2008-04-07 Honda Center, Anaheim, CA

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

"Light Of Day" opens, and is a tour premiere. A new rock arrangement of "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" is also a tour premiere, with searing guitar solos from guest Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, The Nightwatchman). Bobby Bandiera guests on "Ramrod". Sessions Band members Marty Rifkin and Marc Anthony Thompson guest on "American Land". "Because The Night" was the winner of a "pick the song" vote from a local radio station. Patti Scialfa is not present.

Bobby Bandiera (Guest)
Tom Morello (Guest)
Marty Rifkin (Guest)
Marc Anthony Thompson (Guest)

Intro to “Light of Day”
“Hey, Steve, it looks pretty dark out there, man (crowd cheers) (Steve: “Yeah, man, it´s getting darker all the time”) but I think I see a little light coming on the horizon (Steve: “Wait a minute, I see, I see”)…”

Intro to “Radio Nowhere”
“Good evening, is there anybody alive? (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Magic”
“Good evening!…we´re out for blood!…ooh, thank you (crowd cheers) we´re glad to be here in Anaheim (crowd cheers) in lovely Orange County (chuckles)…thank you for coming out to the show tonight (crowd cheers) yes, yes, yes, Patti sends her love…I tell the folks every night we´ve got the three teenagers now so…so “homeland security” has a whole other meaning to you…it will get fucked up…as I was leaving, one thousand pizzas were arriving – one thousand, it was incredible… ah, there were togas – they, they were going old school, like the old folks did and the, uh, the pot cookies were coming out of the oven just as I, just as I left…all that stuff doesn´t bother Patti and I too much but it was when the Girls Gone Wild-bus pulled up at the end of the driveway…Patti is gonna kick those guys´ asses…that´s right, they´re done (chuckles) they´re finished with that shit but uh…oh…we were lucky, we had Danny out with us two weeks ago (crowd cheers) we send him our love tonight (crowd cheers) and, uh, here´s to the end of eight horrible years of bad magic (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Livin´ in the Future”
“Good evening, everybody (crowd cheers) we´re so glad to be here in your beautiful city tonight…we´re so glad to be here in sunny Southern California (crowd cheers) are we having any fun yet? (crowd cheers)…this is a song called ´Livin´ in the Future´…but it´s about what´s happening now…how along with all the things that we love about the place that we come from…we´ve had to the American picture over the past eight years things like rendition and illegal wiretapping and the rolling-back of civil liberties…these are all things, when I was a kid, they always told you ´That happens someplace else, that doesn´t happen here´…and uh…and you may think ´cause of the color of your skin or your circumstance or your religion, that you may feel these things don´t have much of an effect on you but they´re all attacks on our Constitution, which means they´re an attack on our way of life and things we believe in as Americans (crowd cheers) this is a song about sleeping through those changes as they happen…well, tonight the mighty E Street Band is here to do something about it (crowd cheers) we´re gonna sing about it…that´s right, I said ´sing´…that´ll scare ´em…and I wanna know who´s been fucking with my passport!…somebody, somebody´s been looking at my passport…hey, Max, help me tell the story…”

Intro to “The Promised Land”
“I see some light coming…”

Intro to “The Ghost of Tom Joad”
“I´ve got a close friend of mine here with me tonight, gonna come up and do a song: Mr. Tommy Morello from the Rage Against The Machine (crowd cheers) come on, Tommy [Tommy Morello joins the band]…Tommy also makes great acoustic records with the name of The Nightwatchman…let´s try it…”

After “The Ghost of Tom Joad”
“Tommy Morello! (crowd cheers) Rage Against The Machine! (crowd cheers) The Nightwatchman! (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Girls in Their Summer Clothes”
“Thank you, thank you for coming out tonight! (crowd cheers) woo! …man…how´s it going? (crowd cheers) I wanna thank my buddy Tommy Morello for rocking the house! (crowd cheers) Tommy!…I want to remind you that we´ve got some friends in the house tonight, the Second Harvest Foodbank of Orange County, they´re the county´s largest hunger relief organization, estimated over one, half a million people are at risk of going hungry in this community, for every dollar that they receive, the Second Harvest can provide more than 12 bucks´ worth of groceries to somebody in need, they´re good folks out on the frontlines doing God´s work, please help out the Second Harvest Foodbank of Orange County (crowd cheers) gonna send this one out to the California girls (crowd cheers) California girls (crowd cheers) California girls (crowd cheers) come on, thrill me, I´m getting old – California girls! (crowd cheers) and one from New Jersey, alright…”

