Madison Square Garden-July 1, 2000
Reunion Tour Finale Reflection
By Anthony Kuzminski
- Read all related Springsteen posts here
I had never done serious traveling for a concert before June of 2000. I had never even been to New York and when the opportunity arose to see Bon Jovi in Asbury Park, NJ on June 29th, I knew there was no way I could be that close to New York and not see the final show of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s reunion jaunt. In college I overloaded on Springsteen and was unable to secure any tickets to the The Ghost of Tom Joad tour, which was disappointing but what I was really pining for was a full on reunion with the E Street Band. This was back when concert tickets were priced reasonably and finding a ticket to this tour-finale was impossible, let alone trying to get one a mere few weeks before the show was a pie in the sky wish. I made several posts over at BTX (the Backstreets ticket board) and to my astonishment, someone emailed me, offered it to me at face and I was thunderstruck. Sometimes lady luck does shine down on us. This person could have scalped the ticket for at least triple the face value and even when I offered to pay them a little extra money, they refused. Let this be a lesson to those of you who at times get great seats for face and don’t need them. Always try and get them in the hands of a fan, it will come back to you. It was my first big trip for shows that over the next several years turned into a regular part of life. I’ve seen hundreds of shows everywhere imaginable, but there was something surreal and extraordinary about this one.
What can be said about Madison Square Garden? It’s where the Rolling Stones recorded Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out, Elton John and David Bowie have had birthday celebrations there and it’s the one place in the world people will play and only break even because of union fee’s and exorbitant costs. Why…because it’s THE GARDEN. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street took to the stage later than usual and when they appeared the audience became louder and louder until Springsteen appeared and took his spot center stage and led the band through a vociferous rendition of “Code of Silence”. The emotive vocal could have scalded someone in ways a 500-degree cup of coffee never could. The bitter truth spills over in what was a reconfirmation of Springsteen’s rock voice, something that had largely been missing for well over a decade at this point and with the E Street Band, it was all that much more visceral. It was one of four new songs Springsteen unleashed in the final month of the tour and (at the time) a hopeful indication that he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. “My Love Won’t Let You Down” surged like a jetliner taking off and was highlighted by the paroxysmal triple guitar attack of Springsteen, Nils Lofgren and Steve Van Zandt was a bold juxtaposition of how far the band had come in fifteen months. If you listened to a rehearsal take of the song from the previous March (or even the official version released on Tracks) and then see the furor of its delivery, you can begin to appreciate how the band didn’t just capture the song live, but proceeded to utterly demolish the original. They made the 1990’s seem like an afterthought. Every little thing on this special night seemed to be held in higher regard; the slight touches of a solo, or nuanced vocal took on new meaning, because after all, who would know when or if we’d ever see this configuration of the E Street Band again.
Even the standard fare from this evening had an epic quality to it; “Prove It All Night”, “The Promised Land”, “Backstreets”, “Ramrod”, “Light of Day” and the five-pack of “Youngstown”, “Murder Incorporated”, “Badlands”, “Out in the Street” and “Tenth Avenue Freezout” all were burgeoning with ecstatic zeal by the E Street Band. Even the nightly “If I Should Fall Behind” (one of the greatest love songs he ever composed, during the 90’s) took on new significance with members of the E Street Band taking large parts of the verses alone. There was the heart tugging “Two Hearts”, showcasing Van Zandt’s and Springsteen’s utmost duet and dedication to one another on a friendship that goes back decades. These core songs which had been performed at most of the shows over the period fifteen months solidified Springsteen’s music and his message. It was if the band were on that eternal and rarified space where they could do no wrong. The one-offs (“Lost in the Flood” and “The E Street Shuffle”) were perfect. “Lost in the Flood” received its first airing in 22-years and the version delivered was jaw dropping. It was so flawless it found its way onto the live album and DVD that came out in 2001. Then there was “The Promise”, an unofficial sequel to “Thunder Road” opened the encore with Springsteen alone at the piano delivering a song that we all thought Springsteen not only forgot about but would never perform live again. Receiving just three previous performances on the 99/00 tour, this was a surreal moment for me and validated my trip. Corresponding tales of romanticism and realism, the song hits home to anyone who tried to keep their dreams alive. Watching Springsteen and the E Street Band on July 1st, 2000 was more than a mere show, but a culmination of what seemed like my life. Am I being dramatic? Yes. Ten years later, it still stands as one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen due to the sheer camaraderie displayed by the band. They were firing on all cylinders.
