2005-10-04 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

A benefit show, with all proceeds donated to the Jersey Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross. Bruce returns to the stage after a seven week break. First outing for "Idiot's Delight", co-written with Joe Grushecky, and also tour premieres for "I Wanna Marry You", "Atlantic City", and "The Ties That Bind", in a rearranged version. Piano songs are "Tougher Than The Rest", "Atlantic City", "Lost In The Flood", and "Jesus Was An Only Son". "Idiot's Delight" is with the bullet mic. "Living Proof" and "Dream Baby Dream" are on pump organ. "Be True" and "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" are on electric piano. "I Wanna Marry You" is on ukulele. "Reason To Believe" and "The Hitter" are each dropped for the first time on the tour.

Bruce Springsteen

Intro to “The Ties That Bind”
´´Thank you….evening, everybody….good to see you, thanks for coming out….got a few different things tonight so you´re the guinea-pigs….´´

Intro to “Silver Palomino”
´´Thanks….I always have to, uh, qualify that last verse….(?) it´s supposed to be ´I´m not gonna fuck it up too bad this time´….you know, that´s too many words, didn´t fit in that line so….I left out the ´too bad´-part….but, uh….that´s what it, that´s what it should be (chuckles) ….´´

Intro to “Be True”
´´Thank you, thank you very much….did everybody have a good summer? (crowd applauds) alright….see if I remember this one….(?)….´´

Intro to “Ain´t Got You”
´´Alright, there´s two questions I consistently get asked by fans when they approach me on the street is, uh, ´Do you have any change?´ and, uh….uh, oh yeah, ´What´s it like being the Boss?´(?)….usually I, uh, I, I lay some sort of humble bullshit on them, you know, it´s gotten me this far in my career and I´m sticking with it for a while….but, uh, the actual answer is, is, is ´Fabulous beyond your wildest dreams´….(?) but I don´t like to lord that over people if I, if I can, if I can stop, you know, it´s, it´s, it´s bad manners, you know, but, uh, uh, I don´t usually write about it, you know, but, but once in a while I do (chuckles) matter of fact, that´s actually once I did (chuckles)….´´

Intro to “All The Way Home”
´´Folks, that´s the way it is….don´t let anybody kid you (chuckles)….alright….don´t let ´em kid you, you open them movie and music magazines - there ain´t nobody working out there (chuckles)….´´

Intro to “Jesus Was An Only Son”
´´Thank you very much….alright, uh….you know, I was, uh, brought up Catholic in Freehold (crowd cheers) woo!….and, uh, uh, I, I tell a long story but it´s actually my, my aunts, who I, I, I make the butt of this joke usually, are here tonight so, uh….uh, I don´t know what to say, uh, but it sort of goes, uh, actually, actually where are you, where are you, girls?…(?) where are you?….shouldn´t be hard to find ´cause they have good seats (?)(crowd cheers) Ginny, my aunt Dora, where´s my mother?….she went to the bathroom?….vino, that finished her off, that´s actually their request everytime they come, but she went to the bathroom, oh man, is she gonna be pissed off!….(?) take care of her when she comes back - she blew it! a big shot at fame, a spotlight, that spotlight was coming on, I told her….80 years and she blew it (chuckles) it´s not coming again (chuckles) I don´t know where she went, anyway, uh….uh, this is a song I wrote, it´s called ´Jesus Was An Only Son,´ I guess I was trying to imagine what it would be like Jesus as just somebody´s son and, uh, you know, with sons of my own and a daughter and, and your kids have their own, kids have their own destiny and their own ideas about all those things and, uh, you don´t have anything to do with ´em besides paying for them (chuckles)(?)(chuckles) I´ll stop my schtick, alright….
(….) at His mother´s feet….now the first thing that strikes you when you have your kids is that there´s nothing, no train you wouldn´t step in front of to keep them safe and, uh….and that feeling is a life sentence…..
(….) will pierce your dreams this night….I always figured….what makes our decisions mean anything, our choices mean anything are the things we give up for ´em….the sacrifices we make….I always figured that Jesus had to be in the garden thinking….about that nice little bar down in Galilee and how….good the weather is this time of year….and how….they probably need a manager….and Mary Magdalene could tend bar and they could have a bunch of kids and….and get to see the sun fall on their face every day….and, uh, see the breath fill their lungs at night when they´re sleeping….and see the next day….and the day after that….and the day after that….´´

