Stevie mainly handle the dedicated aspect, with Bruce singing clearly again, and Stevie on very passionate form, which is really par for the course, even this early on into the tour. “… it’s the kind of song you write when you’re young, and you’re first startled by your parents humanity. You’re shocked to realise that they had their own dreams and their own desires and their own hopes that maybe didn’t pan out so perfectly for them… and you’re too young to understand the blessings that compromise brings, so all you can see are the compromises they had to make, where it looks like they shorted themselves, where it looks like they gave up on things, and when you’re young, you haven’t had to live through that yet… and the very idea of it frightens you…“ With Nils’ acoustic superbly setting the scene, tonight the monologue for “Independence Day” is only slightly tweaked in comparison to Hartford, and most interesting is how Bruce reads it. Taking a straightforward approach in contrast to the more common subdued tone of voice, we’re left wondering if the anguish that comes with memories flooding back to him while speaking has started to subside, and if ultimately this song is about settle. Of course, the reading is far from being cheerful, however within the song itself we can note a couple of triumphant vocal deliveries, starting with the defiant “but they can’t touch me!” (2:55), fluid declaration of “it’s independence day all boys must run away” at 4:00 (check out Charlie’s playing in the background too!) and most of all the way Bruce sings the chorus from 3:08, which is truly liberating and the moment that cements a very fine first side of the album on this night in the Wells Fargo. The other song “about skipping town!” begins with an “A++++++++” effort from Philly, which is a good sign for the second side of the album, and the following vocal from Bruce isn’t bad either (1:20, 2:49). The only drawback is that the music seems to tower over him a touch after he sings “just kept going” – as evident in the first timestamp given. This is also highlighted by Stevie’s fantastic “hungry hea-art” harmonies (2:11), and we get plenty of them to savour as Bruce (not phased by that moment in Hartford) takes his tenth crowd surf of the tour, closing in on 2014’s nineteen in the process! As for “Out in the Street” next, it’s a lot more focused with Patti back onstage, so if you were wondering, no, there’s no teasing Garry when we get to the “meet me out in the street!” sequence, and instead it goes swiftly thanks to solid singing by Patti, Stevie, Nils and Soozie. Elsewhere in this well sang, fast performance, we see more A+… participation from the audience (3:47) who are more than giving the previous nine cities a run for their money, and not too long after that we get arguably the best “oh-oh-oh” calls of the tour so far from 4:03. They aren’t too much to shout about, but they’re nice to listen to, and that’s all that matters! After Max rumbles us out of Bruce’s ode to The Easybeats’ “Friday on My Mind”, he co-directs a hard-hitting “Crush on You”, with Bruce and Stevie filling in the other half courtesy of angry guitars and vehement vocals; and while there isn’t much else to say about this one on this occasion, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I like Bruce’s “Philly! She might the talk of high!” to transition us out of the song from 2:54. It’s class! There are few noteworthy talking points in a routine “You Can Look” too, with the exception of Patti joining in to give the same sense of legitimacy to the lyrics that she gave in Newark (1:52). Thankfully, though, the following combination of songs have talking points in abundance; from a lesson on maracas, to a nod to Bruce’s youth and his autobiographical “Freehold”, to typically stunning vocals, harmonies and sax playing. And the rest… “I wrote this song as a daydream, then I dreamed I was gonna play maracas. Maracas are the instrument of love, they’re the instrument of sex! Any idiot can do it! But like I say this song was a daydream you’re standing on the corner, watching someone you’re never gonna meet walk by, and you imagine this whole life with that person just by the way they’re moving or walking or the way they look… what your kids are gonna look like, where you’re gonna live, what you’re gonna do. Of course you imagine the easiest kind of life, it’s all bliss, bliss, bliss and all first kisses, first kisses, first kisses… who remembers their first kiss? Of course… mine was… Maria Espinoza! In the bleachers at the Y.M.C.A.! I limped all the way back home… that’s right, you imagine that love without consequences, the one that doesn’t exist… but, hey! I don’t wanna ruin this, this is a song of youth, of imagining love in all of its glory and all of its tentativeness, all of its sweetness. It’s not the real thing, but I’ve got these maracas! I don’t need the real thing! And besides you gotta start someplace!