2003-09-21 Comerica Park, Detroit, MI

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

Unique tour performances of "My Beautiful Reward", "Heat Wave" (with Martha Reeves, on lead vocals, and her backing singer, Kim Farinacci, guesting), and "Local Hero". The two Lucky Town tracks are E Street Band premieres; "Local Hero" borrows its instrumental coda from "Tumbling Dice". "Mary's Place" includes "Dancing In The Street", "The Monkey Time", and "Baby I've Been Missing You". A snippet of "Stagger Lee" is played as a musical bridge between "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" and "Dancing In The Dark". Final tour performances for "Glory Days" and "I'm Goin' Down". The crowd sings Bruce "Happy Birthday" as the band leaves the stage.

Kim Farinacci (Guest)
Martha Reeves (Guest)

Intro to “Empty Sky”
´´Welcome, everyone…..thanks for coming out on this beautiful Detroit evening…..it´s good to be back in the Motor City….”

Middle of “Mary’s Place”
´´Are you ready ?….are you ready ?….are you ready ?….are you ready ?….are you ready for a house party ? (cheers)….I think they need more than a house party tonight, baby….are you ready for a rock and roll baptism ? (cheers) I think they need more than a rock and roll baptism, baby…..are you ready for a rock and roll bar mitzvah ? (cheers)…..are you ready for a rock and roll, I know how you´ve struggled in this building this year….I can feel your pain ….you need a rock and roll exorcism….let´s face it….that´s what you´re gonna get….we´re gonna chase all the evil spirits out of here….your exorcisers, on the piano, Professor Roy Bittan…on violin and vocals, Sister Soozie Tyrell….on the guitar, the greatest little dj in the U.S.A, Little Steven Van Zandt….on the bass guitar, Mr.Garry W.Tallent….on the drums, the man that brings the power hour after hour, night after night, day after day, week after week, year after year, Minister of the big beat, Secretary of sanitation (chuckles) 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, Minister of mystery…. Brother Dan Federici….to the far side of the stage, First Lady of love, my sweetie baby honey child, Miss Patti Scialfa.….kisses on you, baby….and last but not least….Minister of soul, Secretary of the brotherhood…..and Emperor of Detroit….ladies and gentlemen, it is time to impeach the President and put in somebody who knows what they´re doing….I´m talking about Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons…..he will throw Dick Cheney on his ass !….that´s right…..ladies and gentlemen, I want you to put your hands together for the heartstopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-shaking, booty-quaking, history-making, Viagra-taking, lovemaking, exorcising, death-defying, sexifying, legendary E Street Band…..did I mention history-making, pantsdroppers ?….that´s right…..”

Intro to “Heatwave”
´´(?)….got one of the great, great ladies of Motown, Miss Martha Reeves with us…..”

Middle of “Glory Days”
´´Come on, Steve….keep on rocking, baby….are you with me, Kid ? (Steve: ´Oh yeah´) is the band with me ?….are the Detroitians with me ? (cheers) I don´t believe you….all I wanna know is…..before I go, all I wanna know is….Steve…..what I wanna know is what time is it ? (crowd: ´Boss-time´)….”

Intro to “I´m Goin´Down”
´´Do I see a request ?….what´s that sign say ?…..I´m hot ?….I´m hot, baby….I´m hot….and I´m going down….I said I´m going down…..”

Intro to “My City of Ruins”
´´(crowd sings ´Happy Birthday´ to Bruce) thank you, thank you, thank you very much….I could just as easily ignore the whole thing (?)….oh, wanna thank everybody for coming out to the show tonight, thank you for coming out on this beautiful Detroit night…..oh….we´ve got, uh….we´ve only got five nights to rock left (chuckles) we got a great year, just want to, uh, thank you once again for the support of our music, we appreciate it very much…..this is, uh, wanna do this for some friends of ours in the house tonight, the folks from the Gleaners Community Foodbank….Gleaners Foodbank is, uh…..it´s the third-oldest in the United States and they´re here out on the frontlines doing good work, helping the struggling citizens of Southeastern Michigan…. over a half of those that they serve are children and seniors, old folks…..and uh….just a buck donation helps them distribute 16, 16 meals so if you see them on your way out, please give a hand to the Gleaners Community Foodbank….they could use your time or your support in any fashion….this is for them….”

