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Arts & Entertainment

Videos: Bruce Springsteen Caps Nearly 4 Hour MetLife Show With Fireworks


By

Ben Yakas

Published Sep 20, 2012

Modified Sep 20, 2012


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By

Ben Yakas

Published Sep 20, 2012

Modified Sep 20, 2012


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The inimitable Bruce BROOOOCE Springsteen returned home to New Jersey last night for the first of three shows at MetLife Stadium. This was the first time Springsteen has played the stadium which replaced Giants Stadium (where he played 25 times between 1985 and 2009), and he made it a special one: crowd surfing during "Hungry Heart," bunny jumping on "Rosalita," pulling people up to dance during "Dancing In The Dark," and unleashing a torrent of fireworks for set closer "Twist and Shout." Overall, he performed 30 sweaty, orgiastic songs over nearly four hours! Check out plenty of clips below.

Check out the full setlist at Backstreets. It's kind of unbelievable that 62-year-old Springsteen can still muster up the energy to perform at this level, running to and fro across the stadium, for that amount of time. Although he had unofficially retired from crowd-surfing in outdoor stadiums this summer, that retirement didn't seem to last very long—the idea of all those Jersey moms groping his butt must have changed his mind.

Among the highlights: a buoyant "Sprit In The Night," "Prove It All Night" (with the guitar-heavy classic rock "'78 intro"), a very fun arrangement of "Working On The Highway," a delicate "Racing In The Streets" (with that beautiful, insistent organ driving the song's long and winding outro), and the return of Patti Scialfa (she's missed a bunch of shows recently), who duetted with her husband on semi-rarities "Mansion On The Hill" and "Human Touch."

Also very fun: long gray-haired original E-Street drummer Vini Lopez (aka Mad Dog Lopez) who completely destroyed the "The E-Street Shuffle."

Tagged

bruce springsteen

fireworks

metlife stadium

new jersey

nj

twist and shout

original


Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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