April 26, 2009
Atlanta, Georgia
Philips Arena
8:17
1. Badlands
2. Darkness On The Edge of Town
3. Outlaw Pete
4. She's The One
5. Working On A Dream
6. Radio Nowhere (w/Jay)
7. Seeds (w/Jay)
8. Johnny99 (w/Jay)
9. The Ghost of Tom Joad (w/Jay)
Collecting signs
10. Raise Your Hand
11. 96 Tears (request sign)
12. Trapped (request sign)
13. Waiting On A Sunny Day
14. The Promised Land
15. The Wrestler
16. Jungleland (sign - something like "Atlanta's Teenagers Want to Hear Jungleland")
17. Kingdom of Days
18. Lonesome Day
19. The Rising
20. Born To Run
21. Hard Times
22. 10th Ave. Freezeout
23. Land of Hope & Dreams (w/Jay)
24. American Land (w/Jay)
25. Detroit Medley
11:03
OMG. Darkness on the Edge of Town. Trapped. Jungleland. At my first Bruce show. The Ghost of Tom Joad. The Wrestler. Hard Times. Definitely NOT my last Bruce show. OMG.
I've started this paragraph over and over again. I can't even come up with sentences that make sense! LOL The whole experience is still racing through my brain, and I'm completely overwhelmed. The sheer power of the sound was the first thing that hit me. The bootlegs I've listened to prepared me for a lot, but not for that. The sound is just immense. It hits you almost like a physical blow. And then there's the quality of the sound. What amazing musicians. And Bruce lets them PLAY. Nils Lofgren's solo in Tom Joad. Clarence Clemons' solo in Jungleland. Stunning work by Jay Weinberg on Radio Nowhere. Dear God, PLEASE let there be a recording of this show! I had a terrific ticket for this show (just got lucky with Ticketmaster), and even though I'll probably never have one as good, I'm glad I had the opportunity to be so close at my first show. The level of interaction between the band and the audience is terrific. Every member of the band seems determined to reach out and pull in as many people as possible. And I haven't even mentioned Bruce himself. Wow. That man's fixin' to turn 60? I'm not sure I'm believing that!
Bruce toyed with us during the signs portion of the show. He held up one that said Ramrod. I was thrilled with that. Then he turned it around, and I could tell that something else was written on the back of the sign, but I couldn't read it. I guess someone changed their mind about their request, because the side that said Ramrod had obviously been done ahead of time, but on the back Trapped was just written with a skinny marker. I'd have been happy with Ramrod, but Trapped was even better.
Bruce added Jungleland because of a sign he saw but didn't pick up during the regular sign collection. He started talking about the sign later and it was passed up to the stage from the very back of the pit or maybe the front of the regular GA area. I'm sure glad someone made that sign! According to the handwritten setlist, No Surrender was a possibility at the end of the main set. It is one of my favorites, and I'd have loved to have heard it . . . but the addition of Jungleland probably knocked it out, and I'm not about to complain about that!
A word to those of you in Europe who might get Jay Weinberg on drums when Max has other commitments . . . DO NOT WORRY! I can't believe he's only 18. He did a fantastic job, and he is SO intense. His eyes never leave Bruce, and I swear you could almost see the communication going back and forth between those two. Bruce seems so damn proud of him that you'd think Jay was his own kid. And the crowd loves him. You could feel the goodwill going out as soon as he took over. Everyone wanted him to do well. His first song was Radio Nowhere, and he just killed it. Bruce was beaming, and I thought the buttons were gonna pop off his vest!
Yes, Kathleen, I know. You told me all this. I sure wish I hadn't absolutely hated the Nebraska album when I bought it 25+ years ago. And I wish I hadn't waited so long to give Bruce a second chance. Damn it.
How many days until the NJ shows?
Oh, one small regret -- no photos whatsoever.

I got my camera into the arena with no problem, but security was all over anyone with a camera or camera phone. Since I was in the first row off the floor, I had a security guy right in front of me. <sigh> Naturally, I was close enough to get super pics and couldn't take a single one.