Bruce Springsteen at Fenway Park September 6 and 7, 2003
by Robert Gillis

Note: Not so much a review as a gushing fanboy reaction to what had to be the most orgasmic set of Springsteen shows, EVER. EVER.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND
FENWAY PARK, BOSTON

IT’S BOSS TIME! WELCOME TO BOSS-TOWN!

September 6 Set list: Take Me Out to the Ballgame/Diddy Wah Diddy/The Rising/Lonesome Day/Be True/The Ties That Bind/Empty Sky/You’re Missing/Waitin’ on a Sunny Day/Janey Don’t You Lose Heart/Because the Night/Badlands/No Surrender/Out in the Street/Mary’s Place/Across the Border/Into the Fire/The Promised Land. First Encore: Bobby Jean/Hungry Heart/Ramrod/Born to Run/Seven Nights to Rock. Second Encore: My City of Ruins/Born in the U.S.A./Rosalita/Dancing in the Dark/Dirty Water (with Peter Wolf)

September 7 Set list: Diddy Wah Diddy/The Rising/Lonesome Day/Adam Raised a Cain/Something in the Night/Empty Sky/Waitin’ on a Sunny Day/Spirit in the Night/For You/Because the Night/She’s the One/Badlands/Mary’s Place/Frankie/Jungleland/Into the Fire/Thunder Road. First Encore: Further On Up the Road/Glory Days/Born to Run/Seven Nights to Rock. Second Encore: My City of Ruins/Born in the U.S.A./Rosalita/Dancing in the Dark/Dirty Water (with Peter Wolf)

Song thoughts:

• Waitin’ on a Sunny Day (Steve did some of the words).
• Because the Night (Sue didn’t know Bruce wrote this — excellent song)
• Out in the Street (Oh, oh! Oh, oh!)
• Mary’s Place (Band Intros)
• Across the Border (Liked it but don’t remember it)
• Into the Fire (God this gives me chills).
• Ramrod (Let’s roadhouse!)
• Seven Nights to Rock (God I love this song)
• Second Encore: My City of Ruins (Bruce on piano, he mentioned the Boston Food Pantry)
• Born in the U.S.A. (full blow out!) (Prefaced by the PSA about holding our leaders accountable)
• Adam Raised a Cain (Yeah!)
• Something in the Night (Definitely a show for the fans!)
• “Do you feel the spirit???” Spirit in the Night
• She’s the One (He loves the fans)
• “Are you ready?” “Haven’t done this one in a while, we’ll see how it goes.” Frankie/Jungleland (Crowd went INSANE) (Best show ever)
• Dirty Water (with Peter Wolf) an incredible ending to the show with Springsteen screaming, “Boston you’re my home!”
• Diddy Wah Diddy (I like this song — very sultry and great rock!)
• Glory Days (Best Show ever)
• Dirty Water (Best show ever)

Highlights:

• The first concert EVER at Fenway Park! Fenway! I stood on the field at FENWAY! How cool is that! Dad would have loved it!
• Bruce literally howling at the moon and the video superimposing the moon over Steve and Bruce howling at it.
• The entire Fenway area was bustling with excitement. I thought of Dad every now and then. I remembered the Sox game he took me to years ago. I wish we’d gone to more games.
• Bruce said it was a “lovely privilege” to play in the heart of Boston and felt the “soul of the city” in Fenway.
• The scoreboard had been changed to just read “Bruce Springsteen.”
• Of Fenway, Springsteen said, that there aren’t many places where “you can feel the soul of a city, but this is one of those places.”
• He described those “evil citizens” and “greedy bastards” from “New . . . New . . . New Haven … New … New … Haven, Connecticut!” as the crowd laughed at his refraining from saying New York (but we knew what he meant).

September 7, 2003: Best … Show … EVER