Thoughts on Thursday's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show

Thoughts on Thursday's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show
A marathon night of rock and roll was capped off by a unique performance by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street at Madison Square Garden on Thurday night/Friday morning.
The show ended at 1:30 a.m., running nearly six hours after beginning close to 7:30 p.m.
Bruce was a great closer to an historic evening which covered many genres of rock and roll.
First I'll talk about Bruce's set, which was part a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show and part Bruce being the backup band for several legendary performers including three Billy Joel songs with Billy himself.
Bruce and the band took the stage at 11:45 p.m.

Patti was there and they had a three piece horn section which was Ed Manion, Curt Ramm and Clark Gayton (who were all in the Seeger Sessions Band).

"Good evening New York" Bruce said at the band started with:

1. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Bruce was all over the stage, which was a bit different from his normal stage setup.
"Is there anyone alive out there" Bruce yelled at one point.
Nice opener.

Bruce then asked for the "singers" to come on done and that was Patti Scialfa , Soozie Tyrell , Curtis King, Cindy Mizelle and another woman with red hair who I don't believe was Lisa Lowell (maybe someone can tell us who it was).

"Madison Square Garden, I want you to put your hands together for one of the greatest singers ever, Mr. Sam Moore"
It was sort of the same introduction Bruce did for him at the 2003 Asbury Park Christmas shows.

2. Hold On I'm Comin'
Before the song ended, Sam was pointing to Steve and saying to Bruce "Can I talk to your man there?" and Bruce said "not yet." A minute later Sam yelled: "Play it Steve!" and they went into:

3. Soul Man
These two songs were great. We saw it in Asbury Park in 2003 and now the world will get to see it when this show airs on HBO. You can see how much Bruce respects Sam Moore.

Bruce talked about how he used to go see Sam (with Sam and Dave) at the Satellite Lounge in Fort Dix, N.J. "He's one of the great stage performers and band leaders. I watched him at the Satellite Lounge and lerned so much about being a band leader from him."

Bruce then talked about how all of us are fotunate to be here tonight with some of the problems the country is having with unemployment and healthcare.
"If Woody Guthrie was aloive today, he'd have a lot to write about."
"Now I have a guitar player I want to bring up to play solong my two guitar players" and he introduced
Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine.

4. Ghost of Tom Joad
Same versions that they did in Anaheim in April of 2008 and in LA this past April. Very hot. Tom's guitar had "Arm the Homeless" spraypained on it in big letters.

Bruce then introduced John Fogerty by saying: "One of the greatest singers. I covered his songs in bars when I was 18 and I'm still covering his songs today. He's the Hank Williams of our generation."

5. Fortunate Son
6. Proud Mary
Very good versions. Like when Bruce and John played them together on the Vote For Change Tour in 2004.
"In 1988 I was lucky enough to play with Roy Orbison and he didn't let me down. He reinvented how a pop song is structured," Bruce said. "I wouldn't do this myself so John is going to join me and we'll take a ballpark swing at Pretty Woman."

7. Pretty Woman
"How's it start?" Bruce asked. With the horns. A lot of fun.

"Now I'm going to do a song by that other guy" and Bruce played:
8. Jungleland
Strong version. Garden crowd loved it. A must for a New York show.

"We've been rehearsing with our next guest. She's the voice of some of Phil Spector's greatest songs, Bruce said. "If there's any justice she should be in the Hall of Fame."
And he introduced Darlene Love

9. Fine Fine Boy
Very good. Horns added a lot.

10. Da Do Ron Ron
Six backup singers added to this. How can this not be fun? Ed Manion had a solo.
"Get her in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame now," Bruce said as Darlene left the stage.

Noticed a lot of people were leaving the Garden as it was getting late and many had trains to catch.

"Here's one of the greatest rock and roll songs England has ever produced" and he mentiond Joe Strummer and The Clash.

11. London Calling
Pretty powerful. Tom Morello was back onstage for this.

12. Badlands
Again with Tom Morello. This got the crowd up. "Is there anyone ing alive?" Bruced yelled at one point.

"Thank you, New York. The Yankees won so we've got to do one now," Bruce said. "Everyone has their own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their hearts, so here's to your heroes."
Bruce then addressed a group of people who were sitting behind the stage (only a group in one section who were part of the seat fillers, there was no other backstage seating as the stage setup blocked the view.
"Good lord, what did they charge you to sit there?" I hope it was free," Bruce said.

Then Bruce said: "Before the continental divided, New York and Long Island were joined in one land mass. Tonight we're going to have a summit at the Garden. it's the bridge and tunnel summit.
"The way it's going to work is Long Island is going to meet New Jersey on the neutral ground of New York City."
He introduced Billy Joel.
Billy was joined by longtime sax player Richie Cannata and a guitar player.

13. You May Be Right
14. Only The Good Die Young
15. New York State of MInd
Bruce shared the lead vocals with Billy on these songs and it was a great and lot of fun. They set up a piano for Billy toward the front of the stage and I noticed Roy Bittan was playing his during these songs.
It was one of the highlights of the evening for me, as I've been a Billy Joel fan for years. But it was very, very strange to see most of the E Street Band backing up Billy Joel for three of his classics.
At the end of "Only The Good Die Young" Bruce jumped up and sat on Billy's piano. Then Bruce wasn't happy with the way the song ended and said "We can't end it like that." and they continued to play a little more. When the song ended Bruce said: "We were better than that earlier today."'
Crowd was up and dancing to the first two songs and just sat back to enjoy the beauty of "New York State of Mind."

