2003-09-18 Rentschler Field, East Hartford, CT

Scheduled: 20:00 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

Great setlist. Tour premieres of "Souls Of The Departed" and "Factory". "Souls Of The Departed" hasn't been performed since 1993, not counting an acoustic performance in Somerville in February 2003. First time "Souls Of The Departed" has been played with the E Street Band - the song was soundchecked five times before the show. "Factory" is played for the first time since the Reunion Tour in 2000 and for the only time on the tour, in an unique arrangement starting out solo acoustic and with the band kicking in on the second verse. The tour's final "Living Proof" also features in the set. "Mary's Place" includes "The Monkey Time" and "Baby I've Been Missing You". "Incident On 57th Street" is performed in the solo piano version for its final tour performance; the show also marks the final performance of "Thunder Road" for the tour.

Intro to “Empty Sky”
´´Good evening….alright….looks like we got another beautiful night…..so we´ll do it again twice….”

Intro to “Factory”
´´Alright, here´s one we haven´t played on this tour yet….”

Middle of “Mary’s Place”
´´Are you ready ?….are you ready ?….are you ready….are you ready….are you ready for a rock and roll house party ? (cheers)….are you ready for a rock and roll resurrection ? (cheers) are you ready for a rock and roll baptism ? (cheers) are you ready for a rock and roll bar mitzvah ? (cheers) are you ready for a rock and roll hurricane, baby ? (cheers)….I wanna introduce you on our stage tonight….at the piano, Professor Roy Bittan….on the violin and vocals, Sister Soozie Tyrell….on the guitar, the coolest little dj in the U.S.A, star of ´The Sopranos´-television show, Brother Steve 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, day after day, week after week, year after year, Minister of the big beat, Secretary of syncopation and star of ´Late Night (crowd : ´Television´) Mighty Max Weinberg….on the guitar, one of the greatest guitarists in rock and roll, Brother Nils Lofgren….on the organ and accordion, man of mystery, Phantom Dan Federici…..to the far side of the stage, First Lady of love and my sweetie baby honey child, my personal savior, Miss Patti Scialfa on guitar and vocals.…kisses on you, baby….and last but not least….last but not least….Emperor of the universe….Minister of soul…. Secretary of the brotherhood….a man who just this afternoon threw Richard Pearl´s ass right out of his hotelroom…and he´d be whipping his ass in a debate right now if he was invited….I´m talking about, it´s time to impeach the President and put in Clarence Big Man Clemons….damn straight !….no, no, no, no, I want you to put your hands together for the heartstopping, brain-shocking, house-rocking, pants-dropping, earth-shaking, booty-quaking, Viagra-taking, lovemaking, legendary E Street Band….death-defying, sexifying, exorcising, let´s hear it once more for the legendary brain shockers, the E Street Band….that´s right…..”

Intro to “I´m Goin´ Down”
´´Here´s one we don´t play much….”

Intro to “My City of Ruins”
´´Thank you….I wanna thank you for two beautiful nights here in Hartford, thank you very much….thanks for coming out and seeing us….we appreciate your support…after tonight we´ve only got seven nights to rock, ladies and gentlemen (chuckles)….I wanna do this for some friends of ours, the folks from the Hartford Food System here…..Hartford Food System is here in Hartford assisting Connecticut´s struggling citizens….Hartford area´s oldest non-profit food organization, they work for responsible government policies to reduce hunger…. improve nutritional quality of food, protect farming and farmland, if you get a chance, please help the folks at the Hartford Food System, they´ll be out there on your way out, give ´em a little support and your time….and also the folks from the Immaculate Conception Shelter and Housing Corporation….(?)….in addition to providing meals and a place to stay, they have dedicated volunteers who go out and find the men where they´re living, in abandoned building, under bridges, they bring clothes, blankets, medical care, if you see the folks from the Immaculate Conception Shelter, they´re out there on the frontlines, doing a good work, please give them a hand, this is for them….”

Intro to “Land of Hope and Dreams”
´´I wanna thank everybody for coming out once again, thank you very much…..lot of fun, lot of fun…..two beautiful nights, thank you….and uh….we got people of all different kinds of political beliefs who come out to our show and I like that, we welcome everybody….uh, there´s, uh, this is where I get to make my little public service announcement, there´s been a lot of questions raised recently about the forthrightness of our government and I think it´s time when we all need to be very, very vigilant, playing with the truth during wartime has been part of both Democratic and Republican administrations in the past and it´s always wrong, especially when the lives of our sons and our daughters are on the line….I think the question of whether we were misled to the war in Iraq’s not really a Liberal or a Conservative one or a Republican or a Democratic question, it´s an American question and protecting the democracy that we ask our sons and our daughters to die for is our sacred trust, as is demanding the truth and accountability from our leaders, that´s our job as citizens so….may the truth will out…..you wanna see that said a lot funnier, you pick up Al Franken’s Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (chuckles) this is ´Land of Hope and Dreams´….”

