2003-10-01 Shea Stadium, New York City, NY

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

First night of three at Shea Stadium to close out The Rising Tour. A great "Souls Of The Departed" kicks off the set, creating along with "American Skin (41 Shots)" and a full-band "Born In The U.S.A." a pretty political show. "Johnny 99" makes its tour debut in a full-band take and "Man's Job" has its E Street premiere (and only tour performance). A great Tunnel Of Love double-shot with "Tunnel Of Love" and "Brilliant Disguise" in the first set. "Mary's Place" includes "The Monkey Time" and "Baby I've Been Missing You". "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" includes a snippet of "Stagger Lee" in the intro. Final tour performances for "The Fuse", "No Surrender", "American Skin (41 Shots)", "Who'll Stop The Rain", and "Kitty's Back".

Intro to “Empty Sky”
“Good evening, everybody (crowd cheers) welcome to Shea Stadium (crowd cheers)…alright…”

Intro to “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day”
“Come on, Stevie, let’s warm it up…celebrate yourself (?)(chuckles) …you must be from Italy…”

Intro to “Mary’s Place”
“Alright, bring it down, band…wait now…I got an interesting correspondence backstage before the show, never really gotten one of these before…thought I’d read it to you, it goes, uh, “Dear Mr. Springsteen, this is just a short letter to let you know I’ll be attending your show on Wednesday, October 1st, with three of my students, third-grader Nicholas (?), fourth-graders Emily (?) and Dominique Williams…we’ll be sitting in (?) section MR 11, row M, seats 11 to 14…PS 48…PS 48 is located in the Hunt’s Point section of the South Bronx known by many – most of us actually – as the best school in the universe…where I am totally thrilled to have these great kids as my guests…however, given their tender age, I don’t know if such a great idea to be making comments regarding sexualization, natural Viagra, booty-quaking and eating Philly cheese-steaks while watching adults films (laughs from the crowd) that I have heard at your previous shows…on the other hand, while I am the principal, I understand you are the Boss (laughs from the crowd) thanks, thanks for time and consideration, drop by PS 48 any time, sincerely, John C. Hughes, Principal” (crowd cheers) now I gotta figure…this sounds a little tongue-in-cheek to me, I gotta figure either somebody has hijacked the Principal, Principal Hughes’ stationary or maybe while not running PS 48 in the South Bronx, Principal Hughes resides in a galaxy far, far away (chuckles) and has never heard of Britney Spears (chuckles)(laughs from the crowd) but, anyway, I guess I, I can’t really, uh, I can’t really compromise my artistic, artistic integrity of course but, uh, I will leave out sexualization and natural Viagra but booty-quaking and eating Philly cheese-steaks while watching adult films has gotta stay so (laughs from the crowd) but, anyway, Principal Hughes if you’re out there, all these things are gonna happen within the next eight minutes (crowd cheers) and all I wanna know, Sir…(the “Are you ready?”-routine with the crowd)…alright…the booties are about to quake (chuckles)… heading for the cheese steak (chuckles)…
(…)(more of the “Are you ready?”-routine with the crowd)…are you ready for a house party? (crowd cheers)…are you ready for a rock’n’roll baptism? (crowd cheers) a rock’n’roll bar mitzvah? (crowd cheers) a rock’n’roll – where are we? Shea Stadium – you need a rock’n’roll exorcism, baby (crowd cheers) ooh, we’ve got to chase the evil spirits out of here! (laughs from the crowd) I wanna introduce on our stage, on the piano, Professor Roy Bittan (crowd cheers) on the violin and vocals, Sister Soozie Tyrell (crowd cheers) on the guitar, the coolest little deejay, adult film-watching, Philly cheese-steak-eating Brother Steve Van Zandt (crowd cheers) on the bass guitar, Mr. Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) on the drums, the man that brings the power hour after hour, night after night, Minister of the Big Beat, Secretary of Syncopation and star of Late Night (crowd:”Television”) Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) on the guitar, one of the greatest guitarists in rock’n’roll, Brother Nils Lofgren (crowd cheers) on the organ, Minister of Mystery, keeper of the secrets on E Street, Phantom Dan Federici (crowd cheers) on the guitar and vocals, First Lady of Love, natural Viagra, my sweetie baby honey child, Miss Patti Scialfa (crowd cheers) kiss on you, baby…last but not least…ladies and gentlemen…it is time…it is time…I wanna introduce the Minister of Soul, Secretary of the Brotherhood, it is time to impeach the President and put in somebody that knows what they’re doing…Big Man, Clarence Clemons (crowd cheers)(?)…now I want you to put your hands together for the heart-stopping, house-rocking, brain-shocking, pants-dropping, history-making, booty-quaking, Viagra-taking, love-making, sexifying, death-defying, electrifying, exorcising, legendary E Street Band! (crowd cheers)…did I mention history-making, pants-dropping? (crowd cheers)…alright…”

Intro to “My City of Ruins”
“Thank you (crowd cheers) thank you…as you know, this is our, our stand here in Shea Stadium’s our last stand for the year (crowd cheers) I wanna thank all for coming out…ooh…want to, uh…also thank everybody, I know a bunch of you have been to more than one show and we just appreciate your support of the band and our music (crowd cheers) oh…wanna do this tonight for some friends of ours in the house from the Coalition for the Homeless…tonight in New York City 39,000 people will sleep in shelters…Coalition for the Homeless offers mobile soup kitchen, crisis intervention services, job training and other programs aimed at ending homelessness in New York, if you see them on the way out, please stop and check out Coalition for the Homeless, assist them in any way you can… this is for them…”

Intro to “Born in the U.S.A”
“Thank you, I wanna thank everybody once again for coming out (crowd cheers) appreciate it…I’ll make my little public service announcement…we get people of all different kinds of political beliefs come to our show and we like that, we welcome everybody …there’s been a lot of questions raised recently about the forthrightness of the government, I just wanna say that playing with the truth during wartime has been part of both Democratic and Republican administrations in the past – it’s always wrong, never more so when the lives of our sons and our daughters are on the line…the question of the way we entered the war in Iraq isn’t really a Liberal or a Conservative question, it is an American one, I think it goes to the heart of protecting the democracy that we ask our sons and our daughters to go out and to give their lives for (crowd cheers) demanding accountability from our leaders is our sacred trust, it’s our job as citizens, may the truth will out…”

