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My first thought on this show is four letters: EPIC.

How can you do better than Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing the River album in its entirety at Madison Square Garden, plus a couple of nice covers equalling a three-hour plus show with 32 songs?
Very simply: You can't.

A legendary night. Three hours of one of the best concerts I've been to in my life, and I've been to quite a few over the years.
If this is the last of Bruce and the E Street Band for awhile (and he did sort of say that at one point later in the show) he's leaving us with some shows for the ages.

Start time 8:38 p.m.

1. Wrecking Ball
I do like this song. Others don't. Not sure this was the best opener though. Not going to complain too much (this will be one of the few negatives of the evening) but after opening with Thundercrack on Saturday, most fans were hoping for something special. This wasn't special as an opener.

Before starting "The River" segment Bruce had these words:
"We're going to get right to it." We've been trying to give you something memorable in these last shows by playing full albums.
"We're going to try this just one time because it's too long to do it again." (so I guess we won't get it in Buffalo).
"This record was a gateway to the future. It was written and recorded during a recession. The title song I wrote about my brother and sister after he lost his job. A lot of men, women and familes were hurting."
"The River led into Nebraska. Stolen Car led into Tunnel of Love.
"It was the style of record where I wanted to keep the characters I had on Darkness on the Edge of Town with me."
"We're going to take you down to the River tonight.".

2. Ties That Bind
Great start to the record. The packed house at the Garden was so ready for this and they responded right from the start.
Sounded really good.

"Let's make some party noise!" Bruce said before starting:

3. Sherry Darling
Bruce brought Patti to the center mic to sing at one point. He yelled "Big Man" before Clarence's sax solo. And then "Hit it Big Man!" later on.
A lot of fun and the crowd was up.

4. Jackson Cage
Solid.

5. Two Hearts
Another fun song. Great interaction between Bruce and Steve. A lot of back and forth.
Had the "It Takes Two" ending. They had a lot of fun.

6. Independence Day
Slowed things down a bit which was okay. Very nice version.

7. Hungry Heart
Crowd surfing again. The front pit at Madison Square Garden was pretty small so Bruce didn't have that far to go back front.

8. Out In the Street
Bruce dropped the mircophone at one point when he was on Patti's side of the stage. Nils at first missed the microphone on his: "Meet me out In the street" part and Bruce had to run down to Clarence for his part.
Bruce then played to the backed up the stage. Always a fun song.

9. Crush on You (tour premiere)
"Now a masterpiece from the The River" Bruce said. Nice Nils guitar solo and Bruce and Steven were dancing around. Bruce was pointing to a lot of the girls in the pit singing "Oooh, Oooh, I got a crush on you!"
Bruce and the audience had a lot of fun on this song. Wonder if he might put it in the setlist at a future show.
"A hidden masterpeice," Bruce said at the end.

10. You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
Another fun song
At the part "Hey You! Get out of the car!" Clarence thought he was supposed to sing it but Bruce did it. Clarence then gave Bruce a look of "Hey, that was my part!"

11. I Wanna Marry You
Bruce started off with a pair of maracas. Played very well.
A real nice slow dance by Bruce and Patti during Clarence's sax solo. Patti was saying things into Bruce's ear and they kissed when they finished dancing. Like they were at their prom.
I wrote: "Very nice" in my notebook.

12. The River
Sometimes I wonder how people can say "best version they've ever heard of a certain song" that they've heard many times.
Well I'm going to say that about "The River" tonight. Maybe because it's the title track to the album that was played. Something about this song tonight was just perfect and powerful.
Bruce had the crowd sing some of the first verse and they responded. Really hit home and a lot of the lyrics just resonated.
The crowd was so into it at the end. Bruce was harmonizing with them. Magical.

13. Point Blank
Garry Tallent's bass really stood out here. Toward the end Bruce sang "The times are tough and they're just getting tougher," three times.

14. Cadillac Ranch
Back from serious songs to a fun song.
"Can you get me a ca-ca-ca-dillac!" Bruce yelled out before the start. Nice guitar solo by Steve.
"Driving along through the New York City night" Bruce sang out. Nice back and forth guitar swining by Nils and Bruce and then Steven and Patti also.
Bruce, Patti, Steven, Nils and Garry then went to the back of the stage and played to the crowd there.

15. I'm A Rocker
Curt Ramm out on trumpet. At one point, when Bruce was on Clarence's side of the stage he saw his Fan No. 1, Obie, and yelled out "Obie." He then started to play dance with her. Bruce later came out to the center extension and was dancing.
I wrote in my notebook: "Fun, Fun Fun!" Yes, it was a lot of fun.

16. Fade Away
Another change of pace. "This is for Steven," Bruce said. Very nicely done. Really would love to see this back in the setlist at different points.. Has only been played once time recently.
At the end Bruce was singing "I'd get down on my knees for you," over and over and he dropped to his knees. Very powerful.

17. Stolen Car (tour premiere)
Has it really been almost 25 years since this was last played by Bruce and the band? Another classic that needs to come out more.
Curtis and Cindy's backup vocals were really good her. Maybe the best use of the two of them I've heard on this tour. Very, very nice.

