November 20 has arrived and The Boss and His Band are in town.
Maybe…just maybe…for the last time ever.
There are a lot of reports circulating that Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band might be concluding their final tour tonight in Baltimore and Sunday in Buffalo.
Unlike a lot of long-in-the-tooth rock-n-rollers, Springsteen – according to those who know him and that’s only a select few – has hinted that this is the way he wants to go out: on top, playing great music, with energy, passion and a smile on his face.
And while Bruce is a relatively fit 60-year old man, the others in the band are showing wear and tear. Nils Lofgren seems reasonably mobile still, but Stevie and Clarence are both struggling with varying health conditions and without those two on stage, The Band just isn’t The Band.
So when I go to First Mariner Arena tonight to see Bruce, I’m going there with the mindset that it will be my last time watching him perform live. This is show #8 for me, which hardly qualifies me as a Springsteen show-chaser, but I’ve seen him at the Cap Centre, Verizon, East Rutherford and tonight, in Baltimore.
I spent 17 years of my life in that barn downtown working in the soccer business. I’ve had a lot of great moments in the Civic Center-Baltimore Arena so it will be especially cool for me to see Springsteen tonight with a bunch of Blast/Spirit banners in the rafters waving to the sounds of “Born to Run”.
If you’ve listened to the show this week, you know I’ve aired my Top 50 songs. It was hard to do songs 50 to 11 because I’m such a huge fan that song #49, Jackson Cage, could have easily switched spots with, for example, song #25, One Step Up.
But my Top 10 was really not that hard. I knew my #1 before I started the list on Monday and had a pretty decent idea of my top five within about two minutes of coming up with the idea. My top five haven’t changed in a long time.
If you’re going tonight, the WNST gang (me included) will be at The Nest (Pratt Street, across from Convention Center) at 5pm for a little pre-show refreshment. We can share Bruce stories and toast the greatest rocker of our generation.
Here’s my top 50 list:
50. Countin’ on a miracle
49. Jackson Cage
48. Livin’ in the Future
47. Something in the Night
46. Mary’s Place
45. Brilliant Disguise
44. Point Blank
43. Ain’t Got You
42. What Love Can Do
41. Life Itself
40. Downbound Train
39. Darkness on The Edge of Town
38. Girls in their summer clothes
37. Sherry Darling
36. Walk Like A Man
35. I’m goin’ down
34. Two Hearts
33. Valentine’s Day
32. Working on the Highway
31. Empty Sky
30. Streets of Fire
29. Dancing in the Dark
28. Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
27. Cadillac Ranch
26. Tunnel of Love
25. One Step Up
24. Adam raised a Cain
23. Land of Hope and Dreams
22. Radio Nowhere
21. Spirit in The Night
20. Racing In The Streets
19. My love will not let you down
18. Rosalita
17. Lucky Day
16. Lonesome Day
15. The Promised Land
14. I’m a Rocker
13. Janey don’t you lose your heart
12. The Ties that bind
11. 10th Avenue Freeze-Out
And my Top 10, updated throughout Friday’s show:
10. Badlands
9. Born To Run
8. The Rising
7. Thunder Road
6. My City of Ruins
5. Kitty’s Back
4. You’re Missing
3. Jungleland
2. Out in the street
1. Bobby Jean (not even close)
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