Saturday, September 8, 2012

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois

Worse. Sound. Ever.

It was the second night of a two night run for the Boss at Chicago’s historic Wrigley Field.  Even though I had just seen him a few months ago and tickets are very expensive, I decided to join a big group of family to see him again so I could squeeze in one last concert before shipping off to Saudi Arabia in a few weeks, where concerts are in likelihood illegal. Besides, if there’s one concert that never disappoints, it’s Bruce Springsteen.

It was a fun evening out with everyone, and we made the best of it, but the show itself left a lot to be desired. While I could tell that Bruce was killing it up on stage, the problem was that our seats were located in the last row of the 200 section, the covered area behind home plate. Decent seats for a ball game, TERRIBLE seats for a concert. The sound coming from the main speakers on the field was blocked and muffled and lacked any power, and there were few if any speakers pointed in our direction to combat the problem. I just felt very isolated from the rest of the concert and what was happening on stage. The music didn’t come alive the way it normally does for me at a show. It’s too bad too, because Bruce played a great set, had tons of energy in the pouring rain and was joined on stage by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, two artists I love in their own right. All and all, it was a total bust and lesson learned. The state of my Chicago concert going experience goes from bad to worse.

Setlist:
The Promised Land
The Ties That Bind
No Surrender
Hungry Heart
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death to My Hometown (with Tom Morello)
My City of Ruins
The E Street Shuffle
Pay Me My Money Down
This Depression (with Tom Morello)
My Hometown (with Eddie Vedder)
Darkness on the Edge of Town (with Eddie Vedder)
Because the Night (Patti Smith cover)
Working on the Highway
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Who'll Stop the Rain? (CCR cover) (solo/acoustic)
The Ghost of Tom Joad (with Tom Morello)
Badlands (with Tom Morello)
Thunder Road
Encore:
Rocky Ground
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
American Land (With Tom Morello & Eddie Vedder)

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