The Mac Weekly

Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: The Arts

Shrouded in total darkness, Bruce Springsteen starts his concert with a question, but it's really more of a challenge. "Is anybody alive out there?" Repeating the phrase two or three times in front of 19,000 screaming fans, Springsteen dares his fans to match his own intensity for the rest of the night. Max Weinberg's pounding drums appear out of nowhere, and suddenly eight dark figures are illuminated as they explode into a rock and roll band and start the show off with the appropriately themed opener "Night."

This past Sunday, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band made their second appearance in the Twin Cities supporting their latest album, "Magic," in just four months. The first show, in November, was a standout effort by everyone involved, including the exuberant St. Paul crowd who were treated to rarities such as "Incident on 57th St." and the classic "Thunder Road." Fans were given a final surprise with an unexpected announcement of the band's return in March as they left the arena.

Thus initiated four months of anticipation in the Twin Cities for the band's return (St. Paul is one of just two cities that's receiving a second show in the spring). Four months is a lot of time for a band to mature and develop over a tour, and Springsteen's E Street Band concerts are well known for their expansion of setlists and overall duration as the tour progresses. Furthering the expectations were Springsteen's most recent standout performances on the early stage of the new leg of the tour. Between the tour premiers of classic rarities like "Rosalita" and "Detroit Medley" and the gradual increase in show length in shows directly preceding the stop in St. Paul, the expectations among the more vigilant and up-to-date Springsteen fans were even higher.

For those with this anticipatory mindset, the show last Sunday ultimately fell short of such mammoth expectations. Still very much in the midst of the "Magic Tour," Sunday's show had the same core group of songs, including the six or so songs from the new album, plus Springsteen concert staples like "Badlands," "The Promised Land" and "Born To Run." Out of the 23 songs played, there were five different numbers this time around, a seemingly small number but altogether understandable. More disappointing was the lack of an increase in song quantity, particularly evident in the encore, which again received the standard five songs, despite a seven-song encore in (of all places) Omaha, Neb. just two nights earlier. Couldn't Bruce have done a little something special for the deserving St. Paul crowd for round two?

Continued...

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