2002-10-07 HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY

Scheduled: 19:30 Local Start Time 20:30 / End Time 23:15

Info & Setlist | Venue

Tour premiere "Lost In The Flood" is the solo piano version, while "Tougher Than The Rest" is the first Tunnel Of Love song of the tour. "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)" makes it a trio of tour premieres in Buffalo. "Mary's Place" includes "The Monkey Time", "Rescue Me", and "Baby I've Been Missing You".

Intro to “Empty Sky”
“(Crowd cheers) I got it tonight (crowd cheers) working right there…but uh…thanks, great to be in Buffalo, thanks for coming out (crowd cheers) need a little bit of quiet for these next two songs, please, thank you…”

Intro to “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day”
“Alright, let’s go…good looking women, handsome gentlemen…”

Middle of “Mary’s Place”
“Alright, Buffalo, are you ready for a house party? (crowd cheers) (does the “Are you ready”-call-and-response with the crowd)…
(…) Are you ready for that house party now? (crowd cheers) but if you’re gonna have a house party, the music has got to be righteous (crowd cheers) now I wanna introduce you to the greatest little house band in all the land (crowd cheers) heart-stopping, earth-shocking, earth-quaking, heartbreaking Professor Roy Bittan on the piano, ladies and gentlemen (crowd cheers) out of New York City, Sister Soozie Tyrell on the violin and vocals (crowd cheers) the coolest little deejay in the U.S.A and the only man in America who gets away with playing whatever the fuck he wants on the radio, Little Steven Van Zandt (crowd cheers) rise up!…on the bass, the Tennessee Terror, Mr. Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) on the drums, the man that brings the power night after night, hour after hour, the Mighty, Mighty Max Weinberg on the drums (crowd cheers) on the guitar, Secretary of heart and spirit, the great Nils Lofgren on guitar (crowd cheers) on the organ and accordion, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, newly divorced and, ladies, he hates to be alone, brother Dan Federici on the organ (crowd cheers) on the vocals, the lovely, guitar, Miss Patti Scialfa (crowd cheers) rescue me, take me in your arms…‘cause I’m lonely and I’m blue and I need…and last but not least (crowd cheers) Minister of soul (crowd cheers) Secretary of the universe (crowd cheers) you wish you could be like him, ladies and gentlemen, but you can’t, I’m sorry, you just can’t…on the saxophone, Big Man, Clarence Clemons (crowd cheers) rumble, young man, rumble, that’s right…oh yeah… alright…give yourself a goddamn hand while you’re at it (crowd cheers) why not?…”

Intro to “Lost in the Flood”
“Thank you…we thank you (crowd cheers) this is for you old-timers out there (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Dancing in the Dark”
“Are you ready to dance? (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Ramrod”
“Woo!…are you ready to roadhouse? (crowd cheers)…
(…) Stevie…I do think it’s quitting time…I do think it is time to get some sleep (crowd: “No”)…I do believe it is time to let these poor people go home (crowd: “No”)…I do believe it’s time to meet those two hookers waiting at the Holiday Inn…then, Stevie, what time is it?…(Steve: “It’s Boss-time!”)…”

Intro to “My City of Ruins”
“Thank you, thank everybody for coming out tonight, thanks a lot (crowd cheers) thank you very much…oh, we have some friends with us in the hall tonight, we got the Foodbank of Western New York, they’re out in the lobby…please if you get a chance, stop by and say “hello,” they could use your support and some time, the, uh…each month about 91,000 western New Yorkers turn to soup kitchens and food pantries to survive and make it, forty percent of those folks are kids, Foodbank of Western New York, (?) food producers who have surplus food to the folks that really need it, they’ve been doing this since 1978 and, uh (crowd cheers) they serve – yeah (crowd cheers) they could use your support and help, please check out the Foodbank of Western New York, this is for them…”