Intro to “Rosalita”
“Gimme a little guitar, Bobby…donde esta Rosalita? (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Ramrod”
“(?) are you sure, baby? (crowd cheers) are you sure, baby? (crowd cheers) are you sure, baby? (crowd cheers) are you sure, baby? (crowd cheers) Stevie, let´s roadhouse…(?)…come on, let´s rock this thing…
(…) Bobby Bandiera on the guitar…he escaped from New Jersey… hey, Stevie (Steve: “Yeah, baby?”) I think it´s quitting time (Steve: “Me too”) I´m telling you it´s damn sure quitting time (?)…I got my pyjamas underneath my clothes…well, Stevie (Steve: “Yeah?”) if it ain´t quitting time (Steve: “Yeah?”) if it ain´t sleepy time (Steve: “Yeah?”) is it sexy time? (?)…then, Stevie, all I wanna know is what time is it?…(Steve: “It´s, uh…Boss-time”)…”

Intro to “American Land”
“Thank you for coming out tonight (crowd cheers)…
(…) Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) Little Steven (crowd cheers) Sister Soozie Tyrell – beautiful (crowd cheers) Marc Anthony Thompson from the Sessions Band (crowd cheers) Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) Professor Roy Bittan (crowd cheers) Charlie Giordano in for Dan Federici (crowd cheers) Marty Rifkin from the Sessions Band on the guitar (crowd cheers) Nils Lofgren (crowd cheers) and you wish you could be like him but you can´t… Clarence “Big Man” Clemons (crowd cheers) Anaheim! (crowd cheers) Orange County! (crowd cheers) Southern California! (crowd cheers) you´ve just seen the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, earth-shocking, booty-quaking, love-making, Viagra-taking, history-making, legendary (crowd: ´E Street Band´)…”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Bency Abraham	This was concert #9 for me and it was just unfricking believable. To open with light of day and then play murder inc, trapped, ghost of tom joad and rosalita was tremendous.
Dave	When you go to a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show, you expect certain things. You expect Bruce to give it everything he has, you expect the band to cook, you expect to hear a few old nuggets that blow you away, you expect to lose all your inhibitions as you sing and dance with a few thousand strangers, and you expect to feel exhilarated afterward. The difference between your standard, run-of-the-mill fantastic E Street show, and the absolutely amazing thing I witnessed tonight is what I call the "Holy shit" factor. That is, when you suddenly realize that Bruce and the band are playing something you never expected to hear again live, and you can't help yourself from sitting up and saying "Holy shit!" And that's what makes tonight's show one of the best I've ever seen, and maybe the best of all time. In fact, the show started with a "Holy shit" moment. When you're an insane Springsteen nut like I am, you follow the shows of a particular tour, checking out all the setlists on the Bruce websites. For months on this tour, Bruce has begun just about every show with "Radio Nowhere" from the new album, a great song and one of the best rockers Bruce has ever written. I was ready and waiting for it. What I wasn't ready for was "Light of Day". "Light of Day", are you kidding me? Where the hell did that come from? And almost from the very first notes of the song, I found myself saying, "Holy shit!" To put it simply, it knocked my socks off, and it set the tone for the whole night. "Radio Nowhere" was next, and that song is simply lights out when you see it performed live. That song segued into a blistering version of "Lonesome Day", and then "Gypsy Biker", which I still maintain is the best song from "Magic." And that led into "Murder Incorporated." "Murder Incorporated," how in the world did that get into the setlist? Five songs into the show, I've now had two "Holy shit" moments, and Bruce had yet to do a song written prior to the '90's, which is pretty much unprecedented. Next came a hilarious monologue from Bruce. Now, it wasn't one of those rambling monologues from the old days, about Bruce's father and his guitar, or anything like that, but Bruce pointed out that Patti wasn't with the band tonight. He reminded us that he and Patti now have three teenagers at home, and there was some sort of teenage toga party going on, so Patti had to be home to supervise. According to Bruce, it gave a whole new meaning to the term "homeland security." I guess it sounds lame now, but it was pretty hilarious at the time, especially when he joked about the kids ordering a thousand pizzas and baking pot brownies. All the old fogies like me had a pretty good laugh over that. The band then segued into "Magic", and then "Reason to Believe", and while both were great, they are pretty much staples of this tour. Then came the next three "Holy shit" moments. The first was "Trapped," which is not really a Bruce song, but a reggae song that Bruce had made his own back in the early 80's. He played it at the "We are the World" concerts, and it was sensational. The live album from that show is the only official recording of the E Street Band doing "Trapped", but it soon became a staple on "The River" tour, and it was one of the highlights of those shows. Tonight, it was simply jaw-dropping. Bruce is 58 years old, yet he performed this amazingly difficult and strenous vocal as if it was 1981 all over again. I do believe I had tears in my eyes, it was that much of a joyful shock. Next came "Because the Night." Why Bruce never officially released a performance of this song is one of the great Springsteen-related mysteries, because he blows away the generic version by Patti Smith. To be fair, Patti did a great job with the song, but she is not Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. And if Bruce's vocal performance wasn't enough, Nils Lofgren's blistering guitar solo was simply unbelieveable. And if all that wasn't enough, the song segued right into "She's the One", which has been played pretty steadily on the tour, but is nonetheless a highlight every night, as the band absolutely cooks on this 33 year-old masterpiece. After singing my lungs out and gyrating like an idiot, I fell back exhausted, and all I could say was, "Holy shit." Bruce then introduced Tommy Morello (I think that's the guy's name) from the band Rage Against the Machine, which I have heard about only because it is one of my sixteen year-old stepson's favorite bands. Morello came out to join Bruce on "Ghost of Tom Joad", which was my next "Holy shit" moment, as in Holy shit, why is he doing this lame song from that putrid album? Shame on me, because what sprung forth was one of the most powerful and emotional songs of the night, with an absolutely unbelieveable guitar solo from this Morello kid. I will never disparage "The Ghost of Tom Joad" again. It was a "Holy shit" moment for the ages. The main set on the tour has usually ended with "Badlands", which is one of Bruce's best songs from the "Darkness on the Edge of Town" album, but has been played to death. But instead of ending the set with that tune, Bruce and the band launched into "Out in the Street", one of the best songs from "The River" album. I'm not quite sure it qualifies as a "Holy shit" moment, but it was a surprise, and it sure was great. The final "Holy shit" moment came with the second song of the encores. Night after night, Bruce has stuck a wonderful old nugget into this slot. Sometimes it's "Jungleland", sometimes it's "Incident on 57th Street" (which I have yet to experience live), and when I saw the band in Los Angeles last October, it was a joyous rendition of "Kitty's Back." Tonight, it was "Rosalita". Yes, Rosie came out tonight in Anaheim, and it was so much fun that nobody cared that Bruce actually forgot the words at one point. Hell, we knew all the words, and we were more than happy to help him out. As I sit here now in my hotel room in Anaheim, with my ears ringing and my throat sore, it is past midnight, which means I am now officially 50 years old. The first time I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, I was 17, and my whole life was ahead of me. I am 33 years older, a whole lot slower and heavier (weight-wise), a respected member of the legal profession, a husband, a father, and a stepfather. But in a lot of ways, I feel just like I did that night 33 years ago. I saw a legendary performance by my favorite band, I had the time of my life, and I feel absolutely drained and exhilarated. Just like I did that December night in 1975. Thanks for a great birthday present, Bruce. There's no doubt in my mind that you are still The Boss.
Tracey	This was my first Springsteen concert, and it was an amazing experience. My husband won the tickets from KLOS on friday, and my number was drawn for the "pit lottery". First concert - front and center, elbows on the stage. Andrew said "not bad for your first show - it just gets better"….so next show, I guess I'll be ON THE STAGE :)

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