Intro to “Rosalita”
“Woo, yeah, baby!…a little end of the summer, end of the tour surprise…are we ready? (crowd cheers) maestro…the night was chilled, the moon was yellow…and the leaves came tumbling down…”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Jeff	A very diverse set list with Bruce feeling more politically expressive by opening with presidential comments as a intro to a rocking version of "Souls Of The Departed". Best Jam of the night was easily "Kitties Back". Great surprises were "Mans Job" with Stevie on backing vocals, and a pumped up version of "Because The Night". The encore set was the best part of the show with Bruce jumping from song to song in a Medley pumping up the throttle of a otherwise "dazed and confused" audience that was not sure if they wanted to party or not. Great opening show and I expect the next two nights to be even better.
Clete	For the first show of the three-show grand finale in NY the crowd would have to be electric, right? Not last night. Bruce and the band sounded terrific, and the set list was a wonderful mixture of all of the era's of Bruce's career. The temperature cooperated, too. It was the crowd that was the big disappointment. In all of my 60 + experiences of being thrilled by Bruce in concert this was the worst crowd that I've been a part of. There was no enthusiasm whatsoever. Bruce didn't even need to ask for quiet before Empty Sky. It seemed as though, after several failed attempts to revive the audience in the initial part of the show, Bruce just concentrated on the execution of the songs. And the execution was excellent. The '90's songs were all highlights for me (Tunnel, Brilliant, Man's Job, etc.). Johnny 99 really rocked, and I just love Soozie's contribution to the band in general. Kitty's Back and Seven Nights to Rock were especially intense. Back to the crowd - poor Bruce didn't even have a chance to towel down or get some refreshment between encores for fear that the place would empty out! During Rosie and DITD he was able to get some response from the lame crowd, however. Overall, a very solid show, but if Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford or Washington had the honor of hosting the grand finale, any of those cities would never take it for granted as it seems the New Yorkers did last night. If they don't shape up, I'll never get my dream closer - "Thundercrack". I'll be there Fri. & Sat. hoping.
Steve	We've all seen Bruce, we all know he is great, but why oh why does he insist on playing 41 Shots in New York. An innocent man was mistakenly killed, 3 NYC police officers had their lives completely ruined. The Rising tour is supposed to be a tribute to 9/11 victims, some of which were NYC police officers. I have seen him play this song in Madison Square Garden as well, and people either boo or completely leave the arena until the song is over. There is no reason to rehash this terrible event, especially in NY!!!! If you want to play this song, do it anywhere but New York.
Ed Chonko	Most likely the last Springsteen concert I'll ever see. I've been an avid fan for 25 years. Don't get me wrong, the set list was great. I loved how he dug deep into the archives to pull out gems like Johnny 99 and Kitty's Back - songs that I haven't heard yet on this tour. However, I'm very disappointed how he used this show to take an unprecedented 4 shots at President Bush. I was used to his "public service announcements", where he tried to be as nonpartisan as possible in speaking about the war. However, the repeated calls for Bush's impeachment was way over the top. I don't understand how quick he was to claim the war in Iraq was unjust - especially since all of the dust hasn't settled. If we find WMD in Iraq tomorrow, I wonder what Bruce's reaction would be. I suppose he'd rather have Al Gore be in charge on the war against terror - a scary thought indeed. I remember the old Bruce, when in the 80's was asked to comment on a political issue: he deferred claiming he was "just a singer". Well I wish he would "just sing", because he's a fantastic entertainer and a terrible student of history and political science.
Tom Cantillon	Well, show #100 for me and what a show! The only flaw was 41 Shots, which I like, but just did not seem to fit into the setlist this particular evening — it drained all the energy — but only for a moment. Loose, powerful and high-energy show from start to finish. Souls of the Departed is simply gut-wrenching and gritty — should have been a staple long before this. Tunnel of Love was equally great, another song that would have fit in nicely throughout the tour. Brilliant Disguise was equally good. But Johnny 99, done rockabilly-country revved up, Johnny Cash meets Carl Perkins style — was awesome!! A tour highlight. Because the Night and Badlands are always a moment of that Bruce/E Street Band magic and a joy to behold. No Surrender was played passionately, but that 41 Shots just did not work, especially when backing it with Into the Fire — a very odd pairing. Who'll Stop the Rain was a great way in which to close the set and surprise. Encore time: The best, blistering, rocking Kitty's Back of the tour! Bruce and band just let the sparks fly and man, did they heat things up with that one — nearly burned the damn place down. Born to Run and 7 Nights are a great combo — a crazy moment of pure rocking celebration. Born in the USA is played with such ferocity that it's overwhelming to both watch and listen to — but great song choice as the tour winds down. I had my doubts about my 100th show, simply because it was going to my 100th and the 99th show in Hartford simply blew me away and would have to be, for me, just about the best damn show of the tour — sparks flew on E Street that night. 2 more shows to go.
Jay Stern	Flew 3,000 miles from Los Angeles for this one. It was a Bruce show so I was gonna be happy no matter what, but I must say that the Boss went overboard on the political stuff-especially for a summer-stadium-goodtime-themed party. The weakest of the three nights and a half-empty stadium. Still, I wouldn't have missed seeing Bruce play in the home of my favorite baseball team-the Miracle Mets.
Saul Taylor	By chance on one of my visits to NYC The Boss was playing at Shea. Haven't - I'm ashamed to say - heard an album from him since "Born In The USA", I took the opportunity to spend a night in Queens. This is possibly responsible for my now obsession with anything The Boss now does. The show itself has been savaged in some quarters for its political content. However for me any show is all about the music, and tonight was - in my opinion, breathtaking. Starting with an emotional version of "Souls Of The Departed" and then "The Rising", I have never been so charged at a shows opening, with emotion overflowing The Boss and The E Street Band put on a show that was so full of energy that you could have easily powered Manhatten all night. Can anybody honestly say that when you hear the "1,2,3,4" at the start of the last verse of "Born To Run" that you don't jump up punching the air. Now in this modern age of MTV, of boys and girl bands, name one that can make you do that. I didn't think you could. Long may you rock Boss.
Vincent	Sorry, it's two years later and I was looking back at the shows at Shea, of which I attended nights one and three. Obviously, night three was special; this one did, indeed, feature a lifeless crowd and Bruce somehow ignored their indifference and the band played wonderfully. Actually, the only reason I'm writing this so long afterwards is for Ed, who I hope has reconsidered his decision to never attend another Bruce show for "political" reasons. Leaving aside whether an artist should or should not express political views on stage, two years, 1700 plus American lives lost, and many lies later, Ed, it's too bad more people didn't listen to Bruce's rantings and ravings. Peace.

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