18. Ramrod
"Come on Steve!" Bruce said.
Back to a fun song. "Look over yonder and see the New York City lights" Bruce sang.
Before Clarence's sax solo Bruce said: "We have a real author in the house." And Bruce and Clarence were dancing next to each other.
Toward the end of the song Bruce was rubbing his guitar up against his microphone stand. He then was leaning back from the mic stand like he was driving.
He was urging the crowd on and then yelled out: "Take me home to Hot Rod Heaven!"

19. The Price You Pay
No trumpet on this like Philadelphia. Really nice though. Crowd was into it and appreciated how rare its was. Again, another song I would like to be back in the setlist from time to time.

20. Drive All Night
Just perfect. Wow, wow, wow! I looked around me during the middle of song and there were so many people crying both men and women. A lot of tears were flowing. Clarence nailed his sax solos.
At the end Bruce was singing "I just wanna buy you some shoes." and the crowd responded to it.
I'm going to use powerful again. It was. Very powerful.

21. Wreck on the Highway (tour premiere)
Another rarity not played since the Born In the U.S.A. tour.
Again nice Garry Tallent's bass was prominent. Very beautiful fadeout. Nicely done.

"Thank you!" Bruce said at the end of "The River" segment. He brought Clarence, Max, Roy and Steven to center stage to take bow. "These are the guy who recorded the record, along with Phantom Dan Federici."

The 20 songs from "The River" were played perfectly. I didn't hear or see any flaws. You would have thought they had rehearsed this for months the way it was performed. The band played great, Bruce was into it.
Phenomenal

Looking at the handwritten setlist, Bruce had eight songs written after the River segment (Born To Run, Sunny Day, Rising, Thunder Road, Badlands, American Land, Dancing In the Dark and Higher Higher) so it seems some of the next songs were audibles.

22. Waiting On A Sunny Day
OK, maybe the down point of the show. Bruce at first came out with an electric guitar and we were all saying "Yeah, no Waiting" Bruce then gathered Nils and Steven by Max's drum kick and then started strumming the guitar and then shook his head and said "No." He then got the acoustic and everyone was going "No, no!" as they had a feeling it meant "Waiting on a Sunny Day"
"Worse audible ever," one longtime fan said to me after the show.
Crowd does seem into it but I so much wish Bruce would find another song to transition back after his full albums.
Bruce brought a little boy up to sing with him, although the boy was a bit shy but he did OK.

23. Atlantic City (request)
Bruce didn't have a sign for it, just said it was a request. Very good crowd reaction to it at the start. Well done.

24. Badlands
House lights up, nice to hear toward the end of a main set after being played to start so many shows this tour. Entire Garden was into it.

25. Born To Run
What can you say. Lights still up, crowd still up.

26. Seven Nights to Rock
This was an audible and a good choice. A lot of fun here. Bruce and the crowd were into it. Even Garry Tallent came up to Little Steven's microphone to sing backup.

27. Sweet Soul Music (tour premiere)
Sign request that Bruce took from a fan on Clarence's side of the stage. He asked for Curt Ramm to come out to play trumpet This was played a lot in the encores on the Tunnel of Love tour.
"Haven't played this in a long time. What key are we in. B flat...Oh tht's good"
"Spotlight on Little Steven!" Bruce said as they were getting ready. "We'll figure it out once we get started."

It was so fun to hear again At different parts Bruce sang "Spotlight on Lou Rawls... spotlight on Sam Moore...spotlight on Wilson Picket signing Mustage Sally...Spotlight on Otis Redding....spotlight on James Brown ...spotlight on the Big Man......spotlight on Little Steven........"
then Bruce sang "Spotlight on the Boss Man, sweating his ass off!"

28. No Surrender
Would have maybe liked to hear something else here, but worked well with the crowd. At the end Patti, Steven and Bruce were signing at the center mic.

29. American Land
Guess this will be played every show. We finally got a show without "Working On a Dream" but not this one. Always fun though. Patti was introduced as "The First Lady of the E Street Band."
When Bruce introduced Clarence, he said "Author, bigger than Shakesphere, his book is better than the Bible"
Toward the end, Bruce said "You've seen the last for a little while... the legendary E Street Band."
Interesting...

30. Dancing In the Dark
A lot of fun. Bruce did not bring anyone up to dance with him. Bruce spotted Bill Bradley in the crowd and started singing to him. There were some girls dancing on the mini stage at the back of the pit and Bruce got a kick out of that before security had them come down."

31. Can't Help Falling in Love
A sign request. Another song that was played in the encores on the Tunnel of Love tour. Always great when Bruce does an Elvis song. "Anyone knows this part?" as Bruce sang "Like A River Flows..."

32. Higher and Higher
"Can you take it higher!" Bruce yelled out to the crowd four times before playing this. Patti sang some of the lead vocals. Continues to be a great show closer. At the end Bruce brought Patti, Curtis and Cindy to the small stage at the back of the pit and they sang from there. Great close to a great night.

"Thank you New York City. We'll be seeing you further up the road." Bruce said before leaving the stage..

Show over at 11:39 p.m.

Some notes: Bruce did not do a sign request segement and did not grab any signs except for the onoe that had "Sweet Soul Music" on it and I believe "Can't Help Fallling in Love" was on the other side.
Spotted in the crowd: John McEnore, newly elected New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Knick and U.S. Senator Bill Bradley and Jesse Malin.

A classic night, a classic show. One I'll be telling people I was at years from now. Hell, I'll be telling people that tomorrow.

Thank you for reading.