Springsteen mourns and rocks

[Refugee 7]

GREENSBORO - Intimations of mortality have always been a big part of Bruce Springsteen's music, but those feelings are cutting closer to the bone than ever nowadays. After weathering two deaths in the past year -- longtime Springsteen assistant Terry Magovern last July, and E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici earlier this month -- the entire Springsteen organization is officially in mourning.

So it was fitting that Springsteen and his band all wore black onstage at Greensboro Coliseum on Monday night. It was an emotionally heavy show, and lumps began forming in throats even before anybody played a note. After the lights went down, there was a video tribute to Federici (who died from melanoma at age 58) as a recording of the song "Blood Brothers" played.

Then the lights came up, E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg began pounding out a thunderously massive beat and the show was on. The set's opening stretch was like second-stage anger of the Kubler-Ross scale, five loud, rampaging songs (including "Radio Nowhere" and "The Promised Land") on which it sounded as if Weinberg were wielding bazookas rather than drumsticks.

Three decades on, Springsteen's youthful exuberance has matured into wistfulness, which sounds more mawkish than this performance actually was. Whatever celebratory feelings were involved took the form of a wake for the departed. Now more than ever, Springsteen's rock classicism makes the point that you'd sure better make the most of your life now because it's going to end sooner than you think.

After five very intense songs, Springsteen paused long enough to swap his electric guitar for an acoustic to take on the title track to his latest album "Magic," prefaced with the toast, "Here's to the end of eight years of bad magic." That was one of several barbed political comments from Springsteen, who has endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama (rumored to be putting in an appearance, but he never showed).

Federici got another nice tribute a bit later when Springsteen told a few stories about his penchant for stealing keyboard accessories from hotel elevators and jukeboxes. "He had nine lives and used up about five of mine," Springsteen said with a laugh, introducing "It's Hard To Be a Saint in the City" as "for our ol' pal." Then he attacked it with enough fury to wake the dead.

Throughout the show, Little Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren played fantastic guitar. But there was no denying Springsteen himself as the most riveting instrumentalist onstage, sending blast after blast of guitar into the ether. He looked as if he were about to blow a gasket during "Darkness on the Edge of Town," coming down to a near-trance on "She's the One."

After a dozen songs of varying degrees of heaviness, it was time for a few midset mood-lighteners, "Mary's Place" and "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" -- two rather slight knockoffs, but they're perfect for singing along with. Then it was back to the program with "Devil's Arcade," "The Rising," "Last to Die" and so on. The set-closing "Badlands" was epic, ending with a gigantic drum solo that sounded powerful enough to knock down the building.

Of course, every Springsteen show can't help but conclude with triumph, thanks to "Born to Run," arguably the greatest encore song in the classic-rock canon. It wasn't the best version of "Born to Run" I've seen, or the best Springsteen show. In fact, I'd call it middle of the pack.

But middle-of-the-pack Springsteen is still better than just about anything else out there.

Thanks to Ellyn for this article!

http://www.newsobserver.com/2766/story/1054927.html

[Echosoftom 3]

Yes, thank you Ellyn. What a night that must have been for them. Very moving. I'm sure Danny was there in spirit and very proud of this band. Linda, thank you for posting this.