The cover of Bruce Springsteen’s new live album.
The next show to be featured in Bruce Springsteen’s series of live CDs will document one of the most unusual concerts of his I’ve ever been to: His Sept. 22, 2012 show at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
MetLife had opened in 2010. It was built near Giants Stadium, which had closed and been demolished earlier that year. Springsteen had played at Giants Stadium many times and even wrote a song about its closing, “Wrecking Ball.”
The Sept. 22 MetLife show — the last of the three that Springsteen, performing there for the first time, did that month — began on the eve of his 63rd birthday and, with its start delayed by a thunderstorm, ended at almost 2 a.m.
“I think I just invited 55,000 people to my birthday party,” The Boss said when he finally took the stage at 10:30 p.m. and played his first song, “Out in the Street.”
The show featured a special guest (Gary U.S. Bonds), some big surprises in the setlist (“Cynthia,” “Into the Fire,” “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart”) and a performance of the Wilson Pickett hit “In the Midnight Hour” as the clock struck 12. There was also an onstage birthday celebration, with cake and the crowd singing “Happy Birthday” as the show drew to a close.
To download the music or order the CD, visit live.brucespringsteen.net.
Here is the setlist from the show and, below that, a video from it.
“Out in the Street”
“The Ties That Bind”
“Cynthia”
“Badlands”
“Who’ll Stop the Rain”
“Cover Me”
“Downbound Train”
“We Take Care of Our Own”
“Wrecking Ball”
“Death to My Hometown”
“My City of Ruins”
“It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City”
“Jole Blon” (with Gary U.S. Bonds)
“This Little Girl” (with Gary U.S. Bonds)
“Pay Me My Money Down”
“Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart”
“In the Midnight Hour”
“Into the Fire”
“Because the Night”
“She’s the One”
“Working on the Highway”
“Shackled and Drawn”
“Waitin’ on a Sunny Day”
“Meeting Across the River”
“Jungleland”
Encores:
“Thunder Road”
“Rocky Ground”
“Born to Run”
“Glory Days”
“Seven Nights to Rock”
“Dancing in the Dark”
“Tenth Avenue Freeze-out” (with Gary U.S. Bonds)
“Twist and Shout” (with Gary U.S. Bonds, Adele Springsteen, Maureen Van Zandt, other family members)
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