my exhaustive review

last night's concert may have been one of the most exhausting musical experiences i have had. granted, i did not sit down the entire 3 plus hours and that, in and of itself, is a miracle. i'm an old lady. i don't like standing at venues anymore, but when you have the sexiest 60 year old strutting, jumping, growling, screaming and rocking on stage to a sold out show, you better keep your ass out of that seat.
first, i have to remark on the seats: vip box seats, just above the floor, to the left of the stage with our own waitress. (thanks eben!) we were close enough to see bruce's sweaty underbite. HOT!
second, i have never seen so many white middle aged people together since a barack obama rally.
now, i knew it was going to be a long night. i mean, the river is 20 frickin songs long and bruce usually plays a long show. well, last night, he did not disappoint. it was long. and it was awesome.
there are a few tracks on the river that i had planned as designated pee breaks, but i found that even the less than stellar ones like crush on you left me standing and singing at full volume. i love this album, but will admit i have skipped over a few on the itouch. it does have a few of my very favorites, and they are, of course, the sad lonely songs that inspired his writing on nebraska: independence day, (so beautifully performed- quiet and simple), stolen car and of course the titular song. (one of my favorites cause it references my hometown, johnstown) i also totally lerve the ties that bind, hungry heart, cadillac ranch and ramrod and crowd pleaser, sherry darling. he started off with wrecking ball, written for his last shows at giants stadium, which i kind of enjoy. it's not on my top 20, but a great way to start the night.
bruce set up the evening with a short story about how the album came to be and the reasons they were doing these album nights and then just launched right in, no protracted set-up, no nostalgic trip down memory lane. they just shot out like a cannon and did not stop until the album was over. the dude didn't rest once. a few water breaks between cuts and that was it. hell, even patty left the stage for awhile, i'm assuming to do her hair, or to check on bruce's life insurance policies. i'll save my patty rant for another time.
well, of course it didn't stop there. a truly eclectic selection and some crowd favorites. but it wasn't all rabble rousing. he did one of my ALL TIMERS atlantic city and then closed the night with can't help falling in love and higher and higher. i will admit that i ducked out during dancing in the dark to pee (which i thought was suitable).
we walked out through the crowds with our ears ringing, our voices shot and just wandered midtown for about 10 blocks before we realized where we were.
it was truly an amazing night. i think it was THE BEST CONCERT I HAVE EVER BEEN TO IN MY LIFE.
and i'm pretty sure that while i was dancing my old white lady dance, bruce pointed to me and smiled and told me that he loved me. he made sure that patty had left the stage. he ain't no dummy.
and the end.