2003-03-10 Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, RI

Scheduled: 19:30 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

"Spirit In The Night" is the full band arrangement. "Mary's Place" includes "The Monkey Time", "Lookin' For A Love", and "Baby I've Been Missing You", plus Bruce beginning the song with lines from "The Way You Do The Things You Do", "Soothe Me", "Soul Man", "In The Midnight Hour", and "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine". "If I Should Fall Behind" is solo piano in its final tour performance. "Bobby Jean" is dedicated to the 100 people who died in a fire at The Station, a Rhode Island nightclub. Patti Scialfa is not present.

Intro to “Empty Sky”
´´Thank you and good evening, Providence….thank you very much….nice to be here in this old building….but uh….weird, I mean….(?) I don´t know how long this building´s been here, it´s been here longer than some of the other ones we´ve been playing (?) and, uh, and I guess they, the problem with these old buildings´s they give them new names, you know…I don´t know what this building was named before but it should´ve been something like Providence Civic Center or, uh….but I guess we´re playing tonight at the Dunkin´ Donuts Arena (chuckles) but uh, that´s the problem everywhere we go now (?) matter of fact I recently read that they´re gonna be actually changing the names of some cities to (?) I think Florida from now on is just simply going to be known as Hooters….and uh….I think New York is Steak and Ale, Steak and Ale City from now on….that´s what´s next, I guess (chuckles)….I guess so (chuckles) anyway, uh, I wanna send you greetings from Patti, Patti is very sick at home in bed tonight so she sends her regards, I´m gonna send this one out to her….she´s actually, she´s simply sick of me, that´s why she´s home (chuckles) alright….I´ll send this one out tonight to my girl….need a little bit of quiet for these next two songs, please, thank you…..´´

Intro to “Spirit in the Night”
´´Alright….this is for all you longtime fans out there….can I hear the spirit?…I wanna feel the spirit….I need to feel the spirit….´´

Middle of “Mary´s Place”
´´Are you ready?….are you ready?….are you ready?…well, now, are you ready for a house party?….they´s not ready?…C says you´re not ready, man….are you ready for a house party? (huge cheers) that´s better, he says you´re ready….well, if you´re gonna have a house party, first the music has got to be raucous….and so tonight I wanna introduce you, ladies and gentlement, here in the house with us, we´ve got the greatest little house band in all the land ….that´s right, that´s right….right here tonight on our stage I wanna introduce to the pathological (?) piano-pounding Professor Roy Bittan….ladies and gentlemen, I wanna introduce you to a young lady out of New York City, making grown men fall to their knees and weep, Sister Soozie Tyrell…I wanna introduce you to the coolest little dj in the U.S.A, ´Up from Little Steven´s Underground,´ you´ve got to get it on your radio dial, Silvio, Silvio, wherefore art thou, Silvio, I´m talking about Little Steven…ladies and gentlemen, the Tennesee Terror, the man that bring the thunder from down under, keeps the bass in your face all night long, I´m talking about the one and only, Mr.Garry W.Tallent….then we´ve got the man that bring the power hour after hour night after night, the Minister of the big beat, the king of the rhythm, star of Late Night (crowd : ´´Television´´) the Mighty Max Weinberg ….ladies and gentlemen, the only man I ever knew from Maryland, the great, great, great Nils Lofgren on the guitar (?)….on the organ, from Flemington, New Jersey, and the accordion, Brother Dan Federici….(?) where´s my baby? I´m searching for my baby, in absentia, Miss Patti Scialfa (hugs the microphone)….and last but not least….the king of soul….ladies and gentlemen, the Emperor of Rhode Island and all parts there connected to…. do I have to say his name?…do I have to say his name?….do I have to say his name?….you wish you could be like him but I´m sorry you can´t because there´s only one Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons….´´

Intro to “Bobby Jean”
´´Thanks, uh….you know, for guys like us, we….we grew up, uh, for so many years in little bars ….and uh….something happens in a small club and every, every neighbourhood across the nation is, is, is slightly unique, you know, we were lucky enough, we had a couple of clubs where we grew up where….you know, really, hey, neighbors came down, we got to play for ´em, you had your bar band (?) place in your local community….and uh, having spent so many, so many of our years in those kinds of clubs, we wanna send this out tonight for the, uh, victims of the Station Night Club fire and….all their families and their friends…. it´s very, uh….it´s very heartbreaking and I also wanna send this out to Mark Blevins, it´s his birthday tonight, he´s in the hospital and somebody sent me a letter so I hope you get this birthday greeting to him, Mark Blevins turned 30 years old tonight….´´

