On 1/15/2012, the Newark Star-Ledger (
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"Bruce Springsteen rocks Light of Day 12 at the Paramount Theatre
By Tris McCall | For Inside Jersey
on January 15, 2012 at 2:38 AM, updated January 16, 2012 at 5:12 PM
Print Email Tris McCall | For Inside Jersey By Tris McCall | For Inside Jersey
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on January 15, 2012 at 2:38 AM, updated January 16, 2012 at 5:12 PM
The element of surprise was almost entirely gone, and no one minded. Everybody at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park on Saturday night expected Bruce Springsteen to close the evening with an unannounced concert. He'd played for two hours at Light of Day 2011; he'd have to try to match or top that, wouldn't he?
Match it he did. Bruce Springsteen closed the annual Paramount show — the biggest in the ever-expanding Light of Day festival to benefit Parkinson's disease research — with another inspired and thoroughly exciting two-hour set. By the time he unplugged and said goodbye, it was well past two in the morning. The Light of Day concert began at 6:30.
Much was the same as it had been in '11. Springsteen again used Joe Gruschecky and the Houserockers as his backing band, and lent his voice and guitar to several Gruschecky songs. Just as he did last year, the Boss drew heavily from "Darkness on the Edge of Town," playing versions of "Adam Raised a Cain," "The Promised Land," and the title track.
The show again climaxed with a ramshackle version of "Twist and Shout," followed by a massive — and very moving — singalong on "Thunder Road." Last year, Springsteen implied that the chorus of "Atlantic City" ("maybe everything that dies someday comes back") could apply to Asbury Park; this year, he came right out and said it. "Are we coming back?" he asked the sold-out house, to a roar of assent.
But the Boss had some surprises for the faithful, too. Max Weinberg took over the drumkit at the end of the show — a surprise appearance within a surprise appearance. Springsteen followed up "Atlantic City" with a raw blues version of the murder ballad "Johnny 99," and capped it with a stuttering, barbed-wire lead. He opened his set with a stunning solo acoustic interpretation of "Incident on 57th Street."
He even did a careful (but enthusiastic) stage dive during the outro of "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" from "The Rising," and a not-so-careful leap from a very high drum riser. At the 2011 show, he seemed like a man desperate to plug in, shake the rust off, and get back on the road; this year, with a new album in the can and tour dates in Europe scheduled, the Boss is clearly fired up and ready to roll.
Just in case anyone feared Springsteen wouldn't show, the star put all anxieties to rest early in the evening. Shortly before 9 p.m., he joined Garland Jeffreys for a strut through "Wild in the Streets." An hour later, he backed Willie Nile on his anthem "One Guitar."
Other highlights of the eight hour music marathon included a powerful rendition of "Statesboro Blues" by folksinger David Bromberg, a gutsy run through the confessional "Cherries" by strong-voiced Grammy nominee Linda Chorney, and the Asbury Park debut of the Poor Fools, Southside Johnny's fine new folk-rock band."