Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Orlando, FL, April 23, 2008

Setlist: BLOOD BROTHERS / NIGHT / RADIO NOWHERE / OUT IN THE STREET / SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT / THE RIVER / DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET? / CANDY'S ROOM / PROVE IT ALL NIGHT / SHE'S THE ONE / LIVIN' IN THE FUTURE / THE PROMISED LAND / FIRE / LOST IN THE FLOOD / DEVIL'S ARCADE / THE RISING / LAST TO DIE / LONG WALK HOME / BADLANDS / TURN! TURN! TURN! (TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON) / MR. TAMBOURINE MAN / JUNGLELAND / BORN TO RUN / DANCING IN THE DARK / AMERICAN LAND

An official archive release

“Good evening, Orlando. This is a little something in remembrance of Danny.”

To quote Backstreets from their April 22nd report: “And the show goes on. Eight days after their last performance, five days after the passing of Danny Federici, and just one day after the funeral service, Bruce and the E Street Band took the stage in Tampa.” The most recent official archive release isn’t that night (that one was released some time ago) but the night after that one.

The evening opened with a tribute video to Danny that had been screened the night before – man, I wish somebody cared about maintaining these things on the official website – that utilized the studio version of “Blood Brothers” and when that was finished, the band proceeded to perform the secondary version of the song, the one no one thinks of when you say “Blood Brothers,” from the Blood Brothers EP that came out in 1996. (We all remembered it existed when “High Hopes” came out because that’s where Bruce tried it for the first time.)

I get why this version wasn’t the one that made the cut – listening to the original now, it sounds kind of dated – but this rendition in Orlando redeems it. Tonight it is utterly transformative. It’s still solemn but furious, a lament, keening. Listen for Roy’s definitive, broad chords, and for Charlie sweeping in on the organ at the end. As far as I can tell, it is the only live performance of this particular version.

This archive release continues the current trend of beautiful, expansive mixes where you’re not ever screaming at the speakers because you can’t hear [insert band member here]. “Night” is stunning, and if you think you’re reading a layer of fury into it, I don’t think you’re wrong. You can be cynical and say something like, “Well of course they kept playing, no one wanted to lose money,” but one, it’s not just the band members that don’t get paid if you cancel shows, it’s the crew and everyone who works in the venues. But also? These shows were important to the band and you hear their sorrow and their fury in their performance.

“Is there anybody alive out there? Is there anybody alive out there??” Not once, but twice, before heading into “Radio Nowhere,” which is punctuated by an exclamation on guitar at the end. “Out In the Street” is next and while in current times I personally could do with it taking a rest, hearing it here, knowing who is missing, is heartbreaking.

The smoke and the fog are invoked, you know what song is next, and then Bruce says, “Ah, this one’s for Dan,” and you think aren’t all of them tonight but then Charlie swings into the opening organ riff of “Spirit in the Night” and the audience applauds with understanding and intent, and friends, the first time I listened to this recording I burst into tears at my desk like all of this just happened. No one will ever play "Spirit in the Night" the way Danny Federici did.

Bruce messes up the lyrics – “Wrong words!” – but jumps back in. When he gets to “So we closed our eyes and said…” the crowd answers “goodbye” but then they just keep singing. I can’t tell if he was momentarily overcome or if the crowd just kept powering through but it’s lovely. He waits for it to peter out before coming back in with the band, that punctuation from Max on the snare.

The intro to “The River” is just Roy, it’s an ode and an elegy and it is a tribute, it invokes the emotions of the song, he’s not going that far afield, but it is grief set to music. There’s a dedication, then the harmonica, and then Nils and Bruce together in what feels like a duet. The crowd cheers softly at the end of the first verse.