“ I don’t know who was expecting a namedrop for Maria Espinoza on The River Tour 2016, but it’s a further reminder that this tour can and will surprise in the most unexpected of ways. When Bruce and the Band flow into “Here She Comes Walkin'”, the former’s vocal is, as stated above, stunning, and he’s complemented well by Stevie’s ‘tone free’ harmonies, all the way up until 4:19 when Steve follows up on “oh someday I’m gonna make her mine!” in sublime fashion. It’s really only bettered in this sequence by Bruce once again altering “Alright, let’s catch up to her… wait a minute! Wait a minute!“, by this time adding a repeated hush in comparison to the shouts let out in Hartford. Every daydream ends differently, and luckily for us this first one transitions into another thanks to Roy’s magical piano playing (6:11) and Bruce’s passionate vocal in particular (the way he sings “you just walk on by!” at 6:51 is all we need to appreciate it). Unfortunately for our protagonist, the daydream aura of “I Wanna Marry You” becomes a nightmare with “The River”, and Bruce’s sorrowful vocal is quite the contrast to the previous ten minutes of music. It’s a vocal that has plenty of nuances throughout as well, which lead us to think about each lyric as its own vignette, to a certain degree. The first truly striking delivery of a line comes at 2:44 with “I got a job workin’ construction“, and the hushed, bitter tone in Bruce’s voice here is contrasted magnificently by the reverberation in his voice as he sings “they vanished right into the air” a few moments later at 3:06. Giving a sense of laughing through tears, we’re able to imagine the character of this story talking to a therapist, or simply anybody, searching for answers, and it’s at 4:45 when it hits us that we are the ones he’s looking to for help, as he tells us: “I wrote this song for my sister, my brother-in-law, they’re here tonight, so I wanna sing this for them, it’s about the hard times they suffered through the Carter Recession, this is for you Ginny and Mick.“ A contextual interlude similar to what he recited in New York and Newark, the words are equally powerful on this night, but with the instrumentation of the Band playing behind him that’s even more so the case. To follow it up with his ghostly falsetto and sombre harmonica (5:05 – 6:23) makes for one of the most heartbreaking versions of “The River” I can recall hearing. The second half of the album amplifies the sorrowful atmosphere, and while for the most part “Point Blank” stays true to recent form, there are several notable aspects over the course of its eight minutes. The guitar playing is particularly brooding as a scene setter tonight, and it nearly overshadows Roy’s intro because of the haunting aura it evokes – check out 1:54. The guitar playing isn’t the only element that contributes to the daunting mood, as Stevie’s wails of “point blank!” are immense, serving for as much a teaser for “Stolen Car” in their echoey, ghoulish execution as they are a powerful addition to this song (4:42). What stands out most to me in this one, though, is the way Bruce sings “I swore I would never let you go” at 6:02, and while I’ve never thought about the song’s gender roles and presumed every listener ‘sided’ with the narrator, Bruce’s delivery of this line is sinister. So sinister, in fact, that it alters the way we view the rest of this song, and whose side we want to be on, and when Bruce sings that final “bang bang baby you’re dead” at 8:23, void of any remorse, we’re left thinking about the song in ways we may not have since the first time we heard it. For a change of tempo, a thunderous invitation to the “Cadillac Ranch” is followed by a likewise call to get Philly screaming, and a likewise all round performance. Ten shows in, I feel like I may have been underselling Bruce’s guitar solo (2:12) prior to the trio of solos that follows – mainly because of the quality of these solos and Bruce’s work in the finale – but it’s just as good tonight as it has been over the last nine shows, and it’s again just bettered by Nils’ effort at 2:42. Mind you, Soozie may well get the better of all three guitarists on this occasion! As for Bruce’s coda playing, we get another instance of his riffs blending superbly with Jake’s sax from 4:58, and with the addition of Max’s drumming, I have to say here is where “Caddy” becomes truly thunderous. A solid, hearty “I’m a Rocker” bridges us into “Fade Away”, and there’s a lot of clarity in Bruce’s wistful vocal tonight, which leads to several outstanding deliveries. I really like his “oh-oh darlin’!” at 2:39 to end a mint passage that begins at 1:54, with Charlie transitioning us into the next one with stunning, sweeping organ riffs. Also notable in this one is this Philadelphia audience making Hartford proud by singing the title at 4:37, a sequence (along with the song) highlighted best by Bruce and Stevie’s: “No I-I don’t wanna! No I don’t want to! I don’t want to… leave your mind! No I don’t want to leave your mind!” (“No no no no!“) “No don’t let me leave your mind! I don’t wanna lose your heart! Don’t let me lose your heart! I DON’T WANNA FAAAAADE AWAY!“. Here’s to the next twenty-seven versions of this song for moments like this alone! A gorgeous, tragic “Stolen Car” ends this sequence of the album, and as has been the case lately, for what it lacks in vocal and instrumental nuances, it continues to hit the spot on account of its stoic beauty. While the song is the complete antithesis of “Cadillac Ranch”, there’s a similar amount of thunder to this performance, and for the song’s protagonist Max instils that along with crashing cymbals to resemble his world falling apart. A strong vocal persisting, whirlwind guitar (4:12) and a command to “Shake ya booty!” tells us what we need to know about tonight’s dose of “Ramrod”, and thankfully there’s a little more of note about “The Price You Pay” next. The first moment of interest is the way Charlie’s organ lingers at 0:18, and while I’m not too sure whether that’s a misstep or not, I know that I want to hear it again next time out in Sunrise. That also applies to Bruce’s continued strong vocal, with the way he recites “restless pull” (1:43) and “caught in a dream” (2:20) standing out before the finale high note. Shining alongside him on the way there are primarily the aforementioned Charlie, and Max, who bring a nicely contrasting forcefulness and tenderness to the song, and they do this after that high note at 4:56. Now, it’s another mint declaration of “throw it awaaaaay!“, and it might be a touch worse than in Hartford, but I love the trend we’re seeing as of late, even more than the guitar playing to see us out from 5:21. “As we neared the end of the record, I knew I wanted a, I felt like I needed a love song. So I went back in, into our archives and found this, that we cut in 1977 I think, in one take.” Similarly to “The River”, for Bruce to read his new “Drive All Night” intro – added last time out – as Roy, Max and Garry set the mood instrumentally, makes for an even better start to the album’s penultimate track. And as has been the case since January 16th, the song doesn’t falter once it gets going. There’s a perfect blend of smoothness, soul and fire in Bruce’s voice, and a lot of the latter in Stevie’s too, as evident in his intense “tender cha-arms!” and “drive all night again!” at 8:50 and 9:47 respectively (they’re must listen moments, I have to say). And with Jake’s awesome sax playing and the repeatedly thrilling “dream baby dream” interlude (7:20) also gleaming in their spirited romanticism, there’s tons of release for any listener who needs it in this tenth gem of a version on the tour. Of course, following the cathartic high, the next direction is down, and while “Wreck on the Highway” ends The River on a bleak, despairing note, we can be grateful for what is also a tenth stunning rendition on the tour. Using the song to reflect on “how the clock starts on all of us, and time starts slipping away“, the aspect that stands out to me most isn’t Charlie’s organ, or Nils and Stevie’s guitar licks, or the strength of Bruce’s vocal, but rather the fluidity with which he sings “man lying by on the side of the road“. There was a