Happy Birthday to Me

So as some of you may have heard, a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance took me to see Bruce Springsteen's new and highly acclaimed one person show on my birthday over the weekend...

...and boy, was it disappointing.

Bruce was drunk and all he did was KISS covers.

Okay, obviously I'm kidding.

In point of fact, despite a certain level of solemnity, Springsteen on Broadway was moving, funny, poetic and brilliant. With nothing more than a guitar and piano (here's what the set, and the word set is something of an overstatement, looked like)...

...Bruce did what felt (somewhat) like a stage adaptation of his recent autobiography, and managed to be about as riveting a performer as I have ever seen.

The setlist:

1. Growin' Up
2. My Hometown
3. My Father's House
4. The Wish
5. Thunder Road
6. Promised Land
7. Born in the USA
8. 10th Avenue Freezeout
9. Tougher Than the Rest
10.Brilliant Disquise
11.The Rising
12. Long Walk Home
13. Dancing in the Dark
14. Land of Hope and Dreams
15. Born to Run

Highlights, for me, were "Land of Hope and Dreams," a song which I had largely ignored in any of its recorded versions, and "Thunder Road," during which I totally lost it. But the entire thing was great theater, and let's just say it was the best birthday present ever.

BTW, I am reliably informed that a high quality recording of the show from Saturday night is now available on the intertubes. For a variety of reasons I'm not going to post anything from said recording, but if our old friend Capt. Al could find it, so can you.