Bruce Springsteen rocks, and gives dating advice, at MetLife Night 3: Review and setlist
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
After nearly three hours of heart-shaking and pants-quaking rock and soul music at Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Sunday, Sept. 3 concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, fans got a bonus from the Boss.
Dating advice.
It came during the show-closing performance of “Jersey Girl.”
“Hold onto you baby, put your arm around her,” said Springsteen, wearing a black short-sleeved collared shirt with black pants, toward the end of the song. “C'mon and give her a kiss!”
A collective smooch from the 50,000 in the stadium followed, set against the sweet strains of Charlie Giordano's accordion and Steven Van Zandt's mandolin. It was a very summer-at-the-Jersey Shore-ish ending to a dynamic and stirring night of music, and to three big shows over five days at the stadium.
Some fans had voiced displeasure at the static setlist of the current tour. Not here. On Sunday, there were plenty of ohhs, ahhs and screams of joy over some of the songs pulled out:
“Wowww! Oh (blank)!” screamed a fan for the tour debut of “Two Hearts.”
“We got it baby!” for “Something in the Night..”
“They're calling an audible, baby!” before the opening notes of “Jungleland” were played, then an “Ahh!” when the song started.
The “Jungleland” performance, sweeping and majestic, was centered on Springsteen's impassioned vocals and Jake Clemons’ time-stopping saxophone solo. When he plays, he steps into the big shoes of his late uncle, Clarence Clemons, who played with the band before him.
Jake, like his uncle, can move mountains with the saxophone.
The nexus of the Springsteen show is based on the 2020 album “Letter to You,” which looks to mortality and its motivational properties. Springsteen spoke of the passing of George Theiss, his friend and bandmate from the '60s era Freehold band the Castiles, in a mid-show monologue. Yet, the exclusion of “Ghosts” and “I'll See You in My Dreams,” both from “Letter to You,” in the show suggests that future concerts on the tour might move away from the theme.
“I'll See You in My Dreams” had closed all the shows on the tour until Sunday.
More: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at MetLife Stadium: Boss' wildest party for 50,000
More: Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band at MetLife: Night 2 brings more rocking thrills
More: Greetings from MetLife: Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band rock New Jersey
Springsteen’s voice was first rate and the E Street Band was as sharp as a Jersey right-hand turn on Sunday. Even the feedback bugaboo on Springsteen's mic, which affected the first two shows, was fixed. It was a hot time in the Meadowlands. So hot that Springsteen doused himself with a sponge on stage and set forth like Gene Kelly in “Singin' in the Rain.”
No, the Boss, 73, doesn't dance so much on stage these days, but by the time the band ripped through another rarity, “Detroit Medley,” near the end of the show the crowd was flying.
Up next for Springsteen and the E Street Band is the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. on Thursday, Sept. 7.
Check out Sunday's setlist below:
Springsteen and E Street MetLife Stadium Night 3 setlist
Lonesome Day
Night
No Surrender
Two Hearts
Prove It All Night
Something in the Night
Letter to You
The Promised Land
Spirit in the Night
Kitty's Back
Nightshift
Atlantic City
Mary's Place
Last Man Standing
Backstreets
Because the Night
She's the One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands
Thunder Road
Jungleland
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Detroit Medley
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Jersey Girl
Subscribe to app.com for the latest on Bruce Springsteen and the New Jersey music scene.
Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen MetLife review: Boss' final night in New Jersey