Intro to “Born in the U.S.A”
“Thank you…woo…I wanna thank again everybody for coming out, thanks so much for coming out to the show (crowd cheers) we appreciate your support (crowd cheers) before we go, just a couple of quick public service announcements, once again the Foodbank of Western New York out there, they could use your support there, please stop by and check ‘em out…the other one is just kind of a little bit of a heads-up: we’re in the midst of a rollback of Civil Rights right now, Civil Rights are a reaffirmation of our strength as a nation of laws, we don’t usually think about it till it comes knocking on our door, until it’s too late but during times of emergency Civil Rights always take a beating so it’s a good time to be very vigilant, also there’s an awful lot of war talk in the air, it’s never served our nation well to go rushing into a war so however you feel about it, I think you should demand a full debate on the subject and as much information as you can get (crowd cheers) that vigilance and that responsibility comes with the turf when you’re born in the U.S.A (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Working on the Highway”
“This is our last night in the States for a little while…so before we shuffle off from Buffalo (crowd cheers) we’ll do this one for you… because we’ve got miles to go before we sleep, Stevie (chuckles) …we’ve got to work on the highway, brother, come on…”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Tom	Since no real afficiandos have filed a detailed, informed report, I'll offer that it was very good show before an appreciative, enthusiastic crowd. I sat in the upper deck with a friend who said he thought it was a better show than the November '99 Buffalo show in which he and I were in the 12th row center. It was certainly as good a show from my point of view and I think part of that is because of his belief in his new music. The Rising songs all sounded great live, and more people were familiar with the album than I had expected. The Bruce-on-piano version of Lost in the Flood was a treat, as was Tougher than the Rest, and a great finish with Working on a Highway. The acoustic Born in the USA during the Reunion Tour was a favorite of mine, but I'm very partial to the electric version in this show. Something about the vocal reminds me of the acoustic version. It's just a different color than the old electric version and is a fresh approach. I didn't see anyone walking out during Land of Hope and Dreams or during Highway, which I had seen happen on the Reunion Tour more than once, although a friend told me afterward that he heard two people in a bar who had left because Bruce hadn't played enough old songs. (Yeah, just like I heard someone at a Joad show complaining that that wasn't a rock show.) I also thought the sound in this show was better than the four Reunion shows I saw, and Bruce was in excellent voice. Another friend of mine at the show, who hadn't seen him since the River tour, almost didn't go because of the price and because he thought the Rising songs would make it a somewhat subdued show. He quickly realized it was going to be a great show. "Bruce never disappoints," I said, and he nodded enthusiastically.
Scooter007	The day started out at 3 in the morning, after breakfast and a few stops we got to the arena around 6am, I was surprised to find out that there were already 71 people in front of me, but 72 got me second row, rite in between clarence and Nils. The GA line was ran pretty well, despite a few problems from arena security everything seemed fine. We finally got inside around 6:30-ish and we secured our spots on the floor, made friends with a few people around us so that when we left the floor to go wonder we would be able to get our spots back…at my guess Bruce came on around 830 or so and it was about time, it made those last 13 hours outside in the cold and wind well worth it. He seemed very energetic, much to the crowds delight and he really rocked out the rising and lonesome day, we got darkness in the third spot which was great even though I was anticipating prove it. The show slowed down for a few after that with your missing and empty sky. it was really touching to see how much these songs mean to all of them, clarence couldn't hold back the tears throughout your missing. the show picked up rite after that with waiting on a sunny day, I do like that song on the cd but WOW, what a tune to hear live, it was definitely one of the highlights of the night. after that we got the tour premiers of you can look but you better not touch and tougher than the rest, it was very nice surprises. no surrender followed and he continued to rock through the set….. The first encore started with dancing…I love the full band rock version of it, during the song he came over to our side and and rite before the "hey baby" part he commented on my girlfriends shirt (it said jersey girl) and when he pointed at her they were so close I thought he was gonna pull a Courtney Cox, I would have had a heart attack. that was