Review: PHILADELPHIA 10.14.09
I tried to resist...
First, let’s get this out of the way: I’m addicted to these Live Archives releases. I own more of them than I care to admit. Of the unspecified number I own, I have them all on CD, uploaded to my laptop, and saved on backup CD copies. And for the vast majority I own, I’ve also condensed each into a one-CD mix of highlights from the show.
I say this to explain why, when I see a new archival release, I secretly hope I won’t feel the need to buy another one. And when I saw the latest one hails from the 2009 tour in support of Working on a Dream, generally regarded one of the lesser albums in his peerless body of work, I figured this would be one I could pass on and wait to hear on E Street Radio.
As has been well covered by now, the 2009 tour had a rough start with Bruce apparently struggling to find a cohesive theme or setlist to propel these concerts night in, night out. One can perhaps sense this in the previous archival release of Nassau Coliseum 05.04.09.—not a classic show by any means, though I still felt the need (see “addicted” above) to get it for the rare performance of “Kingdom of Days” and the sign-request of “Expressway to Our Love.”
Later that year, Springsteen transformed the tour into an “Eras tour” of sorts by rewriting his setlists to include entire albums in sequence. We caught him at Giants Stadium on 9/30 for the performance of Born to Run (not yet officially released through circulating online) and I found a single seat at MSG for his 11/07 performance, which kicked off with a surprise performance of “Thundercrack,” included his first-ever performance of the entire The Wild, The Innocent album, and closed with Elvis Costello’s cameo on “Higher and Higher.” That night was captured in the Live Archives series, as was the following night, the first complete performance of The River. Other releases included Philadelphia 09.20.09 (with the complete BITUSA), Cleveland 11.10.09 (with the complete BTR and a definitive version of “Back in Your Arms Again”), and Buffalo 11.22.09, which was the tour’s final show, the first complete performance of Greetings, and Clarence’s last show with the E Street Band.
Philly 10.14.09 brings us the first Live Archives release of Darkness on the Edge of Town in its entirety. The 2014 Sydney release features Darkness, but the concurrent releases from that tour aren’t up to the sonic standards of the monthly archival series. (It’s still worth checking out, though, especially for the opener “Friday on My Mind” rolling into the song it inspired, “Out in the Street.”) Having a state-of-the-art mix of a song-for-song performance of easily one of Bruce’s top 3 of 4 records makes the set worth owning. “Adam Raised a Cain” is furious. The rendition of “Streets of Fire” is, well, on fire. And Nils’s kaleidoscopic work on “Prove It All Night” presages the subtle new directions the band would take in the next decade-plus
In addition, 10.14.09 kicks off with “Thundercrack” and, two songs later, includes a tour debut and only live released to date of “What Love Can Do,” mercifully substituted for “Outlaw Pete.” But the highlights for me might be found in the closing sequence of the first set: a powerful “Human Touch” driven by Max to a powerful conclusion, followed by possibly the best live band version of “Long Walk Home” released to date, leading to an ascendant rendition of “The Rising” with a jazzy coda from Clarence that takes us to “Born to Run,” a predictable punch that nevertheless lands.
I eventually convinced myself to buy this one, and I think the Darkness performance (the record that inspired the name of this newsletter!) and the set one climax make this collection worth it. Whether you feel this seventh release from the WOAD tour is a must-have may depend upon your feelings for the post-Magic, pre-Wrecking Ball era. I think those that do will find riches therein.
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