2005-07-28 Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, PA

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

Tour premiere of "One Step Up" (played on a 6-string and dedicated to Kenny Chesney) and sole tour performance of "Homestead", with Joe Grushecky. Second appearance of the tour for "Growin' Up" and last tour appearance for "Youngstown". Before "Real World" Bruce admits that he recorded the wrong version of the song: "…alright, this is a song that I don´t sing that much but, uh, I've sang it on this tour a bit, I kind of screwed it up when I recorded it". Piano songs are "For You", "The River", "Real World", "Racing In The Street", and "Jesus Was An Only Son". "Reason To Believe" is with the bullet mic. "My Beautiful Reward" and "Dream Baby Dream" are on pump organ. "All That Heaven Will Allow" is on electric piano.

Bruce Springsteen
Joe Grushecky (Guest)

Intro to “Long Time Comin´”
´´Thank you….thanks, good evening….we had, uh, the first teenage party the other night, he turned 15….girls finally showed up….yup….and, uh, I´m trying not to hang around and look stupid….uh, it´s easy to do that and, uh, you know, there´s sort of three stages of rearing children, you know, the first one, when they´re little, you´re the benevolent hand of God…. then you´re a tolerable idiot….then you´re just a fucking idiot, you know….so, uh….I´m somewhere balanced in-between number two and three….depending on my behavior on any given day….so, uh, here´s to the mamas and the papas out there and uh….have courage…. this is ´Long Time Comin´….´´

Intro to “For You”
´´Thank you….the, uh….in the interests of full disclosure, that last verse should´ve said ´I ain´t gonna fuck it up too bad this time´….that, I couldn´t fit all the words in there, couldn´t sing it well, you see, ´I ain´t gonna fuck it up too bad,´ that would´ve….been more honest but uh (chuckles) anyway, I didn´t write a lot of….I didn´t write a lot of love songs when I was young, my father told me that all love songs were government propaganda….and, uh, uh, their main purpose was, you know, for you to get married and have kids and pay your taxes and, and get your nose to the grindstone and, uh, so it took me till I was, let me see, he told me that when I was about 13, 14, I think I wrote my first official when I was about 37 and uh (chuckles) but, uh, my mom was the other, she was very romantic and had on all the beautiful doowop music in the morning when I went to school and, and she, uh, my father just, he just believed in suffering, my mother believed in suffering and some transcendence so (chuckles) so, uh, at any rate, what I did is I did write some but I hid ´em, I hid ´em in my other songs and in a whole bunch of words so this is, this is one of those, I´m gonna do this for my good friend Johnny* out there tonight….(?)….I could use a little less piano….´´
^{[ * Johnny Grushecky ]}

Intro to “Part Man Part Monkey”
´´I just came back from Europe….where I tried to explain to them that here in the States there´s a big debate….on who came first, the man or the monkey….and uh….I tried to explain to them that, that monkey doesn´t vote….I tried to explain to them that this thing that we thought was sorted out about 80 years ago in the Scopes´ Monkey Trial….but uh….actually we be in a situation right now where something like, say, the Flintstones couldn´t get made today…due to the ambiguous relationship between Barney and Fred….I´ve been kind of rapping this rap for a big part of the tour and feeling sort of smugly superior to evangelical Brothers and Sisters….but then….the damn Catholics threw their hat in the ring too….hell, man, probably had enough to worry about (chuckles) anyway….it´s great to be home…..
(….) We´ve come a long way, baby, and we´re going back….´´

Intro to “All I´m Thinkin´ About”
´´Alright, this is for Dez*….´´
^{[ * Dezi Grushecky ]}

Intro to “One Step Up”
´´Alright, I haven´t played this song in a while, I´m gonna give it a shot….this is for Ken*, thanks for the nice card…..´´
^{[ * Kenny Chesney ]}

Intro to “Reno”
´´Thank you….thank you…I´ll be play that one more often….alright, a good call (chuckles)…´´

Intro to “All That Heaven Will Allow”
´´Thank you, this, uh, as I like to tell the folks, this is a special piano and it can only be on stage for a short period of time and I found this on eBay and, uh, where all the good shit is and uh (chuckles) alright, let´s see….uh….uh….(?)…let´s sing something happy (chuckles) alright, hell, I got a few of those suckers (chuckles) alright, this is….this is, uh….this is me…. this is me heading to the bar, I had this white Ford pick-up and it had a cassette player, there wasn´t any cds at the time but, uh, I kept this, this small cassette of the Raspberries´ Greatest Hits and uh….who, uh, they´ve gotten no, they´re still to get any respect, the Raspberries, but why? I don´t know because all, all the power pop and the guitars, they wrote a bunch of great songs, they had an especially great record called ´Overnight Sensation,´ which was, uh, a classic, a beautiful pop record, if you haven´t heard it, go get ´Overnight Sensation,´ I guarantee, uh, uh, if not, you know, next time you can say ´Bruce, your taste sucks,´ or whatever….but I, I, I, it´s a great record, so this is kind of going out to the bar and there´s somebody there and, and, uh….and it´s good….´´

