Ok, I'll say it. I liked the set list from Albany the night before better. I'll take comfort in the belief that we Cleveland attendees saw an untouchable "Racing In The Streets" though.
That song from Springsteen's 1978 Darkeness On The Edge Of Town was the highlight of, yet, another three hour show. As a friend of mine from Detroit put it "I've seen two shows on this tour from the pit and the power is simply unbelievable."
The way Springsteen handled Clarence Clemons absence was just about perfect. There was a complete horn section instead of just the Big Man's sax, as if saying it takes more than one to replace him. Clarence's nephew, Jake Clemons, handled the sax solos beautifully. Early on those solos took place on the drum riser. It wasn't until "The Promised Land" that Jake took the spot where Clarence stood. Jake Clemons can also play drums and sing. Add to that, as my wife put it "he's adorable".
During "My City Of Ruins" two spotlights were shown on the places where Clarence and Danny Federici used to stand. During the finale, "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" Bruce quipped, "here comes the important part" before singing the line "when the change was made up town and the big man joined the band". At that point the band froze and all eyes were on a video montage of Clarence that had many of us choking back tears. It ended in thunderous applause and the rollicking finish to the song. Bruce letting us know that we love, we remember and we carry on.
My seats weren't too bad on the club level.
But nothing compared to my friend Karen who was planted smack dab in the front of the pit, center stage.
Another pit dwelling friend walked away with a sign that made it to the stage.
And, finally, yet another friend in the pit had this story to tell. "Got to the Q yesterday at noon and left at 12am! Met up with my cousin and his son and daughter at noon and we waited in hopes of getting a GA pit pass via the wristband lottery...We struck out... We still had an amazing time and although we didn't get into the GA pit, we were right next to the second stage in the middle of the arena AND my cousins daughter had a sign that read "PLEASE SING A SONG WITH ME", she made...Sure enough, a miracle happened and Bruce saw the sign and brought her up on the second stage last night and he gave her the mic and she sang "Waiting On A Sunny day" with him AND he brought her up to the main stage as well and they did a slide together onstage! It was one of the most amazing things ever!!!I took a ton of pics and video! stay tuned for all of them sometime today! Anne Marie was AMAZING! HA!"
Video by Nick Perry
It's nearly impossible to send out photos during a show as the nearby cell towers become overloaded. As I see more photos my friends took I'll add them.
Karen Follman Burns
Nick Perry
Karen Follman Burns
Nick Perry
