2009-09-20 United Center, Chicago, IL

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

The first "album show" sees the band run through Born To Run, in order, including the first "Meeting Across The River" of the tour. Curt Ramm (formerly of The Sessions Band) guests on trumpet on "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Meeting Across The River"; Richard Davis guests on bass on "Meeting Across The River". "American Land" includes a snippet of "Theme From Shaft" in the midsection. "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Rockin' Robin" make their only tour appearances; both, as well as "I'm Goin' Down", are played by sign request (the requests are moved to the encores). Patti Scialfa is not present.

Richard Davis (Guest)
Curt Ramm (Guest)

Middle of “Working on a Dream”
“(Two verses in, the song comes to a halt) Hold on, Band…hold on, Band…oh…I hear the sound of the E Street Band fucking up, baby (crowd cheers) I hear the sound of the E Street Band fucking up (crowd cheers)(chuckles) and it ain’t pretty…go ahead, take it to the four…(sings to himself)…to the five – let’s start right there… good evening, Chicago (crowd cheers) that’s right, it can still happen after all these years…we’re so glad to be here in your beautiful city tonight (crowd cheers) the E Street Band has come here tonight to fulfil its solemn vow to build a house out of music and out of spirit and out of noise…now we are going to bring down the mighty power of the music on you (crowd cheers) and you, Chicago, are gonna bring the noise (crowd cheers) now sing it like you mean it…”

Intro to “Thunder Road”
“Steve said I left a verse out…that was the sound of the boss man fucking up (chuckles) not the band (chuckles) alright…oh…we’ve done what we’re about to do once before (crowd cheers) in our little town of Red Bank (crowd cheers) we played this all the way through one night and, uh…it was fun, it was fun so we’re gonna see how it goes but this was a record we made, we were, uh (crowd cheers) at the time we were (crowd cheers) we were close to being dropped from our record label, we had two records come out that kind of stiffed and, uh, this was our big shot and, uh (crowd cheers) …”

After “Jungleland”
“Come on up (crowd cheers) that was Curt Ramm on trumpet (crowd cheers) and Richard Davis who played bass on the original record (crowd cheers) oh yes, come on out here…yeah…alright… thanks, come on, Boys…”

Intro to “Hard Times”
“Thank you (crowd cheers) alright…we’re gonna play one, then we’re gonna take a few requests before we get out of here (crowd cheers) first I wanna do something for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, they’re here with us in the house tonight (crowd cheers) Greater Chicago Food Depository has been serving the hungry here in Cook County for thirty years, distributing over 50 million pounds of food to the struggling citizens of the Chicago area this year, as you know times for many, many folks are very, very hard, you watch that unemployment level going up, many folks who have worked have slipped through the middle, sometimes grassroots organizations like the Greater Chicago Food Depository are all that stands in between them and putting their kids to bed hungry so please give them a hand on your way out (crowd cheers) and we need health care for each and every American (crowd cheers) this is called “Hard times come again no more”…”

Intro to “Da Doo Ron Ron”
“Alright, we got a few we’re gonna try…give me a guitar…now we gotta find a key…we’re gonna give this a shot, right up there, up there in the balcony…what key?…(sings to himself)…(chuckles)… alright, key of D…there’s no bridge, right?…there’s no bridge?…no …no bridge and, uh, now look at the sax solo…yeah…it’s got a very complicated sax solo, C (chuckles) just, just play it, just play it, Baby…we’re gonna start it out badabadabadabadabadapam, right, ready…you start the roll, I’ll count us in…give me some words… alright, Max (Max drums a bit) oh yeah, this is for the fabulous Ellie Greenwich who passed away a few weeks ago, an incredible rock, rock’n’roll songwriter, I’ll send this one out to her…go ahead, Max …”
[According to the Backstreets report, "Da Doo Ron Ron" was requested via “a big bright green sign from up in the 300 level, courtesy of Jeff and Sarah.”]