Intro to “Two Hearts”
´´(chuckles) I just played that song in a key I´ve never played it in before in my life (chuckles) and in the middle my hands leapt to the right key (chuckles) oh (chuckles) it´s good, it´s good to take time off ´cause when you come back, you have no idea what you´re doing and everything is new (?)(chuckles) woh!….alright, where is Ma? I´ll, I´ll give her one more chance, where, where is….there she is, stand up, please (crowd cheers) who is that guy you´re sitting next to?….he´s one of my stalkers, he´s stalking my mother, he´s got his arm around her, what next?….alright….woo!….´´

Intro to “Galveston Bay”
´´Alright….let me see, uh….(hums the melody to himself)….let´s try it….alright….uh, let´s do, uh, ´Galveston Bay´ (someone yells ´You´re crazy´) crazy (chuckles) how do you think I got here?…trying to get sane (chuckles) that was the easy part (chuckles) it´s the sane that´s been hard (chuckles)….´´

Intro to “Matamoros Banks”
´´(?)…every year there´s hundreds of people that die trying to come across our southern border and, uh, it´s been in the newspapers a lot, even back here in the east and, uh, and, uh, when I lived in California for a while, there was a lot of, always a lot of border-reporting in the papers and I took some trips down south, along the southern border and, uh, wrote a series of songs set in California and this is kind of the sequel to one of those songs but, uh, hundreds of people die trying to cross the rivers, they drown in the rivers, they, uh, die of dehydration trying to cross the desert, uh, or in the backs of stuffy vans and, and, uh…..we are just, I´ve been saying that, since I started the tour, how sorely in need of a humane immigration policy we are….these are the folks, they´re out there and they come for nothing and they put the food on your table and if you eat fruit, if you eat strawberries, if you eat, eat, uh….lettuce, all of those things come through those hands so….´´

Intro to “I Wanna Marry You”
[It´s the first time ever Bruce is playing a ukulele on-stage] ´´You can laugh (laughter from the crowd)….´´

Intro to “Sandy”
´´That´s right….(?) another, another lesson learnt….alright, I´m gonna do this ´cause we´re here in town so, uh….´´

Intro to “The Promised Land”
´´Thanks a lot, I wanna thank everyone for coming to the show, thank you very much…. thank you for coming down and supporting the Red Cross, Jersey Coast Chapter….that´s right, their headquarters are based here in Tinton Falls and they´re one of the, uh, eight disaster (?) in the country, housing disaster supplies and, uh, their supplies have been deflated obviously recently by being sent to the affected areas there along the Gulf Coast, down in New Orleans, uh, so they´re really gonna be able to use your support and your help, uh….it was, uh, New Orleans was such a….the whole South, the whole South, the birthplace of American music and, uh….I don´t know if any of you ever been to New Orleans much but it´s (people applaud) it´s, uh, it´s an incredible town because it, it was one of the few places that, that, uh, its, its dirtyness and its grittiness and its soul remained and was, was, it had not been completely tamed or Disney-ized, you know, it was one of those few places in the country where there was still a place there and you could literally walk along the street and still hear terrific street musicians and, and, uh, I just heard a lot of beautiful music down there and it´s just, uh, it´s, it´s, it´s just a, it´s an incredible, an incredible part of, of, of our country, you know, the birth of jazz and blues and rock and roll, everything, everything (?) from the South and New Orleans….so, uh, it´s such an important place to preserve and, and, and to see, to see brought back to, uh, to life again so thank you for coming out, there´s gonna be some other events in, in, in town coming up that, that, that could use your support also, there´s one called ´Jammin´ For The Big Easy,´ that´s a city-wide fund-raiser, it´s gonna be held on October 8th and 9th in Asbury Park, uh, to benefit the Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort and also ´New Jersey 101.5´ is holding a big tour drive for, uh, uh, the kids that have been affected by Katrina, they´ll be collecting toys at five New Jersey malls starting October 29th at Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrenceville and ending on November 26th in the Freehold Raceway Mall so just keep your eyes open for all of those things ´cause it´s gonna be a very long, long rebuilding process and once these things are out of the news people forget but they still go on and on and on and we´ve got so much from the part, that part of the country, so much soul and, and culture and, and such a big piece of who we are and so much beautiful music so, uh, thanks for coming out, I appreciate your support in coughing up the cash and, uh, in letting me try some things out here (?)…I appreciate it and I´ll see you along the way….´´

