FOR DANNY - TAMPA & ORLANDO

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band returned to the road this week, after taking a few days to mourn the death of keyboardist Danny Federici. From the reviews, it seems the shows in Tampa and Orlando were played for Danny with a vengeance. I told my wife over the weekend that I expected as much from Bruce. I can't wait to see the band on May 2 in Sunrise, Florida.


Here are the reviews of the Tampa and Orlando shows:


SPRINGSTEEN, BAND FIND TONIC TO TRAGEDY
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played their first show since the death Thursday of longtime keyboardist Danny Federici, Tuesday at the St. Pete Times Forum.

By Curtis Ross (The Tampa Tribune - April 23, 2008)

TAMPA - Somewhere, Danny is smiling.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played their first show since the death Thursday of longtime keyboardist Danny Federici, Tuesday at the St. Pete Times Forum. If Springsteen generally plays as if his life depends on it, Tuesday night he played as if his soul and those of everyone in the arena were at stake.

The show began with a video tribute to Federici, who played with Springsteen for 40 years, beginning in pre-E Street outfits such as Steel Mill.

Then, as pianist Roy Bittan played the introduction to "Backstreets," a spotlight shone on an unmanned Hammond organ and accordion, Federici's instruments, a silent expression of the band's loss.

The rest of those expressions were anything but quiet.

Springsteen howled the chorus of "Backstreets" with as much passion as he did in 1975. Max Weinberg pounded his kit so hard it seemed close to tumbling - or disintegrating. The whole band played with an intensity that seemed impossible to sustain for the length of the show.

But they did.

Springsteen and band stormed through the early part of the set with no let-up. Weinberg kept the pulse going as guitars were swapped between songs. "No Surrender" was especially moving, with guitarist Steve Van Zandt joining Springsteen at the microphone. The two ended "Gypsy Biker" with a stinging guitar duel.

Finally pausing, Springsteen offered thanks for "prayers and condolences for Danny," then told the band, "We better get this right. Somebody's watching."

With Bittan on accordion, they launched into the sad, sweet "Sandy (Fourth of July Asbury Park)," evoking the early days of Springsteen's and Federici's musical life playing clubs along the New Jersey shore.

Springsteen told the crowd of 16,332 that the song's fortuneteller, Madame Marie, might be a Florida resident now. Then, he announced, "one more fairy tale," and delivered "Growin' Up" with more youthful vigor than a man on the downside of 50 should have.

There were so many highlights - "Atlantic City," "Because the Night," "She's the One" - but the show's emotional centerpiece came with the pairing of "Racing in the Street" and "The Rising."

The former song is one of Springsteen's most desolate, the cold flipside to "Born to Run," about finding out you're not that young anymore and maybe there's nowhere to run.

The song is so devastating as to make any attempt at levity seem a lie. "The Rising," then, was the perfect tonic, a song about demanding life - joy, even - in the face of tragedy. If every song seemed to have special resonance given the circumstances, this one may have had the most of all.

The encore began with a stirring rendition of the gospel hymn "I'll Fly Away," followed by "Rosalita," "Born to Run" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," a trio guaranteed to send any Bruce fan into spasms of sheer joy.



BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN SHOWS EVERYBODY WHY HE'S STILL THE BOSS
Springsteen delivers epic, emotional performance

By Jim Abbott (Orlando Sentinel - April 24, 2008)

ORLANDO - A time to dance, a time to mourn.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band covered a lot of territory in a rousing, rowdy, emotionally charged rock 'n' roll marathon Wednesday night at Amway Arena.

Yeah, the Boss and the band handle a rock show with unconscious skill on a typical evening, but the energy level on this night was higher. This group is family -- and in the wake of the unexpected death last week of keyboardist Danny Federici -- that bond was more apparent than ever.

The show opened with a montage of Federici photos on the big video screens as "Blood Brothers" played beneath it in the darkness: "Here's a little something in remembrance of Danny," Springsteen said in the shadows.

That kind of stuff could become maudlin, but the Boss is seasoned enough to know that the best tribute to his longtime band mate was merely to do what the E Street Band does best. Although Federici wasn't there, his spirit was honored in the most noble and appropriate way: In song.

And what an amazing array of them.

For a solid 2 hours and 40 minutes, Springsteen and the band unleashed an illuminating and inspired cross-section of its historic repertoire. Watching these guys ought to be a lesson for countless current rock stars, who do a passable 75 minutes and head for the bus. Instead, on this night, the music virtually never stopped.

Early on, the emphasis seemed to be on vintage early material, such as "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?," "Spirit in the Night," and "Lost in the Flood." All the songs have worn well, whether it's the slinky R&B groove of "82nd Street" or the wistful combination of Springsteen's harmonica and Clarence Clemons' tenor sax on "The River."

Although the sound mix was harsh in the early going, the balance soon stabilized to showcase the talents of a band that still is a dynamo, even in the AARP demographic.

That power was in evidence in a stirring segue that bounded from "Candy's Room" to "Prove It All Night" to "She's the One," the latter a perennial showstopper powered by Max Weinberg's pounding Bo Diddley rhythm. Not to be outdone, guitarist Nils Lofgren unleashed arpeggios like a crazy man in "Prove It All Night."

It's also interesting to realize how well Springsteen's new songs compare with the classics. On Wednesday, the transition from Magic's "Livin' In the Future" to "Promised Land" was seamless enough to think that the songs had been back-to-back album tracks.

But the sheer joy of this night was the feeling that anything might happen:

Like when a fan handed Bruce the placard about waiting 30 years to hear "Jungleland" live -- and then watching the band launch into it, as if on cue. Or watching the Byrds' Roger McGuinn step into the spotlight to duet on "Turn, Turn, Turn" and then hang around for "Mr. Tambourine Man," for good measure.

Such magic moments turn music into memories that, like the songs, ought to be eternal.


More photos from Orlando: