September 28 / E. Rutherford, NJ / Continental Airlines Arena
Notes: After the morning's performance on the Today show in New York, it was across the river to the Jersey side that night, where Bruce told the crowd, "I still got my pajamas on under my clothes! It was too early!" He welcomed everybody to "the last night of E Street Boot Camp," a 22-song rehearsal show that got off to a late start, a little past 9. And make no mistake: it was a rehearsal, visible not only in the eeriness of the draped-off, mostly-empty confines of the building that's usually full for such an occasion, but also in the occasional cue to one band member or another for more this or that, or in a transition from one song to the next that still needs work. Loving that "Candy's Room"/"She's the One" pairing, which was back last night -- they just gotta figure out how one gets to the other.
Overall, though, Springsteen appears to have a show that's ready for its formal debut on Tuesday in Hartford. Though ready-mades like "Badlands" "Born in the U.S.A.," and "The Promised Land" (its fourth performance on this day) are returning to duty, this is a new show. The big surprise: a completely new, full-band arrangement of "Reason to Believe," that borrows equally from the Devils & Dust tour and Z.Z. Top. We'll call it the "La Grange" arrangement, and even if you didn't like the bullet mic on the D&D tour, we bet you'll like it here -- less distortion, just a great effect for down-and-dirty rock. Also great to get "The Ties That Bind" in the second slot. Superb guitar work in spots: Steve Van Zandt emerges to take "Gypsy Biker" to a level it may not have reached otherwise; and on "Thundercrack," Bruce and Nils reach great heights on those extended instrumental passages. More teamwork: Bruce and Patti again performed "Town Called Heartbreak," and here, Ms. Scialfa gets a bona fide moment of her own while not breaking the flow of the show. Sessions Band players Lisa Lowell and Larry Eagle joined in on maracas for the show-closing "American Land," after which Bruce hollered, "Boot Camp is complete!" Steven took that to heart, offering a military-style salute to anyone looking his way. Bruce had one more thing to say before leaving the stage, as if just remembering himself that this whole thing hasn't even begun yet: "And we'll be back! Just a couple of weeks!"

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