Intro to “Rosalita”
´´Little end-of-the-summer treat for you….wherever you are….come on out tonight.…”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Rich G.	Great show with a fantastic set list. "Because the Night" was one of the high points and done every bit as good as the Fenway Park show. Debut songs are becoming more frequent as the tour nears the final stretch with "Factory" and "Souls of the Departed" much appreciated by the diehard faithful. The heavy rain predicted from the hurricane held off until the following morning and it was a beautiful night in Hartford with a crowd that was on it's feet the whole time. Crowd participation was strong throughout especially on "Thunder Road" which Bruce could have let the audience do the work. Tailgated before the concert with a few friends and thousands of Bruce fans. Rentschler field was a great venue and the police (City and State) made getting in and out effortless. The noise concerns from the stadium were straightened out from the Tuesday night show except from some complaints that it wasn't loud enough for some residents who wanted to listen from the comfort of their front lawn.
TD	Stunning. In the real sense of the word. A show that overwhelmed me. It is hard to believe this, but it was the most moving show I have seen. In a half empty concrete bowl during a hurricane watch. You just can t predict when the lightning will strike and Thursday night was electric. Just check out the additions to the setlist: Souls, Night (does it get any better?), Leap , an acoustic Factory with Patti - like the reunion tour, Living Proof (a song to stir the soul of any parent), Because the Night, solo piano Incident (with the lyric pages flapping off the piano in the breeze Tape boys! I need some tape up here! ), Janey (beautiful) and Goin Down. The start, Souls, reaffirms his growing outrage at the loss of life in the Mideast in a power packed song. Reminded me of when he opened the June MSG sows with Code of Silence as a direct response to the misguided outrage over American Skin. As he said every night on that Reunion Tour, I ain't Bullshitting up here and he made his point. That thread echoed again in his soap box address which gets more pointed by the week before LOHAD which is BACK! Thank the lord. There was a great, rowdy bunch of early 20s-ish fans with the BITUSA bandana look in front of Clarence in GA that pogoed the hell out of that song. Bruce loved it, kept pointing them out to Stevie and he bounced a lot himself. Before City he did the usual short Food Banks speech and some poor loser right next to me in GA screamed during the complete silence Shut Up and play the song! Just sad. Looking around for approval and the crowd just shakes its head wondering what he could be thinking of. Clarence fell and could not get back up during the encores. We thought he was having a stroke. He finally got up and finished out the show fine but he was down for a good 30 seconds. Scary. When the band leaves the new UConn stadium (pretty lame, aluminum benches instead of seats) they have to climb out over the top of the bleachers behind the stage it was hysterical. The path was all switch backs so first one side of the crowd could see them and roar then the other side. It took forever. Reminded me of the Spinal Tap scene where they are lost backstage and just keep wandering around saying Good evening, Cleveland! Well I though it was funny. On to Shea for me. He got looser yet more focused with each song. He raged, he laughed, he preached, his intensity burned through you. Faith. Hope. Peace. Justice. Redemption He ain't kidding boys and girls. He is here to save your soul. Can I get an Amen, somebody?
Jay	Amazing show, one of those we diehards dream of. Soundchecked Souls several times so I knew it was coming, though I didn't expect it as the opener. Being up front in the pit I could see Bruce and Co were loving it. Next, with huge smiles, they blasted into Night. Then, what may have been the usual got going, but with a higher than usual intensity and they delivered a tremendous Rising/Lonesome/Leap of Faith. Having seen this tour 15 times this was the best opening 5 song shot I had seen. A few slow numbers and then the heart of the setlist ..Promised Land, Living Proof (with all the emotion that song brings to the surface), Because the Night (seemed a little less rocking than I would have hoped), Badlands, Out in the Street, Mary's, Incident ( Bruce cleared the stage for this one as a Piano solo. At the very end Roy came out to play the last few notes and gave The Boss a big pat on the back with a seamless transition into..) Thunder Road. There was such energy on the stage for this, words can not describe it. This was the Band in their element. I felt they were enjoying this performance so much they would have paid us to be here…that's how much fun they were having. Bruce was pointing to the faithful in the pit constantly, running all over the place making eye contact with as many of us as he could. Janey and an excellent I'm Going Down ("here's one we don't play much") opened the 9 song encore and we got a rather standard final hour…though the pit all begged for more as we chanted "one more song" after Dancing. What a show. Right up there with the Born in the USA tour for the best outdoor Bruce I have seen.
Tom Cantillon	Show 99 for me and what an extraordinary show! Decided to brave the potential hurricane and drove on up from Jersey and it was well worth it — my favorite show of the tour! Bruce and the band were sizzling and went way beyond my expectations — and I had fairly high ones for it being show #99 for me. Souls of the Departed was outstanding — beautifully done. It was great to hear Leap of Faith — works so well with the Rising tunes. Factory was a big surprise and nice to hear. Bruce was done-right scorching on Living Proof! About time he pulled that one out — what a great song with beautiful lyrics and intense guitar playing — a tour highlight! Because the Night and Badlands of course were out of control. Mary's Place is just amazing to hear live — very powerful and spiritual. At this point, I was already believing this was the best show I've seen, and then Bruce pulls out Incident! A beautiful piano version and not played often enough during the tour — in my opinion — should have been on the setlist every other night. Magnificent song and a heartfelt version. The encores were a blast: Janey and I'm Goin' Down were simply great, as were Born to Run and a powerhouse version of 7 Nights. Show #99 — my favorite of the tour. Thanks Bruce for a memorable performance and a great way to leave my double-digits as I move on to show #100. Record this show and put it out there for your fans to enjoy! The best tour you guys have done! Rock 'n roll at its ultimate coolest and best!

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