« Jon Pettis (Bankrupt and the Borrowers), RIP | Main | Amanda Blank, her guest Spank Rock, and Devlin & Darko @ the Museum of Natural History in NYC - pics »
Posted in music | pictures | venues on October 10, 2009
Bruce Springsteen @ Giants Stadium for the last time - pics
photos by Tim Griffin
"Giants Stadium heard its last sha-la-las -- at least, the amplified kind with tens of thousands of voices singing along -- on Friday night, when Bruce Springsteen played the final concert before the stadium is demolished. During the three-hour set, sha-la-las filled this year's "Working on a Dream," the 1984 song "Darlington County" and Tom Waits' "Jersey Girl," the finale that Mr. Springsteen called the stadium's "last dance." It was Mr. Springsteen's 24th performance, dating back to 1985, at Giants Stadium, where the audiences are his most fervent fans: fellow New Jerseyans.I already posted all five Giants Stadium setlists (first four shows & Friday night). More pictures from the final show, below...So in a way, Mr. Springsteen could identify with the place, and he did -- at least half-seriously -- in "Wrecking Ball," a robust, guitar-strumming song he wrote to start off each of his five final concerts at the stadium. (A video performance is at brucespringsteen.net.)
It may be the only song ever to make Giants Stadium itself the narrator, "raised out of steel in the swamps of Jersey." It remembers games played and blood spilled, and envisions the stadium's fate, when "all this steel and these stories, they drift away to rust/and all our youth and beauty's been given to the dust." Typically, Mr. Springsteen was thinking about work, mortality, and a sense of place, on his way to a chorus where everyone could join in.
He wasn't overly sentimental. Later, he pointedly called Giants Stadium "the last bastion of affordable sports seating."
At each of the Giants Stadium concerts, Mr. Springsteen played one of his albums all the way through, and the one he chose for Friday was his 1984 blockbuster, "Born in the U.S.A." Before he started the title track, he said it was "the song we started out with the first time we entered this arena."... [NY Times]
Heart Full of Soul
The Boss
Bring on Your Wrecking Ball
Max Weinberg
Clarence Clemons
Bring On Your Wrecking Ball
The 12-song Born in the USA set, performed in such an enormous setting, was a powerful reminder of that album's contagious energy, and with the opening bars of the title track, the concrete vibrated all the way up to the upper deck. It could've been 1985, though instead of Courteney Cox dancing with Springsteen on-stage during "Dancing in the Dark," it was a middle-aged bald man pulled from the crowd.More about the show with the set list, HERE.The album portion of the show closed appropriately with "My Hometown," but the band rallied for 13 more songs, including the Rolling Stones' "Last Time," Moon Mullican's "Seven Nights to Rock," and a rollicking, folksy "American Land." In closing, Springsteen kissed the lady farewell with "Jersey Girl," leaving the masses swaying and wanting more. [EW]
videos...
---
Recent Related Entries
- Ted Leo played Bowery Ballroom (recording) - playing the Meatlocker (solo) + Irving Plaza & other 2010 tour dates
- Bruce Springsteen speaks out for for NJ gay marriage (which was was going to be voted on this week - now delayed)
- Life of Agony played 'River Runs Red' @ Starland Ballroom, NJ - pics & setlist
- Q Magazine's Top Albums of 2009
- NY Comedy Festival now underway - kicked off last night w/ Bruce Springsteen, Colbert, Louis CK & friends @ Town Hall
- Bruce Springsteen playing full albums @ MSG this weekend
- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame hosted 2 very long shows @ MSG (setlists), will air on HBO Thanksgiving weekend
- U2 announce 2010 tour dates (New Meadowlands Stadium)
- death in the family causes Bruce Springsteen to cancel a show, Eric Clapton not playing Hall of Fame gigs @ MSG
- Bouncing Souls announce 2009 holiday shows @ The Stone Pony (openers include Pietasters, Black Train Jack, Blacklisted, Screaming Females...)