16. Born To Run
Billy Joel stayed onstage and played piano (and Roy played piano also). Billy did some of the lead vocals with Bruce and it just didn't work. I don't believe Bruce has ever had anyone share the lead vocals on Born to Run before and Billy just sounded off key and not right. In my notebook I wrote: "Billy Joel sounds weird on this."

17. Higher And Higher
This song started at 1:21 a.m.
Darlene Love came back out along with John Fogerty, Sam Moore , Tom Morello and Billy Joel. Plus a now four-piece horn section and the backup singers. The entire Garden was up and dancing. A great, great way to end an epic show. At the end Bruce came to the front of the stage with Darlene Love on his right and Sam Moore on his left.
Steven then waved to his side of the stage and Jackson Browne came out with Peter Wolf (his first appearance of the evening) and they sang backup.
Fun, fun song and a hot way to endan incredible evening.

Show over at 1:30 a.m.

A unique set by Bruce and the band. It is something that will be looked at fondly years from now with all the legends that shared the stage. Bruce fans will be proud that it was the E Street Band backing them up. We only got four Bruce songs, but hey that was fine. This was a Hall of Fame evening and we got tons of Hall of Fame moments. Pretty much the whole six hours was a Hall of Fame performance, no pun intended.
Everyone who was there will be telling you years from now that they were in Madison Square Garden on Oct. 29, 2009.

(continued on next post)



A rundown on the other acts and songs
(thank you to the people who compiled the setlist)
I have some comments on a few things.

7:32 p.m. (Past Induction video clips)
Some awesome clips. Very well put together. George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Bruce, and so many more. I hope they keep this is when this show does air on HBO.

7:47 Intro: Tom Hanks

Jerry Lee Lewis
1. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On


Video clips

Crosby, Stills, and Nash
2. Woodstock
3. Marrakesh Express
4. Almost Cut My Hair

Bonnie Raitt joins them:
5. Love Has No Pride
6. Midnight Rider

Jackson Browne joins them (Bonnie Leaves):
7. The Pretender
One of the highlights of the evening for me. Just so well done. Heard a lot of others after the show saying how much they enjoyed this.

James Taylor joins them (Jackson leaves)
8. Mexico
9. Love The One You're With
10. Follow?

Crosby Stills & Nash with James/Bonnie/Jackson
11. Teach Your Children

First time I've seen Crosby, Stills and Nash and I enjoyed this set. They are all legends and to see them with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and James Taylor was excellent.

More video Clips

Paul Simon
12. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes
13. Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard
14. You Can Call Me Al

Crowd was very much into "Me and Julio" and "You Can Call me Al."

Dion joins Paul
15. The Wanderer
It was fun.

Crosby Stills & Nash join Paul (Dion leaves)
16. Here Comes The Sun (for George)
17. Late In The Evening Alone

Little Anthony & The Imperials
18. Two People In The World

Simon & Garfunkel
19. Sounds of Silence
Another highlight of the evening. Just so well done.
20. Mrs. Robinson/Not Fade Away/Mrs. Robinson
21. The Boxer
22. Bridge Over Troubled Water
Again a highlight. Wow. Beautiful.
23. Cecelia
*Video Clips

Stevie Wonder
24. Blowin' In The Wind (for Bob Dylan).
25. (Uptight) Everything's Alright/I Was Made To Love Her/For Once In My Life
26. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours
27. Boogie On A Reggae Woman

The sound was horrible for Stevie Wonder. His voice was never stong in the mix. Had other friends text me during his set saying how band the sound was. Not sure why they couldn't get it right. There was even a slight delay before he started because of sound problems.
I did enjoy his set. Again the first time I've seen him. He is a true legend.

Smokey Robinson
28. Tracks of My Tears

John Legend
29. Mercy Mercy Me
30. The Way You Make Me Feel

BB King joins John Legend
31. The Thrill Is Gone

Stevie Wonder
32. Livin' For The City

Sting joins Stevie
33. Higher Ground/Roxanne/Higher Ground
I enjoyed this and the crowd was very much into Sting.

Jeff Beck joins Stevie (Sting leaves)
34. Superstitious


A legendary night at Madison Square Garden. I don't know if Friday's show with U2 will be able to top this. Again a unique night for the Bruce fans to see he and the E Street Band play with so many different artists.

Some other notes: A lot of people were leaving during Bruce's set just because it was so late. It was very easy to move down from the bad seats into very good seats by the side of the stage for most of Bruce's set. There were a lot of great seats open after people let.

The video clips were a nice touch. The show was pretty well paced for the most part. Some slow times but overall it was an enjoyable six hours.
Nothing worse than sitting in traffic trying to get to, and then in, the Lincoln Tunnel at 2 a.m. But someone a great night of Bruce and a great night of music made in tolerable.
Thank you for reading.


I was one of the folks sitting behind the stage! This was maybe my 20th Bruce Show and was quite unique. I did unfortunatley had to leave after Badlands as I had a train to catch but I am glad I got to see what I could. I got my tickets for free from 1iota.com. I had lined up at 4 to get these tickets the day of the show after confirming the tickets...it was a 9 hour ordeal but still worth it! We could not see one thing for any of the acts except Bruce. We did get to see all the acts assemble backstage and the inner workings of the show. They did set up extra monitors and sound. Our Sections though were completley sealed off from the rest of the arena with high security and we couldn't leave the specific area. I saw all the empty seats on the other side of the stage but couldn't get there! Anyway the seats for Bruce were great and free so it is what it is! Great night, lots of legends, free not more I can ask for!
Last edited by remphish1; Today at 05:11 AM.