from BACKSTREETS.COM :
Night one in Philly brought a high-energy show that had a couple of minor flaws, but overall was a powerful performance.
One of the flaws again was the sound system. For the first couple of songs I thought it sounded clear and then someone must've hit a number changing the sound from loud and clear to loud and muddy. Most of what he was saying couldn't be understood - and this just wasn't me after the show my wife said to me "The sound system was too loud. I felt like I was 80 years old when he was talking I couldn't understand what he was saying" I assured her it wasn't her hearing and that fans have been complaining about the clarity of the sound with the band since 1999 or earlier.
Some other things that were flawed (in my opinion) the choice to play My Hometown. The show had a good flow at that point, but to me, My Hometown brought the show's momentum to a halt, but the crowd loved it, singing a long; Girls in their Summer Clothes although it sounded good, sounded like it was being played a tad too slow; not enough talking between songs (one of Bruce's greatest assets is his storytelling and that was sorely missing).
Some of the Pluses - the rockin' Reason to Believe, Candy's Room into She's the One, Brilliant Disguise (as a duet with Patti), Last to Die.
The song-by-song rundown:
8:20 the lights go out and caliope music starts playing as the band takes the stage.
Bruce shouts 'is anyone alive out there' and the band crashes into RADIO NOWHERE. A great rockin' version.
From there it's into a killer version of NO SURRENDER (one of my favorites) then its..
A solid version of LONESOME DAY that the crowd was really into.
Then a version of GYPSY BIKER that featured some smoking guitar duels between Bruce & Steve.
Bruce finally spoke at this point, saying "Good evening Philadelphia! This is the title song from the new record. It's not about magic, it's about tricks" and goes into MAGIC. A really nice version, starts of acoustic and the band joins in slowly. Wasn't sure how well it worked on the album, but it really works well in concert. Unfortunately not many heard it as it was amazing how many people were leaving the floor (and other sections) to go on a beer/bathroom run.
Then it was a fast bluesy harmonica solo as a lead-in to a smokin' verison of REASON TO BELIEVE. I resisted listening to the MP3s of this beforehand and am glad I did, because hearing this fresh this way made it even better. He only used the bullet mic on the final verse.
From there it was the killer one-two punch of CANDY'S ROOM and SHE'S THE ONE.Both songs smoked, high energy. However the harmonica ending on She's the One was weakened by the sound problems as the harmonica got muffled in the mix and it wasn't as wild as it was in Asbury a week earlier.
Then it was time for the LIVING IN THE FUTURE intro when Bruce spoke about how glad he was to be in Philly and the night is about cheesesteaks, cheeseburgers, Italian Ices, and a few other things I couldn't make out. Then he went into the usual rap about how we've had six years of illegal wiretapping, etc. and that we have to watch over the Constitution and do something about it.
Living was followed by a strong version of PROMISED LAND that the crowd was completely into.
Then it appeared that Bruce was calling for an audible as he was pointing to a few people in the band and there were some instrument changes going on. Then he did a duet with Patti on BRILLIANT DISGUISE. After the song ended he mentioned something about Patti having a new album out.
Then he made the show even more sombre with MY HOMETOWN. The crowd loved the song. Loved singing along with it. But to me, the momentum built by the previous two songs was gone.
He started to gain it back with a raucous DARLINGTON COUNTY.
But then he played DEVILS ARCADE. A song I'm still struggling to get. Apparently many others don't want to try getting it as this spawned another massive beer/bathroom run.
Then it was the set-closing four-pack that worked great: THE RISING, LAST TO DIE, LONG WALK HOME, and BADLANDS. LtD was just high-intensity from start to finish and works even better in concert than it does on the album, LWH was extremely solid, and the compacted Badlands just smoked. Bruce cut out the audience "oh-oh-oh"in the middle, but did a brief instrumental reprise at the end.
The band left the stge for the end of the main set at 9:37.
For the minute or two they were offstge it's amazing how many people opened up their cellphones and held them up like lighters.
The encores opened with a very nice GIRLS IN THE SUMMER CLOTHES. It sounded good, but something was missing from the performance and I think they might have played it a tad slower than the studio version.
For THUNDERCRACK Bruce intro'd it by saying that the band hasn't played it in Philly since before something (due to the volume/mix I couldn't make it out). It was a nice, fun version. Not as fun as versions in Asbury are, but it was a good version.
Then the houselights came on for the opening salvo of BORN TO RUN and they stayed on. The band took their bows after BTR.
Bruce said "it ain't over yet" gave a brief talk about the Philadelphia Food Bank and dedicated the next song to them - WAITING ON A SUNNY DAY. Bruce had to keep encouraging the audience to sing a long louder (and he did it without any political comments).
Then after Roy and Danny donned their accordians Bruce said something to the effect of "Let your views be heard, and let freedom ring" and launched into AMERICAN LAND.
After AL he quickly introduced the band, they took their final vows and left the stage, calling it a night around 10:35-10:40.
CERTO CHE ................. ANDARE AL BAGNO SU MAGIC E DEVIL'S ARCADE .........
MA NON SANNO FARLA PRIMA ?
