Phhhhhtt

What happened to Bruce Springsteen last night? Who took off with him?
Note to all performers...if you start your show one hour and fifteen minutes after the time on the ticket, you had better come out with a gold medal performance. Unfortunately, he did not.
Starting with "Then (S)He Kissed Me", a 1962 song produced by Phil Spector and originally done by The Crystals, he then morphed into something I didn't recognize. This new habit of having fans bearing signs for requests is a show stopper. I mean it literally stopped the show. There was no flow, I thought the sound was muddy and for some reason, it didn't click for me. If you are going to have the audience sing a long, don't do it on one of your newer, more obscure songs (Girls in Their Summer Clothes). Too many covers, not enough "Racing In The Street","Darkness On The Edge of Town","Born In The USA","No Surrender", "Bobby Jean" "The Promised Land", "Prove It All Night", "Land of Hope and Dreams","Hungry Heart"...etc. WTF was the Irish song that was played toward the end of the show with the accordions? He ended with "Little Queenie" and "Twist and Shout". "Born to Run" lacked the intensity of the original and only the inclusion of "Thunder Road" saved this show. Maybe it was the abscence of Danny Federici or the lack of Patti Scialfa (where was she?), but something was NOT right and I can't put my finger on it. Not the best Bruce show by far. Maybe the worst I've seen.
Too bad, but it just wasn't right somehow. We all have our off nights but, according to other bloggers who have followed him on this tour, the feeling is pretty much mutual. With Bruce's lofty expectations, the tour is not very fulfilling. Next.