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

^{© All credits to the original photographer. We do not monetize a photo in any way, but if you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.}

Boss' Benefit is Music to Ears of Disaster Victims

Bruce Springsteen knows his own life is a far cry from the struggles of the working-class protagonists of his songs, and he couldn't be more grateful.

In concert Tuesday night at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, Springsteen admitted that he gets paid for what he'd do for free.

When fans ask him, "How does it feel to be The Boss?" Springsteen said, he'll usually get all humble and throw some line about how it's gotten him this far and he can't complain.

But that's an understatement, an attempt not to lord it over all his hard-working fans. To brag, Springsteen said, would be bad manners.

However, in case you were wondering and wanted the honest truth, he confessed, "It's fabulous beyond your wildest dreams."

So there you have it.

Bruce in top hat and monocle, swilling champagne and lighting cigars with hundred-dollar bills. Aha! We knew that "Everyman" image was just a brilliant marketing ploy.

"Once," a giggly Springsteen told his well-behaved audience, "I wrote about it."

He then performed "Ain't Got You," in happy-go-lucky, rockabilly style, a song that raves about material wealth and pines for unattainable love. That song, about midway through his set, made Springsteen smile and relax. Earlier, he'd been all business.

The concert was a benefit for the Jersey Coast chapter of the American Red Cross. Representatives of the Red Cross were on hand, delighted that Springsteen had reached out to the organization in such an unexpected way. Ticket-holders were encouraged to make additional donations; anyone can do so through www.jerseycoast-redcross.org.

Some old, some new

The set list jumped here and there throughout Springsteen's extensive catalog, with "Living Proof," from 1992's "Lucky Town," preceding his latest, "Devils & Dust," for example.

Springsteen performed an exceptionally bright and jangly version of "All The Way Home" and a charming rendition of "Be True" on keyboards. He turned to the piano for "Atlantic City," and the chords undulated like ocean waves.

"Long Time Comin'," one of the best tracks on the "Devils & Dust" album and a fan favorite on this tour, keeps getting better and better, as Springsteen rattles off the lyrics in a casual style that belies their poignancy and wisdom.

Likewise, the solo versions of "Tougher Than The Rest" and "One Step Up" have a sense of maturity about them — these songs are aging like fine wines. Not so "Reno," the one about the prostitute, which still sounds kind of queasy and is too plain sad.

"Hope everybody had a good summer," Springsteen said cheerfully Tuesday night. His hair was slicked back, like the way he wore it in the mid-'90s on "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" tour, when he also played intimate theater shows.

Outside, the air was warm, salty and soft, and the waves stretched up the beach in gentle rolls. A percussion ensemble practiced on the boardwalk, and the sound reverberated past The Stone Pony. Bruce fans milled about, pleased with the night, astonished at their luck, eager to pay the man for what he'd do for free.

^{By Kelly-Jane Cotter via APP.com on October 05, 2005}

Links: