Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - September 7, 2016 - Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA

Exactly one month after seeing Pearl Jam rock Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox,
we saw another one of the best live acts in rock at another MLB ballpark. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band arrived in Philadelphia for the first of two nights, playing the Phillies' Citizens Bank Park. It was my second time seeing Springsteen play the ballpark in South Philly, as I saw him almost 4 years ago to the day on September 2, 2012.

It was a historic night as Bruce and his band played their longest North American concert ever, clocking in at 4 hours and 4 minutes. It was the band's second longest performance of all time, slightly behind the July 31, 2012 show in Helsinki, Finland.

For the first song of the night, Bruce and company, with the help of a sting section, played the 10 minute ballad "New Your City Serenade." Only Springsteen can pull off that kind of song to start a show. Not many other acts have the confidence to start a show with that kind of song and still maintain the crowd's attention. The string section would be brought back out later to perform "Jack of All Trades." It was the first of many deep cuts that were performed including 5 of the 9 songs from Springsteen's first album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and 5 of the 7 songs from the second album The Wild, the Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle. All 10 songs were performed to start the show. The deep cuts kept coming as "The Fever" and "Thundercrack," which were performed for the first time on The River Tour. The climax of almost every Springsteen concert is "Rosalita" and this night was no exception. The majority of the crowd was quiet for the first 9 songs but with the opening riff of "Rosalita," everyone jumped to their feet and didn't stop jumping. You could feel the building shake under your feet and the passion of the thousands of people singing.

The highlight of the show for me was Patti Smith's "Because the Night." Although it is technically a cover song, Bruce wrote the song and gave it to Smith who was looking for another song to finish recording her 1978 album Easter.

Hits were played here and there throughout the show and when they were played you could feel it. When the encore came around, a sing along ensued and the building shook. The stadium lights came on for the last few songs and the energy was turned up even more. Everyone was on their feet, dancing and singing. It is truly something to see and you can only see it at a Springsteen concert.

Setlist:

1.  New York City Serenade

2.  Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?

3.  It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City

4.  Growin' Up

5.  Spirit in the Night

6.  Lost in the Flood

7.  Kitty's Back

8.  The E Street Shuffle

9.  Incident on 57th Street

10. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

11. The Fever

12. Thundercrack

13. Night

14. No Surrender

15. The Ties That Bind

16. My Love Will Not Let You Down

17. Death to My Hometown

18. Jack of All Trades

19. American Skin (41 Shots)

20. The Promised Land

21. Hungry Heart

22. Darlington County

23. Working on the Highway

24. Downbound Train

25. Because the Night (Patti Smith cover)

26. The Rising

27. Badlands

Encore:

28. Streets of Philadelphia

29. Jungleland

30. Born to Run

31. Dancing in the Dark

32. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out

33. Shout (The Isley Brothers cover)

34. Bobby Jean