2008-06-14 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

Bruce's first ever appearance in Wales. Tour premiere and European debut of "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)". "Mary's Place" includes "The Monkey Time". "Thunder Road" is dedicated to journalist Tim Russert, who died the previous day. "Blinded By The Light", "The River", "Jungleland", and "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" are played by sign request. Patti Scialfa is not present.

Intro to “From Small Things”
“Good evening, fine citizens of Cardiff, Wales (crowd cheers) alright…this is our Welsh connection right here (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Blinded by the Light”
“Oh yeah…alright…how are we tonight, huh? (crowd cheers) let’s see what you got [checks people’s request signs]…we might be able to, (?) I don’t think we can do that tonight (?)…that’d be a tough one (chuckles) that one we did before, that’s possible…(?) you hold on to that one, what do we got? (chuckles) we’ve practised this one, never played this one in Wales before (chuckles)(crowd cheers) we’ll see what we can do, we’ll see what we can do…(?)… this guy’s been at a few other shows…he usually gets his requests because, uh, he draws fascinating illustrations for the song (chuckles) but, uh…(?)…we’ll do one of these and we’ll dedicate it to Danny tonight… ´cause Danny has the story that you’ll find in so many of my early songs…we were, uh, we were playing in, uh, down south in Richmond, Virginia, it was in the late ‘60s and if you played too long in those days, they really took it to heart and, uh, policemen come in and unplugged the amplifiers and made a big fuss and, uh, Mad Dog Lopez, our drummer at the time, was arrested for interfering with an officer who was doing his duty, trying to shut the band down…and they threw him in jail in Richmond, Virginia, so we came back to New Jersey and in order to get bail money to get him out of jail in Richmond we played a concert in New Jersey but when we played the concert in Jersey, we played a little bit too long so (laughter from the crowd) it was like, this local police department, they got like the first SWAT team ever, I think they really wanted to use it so they all came down to the concert site and they jumped on the stage and a big, a big fuss broke out and Danny – at the time we were playing with these huge Marshall stacks and, uh, Danny pushed some of these over on some police officers…or they fell – he didn’t really push ‘em (chuckles) but, uh, but then the police officers, the ones that, a few ran off for medical attention, a few jumped on the stage, trying to arrest Danny…uh, Danny’s wife got onstage and helped him resisting arrest and I believe that Danny ended up jumping into the crowd and getting away where he was, uh…he was then a fugitive from justice for a month…I know this is a long story to tell people you’ve just met (chuckles) it’s gonna lead up to something – give me my guitar, I need something to defend myself with…but anyway…now we have a show that we have to play so we can get bail money for Danny and Vini and, uh, Danny says he’s gonna play and we’re gonna sneak him onstage right before we play so the cops can’t arrest him but he’s in the parking lot and I go out to get him and ask him to come in and he says he’s frightened because there are police officers on the roof waiting to bust him…by that time he’s been smoking a little something and grown a little bit paranoid (laughter from the crowd) I explained to him that it actually wasn’t so (chuckles) and pulled him out of the car, got in and played the concert, he ran off through the crowd, gave himself up, there was a trial…uh, I don’t remember who won the lawsuit (chuckles) but it all began when…(starts the opening guitar riff) I hope I remember this one…I got it, boys!…”

Intro to “Magic”
“Thank you, thank you so much…(?) in the States…here’s, uh, to the end of eight years of bad, bad magic…”

Intro to “The River”
“A nice little greeting, man, thank you!…”

Intro to “Livin’ in the Future”
“Alright!…how we doing? (crowd cheers) that’s good…how we doing over there? (crowd cheers) alright, what about in the back there? (crowd cheers)…(?) this side? (crowd cheers) oooh, oooh!…this is a song called ‘Livin’ in the future’ but it’s about what’s happening now back home…where we come from…there’s a lot of things that we’re proud of, over the past eight years we’ve had to add to the American picture things like rendition and illegal wiretapping, rolling-back of civil liberties…and uh…no right to Habeas Corpus, which…actually this past week the Supreme Court overturned, thank God, and, uh…these are all things that when I was a little kid, you’d grow up, your parents telling you that they’re all things that happen someplace else, never happen at home, this is a song about sleeping through changes that you never thought you’d see where you grew up…Max, give me a hand telling the story…”

Intro to “Mary’s Place”
“Big Man…you ready for a house party?…is the band ready?…and I only got one more question…I only got one more question…are you ready? (does the call-and-response-thing with the crowd)…”

Intro to “Jungleland”
“Alright, this is for Tom and Hannah…nice little saxophone right there …Bruce, play…Clarence…it’s much bigger, much bigger type than my name is there….makes Clarence happy… alright, Tom and Hannah we’ll try this one for you, see how my voice holds up…it's for you two…" *
(thank you, Shesthewelshone on BTX for help on this one.)

