Last night I went to my my 4th Springsteen concert in the last 20 months. Your first inclination would be to call me a groupie (roadie would be a nicer appellation), but you'd probably want to wait until November to do that. By then, I'll have attended an additional two shows -- one at Giants Stadium and one at Madison Square Garden. By that point, I might as well quit my life of crime and carry the band's guitars to the stage.
In any case, the show last night in Mansfield might be the best Springsteen concert I've ever been to. This is mostly a result of the crowd, fired up to no avail, shrugging off the oppressive pre-hurricane heat to demand -- and get -- two encores. Although the published setlists show that it was just one encore, the band did do the whole come-out-and-take-a-bow thing three times, only one of which was for good.
So the crowd was tremendous, but the setlist was spectacular. Calling audibles like Peyton Manning on crack, Springsteen at one point pulled up one of the most unusual request signs anyone has ever seen. It was an inflatable doll, kind of life-sized, and wearing a huge red wig. We all thought it was a request for "Red-headed Woman," but closer examination showed that the doll had devil horns and a blue dress on. Hence, the "Detroit Medley" triple-punch.
That's not all. The setlist was as deep as any I've ever see, with "Trapped," "For You," and the actually-and-somewhat-surprisingly-rarely-played "Born in the U.S.A." "Outlaw Pete" is still phenomenal live, and "Rosalita" actually came out pre-encore.
The best moment of the show, however, was "Backstreets," which I'd never seen live, and is just about as epic as you can imagine. The piano here is just phenomenal:
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