Last night, I was lucky enough to catch Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band perform at the intimate Convention Hall in Asbury Park, New Jersey. First off, the Convention Hall is more like a high school gym, and, second, the arena size stage takes up half the venue floor, which cuts the 3,600 capacity in half. Standing in towards the middle of the general admission area, we were a mere ten feet from the Boss for the second of two rehearsal shows.

How was it? Amazing. There is definitely a difference between this and the well-oiled machine I caught twice on the Magic tour, but the biggest issues were sound level issues, working out some of the kinks on the newer tunes and then just tightening up some of their older tunes. The pacing of the set was a bit off at times, but overall, the band performed a solid 2 1/2 hour show in as intimate a venue as you're likely to ever see this band perform in.

The absolute highlight for me happen to be a powerful version of "The Wrestler," which could be America's recession anthem. Of the new tracks, "My Lucky Day" and "Good Eye" sounded like classic E Street rockers. Of he older material, "The Ghost of of Tom Goad", "Out in the Street" and a fantastic yet rusty take on "The Promised Land" stood out. Also, opening with "Badlands," which had been a main set closer on past tours, really got the crowd going and gave the song an extra shot of energy. It also halped ease the path into the eight minute "Outlaw Pete," which opened the first rehearsal show. Anyway, it was a great show. Good times.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND
CONVENTION HALL | ASBURY PARK, NEW JERSEY
Badlands / Outlaw Pete / My Lucky Day / No Surrender / Out in the Street / Working on a Dream / Seeds / Johnny 99 / The Ghost of Tom Joad / Good Eye / Darlington County / Waitin' on a Sunny Day / The Promised Land / The Wrestler / Kingdom of Days / Lonesome Day / Radio Nowhere / Born to Run // Hard Times // Dancing in the Dark // Tenth Avenue Freeze-out // Land of Hope and Dreams // American Land