Last week stltoday.com ran an article speculating that this may be the last time St. Louis gets to see Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band perform live. Whether or not that’s true, I have no idea. But judging by the way Bruce and the E Streets commanded the three-hour marathon set last night at the Scottrade Center, it’s certainly not an issue of losing their drive.

A few weeks back, it was announced that the band would be playing Bruce’s breakout 1975 album, “Born To Run,” in its entirety. Now if this wasn’t enough of an excuse to drag your ass out on a Sunday night, I really don’t know what is.

I attended Bruce’s last StL show (August ’08) at Scottrade and to say that bar was high would be a gross understatement. Some may remember the ‘controversy’ surrounding last year’s late start. Rumors were flying that Bruce was waiting for Tony LaRussa to get over to Scottrade before he started. As it turned out, Clarence “The Big Man” Clemons (sax) had a health hiccup and needed some immediate attention. I mean what do you expect—the dude’s pushing 70.

Fortunately, Bruce didn’t leave the crowd waiting this go around; The Big Man seemed healthy as ever; and apparently Tony LaRussa was in attendance… and presumably on time. Bruce opened up with “Wrecking Ball,” a brand new track that was apparently inspired by the impending demolition of Giants stadium—Bruce is playing the last performance at said stadium. From there, he sampled a few other newbies and a couple classics just to get the crowd warmed up for what ended up being a classic performance of “Born To Run.”

Five songs into the performance, The Boss stepped back in between songs and grabbed his harmonica. As soon as he grabbed it, I knew what was about to go down. “Screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves…” Just like that, the band plowed into “Thunder Road” and the “Born To Run” party had started. As great as it was to hear classics like “Tenth Ave. Freeze Out” and “Born To Run,” I was more excited about hearing tunes that I know he probably rarely, if ever, plays (i.e. Meeting Across the River).

I used “Jungleland” as an opportunity to score some more $10 beers (unbelievable) and hit the restroom. I came back in right as he ripped into the closing climax of the “Born To Run” segment. What a performance. They played it with such spark and precision… You would’ve thought they just recorded it.

Wasting no time, they tore into classics from “Born In the USA” and “The Rising” and a few other randoms. Hearing him belt out “No Surrender” was certainly a personal highlight. The band eventually took a breather, which lead to a moment I’ve been waiting to see for a long time. Taking a cue from a fan’s sign that read something to the effect of “Bruce. Play Piano. Solo”, Bruce did exactly that and treated St. Louis to a moving rendition of “For You” off of his first album, “Greetings From Asbury Park.”

After slowing things down, the band came back out and tipped their cap to St. Louis great, Chuck Berry, and covered “Roll Over Beethoven.” They did something very similar at last year’s show and—once again—it proved to be a real crowd-pleaser. From there, it was time for the band to close it out—of course not without turning on all the house lights for “Dancing in the Dark” (irony, anyone?). The final blow came in the form of “Rosalita”, arguably THE quintessential live Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band tune.

Random Notes of Interest/Humor:

-The 60-year old Bruce Springsteen crowd surfed.

-Clarence Clemons apparently just penned a book titled “Big Man.” You may’ve noticed him holding said book up in front of cameras while taking his curtain call bow. Classy, my man.

-Springsteen’s wife/backup singer, Patti Scialfa, apparently had the night off.

-Before the show started, some random 11-year old walked into the men’s room and—out of nowhere—yelled “HELL YEAH!! BRUCE!” That kid’s awesome.

-Speaking of kids, Bruce pulled one up onstage again and did the “Courtney Cox dance” with him.

-Are beers at Blues games $10 now? When will this madness stop?

-There were a bunch of Colts fans in attendance. What a day they must’ve had…


SET LIST – Scottrade Center - October 25, 2009
Wrecking Ball
Seeds
Prove It All Night
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
--
[Born to Run Album]
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
Night
Backstreets
Born to Run
She’s the One
Meeting Across the River
Jungleland
--
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
Workin’ on the Highway
The Promised Land
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Badlands
No Surrender
--
For You (Bruce solo, on piano)
Rollover Beethoven
Surprise, Surprise
Detroit Medley
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita