Not that I had any reason to be nostalgic about Springsteen: I'm not from Jersey, I didn't grow up with The Boss and I'd never seen him play before. In fact, I'm on the record saying I'd much rather see Kanye West than an act that was "last relevant during the Reagan administration." But there's certainly something about a Springsteen show that'll make anyone pine for the Glory Days -- even if Bruce didn't play "Glory Days," or much else from his mega-successful mid-80s heyday -- and no one in the crowd of 20,000 seemed immune to the charisma of the 59-year-old rock icon.
Critic's Notebook:
Last Night: Bruce Springsteen at Jobing.com Arena
Better Than: Billy Joe and Elton John. In fact, it wasn't even close.
Personal Bias: Actually, I prefer both Billy and Elton to Bruce, when it comes to recorded music, but they didn't match him live, even though Bruce barely touched his hits ("Born to Run," which closed out the pre-encore set and "Dancing in the Dark" were the two biggest offering) and they pretty much delivered all the biggies.
Random Detail: Want to see a full setlist? Twitter user ickmusic out together one that looks perfect to me. Check him out here or follow my twitter (random thoughts from the show were posted throughout) here.
Further Listening: Check out the solo stuff by Nils Lofgren, Bruce's guitarist, who lives here in town. He's got a couple cool songs on his MySpace.
By the Way: I exposed myself as a n00b pretty early on, when Larry Rodgers from the Arizona Republic, who was sitting next to my girlfriend and I, explained that no, they weren't booing, they were yelling Bruuuuuuuuce. Reminded me of a classic moment from The Simpsons.
One More Thing: I took a lot of flack for comparing them back in September, but, even after everything I've said here, Kanye's show at Jobing.com was still a little better. He should have played the Super Bowl.
