Title: Won't You Look In My Direction? 'Label': Ev2/JEMS Format: 3CD Source: Audience Date: May 4, 2009 Location: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY JEMS Master: Church Audio CA-14 cardioid mic > Church ST-9100 preamp > Edirol R9-HR Ev2: Final mastering, edit and clean up from master .wav files Disc One: 01 Badlands (complete but started on the walk to the seats) 02 No Surrender 03 Outlaw Pete 04 She's The One 05 Working On A Dream 06 Seeds 07 Johnny 99 08 The Ghost Of Tom Joad 09 Raise Your Hand 10 Expressway To Your Heart 11 For You Disc Two: 01 Intro 02 Rendezvous 03 Night 04 Waitin' On A Sunny Day 05 The Promised Land 06 The Wrestler 07 Kingdom Of Days 08 Radio Nowhere 09 Lonesome Day 10 The Rising 11 Born To Run Disc Three: 01 Foodbank Speech 02 Hard Times 03 Jungleland 04 Land Of Hope And Dreams 05 American Land 06 Dancing In The Dark 07 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) ======================== - Recorded just in front of the stage on the side with a good straight line to the PA and quiet folks around. ======================== "Springsteen's tour of the grand ol' dumps (or great ol' rock halls depending on one's point of view) continued at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island. Like the Spectrum in Philly, the home of hockey's NY Islanders has played host to some memorable nights in Springsteen history, most notably the end-of-the-year run in 1980 which culminated in the band's longest set ever on 12/31/80. The 2009 edition of Nassau also ran long, as it turned out, clocking it at 2:50 and 27 songs, with the spontaneous addition of "Rosalita" to close a motivated six-song encore. An earlyish 8:15 start had fans scurrying to their seats after bad weather and annoying venue logistics slowed entry. It was a bang-bang launch with "Badlands" into "No Surrender," and the Weinberg du jour was all Max, all night—he seemed to relish taking over the drum stool for an entire set again. Perhaps watching Jay the last few nights dialed up the intensity, as he hit harder and filled with freshness. Nils was on too, leading a potent "Seeds," sliding through "Johnny 99," and wailing a la Morello on "The Ghost of Tom Joad." Then it was time to "Raise Your Hand," and as Bruce collected signs he was instantly delighted with one in particular (he even started sashaying side to side as he showed it to Steve): the Gamble and Huff classic "Expressway to Your Heart," which was a hit for the Soul Survivors in 1967. Clearly soundchecked earlier that day (said Bruce after, "I knew someone was going to request that one"), "Expressway" was absolutely delightful and, cliché as this phrase is becoming, it sounded like they have been playing it every night. A fantastic cover and very appropriate choice for the venue and surrounding interstates. Next up was a rock-solid and crowd-pleasing "For You" with fine work by the Big Man and Roy Bittan. When it came time for audible number three, Bruce showed the crowd a trio of signs: the first, "Great Balls of Fire," he called, "too easy... everybody knows that one"; "Night" was next, but Bruce (rightly) acknowledged the band does that one a lot; instead it would be "Rendezvous" in its tour debut, with fine thumping from Max and lots of Patti vocals (yes, she was back and recovered from her fall, though oddly not there for the final songs of the encore). Out of "Rendezvous" and right into a bonus—the aforementioned "Night," which Bruce had whispered to Clarence was coming next a few minutes earlier ("Be ready!"). Good stuff. From there it was a bit of the familiar: "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" (featuring not-quite-in-tune vocals from a little boy in the pit wearing a LeBron James jersey); another elegiac and gorgeous rendition of "The Wrestler"; a very committed "Kingdom of Days"; a slightly shambolic "Radio Nowhere"; and a fine set wrap with "Lonesome Day," "The Rising," and "Born to Run." The consensus after the show was that this might have been the best encore yet on the tour. An inspired (perhaps by the previous night's Pete Seeger tribute) "Hard Times" set the table for a particularly striking and majestic "Jungleland," with Clarence blowing beautifully, Soozie doing a perfect Suki Lahav intro, and Bruce himself giving in to the song's drama. Max seemed to truly peak during "Land of Hope and Dreams," and who doesn't love the look on his face (captured on the big screen every night) as he pounds out the toms to start "American Land." As if that weren't enough, the recently setlisted but unplayed "Dancing in the Dark" returned with some fine arrangement details and lots of fun from the entire band. As they played, a green, day-glo sign started moving around the pit asking for "Rosalita," and damn if Bruce didn't shift out of a long "Dancing" right into it, blowing the 11:00 pm curfew and making a lot of fans extremely happy. Those ol' dumps do seem to bring out the best in him." -backstreets.com