hint of this in Hartford, but for a line that he’s been singing slowly on this tour, the abnormally quick delivery of it here is intriguing. I think this is quite effective in regards to the song’s theme of time. Suggesting a memory that our protagonist is beginning to come to terms with remembering, it’s an intricate, but telling sign that as you get older, moments you once struggled to think about you come to accept. You still appreciate and understand the impact they’ve had on your life, but with the limited amount of time we have that Bruce talks about in his closing monologue, we don’t allow them to define our being. “That’s The River!” – and it might well be the best performance of it yet! We carry on with an eight song sequence that could be straight out of a fan’s dream setlist, and fittingly it begins with a track Philly greatly resonate with, “Atlantic City”. Singing along and reacting (unsurprisingly) loudly to the fate of the Chicken Man, it doesn’t take long for us to realise just how inspired this is in every area. Highlighted on Bruce’s part by mint recitals of “and the DA can’t get no relief!” and “debts that no honest maaaaaaaaan could pay!“, and spurred on by quality instrumentation: Nils’ electric, Charlie’s striking riffs (2:54), Garry’s riveting bass (4:06) and both Stevie’s mandolin playing and harmonies (4:40 – 5:30), it’s going to take a lot to top this version as the tour goes on. Damn! The intensity of the Nebraska track transitions into a breezy, but forceful intro for “Prove It All Night” driven on by Roy’s piano, and it’s noticeable how Bruce’s vocal isn’t overly vehement once he starts singing either. Of course, even a tamer “Prove It” outshines 99% of any other song, and this certainly does have its heated moments. In particular we can look to Jake’s solo (1:42) and Bruce’s subsequently blistering guitar (2:03), Stevie’s cry of “alright!” (3:31) and an outro given to Nils as evidence to argue the start of the song is something of an outlier. For what “Prove It” may lack at times in relation to intensity, there’s more than enough of it in the night’s first tour debut, “My Love Will Not Let You Down”, kicked off by Max’s ferocious tempo and likewise guitar. A motivated offering, Bruce is intent on letting Philly know his words are real, and the way he sings “will not let you down!” at 1:21 definitely helps towards achieving that goal. This manner of vocal delivery continues into the chorus (and beyond) at 2:12 when he calls on the Band to help him out in expressing his message, and it’s a fantastic, communal moment. With Max having not stopped his relentless drumming since the opening, he only reaffirms why he is Mighty in an outstanding finale, which is equally owned by Bruce, Nils and Stevie playing in tandem (3:58). Three guitars are better than one, and oh do they most certainly get the job done. An otherwise typically solid “Wrecking Ball” next is actually made unique by several unique moments, with the first coming immediately as Bruce doesn’t let the intro linger, getting stuck into the lyrics right away. Another song about time slipping away, so it’s apt that he has no time to waste. A performance that calls back to opening night with similar boos at 1:05 and 1:23 when mentioning the Meadowlands and the Giants, there’s no shout of “Steelers?!” tonight (Pittsburgh did already answer that question after all) but he gets this audience back onside in similar fashion with a rousing “Philly let me hear your voices call!” at 1:34. No boos there. Followed by a vibrant and very nice bridge a few moments later at 2:06 and a seemingly rare moment where Bruce sings the “when all of this steel and my stories” verse from 3:19, this night in the Wells Fargo is delivering in more ways than we could possibly have imagined. Then, with Valentine’s Day only two days away, and their next show not until February 16th, Bruce and Patti share the spotlight together with “Human Touch”. Starting off on a tender note courtesy of the instrumentation, this one echoes the arduous search for love with a constantly altering tempo and vocal approach from Bruce. The latter takes on a gritty vocal (0:54) that drifts back and forth with robust – both when singing with Patti at 2:23 after the blissful kick in, and alone at 2:38. Nothing tender about what follows this, as the solid guitar playing becomes just as cathartic as the work