Intro to “Real World”
´´(laughs)….Yeah….this mike (chuckles)….this mike, this mike kept sinking lower and it was gonna be like ´And I want all the time´ (chuckles) that´s where I was going (chuckles) alright ….(?) could you take this sucker away, please (chuckles)(?) the men move on my whim, you see, it´s incredible, it´s fabulous, fabulous….there it goes, it was worth its money, alright…. 150 dollars, no, I don´t think that´s quite true….alright, this is a song that I don´t sing that much but, uh, I´ve sang it on this tour a bit, I kind of screwed it up when I recorded it and…. but uh….´´

Intro to “Jesus Was An Only Son”
´´Thanks, I was, uh, I was brought up Catholic and, uh, you know, and it´s sort of like that, I mean I left Catholic school at the eighth grade and I was like ´See you, suckers, man, I´m out of here´…and my mom made me go to Cathecism class Monday nights, uh, but everybody was just kind of fooling around….and, uh, you know, later on, it sort of like, you know, I figured I got away from all that and enough´s enough and, uh, but it´s kind of like that Al Pacino-line in the, the, uh, the terrible ´Godfather III´-movie, you know, where he goes ´You know, I, I, I´m trying to get out but they keep pulling me back, they keep, they keep pulling me back´….and, uh, so I´ve always had this big Italian family and, uh, ´they´ being, I guess, aunts, uncles, cousins, there´s always some sort of ritual going, confirmation or something and so I show up as is my duty and, uh, uh, and they´re happy and they always try to get me to take Communion, they always want me to take Communion, and I´ve tried to explain to them that, uh, that, uh, you´re not supposed to take Communion unless you´ve said your act of contrition, that´s the basic rules, I don´t, I haven´t, you know, not only, and like, you know, you´re always supposed to have your confession, you have to confess all your sins so I´ve sort of said I´ve done my confessing and I, and I no longer feel contrite, you know, and I realised…I lost that along the way somewhere so, uh, but they try to get me go, then if that doesn´t work, I tell ´em I´m excommunicated because I´m divorced….and I believe the rules are - and correct me if I´m wrong - that, uh, once you´re divorced, you´re just, you´re excommunicated, you know, you´re….so, uh, they´re still trying to get me to go up on Communion-time, though, and sometimes I do but uh (chuckles) just to satisfy ´em but uh…. I guess, this was a song, but I go back through all my music, it´s filled with religious imagery, which is a deep source of, of poetry and, and feelings of transcendence and redemption and pure, absolute, unmitigated horror and terror so (chuckles) so, hey, it was good for something (chuckles) but, uh, I was thinking about, uh, I wrote a lot of songs about parents and, and children on this last record that I did and I was thinking, uh, imagining Jesus as someone´s son, just having kids of my own and, you know, they alert you that they have their own destiny quite early on and you´re along for the merry ride so, uh, but I was trying to imagine Jesus just as, as somebody´s son so this is a song called ´Jesus Was An Only Son´ ….(starts playing the piano)….uh, I know you´re thinking - I protesteth too much (chuckles) ….
(….) at His mother´s feet….the first thing that strikes you when you have your kids is how there´s nothing that you wouldn´t do….or suffer to keep them safe….and that that feeling which comes on you suddenly…is a life sentence (chuckles)….
(….) will pierce your dreams this night….I always figured that the choices we make are given their weight and their meaning by the things that we sacrifice for them….by the things that we give up….we choose something and we let something else go….I always figured that Jesus had to be thinking….of the things He would give up….that there was this….sweet little bar down in Galilee where the weather is beautiful this time of year….that He could manage ….and Mary Magdalene could tend bar….and they could have a bunch of kids and get to see the sun fall on their faces….get to watch the air fill up their lungs at night when they´re sleeping….and get to see the next day….and the next day….and the next day….and the next day….and the next day….´´

Intro to “The Hitter”
´´Thank you, thank you very much….alright….alright, this is a, uh….let me see, we, uh, built ….with this hand we build and with this hand we burn, that´s, uh….that´s God´s joke on us, I guess, that´s the human (chuckles) the human package and, uh….so….we´re all a long ways east of Eden and uh….it´s dangerous out there, this is ´The Hitter´….´´

Intro to “Matamoros Banks”
´´Thank you…thanks a lot….I, uh….I wrote this song, there was a series of songs I wrote, uh, that I set in California, in the Central Valley and along the border, when I was living out there for a while and, uh….and, uh, this song was sort of a sequel to those and, uh….each year hundreds of, of people die trying to cross our southern borders to get into the country to do the dirtiest, toughest jobs that we have….they die crossing the river and they die in the deserts of dehydration, they die in the backs of vans and, uh, we´re in sad, sore of a humane immigration policy….so, uh….this is a song called ´Matamoros Banks,´ it´s a song that´s written backwards from the body at the bottom of the river to the man walking across the desert till he gets to the banks of Matamoros….uh, which is a town across from Brownsville, Texas….here´s ´Matamoros Banks´….´´

