So I recently made my pilgrimage to see Bruce Springsteen and the newly re-worked E-Street Band.  Wasn't sure what to expect, The Big Man Clarence Clemons is gone, a five man horn section including Clarence's nephew Jake Clemons now provides the brass. There three backup singers and a percussionist added to the mix. 

  I am happy to say the sound is huge, bigger and better than ever.  I attended the two concerts at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, an over 50 year old building that Bruce just happens to love.  The two shows were nothing short of sensational. The first, on a Thursday night, was called by an L.A Times reviewer "the most inspirational show" she had seen in more than 30 years of covering over a thousand concerts including dozens by Springsteen.  The Orange County Register reviewer classified it as one of the three greatest concerts of the last quarter-century.  All through it we felt like we were seeing something very special. Bruce opened with "Badlands", and the fans were in full voice and pumping their fists maniacally. Once Jake started playing Clarence's solos, the fans showered him with love and he got into it. Jake is really good, and he played The Big Man's parts note for note. As a salute to the L.A. fans, Bruce and the band played the old rocker "California Sun". Then Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine joined on stage with some incredibly scorching guitar solos. Then the horn section started doing its thing, and it sounded great. Halfway through the concert, Bruce went down into the crowd, got to a small stage about halfway across the Sports Arena, did a song, fell backwards into the crowd and believe it or not, crowd-surfed all the way back to the stage.  Near the end of the concert, Bruce did "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", and when he got to the line "They made a change uptown and The Big Man joined the Band",. he stopped, and a video tribute to Clarence came on, after which the crowd just applauded and screamed for a full two minutes. It just built all night and didn't let up. We were completely thrashed by the end of the 25-song, three hour show.

        On Friday night, it was more of the same, but before the show, there was definitely something different. 90 minutes or so before the show, at about 7:00, the early birds who had the standing room GA on the floor had already gone in trying to get close to the stage,. and a few hundred of us who had seats were sitting in the stands.  Out walks Bruce, talks to the fans and then picks up an accoustic and puts on a mini-private concert for about 5 minutes. None of us had ever seen that before. The concert again was pure Boss, all energy, huge sound, fans bouncing off the walls of the ancient building,  and a set list that was far different than the night before. Included was the first song "The E-Street Shuffle" off his very first album, Greetings From Asbury Park back in 1973. It sounded fantastic with the five horns and Morello again joining in. They also did a soul music review which included "634-5789". Another highlight, during "Dancing In the Dark", where Bruce normally pulls a girl on-stage, and dances with her, he did something different. Springsteen noticed a girl holding a sign asking if she could dance with Gary. That's Gary Talent, the bass player, who uslually just stands in the back and is hardly noticeable. Bruce brought her up and she was all over him. It was hysterical! Talent didn't know what to do, eh was so embarrassed, but Bruce and the crowd loved it. You just never know what to expect. This was my 19th Springsteen concert, and I hope I can do 19 more.