March 20, 2024
After a six-months-plus delay due to his peptic ulcer disease treatment and recovery, Bruce Springsteen resumed his 2023-2024 tour with the E Street Band last night at a sold-out gig in Phoenix, Arizona's Footprint Center. Letters To You was there, and the (relatively) short take is this... How very fortunate we are to get more chances to see Bruce and this band once again in fine form, picking up exactly where they left off, with a life-affirming live show that continues to connect the essential elements of Springsteen's most recent records with some of his greatest all-time material, which also just happens to be some of the greatest popular music ever written and performed.
"Performed" is an especially important word here, too. It's not just about what songs were chosen to be played last night and why (though if you're that curious about the specific songs themselves, they're listed right below for you.) It's at least as important that once more we're getting to witness in person this legendary live performer and his most famous, equally legendary backing band deliver such a meaningful, important, rockin' and (often, though not solely) downright fun show like this with all of the skills, knowledge, and passion that they can muster... and without a single costume-change or domed video screen in sight, either.
To put it even more succinctly... Setlist schmetlist! Last night was a triumphant, hopeful return.
Full report and more photos to come ASAP - from both last night's Springsteen/ESB concert, as well as the "Stevie's After-Party" Wicked Cool Records Revue event that followed it in downtown Phoenix. Stay tuned...
Setlist from Phoenix, AZ 3-19-2024
Lonesome Day
Night
No Surrender
Two Hearts
Darlington County
Ghosts
Prove It All Night
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Letter to You
The Promised Land
Spirit In The Night
Don't Play That Song
Nightshift
Mary's Place
Last Man Standing
Backstreets
Because The Night
She's The One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands
Thunder Road
Born To Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Twist and Shout
I'll See You In My Dreams
Photo above by Shawn Poole