Intro to “Thunder Road”
“Big Man, Clarence Clemons, Roy Bittan on the piano (crowd cheers) Steve on guitar…thank you, I'd, uh, just like to take a moment and I’d like to do this next song tonight for a long time friend of the E Street Band who passed away suddenly…Tim Russert was an important and unreplaceable voice in American journalism… I watched him hold our politicians feet to the fire on many Sunday afternoons, he was always a strong voice for honesty and accountability in American government but beyond that he was a lovely presence, a good father, husband, and good guy, he was a regular fan, I’d seen him at so many E Street Band shows and I'm going to miss looking down and seeing that big smiling face of his in the crowd so (crowd cheers) we send this…this song tonight out all the way back to the States for his son Luke, his wife Maureen, his dad Big Russ, and all the Russert family – Tim, God bless you, we’re gonna miss you…”

Intro to “American Land”
“Thank you, Cardiff! (crowd cheers) thank you, Wales! (crowd cheers) thank you for coming out to the show tonight…for supporting our music over all these years…Wales!…we’re coming back! (crowd cheers)…
(…) Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) Little Steven(crowd cheers) Sister Soozie Tyrell (crowd cheers) the Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) Professor Roy Bittan (crowd cheers) Charlie Giordano (crowd cheers) Nils Lofgren (crowd cheers) and the biggest man you´ve ever seen: Clarence “Big Man” Clemons (crowd cheers) Cardiff! (crowd cheers) Wales! (crowd cheers) Cardiff! (crowd cheers) Cardiff! (crowd cheers) Cardiff! (crowd cheers) Cardiff! (crowd cheers) you´ve just seen the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, earth-shocking, booty-shaking, love-making, Viagra-taking, history-making, legendary (crowd: “E Street Band”)…”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Andrew	Saw Bruce at Manchester and the first night in London and both were great shows - although London was the best. Cardiff never came alive for me. Bruce seemed to be going through the motions for the majority of the show only coming alive for the last couple of songs. Although at almost three hours this must be one of the longest shows of the tour. Great opening number and one I've not seen him do before so that was a highlight. Also the Danny story was a highlight too. The sound was great and on listening to an audio of the show he sounds as good as ever. The people in the pit were enjoying it and it would be interesting to hear their take on the show. I was half way back on the pitch with a partial view of the proceedings so I had to rely on the screens but the word that springs to mind when thinking about Bruce and his performance is "subdued".
Clive Mason	The Boss really good however we were so far back from the stage you just have well watched him at home on DVD and saved fifty pounds.
Debbie	Subdued is not the word I would use to describe Bruce-how about fantastic! I was also on the pitch and didn't have a wonderful view but the atmosphere was fantastic and I didn't stop dancing all night. I went with two friends one of which had not been to a Springsteen concert before and he couldn't believe how much energy they all have. I thought that the band gave their all and gave the fans such value for money. Highlights for me were The River, Rosalita and Living in the Future oh and Born to Run! Come back soon Bruce!
Gareth	Went to Manchester, which was great but we were seated. This time, queued and got into the pit with my 10 yr old son, Tomos. Wow.. Afterwards Tomos said that was the best day of my life!! It was up there for me also. Tomos had made a sign in the queue with a young girl he met, asking for Jungleland. Bruce took it, and then imagine our joy when he came out for the encores with the sign, and then talked about the sign and mentioned Tomos' name. I will never forget that. Fantastic atmosphere, and with those encores, well it just doesn't get any better.
Gray Claret	Subdued is the word I would have used for Manchester. However, for me, Cardiff was phenomenal ! This was my 9th Bruce show and certainly one of the best. It felt like the 2 week break had given the band and Bruce new life and they were really enjoying themselves. A great setlist tonight with numerous highlights, from the opening number, through The River and onto an incredible encore starting with Jungleland and Thunder Road. The sound was spot-on tonight and at 5 mins short of 3 hours was fantastic value for money. In summary a wonderful night that will live long in the memory.
Hiro	I was in the pit and I thought he was amazing , I was at manchester and he was ten times better, the sound was so much better. My son was at the Emerates on the Saturday and he said that the sound was poor at that gig also…. and he played Thunder Road … in fact the encores were at a different level…
John	I can appreciate the comments about the viewing - it was probably pretty poor for most people who were standing apart from those right at the front. However, I must disagree with Andrew about Bruce being subdued. Although this was only my fourth Bruce Show (and third with the E Street Band, the other two being Manchester '99 and Paris 03), I have never seen him play to the crowd so much, he was clearly having an amazing time and I have never seen him do so many requests either. The story about Danny prior to Blinded by the Light was great and he seemed to put a great deal of energy in every number. After enduring fairly poor viewing myself, I managed to sneak into the pit at the front for most of the encore, it was amazing and the thrill of a lifetime. I thought the set list was really varied and I truly think Bruce and the band gave it their all, as they always seem to do - and have some video and photographic footage which was for my benefit only as a reminder of a fantastic night - to prove it. Highlights for me included The River, Blinded By The Light, Rosalita, Thunder Road, Jungleland and Because The Night - but the beauty of having so many people at a show means that everyone has a different take on things and I would be interested to see what other people thought too.
