News & Reviews

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The final night of Springsteen's VFC tour brought a unique bill to the Meadowlands, with Patti Scialfa and her band opening this homecoming show, and Jackson Browne in for REM. While Bruce joined REM at each of the previous concerts, tonight we had a trifecta as he played in the opening set with Patti (for the same two songs as his guest appearances on her September tour), in the second set with Browne (for "Running on Empty"), and one of the longest headlining sets of the run (rivaling St. Paul in both length, at 21 songs, and performance). Speaking of trifectas, surprise guest Eddie Vedder joined the E Street Band for a powerful trio of "No Surrender," "Darkness on the Edge of Town," and Pearl Jam's "Betterman." And continuing to speak of trifectas, the encore opened with not one, not two, but three classic CCR songs with Fogerty.

But the emotional highlight of an emotional show had to be in the post-"Rising" slot (formerly occupied by "Because the Night" with Michael Stipe), when there was an audible gasp as Browne came out for "Racing in the Street." As one concertgoer said, "all the air was sucked out of the building." In a good way. Browne's own set included topical songs like "For America" and "Lives in the Balance," and Little Steven finally took a bow on a song of his that has cropped up at several other VFC shows this month, joining Jackson for "I Am a Patriot." A fine end to a righteous tour.