Posted on October 10, 2009 5:22 PM
Leave a comment
Powered by Ajax Comments
« Jon Pettis (Bankrupt and the Borrowers), RIP | Main | Amanda Blank, her guest Spank Rock, and Devlin & Darko @ the Museum of Natural History in NYC - pics »
---
Comments (22)
Nice pics and great show! 3hrs 15 Min! :)
Posted by Anonymous | October 10, 2009 5:54 PM
Excellent pics. Bruce at 60 - VERY HOT!!!
Posted by Anonymous | October 10, 2009 5:57 PM
Bruce's hairpiece looks amazing.
Posted by Anonymous | October 10, 2009 9:05 PM
I want Thom Yorke to teabag me. This has nothing to do with Bruce Springsteen, I just want Thom Yorke to teabag me.
Posted by Is that a crime?? | October 10, 2009 9:32 PM
His hairprice mooned me
Posted by Anonymous | October 10, 2009 9:33 PM
is anybody out there alive tonight?
Posted by Anonymous | October 10, 2009 10:12 PM
Thom Yorke teabagging Bruce would be hot as fuck. No homo.
Posted by Anonymous | October 10, 2009 11:09 PM
I went to 3 out of 5 shows. I showed up around 6:30-7:00 and had no problem getting close to the stage. They are still on top of their game after all of these years. I cannot belive Bruce is 60. He still has more energy than most people in bands at any age. They blew away those wankers U2 who I saw twice a couple of weeks ago. Looking forward to MSG.
Posted by Anonymous | October 10, 2009 11:53 PM
Great photos! Great shows! Next year they will be christening The New Giants Stadium.
Posted by Anonymous | October 11, 2009 12:30 AM
that cant be a hairpiece. if it is, it has to be the greatest hairpiece of all time.
Posted by Anonymous | October 11, 2009 12:48 AM
Not only is it a hairpiece, it is a hairpiece with trousers and an ass that can moon you.
Posted by Anonymous | October 11, 2009 1:02 AM
Awesome shots Tim! Especially that wide angle fireworks shot.
Posted by Bryan Kremkau | October 11, 2009 9:36 AM
I don't care how long he's been playing the guitar with Bruce, He will FOREVER be Sil from the Sopranos!!
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/08/04/alg_sopranos.jpg
Posted by Tom | October 11, 2009 12:00 PM
he should do a tour of walmart parking lots across america. for free.
Posted by Anonymous | October 11, 2009 2:24 PM
These pictures make me want to cry, mean it honestly.
Posted by Anonymous | October 11, 2009 2:25 PM
Can't diss 24 shows in one place. Not a fan of geezer rock, but doubt he cares anyway.
Posted by Lindsey | October 12, 2009 12:01 AM
If one more yuppie brags to me about how "INCREDIBLE" the "BRUUUUUCE" concert was... I might strangle that yuppie.
Posted by Anonymous | October 12, 2009 9:04 AM
9:04, you couldn't strangle your own cock.
Someone else's cock is a different matter.
Posted by Anonymous | October 12, 2009 9:28 AM
AWESOME pictures -- felt like I was right back there again. Came from Kentucky with friends and brought our teen-age daughters to their first Bruce show ever. Made the lottery and were two back on Clarence's side. They not only got to play Bruce's guitar during Darlington County but he took my 15 year olds' cell phone and took a picture of himself on it during another point in the show. They were in absolute awe and loved every minute of the show! It was great -- I would do that 10 hour drive again in a minute if I could. BRUUUUCEE!!!!
Posted by Jamie | October 12, 2009 1:30 PM
don't let the yuppies ruin bruce for you. if you do then it's you're loss.
Posted by Anonymous | October 12, 2009 2:50 PM
Awesome coverage! Thanks!
Posted by louis | October 17, 2009 10:19 AM
Just saw these....Please marry me Bruce!
Posted by Anonymous | October 20, 2009 8:50 PM