What truly differentiated this show and virtually all other tour closers were the rarities and song selections. There were four relatively new songs; “Code of Silence”, “American Skin (41 Shots)”, “Further On Up the Road” and “Land of Hope and Dreams” which had either been the tour’s final or penultimate song at every show. The song (which hasn’t aged as well on other tours) was a declaration and rededication to what Springsteen and the E Street Band do best-create evocative and thought inducing rock n’ roll. I’ve gone on to see Springsteen give better shows and possibly more epic ones, but this one stands apart from them. Most bands come out, play maybe do a handful of extra songs and call it a tour. Springsteen manages to pull at your heart strings and on this particular night, I think he pulled a few of his own. When he broke apart the E Street Band in 1989, it was because he needed to find himself and come to terms with his life. He needed to get off the bus and breathe. It took a decade for all of them (including Steve Van Zandt) to reconvene and right before the band launched into “Land of Hope and Dreams”, they received their due in ways that no financial reward or any of the 130+ shows previous could match. It may have been discouraging to see Springsteen perform with other musicians and to even go it alone during the 1990’s, but you have to allow an artist the room to breathe. However, watching him with the band over the previous year made one thing clear; they’re the best voice for his work. It’s more urging and explosive. Springsteen took time to thank everyone over the course of the year that made the tour possible. From management to the crew, he took the time to express the gratitude and then he thanked the E Street Band. What happened next no words will ever do justice. The 20,000-strong crowd began to chant “E-STREET-BAND, E-STREET-BAND, E-STREET-BAND” for a solid minute. This is what separates live concerts from films, painting or even recorded music. It is all about moments where an audience can swerve it in many different directions. On this night, the reaction of the crowd and the look on band members faces, it was something embedded into my brain waves for all time. It’s the greatest reward anyone could ever be granted and on this night, the E Street Band received their reward.
During “Born To Run” I couldn’t help but get teary eyed, for the same reason you do at a friend’s wedding, or even a graduation. What if I never see this again? What if these individuals never share the same stage again? You know there’s a good chance you’ll never be in the same place at the same time again and you realize it at that very moment and this alone is worth its own weight in gold. It’s one thing to look back and have a moment of realization and another to find yourself in the moment experiencing the awakening. An intense experience like this isn’t really an out of body experience so much as it throws you right into the depths of your own heart. Sure, we’ve all been hurt and beaten down by people and situations within life, but when Springsteen and the 20,000 inside the walls of the Garden screamed “I want to know if love is real”, you were dead smack inside your heart fully aware of its capability to feel love, share it and above all experience it. I sound like a broken record when I say great art makes you reflect and ponder life, but on this particular night, Springsteen’s music found a way to twist and turn inside you and bring to fruition that we are all capable of experiencing profound love, the question is whether or not we get in that car and take a chance at it.
The night’s final song began with a single swelling keyboard by Roy Bittan and as Bruce began to sing, we came to the realization it was “Blood Brothers”, one of four tracks released in 1995 on the Greatest Hits package. It seemed at the time a reunion was imminent, but it proved not to be. This song could have served as a theme for the tour, but until this final show, it remained unaired. In 1995, the song was more melancholy than a triumphant call to arms but all that changed. As the band made its way through the first 2/3rd’s of the song, they delivered a strident performance, but it was during the final verse where everything changed. Springsteen asked for everyone to join him hand-in-hand at the front of the stage (Max Weinberg, Danny Federici and Roy Bittan stayed at their respective instruments) and Bruce unveiled a new specially written verse for the occasion.
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
This is what differentiates Springsteen from other acts; he doesn’t just give you an extra song or two, but wallops you with emotional thumps that are impossible to forget. The song may have been rehearsed and was pre-determined, but the sentiment inside that room was ethereal. While Springsteen took the E Street Band on three further tours that decade, that moment still resonates in my mind. It kills me (let me repeats…KILLS ME) they only show a small portion of “Blood Brothers” on the Live From New York City DVD. A board recording was played on E Street radio in April of 2008 when Danny Federici died making the song that much more solemn and poignant. It wasn’t the last time we saw the E Street Band, but as I look back now, Danny is gone and the band is a bit different from that incarnation. There was something beautiful about that tour. The excitement, the feeling of renewal and the overriding sense that anything was possible, not just on that concert stage but within our own lives. Why is it we listen to music? Some may answer this question by throwing words like “escape” and “fun” out, but if you really love music and the artists you follow, then it’s something so much more. It forces us to reconsider preconceived notions. Dig up unfinished business from the past and it validates our place in the world. Even though I went to the show and New York City alone, I felt love all around me, and this love was further pronounced on that concert stage. On that tour Springsteen learned that there is a greater reward from sharing something with people whom you have known for decades and it’s always better to be surrounded by family than going it alone. Hopefully Springsteen’s fans took that cue as well. I went back to my life with a renewed sense of purpose and over the coming years, great things happened. Tough ones too, but through it all, like the Beatles once said; we have to remember that love in indeed all we need. If you surround yourself with great people, they make this insufferable world livable and even at its darkest moments, great people and great art can still make like joyous.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Post-note:
The magic of that night was released on Live From New York City in April of 2001 in one of the most haphazard live album releases of all time. It fell flat, was disjointed and served as a ‘soundtrack” to the HBO broadcast. Nearly a decade later, few remember it was on HBO, hence why they should have been concerned with merely capturing the performances as they happened. If they ever re-release it on Blu-Ray, this would be a prime opportunity to re-edit the show and add several performances not included on the original DVD. As good as the DVD is it just can’t compare to the real thing.
