Story 2014-01-28 Bellville Velodrome, Cape Town, South Africa
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Intro to “Free Nelson Mandela”
“(Singers start singing the phrase “Free Nelson Mandela”) good evening, Cape Town! (crowd cheers) hello, South Africa! (crowd cheers) are you ready for a round two? (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “The Ties That Bind”
“Give me the five…G…hang on, Tom…”

Intro to “Spirit in the Night”
“Good evening (crowd cheers) how we doing? (crowd cheers) good, good, good, let me see who’s out there…hello, hello, hello, hello… hello…hello…(chuckles) hello, kid, hello…yeah, yeah…huh?… (chuckles) alright, I’ll look for you later (chuckles) hello…yeah… alright…the E Street Band’s glad to be here in your beautiful city tonight (crowd cheers) we’ve come thousands of miles (crowd cheers) thousands of miles… across (some fans: “Shark-infested waters”)…(fan yells: “Fucking shark-infested waters!”)(crowd cheers) very good, across shark-infested waters…that is so true!…I went to the beach yesterday and before I even got my feet on the sand, there was a sign that said “Be shark smart” (laughs from the crowd) I read that sign from the beginning to the end…I saw there was a line of surfers so being shark smart I said “I’ll get behind the line of surfers”…then I went into the water…and my balls disappeared! (laughs from the crowd) the water is cold down here, folks! (chuckles) it’s cold!…the ocean is cold (?) and I go into ocean in December in New Jersey and that’s how cold it is…I haven’t seen my balls in a day and a half (laughs from the crowd) they’ll be back, they’ll be back…damn! (chuckles) a day and a half…woo!…but we’re here tonight…we’re here tonight…to ask one very important question…and that question is…(some fan yells “Love you!”) no, that’s not it (crowd cheers) how is it possible nobody knows what this fucking question is now? I’ve been saying the same thing for five years, it’s not that hard…question is…alright, hold on (some fan: “Can you feel the spirit?”) alright, alright (crowd cheers) woo, that’s right…we wanna know…can you feel the spirit? (crowd cheers) can you feel the spirit now? (crowd cheers) can you feel the spirit? (crowd cheers) can you feel the spirit now? (crowd cheers) well, if you can feel the spirit, I want you to answer me with a mighty “Yeah, yeah” – can you feel the spirit? (crowd and band: “Yeah, yeah!”) can you feel the spirit now? (crowd and band: “Yeah, yeah!”) can you feel the spirit? (crowd and band: “Yeah, yeah!”) can you feel the spirit now? (crowd and band: “Yeah, yeah!”)…”

Intro to “Open All Night”
“Professore…(Roy starts playing) ”Open All Night,” brother, go…turn the piano up, man…that’s right…come on…play it, Roy…(yells)…let’s go on and on, hello, beautiful, you’re so cute, yes, you are, yeah… alright…I need a drink!…oh, thank you, darling, thank you, nice and cold too…yeah!…take it, Roy…(crowd cheers)…oh, excuse me… but this roadhouse music…you got to have a beer at least if you want to sing roadhouse music – let me see what’s going on, turn the lights up here, man…oh my God (crowd cheers) no, give them people some beers and get everyone off their asses, that’s right… one second…oh, you got to have a beer…one second, I got a job to do…hold on…hello…oh, hello…yeah…that’s right…how you doing? hi, hi, hi…alright…alright…alright, in about 30 seconds from now, from …not now but when I get my guitar, 30 seconds from then…the ass will be sending signals to the South African mind saying “Get up and shake me!” (crowd cheers) the South African ass will be sending signals to the South African mind saying “Get up and shake me!” (crowd cheers) don’t believe what I say, believe your own eyes – keep the lights up…who’s got a timer?…used to have a timer …thank you, somebody…here we go…I’m talking to you folks in the seats…”

Intro to “We Shall Overcome”
“Thank you, thank you (crowd cheers) lost a great friend and a great hero last night, Pete Seeger (applause from the crowd) and I got to know Pete a little bit…and, uh…he was 90 years old when I got to sing with him…that’s good news for me (chuckles) I used to tell him (chuckles) he said “Yeah, man, you’ve got plenty of time” (chuckles) and uh…like I said last night we’re humbled to be here in the land of Mandela, a great freedom fighter (crowd cheers) we are here tonight in his grace ‘cause he made it possible for us to be here (crowd cheers) and Pete back home was a very courageous freedom fighter also…this is a song that he adopted, he helped popularize, a song called “We Shall Overcome” (crowd cheers) and, uh…he taught this song at rallies and protests, it’s been a Civil Rights’ song for 50 years now, heard not just in the United States but in North Korea, Peru, Tiananmen Square and in South Africa (?) (crowd cheers) American Congressman, Civil Rights activist John Lewis, he said this was a song that gave you a sense of faith, a sense of strength to continue to struggle, to continue to push on and you’d lose your sense of fear…that’s pretty amazing for a piece of music but sometimes, uh…John Lewis said once you heard this song, you took it to heart, you were prepared to march into hell’s fires…so we’re gonna sing this for Pete…and for Mandela (crowd cheers) who understood these lyrics oh so fucking well…wishing for a prosperous South Africa for all of its citizens (crowd cheers) and a peaceful South Africa…come on down, guys…come on down…horns, come on down…come on, horns…just gather around the mic, bring your mics…”

Intro to “Dancing in the Dark”
“Give me some noise! (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “This Little Light of Mine”
“Professor, go ahead (Roy starts playing) thank you, ladies and gentlemen…thank you for being here with us tonight (crowd cheers) are you ready, singers?…let’s do it…”

After “This Little Light of Mine”
“The mighty E Street Band! (crowd cheers) woo! (crowd cheers) security, security…you’ve got 24 hours to stop them…let’s hear it for the E Street Band (crowd cheers) Ed Manion, Charlie Giordano, Soozie Tyrell, Curt Ramm, Jake Clemons, Tom Morello, Nils Lofgren, Max Weinberg, Roy Bittan, Cindy Mizelle, Curtis King, Michelle Moore, Everett Bradley, Barry Danielian, Clark Gayton and the legendary Steve Van Zandt (crowd cheers) yes, yes, thank you for a great night (crowd cheers) woo! (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “This Hard Land”
“One more to send you home (crowd cheers) and remember we’ll be back with another spectacular tomorrow night (crowd cheers) we’re gonna do this all over again but different (chuckles)…”

After “This Hard Land”
“Goodnight, everybody, thanks for a beautiful night, we love you (crowd cheers)…”

Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.
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