By: David Schultz

Tell me if this sounds familiar. A young East Coast singer-songwriter releases a splendid debut album that draws a fair modicum of attention. Backed by a stellar band, he draws raves for his live performances and has critics salivating over his brilliance. They herald our hero as the voice of his generation and offer grand proclamations on his future potential. He releases his second album and despite being well-reviewed, it gets roundly ignored in the marketplace . . . and then people start falling off the bandwagon. This more-than-twice-told tale could be about any of the bands that the Internet wags will hype to the moon only to retreat when success doesn’t come right away.

As hard as it is to believe, it's also the story of Bruce Springsteen circa 1973 upon the release of The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle. If the Internet were around back then, bloggers would be falling all over themselves to gush evocatively about Springsteen’s observational character studies, revel in his streetwise romanticism and marvel at his ability to poetically conjure up the raw emotions of being young and eager to begin life. Instead of proclaiming him the new Dylan, those with an eerie sense of prescience would proclaim Asbury Park’s favorite son the original Hold Steady (which would surely baffle those listening to their 8-tracks with gigantic headphones). The failure of E Street Shuffle to find a widespread audience gave people pause about Springsteen’s rock and roll future. With Born To Run two years off, no one would have thought back then that thirty-five years later we will look back on this and it will all seem funny.

For the first of two sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, Springsteen looked back to an era when he wasn’t one of the biggest superstars in the world, playing The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle in its entirety. Recreating the heady swirl of the days when he used to pack rabid crowds into The Bottom Line, Springsteen and The E Street Band handled the twists and turns of their second album as if they’d recorded it this year. Best evidenced on “The E Street Shuffle” and an extended take on “Kitty’s Back,” the music sparkled with the give and take that has generally faded from the forefront of Springsteen’s songwriting in the years following Born In The USA, a casualty of moving from the clubs onto stadium stages. The subtleties of “Wild Billy’s Circus Story” and “New York City Serenade” weren’t lost at the Garden. With the exception of “Rosalita,” the songs from E Street Shuffle make rare appearances on Springsteen’s set lists and the MSG audience clearly appreciated the event for the watershed evening it was designed to be, enjoying hearing the sagas about Spanish Johnny and Sandy one more time.

The wanderings down memory lane weren’t limited to WI&EST. Springsteen opened with “Thundercrack,” an outtake from the sessions for his sophomore effort and during the stump-the-band segment, which has become a staple of his shows, he busted out the crowd-pleasing “Raise Your Hand” and “Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street” from Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. Less of a rarity, the set also included “Prove It All Night,” a run through “Glory Days” dedicated to the New York Yankees, and, of course, a raging version of “Born To Run.”

Always a consummate showman, Springsteen relates to the audience unlike anyone else; even the stage stunts that might seem trite and clichéd seem fresh in his hands. During “Hungry Heart,” Springsteen made his way to a small platform amidst the general admission standees, stopping for a potentially misguided leap into the arms of some fans along the way. (From the quizzical look on his face, Springsteen seemed to question his own sanity as he was cradled by one of his fans). Taking a trust fall into the crowd, The Boss surfed the crowd as they passed him back up to the main stage. He coached a ten-year-old kid through some verses of “Waiting On A Sunny Day,” including the “Take it, Big Man” exhortation, and danced along the side of the stage with a Courtney Cox stand-in during “Dancing In The Dark.”

A week and a half ago, Springsteen anchored an All Star set at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concerts featuring appearances by John Fogerty, Sam Moore, Darlene Love, Tom Morello and Billy Joel. Tipping his hat to the night, Springsteen brought out Elvis Costello for a joyous romp through Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher,” recreating the finale from that night. Notwithstanding Bono, there’s no one more adept at grabbing a crowd and keeping them in their thrall for three hours. It’s such an ingrained axiom, it’s hard to believe there was a time when people entertained questions over whether Springsteen would last.

Labels: Bruce Springsteen