of the trio in “My Love”, and with Bruce’s fiery shouts of “yeah yeah yeah yeah yeaaah!!!” (5:02, 5:18) teeing us up for an animated finale, that is exactly what we get with a searing solo from 5:23, one that reaches “Ramrod” levels when combined with Max’s beat at 5:53. Four performances of this in ten shows is a great start to the tour, because we can always do with a little bit of “Human Touch”, especially when it’s played like this. How can you better that?! A second tour debut in the form of “Jungleland” should (and does) do the trick. Where the guitar playing moments earlier was a liberating experience for Philadelphia, Soozie’s opening violin is ecstasy, and the hush surrounding Wells Fargo as Roy starts playing is indicative of their trip into nirvana. This audience have been tremendous up to now, and they don’t let this reward pass without joining in with Bruce for his most potent of fairytales and torrid of tragedies. That collective shout of “stab of romance!” is one example of the communal effort here, and their reaction to his “SAY IT NOW!” at 1:57 is brilliant. A tour debut that isn’t without its missteps, and a brief delay on Bruce’s part sees an extended instrumental at 2:11, but he simply laughs it off and we carry on as usual a moment later for a sensational rendition where the song’s fundamental players play their parts superbly; Roy, Max, Garry and Charlie throughout, Stevie at 3:29, Jake from 4:29 up to 7:20; and Bruce’s finale is exemplified by a sombre repetition of “a night so, so tender” (8:14), an extended pause after “not even dead” at 9:40, and wails at 10:14 that are so powerful, we’re left slightly bewildered by them and the fact he’s been playing for two hours and forty-five minutes up to this point. A special performance for an audience that deserve it. With forty-two minutes to go, the home stretch of the evening sees our six setlist staples send the audience home in a dedicated, animated manner befitting of the previous two hours and forty-five minutes. “Thunder Road” follows “The Rising” and the last show in Hartford with an additional focus on the connections between man and audience, with that again highlighted best in the “we’re pulling outta here to win!” at 4:24; before a shout out to Philabundance leads into energetic encore openers in “Born to Run” and “Dancing in the Dark”. They may be lacking in new, noteworthy moments, but their consistency to what we’ve heard so far on the tour is impressive for sure. Honestly, the same can be said for “Rosie”, and while that might be a case of taking her coming out for granted, in-house that’s certainly not the case with Philadelphia being emphatically loud in response to a well sang, well played and at times well and truly hectic (3:28, 3:34, 6:42, 7:12) effort from the men and women onstage. With no “Bobby Jean” bridging us from “Rosie” into “Shout” – a coincidence with Patti’s return? – we jump straight into the latter to see us out, and it’s a finale that doesn’t lack excitement. Bruce is ardent stating “LET. ME. HEAR. YOU. SCREAAAAM!!!“, and the performance that follows is of equal energy, from every “yeah! yeah!“, to the soulful shouts of “I wanta know!“, to even the “He’s got a new album out ladies and gentlemen go look for it!” line when introducing Garry (is this the belated ‘apology’ for forgetting him in Madison Square Garden?). “Bruce is loose!” alright! So loose, in fact that a call of “Bring it up to F! Bring it up to G!” at 6:55 makes for a raucous finale that wouldn’t be out of place in a final show of the tour, let alone the tenth! With tweaks still being made here and there for songs like “Independence Day”, “I Wanna Marry You”, “The River” and “Drive All Night”, we’re looking at the most polished River album performance yet on this night in the Wells Fargo Center. Helped by the return of Patti and a superb combining of every perfection made prior, this one is a great indicator that the tour should only get better and better. Having said that, this one is also benefitted by its awesome post-album sequence, and the special performances of “Atlantic City”, “My Love Will Not Let You Down” and “Jungleland” that won’t feature on every occasion, however the fact they do here is what’s important and I’ll be honest in saying I don’t know why this one wasn’t in the Best of guide back in 2018, but it should have been, and as of today, it is.