Intro to “Growin´ Up”
´´Alright, this is for my man down there….´´

Intro to “Homestead”
´´Thanks….I´d like to bring out now, ladies and gentlemen, the master of disaster here in Pittsburgh, homeboy number one….my compadre, my amigo….come on out, Joe….[Joe Grushecky joins Bruce onstage]….´´

Intro to “The Promised Land”
´´Here´s to Joe (?)….alright, I want to, uh….I wanna thank everybody for coming out to the show tonight….this was a place I came, I came to Pittsburgh in the mid-´80s and uh….I met a fellow named Ron Weisman….and uh….it was quite, and it was quite a night because he sort of turned me on to, it was a local Steelworkers´ Foodbank and uh, that was the first time that I sort of….got involved with some folks here in Pittsburgh and then they sort of said ´Oh yeah, if you´re going up to Seattle, there´s somebody up there, and if you´re going to Los Angeles, there´s somebody there´ and uh….tonight we´ve got the folks from the Rainbow Kitchen here, I´ve been working with them for a long time….they´re here, they´re still here many, many, many years down the road, still committed to improving the quality of life of the struggling citizens of the Pittsburgh area, trying to address hunger and child nutrition in support of services, we also got folks from Just Harvest, they´re here tonight with us also…. (?) economic justice and work to influence public policy, try to educate and empower citizens and, uh…working towards the goal of elimination of hunger, so this is a song for them, Just Harvest, folks from Rainbow Kitchen and, and my old (?)(chuckles)….´´

Intro to “Dream Baby Dream”
´´Thanks, Pittsburgh….remember the Rainbow Kitchen and Just Harvest on your way out, one more for Pittsburgh, thanks, you were a lovely audience….´´

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

SoulsOfTheDeparted

Great show, loose bruce, lots of chat. AMAZING sound in arena. Really solid selist, loved tunnel era stuff, plus beautiful versions of ‘long time coming` and `jesus was an only son`. Strong versions of `Real world` and `youngstown` miles better then the 2nd london show I seen earlier.

Zeke

Much much different show than Cleveland (of course). Bruce was much looser. Much like Tom Joad tour, the rules weren’t mentioned in Pittsburgh. Don't know if he stopped doing it, but it made for a racous show. We got the only song from Tom Joad early, Youngstown. This was a loud song. I feel lucky to get this one again. First highlight for me was Long Time Coming. He left it out of Cleveland. I love where he stepped off mike to deliver/sing/talk the lines about his dad and later mistakes. Powerful. Bruce added that he meant for the last word to be "fuck it up as badly but it didn't rhyme." Don't know if he always does it, but I loved it. One Step Up was just brilliant. His voice has changed so that it sounds more like he means it since the tol tour. Bruce sent it out to "Kenny, thanks for the card." I later found out that Kenny Chesney had covered the song on one of his discs. To correct Backstreets he said. "I should play that one more often" when he was rewarded with a loud standing O afterwards. He dedicated a great For You to Johnny Grushecky. It was a much different feel than the guitar version from flood aid recently. I thought his piano playing made the song. All I'm Thinkning Bout was dedicated to Dezi Grushecky. You can tell he has kids, what you do for one you do for the other. The song was fast and really lifted an already high mood. When the e-bay electric piano appeared Bruce said, "Let's give the people a happy song, I think I've got one or two of those." With that he went into All that Heaven Will Allow. As a big fan of the Tunnel cd this was a thrill. I noticed Bruce laughing during the song. Afterward he ezplained that his> mike was dropping and he thought he'd have to sing on the floor. Darkness was the song I was hoping for the most. I beleive this is the definative version. Loved it at Joad. Real World was very powerful. I never got such a hit off that song before. Great to go and see friends from many places. I met up with my friends from Spain at the stage rush. Imagine. During Waiting, Bruce said, "I'm waiting for you to sing the fuck along." I noticed him point at something at the end of the song. With that he wentinto a loose Growing Up and said, "for the guy with the sign." Hearty reception for my personal hero, Joe Grushecky. They did a spirited version of Homestead trading verses and guitar licks. I liked it better than the acoustic version they did together on Joad tour as there was more Bruce. Dream Baby Dream closed the show greatly. I disagree with the local paper's review that the show was dark. This ends the show on an up note "We gotta keep the fire going, I just want to see you smile, so dream baby dream." In the crowd, Kenny Chesney, Renee Zellweger, Keith Urban, most of the Houserockers, Andy Sheehan, Paul Steigerwald, and rumors of many more. The will call was a disaster. Ditto the food and beer. They ran out of beer before I got mine and then the food stand closed. Great show. And the roof didn't leak.

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