Intro to “Rockin’ Robin”
“That’s a great one, that’s a great one (crowd cheers) where’s the pie plate?…(sings to himself)(some in the crowd start singing the song) Yeah, yeah, yeah, I appreciate it, appreciate it, appreciate it …(sings to himself) oh, it’s a great one (keeps singing to himself) gotta see if we can figure this one out…or we can move on…you don’t have any place to go, do you? (crowd: “No”) alright…any luck?…(?)(sings to himself)…everybody knows this one, this is a pie plate special, Baby (crowd cheers) pie plate special – we only know half of it, that’s how much we’re gonna play…(sings to himself)… (Max starts drumming) key of A…”

Intro to “American Land”
“Thank you, Chicago, for coming out to the show tonight (crowd cheers)…
(…) Little Steven (crowd cheers) Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) Curtis King (crowd cheers) Soozie Tyrell (crowd cheers) the unstoppable Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) Professor Roy Bittan (crowd cheers) Charlie Giordano (crowd cheers) Cindy Mizelle (crowd cheers) Nils Lofgren (crowd cheers) and the biggest man you’ve ever seen, Clarence “Big Man” Clemons (crowd cheers) Chicago! (crowd cheers) Chicago! (crowd cheers) Chicago! (crowd cheers) Chicago! (crowd cheers) Chicago! (crowd cheers) Chicago! (crowd cheers) Chicago! (crowd cheers) Chicago! (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”) (crowd cheers) …”

Intro to “Dancing in the Dark”
“Come on, Roy…give me some noise, Boys (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Rosalita”
“We got one more for Chicago (crowd cheers) Steve, are you ready?…”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

bronxkid1	I had my doubts (although small) about the whole BTR thing after hearing the boot from Count Basie but I thought it came off as one of the most memorable hours in my 31 year Bruce history. There was something magical about hearing it cover to cover; it just made you present to the absolute greatness of the album. Yes, it was done with somewhat "album versions" but it was very passionate and powerful. Thunder Road, Backstreets and Jungleland were all amazing but Meeting Across The River really did it for me (and I heard it last year in Milwaukee with Richard as well). Last night though, it was so freaking cool; the original bass as well as just an outstanding trumpet throughtout. I've always loved Meeting and I've always believed it to be one of Bruce's most underrated songs. Well last night proved me right again (as always my wife would say). Just amazing. The rest of the night was also great; extremely energetic and the crowd interplay was actually the best I have ever seen in my 27 shows. Bruce in the pit 100 fans deep, wow.Never seen that before, ever! Bringing all those kids up to sing and dance! On the lip of the stage half the night it seemed. OK, I could have picked a better setlist (a lot of the songs were either too predictable such as The Rising, etc. or songs I would not pick to hear such as Seeds, Goin Down and about 5-6 others, at least) but hey I don't get to pick the setlist (too bad for you all) so the complaint is very minor compared to the greatness of the evening. And did I mention Da Doo Run Run. Awesome!!!!!! Bruce is the Crytals channeled. Enough said. Happy 60th.
Jeff	Have seen over 100 Bruce shows over the past 35 years; first one was February 1975 at Widener College. Never had anything other than a great time at any one, but this one was was something special— even though we didn't have seats in the pit, my "spousal equivalent" and I brought a request sign for "Da Doo Ron Ron". The Band had never played it previously, but it seemed a natural for them (what with the made-for-Clarence sax solo and the wall-of-sound sound), so we gave our request sign a try. If you don't know the rest, check the set list and/or youtube. One of my absolute best Bruce nights!
Julie	Wow! What a night! Got into the pit and was three back from the stage so this was even more meaningful than ever. Can not cite one weak song except DITD but it works for the more casual fan and does bring the energy level up. Truly memorable. The rapport within the band is just wonderful to observe - truly a great band.
MHB	My grateful appreciation to Robin for taping the kids on stage for DITD. Her first-ever YouTube vid. My son is in the funny shorts; nephew is the one in matching shirt. Thanks to Bruce for making this moment possible.
Teresa	Bruce and the band set a truly blistering pace. Right out of the gate they launched into 'Seeds,' jumped right into 'No Surrender,' and whipped the pit into a frenzy with 'Johnny 99.' Bruce laughed off a kind of sloppy 'Working on a Dream,' (which is kind of a throwaway song at the point) and then got down to business. Hard to believe that in 1975 'Born to Run' was the band's make or break album. Fortunately for all of us it cemented his career and for anyone who attended his concerts from the mid-70's his decision to play the album in its entirety is such a welcome decision. Every word, every note has a special meaning. Last night in Chicago Bruce and the band played each song with such feeling and reverence I was feeling somewhat alarmed that he was trying to tell his audience something. Let's hope not. From the opening strains of 'Thunder Road' to the closing roar of 'Jungleland' Bruce took his audience for an amazing ride. And that was just the first half of the 3-plus hour show. The band's energy was met head-on by the crowd's enthusiasm and the nearly blew the roof off the UC. By the time 'Rosalita' was put to bed we were drained and energized at the same time. Bruce: 60 and still slaying the crowds.

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