Jim	I was anticipating this concert for so long, even after the London O2 concert, because I was on the pitch, so memories of Villa Park 21st June Tunnel of Love tour came flooding back. That concert was my first ever concert and was absolutely fantastic, and the Cardiff show was on the same level, maybe even more so. You grow up and different songs have a poignancy that changes. The River was so charged with feeling and I think the sound of the whole crowd singing along will live with me forever. Other highlights - so many… Blinded by the Light, Devils Arcade, Because the Night and Badlands which was so powerful…and the encores were a dream come true, Jungleland (Clarence is a God), Thunder Road, Born to Run and Rosalita. True unmitigated joy, the faces of everyone around me showed what a truly magical night it had been.
John McG	Absolutely the greatest live performer of all time. The Cardiff show was the best one of the four I have been to during the Magic tour. The music was as glorious as ever, but it was the way the man communicates with a crowd which takes the breath away at a Springsteen gig. In my opinion, nobody can touch him as a songwriter or a live performer.
Nigel	An incredible night. My seventeenth show and this one was right up there with the best I have seen over the years. Being second row from the stage and just left of the central podium meant having great views and being right in the heart of the action. Like all great Bruce experiences you come away with a mind full of fleeting moments and strong emotions. Having my daughter there next to me (she on her third show) meant a lot for such a great night. This was vintage Bruce. Right from the outset I had no real idea where he was going. Again, like the last few shows, a lot of requests were taken from the crowd and there was plenty of interaction around these. This concert was great in not being as fast paced as many of the recent shows, we had lengthy introductions for a number of songs, most movingly for Danny and the tale of Bruce and the Band raising bail money for him and Vini, the dedication of Thunder Road to long time Springsteen fan Tim Russert and the River for the Welsh valleys. Highlights for me amongst a lifetime of memories: the rousing 10th Avenue getting the pit to fever pitch on the second song; the River with the Millenium Stadium singing along; Bruce coming to the microphone stand on Working on the Highway to find the mic missing; on Mary?s Place my daughter being singled out by Bruce at one point and the small ripple of laughter that put Bruce momentarily off guard after Max?s single drum beat; my daughter getting a big grin from Steve at the end; and possibly the best, seeing the E Street Band in fabulous shape and meeting the great people around me in the pit and in the line outside Gate 2 during the day. Then the encores, the encores! Jungleland with a note perfect Clarence; Thunder Road; and Rosalita, oh Rosalita, what joy, seeing Bruce standing rigid on Roy?s piano and egging Clarence on took me right back to where it all started for me in 1981. The icing on the cake, they will be back! Thanks Bruce, Charlie, Clarence, Gary, Max, Nils, Roy, Suzie and Steve, be seeing ya!
Paul Limbrick	Just having Bruce play in Wales was good enough for me. He could've played all of 'Human Touch' and I wouldn't have cared! As it happened, it turned out to be the best Bruce show that I've ever seen, and I've seen some corkers since '81. We had half a dozen Bruce Virgins in our party and they were amazed by it all. "Wales, we're coming back!"
Paul Trigg	My first bruce show, for a lot of years ! and the first in my capital city, i'd kept up with Bruce and the band over the years, bought all the albums, dvd's etc. I was nervous going in but he was awesome! It over 3 hrs of fantastic music.
Pete	Loved this show. Had a family stood next to me - Mum, Dad and two kids ( youngest 14 ) It was their first Bruce concert. Had time to chat with them before the show. I tried my best to prepare them for the sheer joy ahead but it was difficult! As expected, from the first moment Bruce and the band hit the stage there was no need for any further explanation regarding the sheer brilliance of a Springsteen concert. At the end , the Dad turned to me and said, "I can't believe that. What charisma and what an incredible voice. How old did you say he is!?" More happy converts. As for me, highlight was The River which was just brilliant. Also impressed with Living in the Future. Been to four concerts on this tour and, for me, this was by far the best for that song.
Rick	Apart from the solo Tom Joad tour I've seen every one since The River in 1980, Bruce delivers time after time. Don't know where Andrew was in the stadium but the place was really jumping down on the pitch. So many highlights, Gypsy Biker, Darlington County, Because the Night and an encore that every Springsteen aficionado would die for. Terrific night, only down side were beered up Welsh idiots who tried to spoil the show!!
Rob Malkin	Show number twelve for me, starting way back with The River tour. This was right up there as one of the best. A great improvement on the O2 where I was stuck up in the roof and never felt a part of it. Heard that the Emirates dates were going to have the sound turned down so opted for Cardiff. Third row of seats just off the pitch,the sound sucked till about six or seven numbers in but what a show. The pace never let up and a great crowd, fully engaged all around the stadium. If it's true that this is the last hurrah for the E Street band shame as that is, after this great show I can live with it. Nothing last forever, they can go out with their heads held high.
Russ	Having been to O2, Emirates and Cardiff I am lost for words! Queued all day and would have queued for a week. First time at the front and being partially sighted it was great, fantastic, beyond my dreams. Goodbye for now.
Souls of the Departed	This was so much better then Emirates or Manchester…on par with Dublin night 3 for me.

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