Magic in Indy

Well, he did it again. For the second week in a row, a Bruce Springsteen concert has left me speechless, unable to find the right words to properly capture the magic of another great show.

Last night's Indianapolis show was the best show I've ever seen him do. I realize this could change with the next show I attend, but I'm comfortable letting last night's show stand as the best.

Bruce came out and played like a man possessed. The show opened with "Night," and of course, Clarence's performance was right on the money. As it turns out, Clarence would be a busy Big Man for this night's show.

"Radio Nowhere" and "Lonesome Day" followed, as usual, but then it was audible time. Bruce saw a sign in the pit that caught his attention. He asked for it, looked at it, and then turned and faced the band with the sign calling for "Prove it All Night." This one's been showing up recently, so the band had no problem tearing into it and giving the Indy crowd a great performance.

Little Steven busted off another great solo in "Gypsy Biker," which was followed by "Magic" and "Reason to Believe." The energy in the pit and in the stands was electric. As Bruce was finishing up "Reason to Believe," he spotted another sign.

As he did before, he got a hold of the sign and then turned and faced the band. This time around the sign was for "Rendezvous." The band didn't skip a beat with this tour premeire, and it was great seeing the smiles on their faces when the song ended. They aced it, and they knew it.

"Because the Night," with Nils bringing down the house with another great solo, into "She's the One," and then "Livin' in the Future," didn't prepare us for what was about to happen next.

Bruce stepped up to the microphone, and in the understatement of the tour said, "We've got a special treat for you tonight."

There he was, The Phantom, Danny Federici, back behind his keyboards. The fans in the pit went nuts. The whole crowd gave Danny a great welcome back. Charlie Giordono gave Danny a hug, and then gracefully left the stage. The rest of the band looked Danny's way, before opening Danny's portion of the show with "The Promised Land." "Darkness . . . " was on the setlist, but this was a great choice for the moment.

The emotions were running high in the band and in the audience. Garry and Roy were beaming toward their returning comrade, and Clarence and Nils, both stood over by Danny at different points during the song.

Would Danny be one and done for the night? The answer would not just be no, but Hell no!

With Danny back, we got "Spirit in the Night" and "Sandy." During "Spirit . . ." I swear to God that Bruce was possessed by Van Morrison, as he did leg kicks, movng across the stage. The band nailed these two songs, and when they were over, Danny got another nice ovation.

Charlie returned to close out the main set, with the band attacking the material with an incredible level of intensity. It was a great main set, with Danny's return and the two great audibles. It should also be noted that the audibles replaced setlisted "Candy's Room," and "Growin' Up."

When Bruce and the band came back to start the 5-song encore, Danny was back in his rightful place. Bruce told the crowd they were "dedicating the encore to Danny," and with that, Roy kicked off the openng to "Backstreets."

What followed next can only be described as some of the best playing I've ever seen from Bruce and the ESB. They tore into "Kitty's Back," with Danny, Roy, and Bruce each taking great solos. Bruce was egging both keyboardists on during their solos, and then Bruce fired off an amazing solo of his own.

I've never seen the band as focused on each other as they were during this song. Steven and Soozie were in awe of what they were hearing, while Garry and Max kept the song moving like the great rhythm section they are.

I never thought I'd feel this way, but "Born to Run" was kind of anti-climactic. How could they go any higher, and give anymore of themselves than they had up to this point?

Well, they found a way, and it was all due to a girl named Hannah. She had a little sign that said "Dance with me," and when it caught Bruce's eye, it meant only one thing; "Dancin' in the Dark" was going to replace "Ramrod" on the setlist.

Toward the end of the "Dancin' . . . " Bruce pulled Hannah (9-10 years old, maybe) up to the stage for a dance. I'll tell you what, this girl put Courtney Cox to shame! Hannah had all the right moves, and Bruce was eating it up. He got her back into the pit, played some more, and then brought her out again. This time they moved across the stage, left and right. Not all the way across, but Hannah was getting plenty of profile, for sure.

Charlie rejoined the band for "American Land," teaming up with Roy on the accordion. When Bruce introduced the band, and got to Danny, there was a great ovation, and chants of "Danny, Danny, Danny" from the crowd. It was a beautiful ending to an incredibly emotional and power-packed show.

In the initial review on backstreets.com and in the Indianapolis Star, there was some noise made about the 5,000 empty seats. The backstreets.com review was amended to include the rest of the story, which was this.

The only empty seats wee nose-bleed seats. When I looked up at those, I knew that as much as I loved Bruce, I would not sit in one of those seats. The lower bowl and second level were full. The fans in the stands were on their feet quite a bit. Plus, there were some people up in the upper upper seats. The crowd of 11,000 was into the show, and at the end of the night, Bruce signed off with "Thanks for a great night."

No Bruce, thank you.