Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
September 8, 1999
The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, MI
Reviewed by Micah Holmquist

A cynic like me should have a field day with Bruce Springsteen. After all here is a performer that can not decide if he is "The Boss" or a poet of the proles. He undoubtedly released three great albums between 1975 and 1980—Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and The River-, but his work before and after this period has never been consistently brilliant. Add to this the fact that his current tour is a "reunion tour" with his legendary backing group The E-Street Band and not intended to support any new release and thinking of Bruce as a "has been" does not seem all that far-fetched.

And so as I was fully prepared and expecting to write a scathing review of the September 8, 1999 show at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. I can’t and won’t do that however. From start to finish Springsteen put on a show that whipped the crowd into a frenzy that words can’t do justice to.

Sure the set list consisted mostly of old favorites and was hardly daring. And no Springsteen will never win any musicianship awards nor will any other E-Street Band members. The crowd may have greeted most of the solos with cheers but lets fact it they were highly predictable. None of this matters with Springsteen however. Springsteen’s music paints of a world that is instantly familiar to just about everyone but which is rarely featured on t.v. or the movies. The ability to do that is all that matters. His songs show a world of gritty working people that desperately want respect and dream of better life, be that in the street, on the highway, or in darkness.

Springsteen fully recognizes that not all, and perhaps most, of the audience has not gone out and fulfilled their dreams and demanded respect. That is o.k. because for a three show everyone can feel what its like to live life as it should be lived. Smack dab in the middle of the show Springsteen alluded quite clearly to both the spiritual qualities of the show and to its brief duration. Speaking in a faux preacher’s voice he summed up the evening by saying "unlike some of my competitors, I can’t promise you life ever lasting, but I can promise you life right now."

Even though the concert was only a momentary experience, Springsteen made it clear to the audience that in the end everyone was in it together. The show ended with a song called "The Land of Hopes and Dreams" that he has been playing for the first time —publicly at least- on this tour. The final stanza to the song sums up the evening.

This train
Carries saints and sinners
This train
Carries losers and winners

This Train
Carries whores and gamblers
This Train
Carries midnight ramblers
This Train
Carries broken-hearted
This Train
Carries souls departed
This Train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train
Faith will be rewarded
This Train
Carries fools and kings
This Train
Hear the big wheels singing
This Train
Bells of freedom ringing

Set List

1. Ties that Bind
2. Prove It All Night
3. Two Hearts
4. Darkness on the Edge of Town
5. Promised Land
6. Mansion on the Hill
7. The River
8. Youngstown
9. Murder Inc
10. Badlands
11. Out in the Street
12. Tenth Avenue with Take Me to the River
13. Working on the Highway
14. Ghost of Tom Joad
15. Born in USA
16. Jungleland
17. Light Of Day
18. Ramrod
19. Hungry Heart
20. Bobby Jean
21. Born to Run
22. Thunder Road
23. If I Should fall Behind
24. Land of Hopes and Dreams

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