2002-12-05 Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON

Scheduled: 19:30 Local Start Time 20:20 / End Time 23:05

Info & Setlist | Venue

"Mary's Place" includes "The Monkey Time", "Brown Eyed Girl", and "Baby I've Been Missing You". "If I Should Fall Behind" is a solo piano version. "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" is retained in the final song slot. First ever performances in Canada of "The Rising", "Lonesome Day", "Empty Sky", "You're Missing", "Waitin' On A Sunny Day", "Worlds Apart", "Mary's Place", "Countin' On A Miracle", "Into The Fire", and "My City Of Ruins".

Intro to “Empty Sky”
´´Evening, Toronto….oh….thank you, nice to be back here over the border….thanks….I need a little, uh, a little quiet for these next few songs, please, thank you…..´´

Middle of “Mary´s Place”
´´Are you ready for a house party now? (cheers) alright….rule number one, if you´re gonna have a house party, the music has got to be righteous….rule number two, you´ve got to get up off your ass now!…you ain´t that old….I wanna introduce to you the greatest little houseband in all the land….on the piano, Professor Roy Bittan….on the violin and vocals, Sister Soozie Tyrell….on the guitar, Silvio, Silvio, Little Steven Van Zandt….on the bass guitar, Mr.Garry W.Tallent….on the drums, the man that bring the power hour after hour night after night, the mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty, Mighty Max Weinberg….on the guitar, Secretary of heart and spirit, the great Nils Lofgren….on the organ, Brother Dan Federici….and to the far side of the stage, First Lady of Love, on guitar and vocals, and my personal savior, Miss Patti Scialfa…..hey, where would we go….the days when the rains came….and last but not least…. Minister of soul….Secretary of the brotherhood…..king of all the northern territories….ladies and gentlemen, you wish you could be like him but I´m sorry you can´t because there´s only one Clarence Big Man Clemons….(?)….´´

Middle of “Ramrod”
´´Hey, Stevie….I think, I think it´s quitting time, baby….I think it´s Canadian bedtime, baby ….I think it´s time to go back to the Four Seasons and watch some pornographic films…. (Steve: ´No´)….well, Steve, all I wanna know is….what time is it…..(Steve: ´B-B-B-B-B-Bosstime´)…´´

Intro to “My City of Ruins”
´´Thank you….thank you….I wanna thank everybody for coming out to the show tonight, thank you very much….it´s always great coming back to Toronto, a beautiful city, we always enjoy ourselves and thanks for your longtime support, appreciate it, thank you….oh….got some friends of ours in the house tonight, uh….on your way out, you get a chance to see the folks from the Daily Bread Foodbank here in Toronto….there´s over 150,000 people that use the foodbank here in the greater Toronto area every month….and the Daily Bread Foodbank is the second largest foodbank in Canada, they´re out there assisting the struggling citizens…. here in the Toronto area and, uh, they´re good folks out there on the frontline doing a good work so if you get a chance, please give ´em a hand, they can use your time and your support in any way….folks from the Daily Bread Foodbank here in Toronto, this is for them…..´´

Intro to “Born in the U.S.A”
´´Thank you….I wrote this song, uh….20 years ago now ´bout the Vietnam War, wanna play it tonight as a prayer for peace….´´

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Scott Ellsworth	The show was simply Bruce delivering on the promise as always. We had seen Buffalo a couple of months back, and in contrast Bruce and the band seemed to hit the stage at full speed rather than taking a song or two to warm up. When you love songs out of his whole catalogue, you're not going to be disappointed in any show, but it was good to hear him play some things from the seventies way back (Night, Thunder Road with the band) that varied from the other show. He appeared to be enjoying Santa Claus this night (and we certainly were too), repeating the last two thirds of the song and working at spinning the tassel of the obligatory Santa hat around his head as he played. I have a rant though, and it's not directed at Bruce or the band. It would be nice if radio stations and newspapers would send reviewers to shows that pay freaking attention and know what they're talking about. To the announcer who lost his voice just after embarrassing himself on Q107 from the post show, that was "Candy's Room" - they did NOT play "Prove It All Night". To James McCarten of Canadian Press, it's "No Surrender", not "Never Surrender", and that was "Cadillac Ranch", not "Pink Cadillac". It ain't that hard to follow, guys.
Peter Richard	The 11th Bruce Springsteen show of my life and I fear, my last. I understand he's 53 and although still performs with that burning intensity that separates him from many, he has definitely in the last decade lost his edge. The song selection was disappointing (a piano-only version of "If I Should Fall Behind", "Land Of Hopes & Dreams"???), where were the soul wrenching songs that rock straight out of his gut? "Cadillac Ranch" was performed in a lower key, I guess to accommodate his fading vocal range. "Into The Fire" was sung with too much twang and fell into C&W territory. "Born In The USA" was returned to its original arrangement but the vocal delivery seemed lacking any edge as if Bruce seems tired by his own songs that he has to re-invent them every tour. Where have his intro/storytelling talents gone? The sound is too murky with FOUR! guitarists competing for the riffing. Clarence is underused and Danny's keyboards were inaudible (was he plugged in?) The first time I saw Bruce in the summer of 1984, he was literally a man on fire possessed by the music… I miss that man.
Lennie	Yowza Yowza what a show!!! Woohoo! Show started at 8:20pm. The lights went out and everyone went crazy! Each of the E Streeters came out to a big applause, then Clarence (the house exploded) then…. Brooooocceee (Nuclear Meltdown)! The Rising songs sounded great. The sound was incredible at the Air Canada Centre. I just sat back and listened for a bit and could hear everyone word Bruce was saying. Candy's Room really rocked. First time I ever heard that song live as well as She's the One and Night (awesome)!!! Empty Sky and Missing were touching but for me the high point of the show were If I should Fall Behind (solo piano) followed by Thunder Road. Santa Claus was a fitting way to end this show - on an upbeat. Bruce, please come back next year. I'll be there for sure!!!

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