I know I'm pre-empting a post by the Crank here, but I also attended the Springsteen concert at Giants Stadium last night. My attempt at a review follows. Backstreets.com helpfully supplies the setlist and I’ve provided some brief editorial comments:

The Promised Land – Bruce and the E Street Band open with this long-time favorite from “Darkness on the Edge of Town”.
The Rising – the title track from his last album. I’ve heard this one live a lot in Bruce’s various TV and radio appearances. It has rarely sounded better.
Lonesome Day – Bruce sounds a little off-key on this, the second single from “The Rising”.
Streets of Fire – a somewhat obscure and smoldering track from “Darkness”. A few neophytes started heading towards the bathroom, but the band nailed this one, I thought.
My Love Will Not Let You Down – rousing rarity from “Tracks”, this one is highlighted by Max Weinberg’s furious drumming.
Prove It All Night – another “Darkness” standard.
Empty Sky – Bruce plays this powerful 9/11 song solo. Planes flying overhead to and from Newark Airport provide an eerie reminder of what this one’s about.
Waitin' on a Sunny Day – a great, and very intentional, segue; this cheery and rousing tune from “The Rising”, about optimism in the face of adversity, becomes a mass sing-a-long.
Working on the Highway – rollicking “Born in the U.S.A.” song. The band throws in everything here from violins to washboards, with mixed results. Still, always a good time.
Worlds Apart – Bruce does his “world music” thing with this tale of the cultural divide between America and Afghanistan. This one’s not a real favorite with the respectful crowd, but features some great guitar work.
Badlands – back to “Darkness”, this is one of the essential Bruce songs and is particularly powerful live.
She's the One – a bit of a rarity off of “Born to Run”; this is a good song, but not one of my favorites.
Mary's Place – Bruce transforms into his gospel-preacher-man persona to introduce the members of the E Street Band (more successfully than the last tour, I thought) and later dances on the piano.
Meeting Across the River - a somber song from “Born to Run”, its primary purpose is to introduce…
Jungleland – an all-time classic and an epic one at that. Clarence Clemons’ sax solo is a highlight.
Into the Fire – classy tribute to 9/11 firefighters and police. Straightforward and powerful.
No Surrender – an interesting segue, this is a very rousing and defiant “Born in the U.S.A.” number. One of my favorites, due to its buoyant optimism and romanticism.

First Encore:
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) – rarely played classic from Bruce’s second album. Slow, but sweet.
Ramrod – Bruce does his “roadhouse” thing. Much ridiculous dancing and frivolity ensues.
Born to Run - the greatest rock n’ roll song ever written, in my humble opinion.

Second Encore:
My City of Ruins – Bruce dedicates this one to Asbury Park and a local New Jersey food bank before launching into a solid piano-driven version of this gospel-influenced song from “The Rising”
Land of Hope and Dreams – as an intro to this recent tune, Bruce gives his “public service announcement”, the text of which is almost identical to that which he has been giving throughout this stand:

People come to my shows with many different kinds of political beliefs; I like that, we welcome all. There have been a lot of questions raised recently about the forthrightness of our government. This playing with the truth has been a part of both the Republican and Democratic administrations in the past and it is always wrong, never more so than when real lives are at stake. The question of whether we were misled into the war in Iraq isn't a liberal or conservative or republican or democratic question, it's an American one. Protecting the democracy that we ask our sons and daughters to die for is our responsibility and our trust. Demanding accountability from our leaders is our job as citizens. It's the American way. So may the truth will out.

I happen to believe that the notion that we were “misled” into war in Iraq is a load of bollocks, so this was a little grating, but underplayed. In the end, Bruce clearly means well and dedicated the song to the troops over in Iraq, so I’m not going to sit here and complain.

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) – after hammily pretending to be talked into it, Bruce and the band launch into one of the greatest crowd-pleasing party songs ever written and a personal favorite of mine. Great to hear live and in person.
Dancing in the Dark – Bruce closes with an excellent, rocking version of one of his most mainstream songs. Courtney Cox is nowhere to be seen.

All in all, Bruce was in good voice and displayed his typically manic energy (including pole-dancing and full-speed slides across the stage). I had only seen Bruce and the E Street Band once before (on the last tour at Continental Airlines Arena), but I think this celebratory three-hour concert outshined even that one.

If you ever get a chance to see them, take it.