Middle of “Ramrod”
´´Come on, Steve….are you with me, baby? (Steve: ´´Oh yeah´´) I mean are you with me the whole way? (Steve: ´´Yeah, baby´´) you know, Steve….I think, uh, I think, uh, I think it might just be….quitting time….I think it might be back to the hotel for room service and x-rated films time….I think it´s going home time, Brother, I really do….well, then, what I wanna know is, what I really wanna know is….what time is it?….(Steve: ´´I'll bring you donuts, ´cause it´s Boss-time!´´)….´´

Intro to “My City of Ruins”
´´Thank you….thanks, I wanna thank everybody for coming out to the show tonight, thanks so much….we, uh, we deeply appreciate your support….gonna play this song for a couple of friends of ours in the building tonight, we´ve got some folks from the Rhode Island Community Foodbank….they´re, uh, they´ve been around since 1982, (?) Community Foodbank, they provide quality food for the struggling citizens here in Rhode Island….nearly half of their recipients are children so they could use, they could use your support and your help, those are folks that are out there on the frontline fighting a good fight on a daily basis (?) so if you see the Rhode Island Community Foodbank on your way out, please stop and say hello….and also we´ve got some folks from the Station Night Club Fire Relief Fund and uh….the fund was established to help the victims and their families meet some of their short-term needs so you´ll see some of those folks in the lobby tonight on your way out, they deserve your support, this is for them….´´

Intro to “Born in the U.S.A”
´´Thank you….I wrote, uh, I wrote this song in the early 80's about the Vietnam War and, uh….wouldn´t want to have to write (?) another one like it, I´ll send this out tonight as a prayer for peace, a prayer for the safety of our sons and daughters, the safety of innocent Iraqi civilians and to add our voices to no war in Iraq….´´

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Dave T.	I remember the show and how Bruce is very detailed in how he starts his shows. This was the day after the US invaided Iraq. He started the show ith WAR. My sister-in-law (a neo-Springsteen fan and republican) was upset and called him unpatriotic. Bruce was in a playful mood and climbed the microphone during "spirit" also a wild rendition of "Ramrod". My sister-in-law was forever banned from discussing Bruce in my presence and I religated her to listening to Bon Jovi.
Unknown	Interesting story for everybody. A couple of months ago (not sure exactly) tix for this show went on sale. The booths set to open at 10 AM, me and my cousin both diehards went to the Dunk at about 11 o clock the night before. We were about the 20th people in line, and I was a little upset about this. After a while I realized that the people in front of us had absolutely no clue who they were waiting for. These people were trashy, scum of the earth cousin loving street hounds, working for some run of the mill king shit businessman ticket scalper. It made me completely sick. Much to my delight however, the first person in line was a loyal Bruce fan. He had gotten there at 4 PM. Anyway, the next morning they opened the doors, and in order to rid out the scalpers from getting the best seats, they did a "lottery". My cousin and I ended up being number 17, 18, or something like that, but our buddy at the front of the line was moved way back to 100 something. The scalpers still got all the GA seats, and me, my cousin, and my buddy all were forced to get "Best Available". Fortunately for us, the seats weren't so bad. I hate Scalpers. Anyway, the show, GA or not, was worth the wait and then some. Bruce was very very loose compared to the other shows I had seen him in. Making joking notions towards "X-Rated Movies" and being a "Sex-Machine in his dreams." My girlfriend found that very intriguing. He exhibited very silly, very excited behavior, probably because Patti wasn't there to tie him up. One of the top 3 Bruce shows I've ever seen. The intimate crowd at the Dunk was great…Band could have been just a little louder. I dressed up like Rising Bruce for the show, in tight black jeans, a button shirt and a sharp vest and blazer. This is very unusual for an 18 yr. old kid, but I have pretty much adopted it as my all the time attire. Spirit in the Night felt almost completely out of nowhere, and Clarence was as stellar as I've ever heard him. Thunder Road, which I missed at the last show, was also uniquely sung, and had a soft Federici organ giving it an almost "Rising" sort of feel. Night hit the spot early in the show… Ramrod however, brought down the house for me, with an extended Bittan piano solo, which has to sound like Heaven, or something better.
Tom Cantillon	An impressive show from start to finish! Of the 14 Rising Tour shows I've seen, this was one of the best. Bruce opened with a thundering version of War and kept on rocking hard with Night and Candy's Room. I had forgotten how great The Fuse is live — and Spirit in the Night was a sensually delivered version that drove the crowd wild. Should I Fall Behind was a beautiful, piano version which led into a passionate Into the Fire with everyone standing and singing along. Nice to see Ramrod back, the song works much better than Glory Days. Bruce and the band delivered one of the most intense versions of Born in USA I've ever seen them play and My City of Ruins simply keeps getting better. Bruce and band rocked extremely hard this night and kept the crowd on their feet for the duration of the show. It would be nice to see some rare additions such as: Racing in the Street, The Price you Pay, Reason to Believe, Living Proof and I think Drive all Night would work beautifully within the structure of his setlist. Maybe down the road.

Brucebase Wiki

Site Navigation