Shea’s Last Dance      2 DVDs              October 4, 2003    Shea Stadium     Flushing, NY

 

Setlist: Code of Silence/The Rising/Lonesome Day/Roulette/Night/I Wish I Were Blind/Empty Sky/You're Missing/ Waitin' on a Sunny Day/Johnny 99/Another Thin Line/Tunnel of Love/Because the Night/Badlands/Prove It All Night/Mary's Place/Back in Your Arms/Into the Fire
First Encore: Light of Day/Bobby Jean/Born to Run/Seven Nights to Rock
Second Encore: Highway 61 Revisited/My City of Ruins/Land of Hope and Dreams/Rosalita/Dancing in the Dark/Quarter to Three/Twist and Shout/Blood Brothers

 

           

 

Notes:  This is the  ScrewDevil version.  It has Menus and Chapters and an audio overdub.  It’s a two camera mix.  Very nice effort.    Here’s what Backstreets.com said about the show.

 

 For "the last dance," even the elements were on our side. The all-day drizzle stopped just in time for the show, and while Bruce later knocked on the wood of his acoustic, hoping the skies would hold, we'd already stopped the rain. "Code of Silence" opened the show, another Grushecky co-write last played in Pittsburgh. "Roulette," "Johnny 99," "Tunnel," and "Another Thin Line" came back; a stunning "I Wish I Were Blind" had its E Street Band debut, a beautiful full-band electric performance that we wish had appeared before the final show... other tour premieres were "Back in Your Arms" and, opening the encores, the return of the Reunion tour staple, "Light of Day." A 30-song blowout (previously, the longest Rising show had been 27 songs) that lasted nearly 3 hours and 20 minutes, this final show was one that may have had emotions running high, but Bruce seemed committed to keeping things loose and fun. "Welcome to the Last Dance," he said before "Waitin' on a Sunny Day." "I'm getting a little misty here right about now... Steve, cheer me up!" And he was chattier than usual, leading into "Back in Your Arms" with some audience banter: "Ladies, have you ever felt taken for granted?" But Bruce saved his speechifiyin' for the biggest surprise of the night, as a fellow legend came out to share the stage for "Highway 61 Revisited." Bruce told the crowd, "We have my great friend and inspiration with us tonight, Mr. Bob Dylan... we wouldn't be here tonight without him." The resulting performance was rough and ramshackle, best in theory, but it was clearly a meaningful moment for Springsteen. Introducing "Land of Hope and Dreams" a couple of songs later, he continued talking about Dylan as an artist "who was willing to stand in the fire... he made me think big thoughts... got me thinking about the world outside my little town. I don't know if great men make history or if history makes great men, but I know Bob's one of the greatest. Now and forever. I dedicate this one to him tonight, and thank him for gracing my stage... when I wrote this one I was doing my best to follow in his footsteps." And after his call for vigilance, and stressing the notion that the search for the truth is "the American Way": "And I learned that from Bob Dylan. This is 'Land of Hope and Dreams.'" After the historical summit, the show became about celebration. "Rosie, I'm home!" Willie Nile and Jon Landau returned for "Dancing," Bonds returned this time with Garland Jeffreys for the tour debut of the chestnut "Quarter to Three" along with "Twist and Shout." And that takes us to song 29. Song 30, the last song of the night? History repeats itself, with the first performance of "Blood Brothers" since Bruce and the E Streeters closed the Reunion tour with the same. All guests left the stage before this one, leaving just the E Street Band that has brought us the power, hour after hour, night after night, over the last 14 months. Springsteen seemed to be holding it together, but there were tears streaming down Clarence's face. Once again, Bruce brought band members front and center to hold hands for the extra verse. It's a good night for a ride, and with that, the Rising tour rides off into the sunset. "The past four or five years have been some of the most fun and exciting of my life," Bruce told the crowd, "Thanks for sharing them with us”

 

  

 

 

Return to Index of Shows