Photo: Kisby/Getty
Early on in Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s final gig of their two-year world tour, Bruce began telling a familiar story: the night of a wicked nor’easter in Asbury Park, New Jersey, circa 1971, when a gigantic saxophone player walked into a club and asked to sit in with the band. “We got into a Cadillac at the end of the night and drove out to the outskirts of town,” Springsteen said as he called Clarence Clemons to the center of the stage to thunderous applause. “We got very sleepy and we fell into this long, long, long, long, long dream. And when we woke up, we were in fuckin’ Buffalo, New York!”
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Coming into the show, many hardcore fans — who traveled to Buffalo from across the world like it was a pilgrimage to Mecca — worried that after this show the 38-year dream of the E Street Band might be over. During a marathon, three-and-a-half-hour, thirty-four-song concert Springsteen seemed determined to quell those fears by playing a ferocious set that proved the remarkable strength and vitality of the band as they approach their fourth decade. “The E Street Band has come thousands of miles tonight to be here one last time — for a little while,” Springsteen told the crowd, emphasizing the world little. “It’s been just about the best time in our band’s work life. We want to thank you for supporting our old music, our new music, our tour.”
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It was the old music that formed the core of the show, particularly the first-ever live performance of Springsteen’s 1973 debut album Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. He dedicated it to John Hammon...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily