remnants: MAGIC, PART 2: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Madison Square Garden, October 18, 2007

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I'm finishing an assignment so this week's newsletter is a golden oldie from the Magic tour, the most criminally underrated album in Bruce Springsteen's catalog. I have no photos because this was still the era where cameras were not allowed. As usual, this piece has been lightly edited for continuity etc. and please remember this was a blog post and not something written for Backstreets or the dot net, so there's a certain amount of shorthand and assuming that you've been paying attention to the tour, because those were the only people reading my website in 2007. We'll be back next week with Fresh New Content. [tm]

[If you'd like to refer to a setlist.]

The show opens, as it has all tour, with an old-timey calliope tootling a carnival melody, meant as a tribute to Terry Magovern. Terry was the former Navy SEAL who owned a Jersey Shore bar called the Captain's Garter, fired the Sundance Blues Band for packing the house but not selling drinks, and who later worked as Bruce's assistant for over two decades. It is a beautiful tribute, but I think it needs to be the last thing on stage as the band leave, and not the first thing we see. It does not fit into the rest of the show and without the audience knowing that it’s a tribute to Terry, and understanding who, exactly, Terry was, again, it makes no sense.

Am I the only one who wishes Bruce would come out with Nils and do “Open All Night” into “Radio Nowhere”? I know it’s obvious, but opening with “Radio Nowhere” is already the superhero of obvious.

“Night” in the #2 slot and it’s clear that Bruce has found his groove 9 shows in. The set is baked. This is where I’d like to talk about the imposter who looks unmistakably like Sugar Lips Miami Little Steven Van Zandt, the guy singing harmony and playing guitar – wait, let me try that again – PLAYING GUITAR. The curmudgeons always gravely insist that Patti’s guitar is not miced, blah blah blah, when in reality it was Steve’s guitar that was low in the mix most of the time. During Reunion, we were just glad he was back onstage. During Rising, we expected a little bit more, but were okay that it was mostly color he was providing up there. This time around, if he hadn’t plugged in and practiced – well, most of the fan base still wouldn’t care, but his presence onstage would start to be a joke.