Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band July 1, 2000 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Uber Series Vol 38: A Good Night for a Ride Source: IEM/Aud Mix 2 IEM Frequencies mixed with Legendary Night and The Promise Delivered audience sources. CDR --> EAC --> Adobe Audition Multi-Track --> Mixdowns --> FLAC Frontend Disc 1 1. Code of Silence 2. My Love Will Not Let You Down 3. Prove It All Night 4. Two Hearts 5. Atlantic City 6. Mansion on the Hill 7. The River 8. American Skin (41 Shots) 9. Promised Land Disc 2 1. Youngstown 2. Murder Incorporated 3. Badlands 4. Out in the Street 5. Tenth Avenue Freezeout 6. E Street Shuffle 7. Lost in the Flood 8. Born in the USA 9. Backstreets Disc 3 1. Light of Day 2. The Promise 3. Ramrod 4. Bobby Jean 5. Born to Run 6. Further On Up The Road 7. Thunder Road 8. If I Should Fall Behind 9. Thanks 10. Land of Hope and Dreams 11. Blood Brothers Upload Notes: 1. Fingerprint file included in torrent. 2. Please do not sell. 3. Please do not remaster. 4. ABMS upload welcome. For obvious reasons, this one cannot go on Dime. ================================= About the Show July 1, 2000, was the closing night of the 1999-2000 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band "Reunion" tour, their first tour together in over ten years. Not only was it the final show of the tour, it was also the final show of a ten-night stand at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Fans had travelled from all across the globe to be at these shows, many of whom had been to multiple shows over the course of the tour, and a film crew with high-definition cameras was on-hand to capture the last three shows. Expectations of closing night were high. The show two nights earlier was a very strong performance of a mostly standard set list, while the show four nights prior included several underplayed nuggets, including the outstanding "Tracks" tracks "Loose Ends" and "Back in Your Arms," in another solid performance. (Well, let's be honest here -- the E Street Band had never played better than they did those last two months of the tour.) Many fans were wondering if the cameras caused Bruce to play it more cautiously than he normally would at the penultimate show and were concerned that a similar fate would affect the finale. However, everyone knew that Bruce would pull something special out for the last night; the only question was what. Springsteen took the stage later than usual that night, as the house lights didn't go down until nearly 8:45, which only raised tensions, and expectations, in the room. The opener was a song that Bruce had debuted just three weeks earlier, at opening night of the Garden stand, "Code of Silence," a song he and Joe Grushecky co-wrote. The next four songs were very familiar to those who had followed the tour, but closing night brought an added intensity, as well as a bit of bittersweetness in some instances. One couldn't help but to smile wistfully when Bruce yelled, "C'mon, Steve, once more," before counting off into "Two Hearts." It was during the last chorus of "Atlantic City," though, when fans realized this night was going to be special. The call and response on "Meet me tonight in Atlantic City" between Bruce and the crowd went longer than usual, with the fans getting louder with each repitition. Bruce was truly "in concert" with this crowd. In retrospect, the standard set list worked perfectly on this night. The show served as a summary of the tour: the opening five rocking the house, the quiet song duo, the Five Pack, the post-"10th" "wild card" (two on this particular night!), the quiet political song, the epic, the rockin' set closer, the rockin' first encore, and the communal final encore. Plus, the Garden stand saw the addition of the combination of "American Skin" and "The Promised Land," between the quiet song duo and the Five Pack. "American Skin" showed that Bruce could still write a relavant rock song, one that could shine a new light on a Springsteen classic. Legendary Springsteen shows always feature intensity and goofiness, and the post-"10th" spots delivered each. The fun "E Street Shuffle," complete with a "Let's continue to be silly now" intro, let everyone show off their moves. The first tour debut of the night was "Lost in the Flood," which had topped many fans' wish lists. With Danny's slow organ fade in and Roy's piano building the tension before the song exploded, "Lost in the Flood" stood out on a night when almost every other song was nailed perfectly by the E Street Band. Bruce started the encores with a solo piano performance of "The Promise," the fourth time on the tour he had played the song. Since Bruce played "The Promise" two nights earlier, its inclusion wasn't a total surprise. After a roadhousin' "Ramrod" that saw his goofy side re-emerge, Bruce counted in "Bobby Jean," a song that normally would bring groans from many die-hards, but felt very appropriate on the last night of the tour. An all-house-lights-on "Born to Run" closed out the first encore. As the tour wound down, Bruce integrated a little schtick into "Born to Run," pointing at each side of the arena as Max pounded the drums just before the last verse, resulting in a thunderous response from the crowd. On July 1, the audience nearly drowned out the most powerful rock band in the land. Another new song, "Further On Up the Road," opened the second set of encores with many fans hoping the song's chorus -- "I'll meet you further on up the road" -- to be prophetic. With a small handful of exceptions, every show of the tour, including this one, featured the same second encore: the classic "Thunder Road," the spotlight-sharing "If I Should Fall Behind," and the anthemic "Land of Hope and Dreams." Before "Land Of Hopes And Dreams," Bruce thanked his managers, Jon Landau and Barbara Carr, the "mighty men and women" of the crew, the band, and the crowds in New York and around the world. When Bruce thanked the band, the crowd broke into a chant of "E Street Band! E Street Band!" Starting in the "pit area" in front of the stage as a result of the stage rush, the chant gradually took over the entire building, surprising and moving the Band. Bruce finally told the lighting guys to "Put some damn lights on 'em," as the stage had been mostly dark, apart from Bruce's spotlight, up to that point. As "Land of Hope and Dreams" wrapped up, more than a couple of eyes in the crowd had gotten a little misty. It was hard not to think about the previous 15 months of roadtrips, late night diners, and the evolution of many a relationship as Bruce sang about grabbing "your ticket and your suitcase" and laying "your head upon my chest." When Bruce and the Band made no indication they were leaving the stage after "Hope and Dreams," the big question was, what song would they do? They've already done "Ramrod," a popular "extra" throughout the tour. Would they go nostaligic with "Rosie," which some in the crowd were yelling for? A new song? Minds raced. After Bruce gave a short plug for "Food for Survival," a New York City foodbank, he said, "We got one more we wanna do for ya, but we're gonna need a little bit of quiet. Come on, my friends." A single keyboard chord began, joined shortly by Max's high hat keeping a slow but steady beat. The crowd started clapping along, but was quickly quieted with a hand gesture from Bruce. The keyboard chord changed, and the progression made the song obvious: "Blood Brothers." The last verse of the "Greatest Hits" version of "Blood Brothers" closed the song on a very ambivalent note, but nothing about the "Reunion" tour was ambvialent. There was no way Bruce could sing that verse after this tour. He didn't. As the music settled after the "houses of the dead" verse, Bruce paused and motioned for everyone not behind a drum kit or keyboard to come to the front of the stage, where they joined hands to form a line, facing the crowd. With a slight twinge of uncertainty and more than a hint of emotion, he sang an entirely new closing verse: Now I'm out here on this road Alone on this road tonight I close my eyes and feel so many friends around me In the early evening light And the miles we have come And the battles won and lost Are just so many roads traveled So many rivers crossed And I ask God for the strength And faith in one another 'Cause it's a good night for a ride 'Cross this river to the other side My blood brothers The music built back up and the band soared, led by Bruce's harmonica and Clarence's saxophone, before gently ending. This new verse surprised everyone, many were moved to tears. Bruce ended everything -- the song, the show, the stand, and the tour -- in an absolutely perfect way. ========================= It has literally been a dream come true for me to be able to mix this show. Ever since I realized that those incredibly clear but frustratingly flat IEMs could be mixed with an audience recording to get something considerably better than either one individually, this was *the* show I wanted to do. I was lucky enough to mix some pretty cool shows, such as the second Cleveland show from Nov '99, the first Hartford show from May 2000, and the second Atlanta show from early June 2000, and I put together a couple of compilations of some IEM/audience mixes that I listened to far more often than the official "Live in New York City" releases. But that last show -- with the mix of new material, tour standards, tour debuts, and the very emotional ending -- was always the one show I wanted to do, but never got the opportunity. Until earlier this year. Spurred in part by TattooDad's "Uber" campaign, one of the IEM tapers offered me the chance to mix the IEMs with the audience sources. I jumped at the chance, but I knew that I would have to kick it up a notch to do the show justice. Several mixes later, this is the result. Between mixing and listening, I've listened to this show dozens of times over the past three or so months, and I still can't get enough of it. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I've enjoyed working on it. Thanks to TattooDad and the Uber. I owe you guys a big one! Flynn 7/1/2007