so cool because i have bever had good eye contact at a show with anyone in the band before this show, we got a wink from Nils and throughout the whole show we kept goofing around with clarence, and of course the Bruce moment… I'll never forget that. ramrod was awesome and born to run blew the top off the HSBC Arena, it was soo loud in there. the second encore started with my city, i love that song and you could see how much Bruce believes in it…my arms were in the air for so long throughout that song I thought my hands were gonna go dead. LoHaD came along and i that meant we were going to be wrapping it up, I love that song as a closer, its definitely one of my favorite. I don't know it was planned but they scrambled around and bust out the guitars for one more, working on the highway… he said since this was the last one on that states for a while we were gonna get one more… hey this is buffalo we deserve it…if we have to have to suffer through disappointing sports teams why not a have the best rock….concerts and that was what Bruce gave us… I was so happy for my friends with me who were seeing him for the first time live… they are truly hooked now. I don't know how he can play with that amount of energy night after night but we truly all blessed to be a part of it… I was exhausted after the show… I don't know he does but I hope it never stops… Thanks Bruce for another wonderful night.
Dana	For what it is worth…. Here is my take on last night, and forgive me for the comparison to the Detroit show. A HUGE THANKS TO MIRIAM AND TAMMY who made it all possible!!! The Rising - Nice surprise to see Patti is now doing the (a dream of life) echoes where in Detroit, Bruce was trying to get it all in. Love this song as the opener. Lonesome Day - From my perspective, I saw this as a tight sounding song. Nils was electrifying Darkness - Still sends tingles by down my spine but I know I was greatly anticipating what he was going to play here and I admit to feeling a little disappointed. Further On Up the Road - This made up for what I was looking for in Darkness. I was really anticipating this one live and I wasn't disappointed. Great guitar work! I was sitting rear stage, and it was after this song that Bruce lost the jacket. Empty Sky - loved the reference to the flub in Philly, he tapped his head and nodded that he was in total control tonight! I did find it to still be quite noisy - which people could resist the urge to yell out and/or whistle Your Missing - As much as I loved the SNL version, I truly enjoyed Soozie on this one. Waiting On a Sunny Day - I really enjoyed the gradual build up… The playing with the crowd (lucky fans in front of Clarence where he dropped to his knees) and the band. Saw him soak his knees, and knew that a slide was in order. He didn't disappoint as he slide from in front of Patti to center stage where Clarence was waiting. In a word - FUN!!! You Can Look But You'd Better Not Touch - Awesome! Steve and Bruce really seemed to enjoyed going back and forth on this one! As an aside after the concert 96.9 was broadcasting a replay of the Buffalo concert - or so they said…. The dead giveaway was the version they played of this song contain "went Christmas shopping, down at the mall, started looking, that was all" No Surrender - like the mix of the band and then down to an acoustic section of just Bruce and his words Worlds Apart - Soozie, Soozie, Soozie Badlands - Everything and more! She's The One - I may be wrong here… But I thought I detected a flub on words in this one… "Because French cream won't soften them boots And French kisses will not break that heart of stone" Anyone else agree? I thought he missed the French kiss line entirely….. Mary's Place - Best house party in Buffalo that I could find! Counting On A Miracle - not bad but a nice sprig of feedback part way thru made me cringe a little Tougher Than the Rest - This just made me smile! What a wonderful surprise - made me sooo thankful that I made the trip to Buffalo Lost In The Flood - in a word 'AWESOME', I am really enjoying the piano playing!!!!!!!!!!! Into The Fire - scorching… Patti's harmonizing was on fire Dancing in the Dark - the other one that I was anticipating as I had hoped from reading the posts to see it live. Definitely having way too much fun with this one. Great facial expression. Ramrod - It's BOSS TIME Born To Run - WAY BETTER IN BUFFALO, sorry Detroit - this crowd ROCKED My City in Ruins - ""with these hands""…. Could so easily become "with these fans" - do you not think he had us doing what he wanted? Born In the USA - Blistering as usual Land of Hopes and Dreams - I didn't want to hear the beginning of this - knowing that the end was near….. Working on the Highway - Too much fun - wish we could have gotten more from him. Loved the washboard scrubbing Clarence! Danny with the accordion…. It was a great night - counting the weeks till TORONTO now….. After 2 rear stage views of the concert - I can't wait to see it from the pit!

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