Intro to “Land of Hope and Dreams”
´´Thank you, thanks for coming out once again…..this is where I make my little public service announcement, uh….we get people with all different kinds of political beliefs who come out to our show, we like that, we welcome everybody….been a lot of questions raised recently about the forthrightness of our government…..just wanted to say that playing with the truth during wartime has been a part of both Democratic and Republican administrations in the past…..it´s always wrong, especially when the lives of our sons and daughters are on the line….and the question of whether we were misled into the war in Iraq´s not really a Liberal question or a Conservative question but it is an American one and it goes to the heart of protecting the democracy that we ask our sons and our daughters to go out and die for…. demanding the truth and accountability from our leaders, it´s our job as citizens and is a sacred trust…..so, uh…..I wanna do this tonight wishing for the safety of our troops in Iraq and peace for the Iraqi people….in hope that here in the United States, may the truth will out ….(?) that a little funnier….pick up the Al Franken book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them….this is ´Land of Hope and Dreams´….”

Intro to “Rosalita”
´´We´re not done, wait a minute….uh, a little end of the, end-of-the-summer, end-of-the-tour special right here…..oh baby, wherever you are…..come out tonight…..”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Bency Abraham	I just got back from tonight's show in Detroit and it was the best Springsteen concert I ever saw. Local Hero, Rosalita, Souls of the Departed, Night were tremendous. Even though Comerica Park wasn't sold out. It was a great time had by all. And the best part was after the show, everyone sang happy birthday to Bruce. The concert was so much fun. We had 2 tour premieres tonight with Local Hero and My Beautiful Reward. There were so many songs that I hadn't heard live in concert before until tonight. The people who are going to the remaining concerts in Denver, Milwaukee, and New York are going to have a great time.
Brian Pastoria	Bruce & the band owned Detroit on this special night in the MotorCity. It's obvious Bruce doesn't let anything or anyone dictate what songs he does. Opening with "Souls of the Departed" (an obvious tribute to Warren Zevon & Johnny Cash), and closing with "My Beautiful Reward" is certainly different than what anyone could have predicted, (especially with the pre-concert talk of how he opened with "Tunnel of Love" the previous night). But it all worked magically. Bruce exemplified everything that is great about the human spirit in what to me was the most incredible live performance I have ever seen. His voice, the band and the incredible backdrop of the beautifully lit up Detroit skyline in back of the stage was magical. "Jungleland" and "Because the Night" (Bruce reminded all of us that he's also a great guitarist with a blistering solo) were unbelievable. At times the E streeters had Comerica Park feeling like a local high school gym. Martha Reaves singing Heatwave was a treat, and no Bob Seger, (he was backstage and rumored to join Bruce on "Local Hero") was a slight let down. Probably the most incredible moment came OFF stage. After this 3+ hour houseparty the band was individually escorted on golf carts from the stage to the dressing rooms to cheering fans in the outfield. One by one they drove by…but the biggest cheers erupted when we all saw Bruce and Patty WALKING hand in hand through the outfield to the dressing rooms, and waving to all the fans. After all the energy expended in this 3+ hr. marathon, here was THE MAN, saying "forget the gulf cart I want to let these people know we appreciate them". Thanks for exercising the "Demons" @ Comerica Park with a Rock n' Roll Baptism!!! Happy Birthday Bruce and thanks for everything… We appreciate you!! "B".
Mike Trzesniowski	I gotta tell ya, bring the kids! I was in the first row again, in the pit, in front of CC. How about Bruce and kids?! The little tyke next to me got a harmonica, a wave, a wink, a solo, … all that energy and he still plays to the smallest fans! What other entertainer on earth connects at this level? Say what you want about the "firsts", Jungleland was absolutely PERFECT. And Because the Night was a personal favorite because I hadn't heard it live since the 78 tour. I think he's really torn up by Iraq, what with the opener, the Al Franken comments, the Cheney comment. He wants a dialogue and something is bugging him.
Mary Gehlhoff	It was fabulous. This was my 7th show. It gets better every time. It was a beautiful night in D Town and Bruce ran away with the night. The crowd never tired and Bruce played all night. The energy in Comerica Park was enough to light up the whole city. The best one yet.

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