Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band live October 5, 2007

Contrary to what venues and promoters may tell you, a Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band show never begins at its advertised start time. Rather, it begins several hours earlier, away from the stage, in the parking lot. While Springsteen and his band would go on to play a satisfying set at the Wachovia Center Oct. 5, the first of a two-night stint, the joy of the event began with the assorted vehicles, grills and faithful fans in the lots surrounding the sports complex. Smoke from cooking meat and countless Bruce songs from stereos mixed in the air, enveloping the throng as it tossed footballs, drank beer and talked shop about the only thing that mattered that day: Bruuuuuuuuuuuce.

Inside the Center, the crowd displayed an anxious energy. The arena’s advertising is perhaps too powerful for its own good; each banner bathes the room in its light. Sometimes the room turned blue, red, and so on. But when the black background of a Toyota ad appeared, darkening the room and creating the impression that the band would soon appear, cheers and applause erupted every time, from around 7:30 p.m. to the show’s 8:18 p.m. start time. Clearly, Springsteen is still in high demand.

When the group finally stepped out to carnival music and began the opening chords of “Radio Nowhere,” nothing else mattered, especially not Toyota. The Center boasts a solid speaker system, but it couldn’t compare to the 20,000 plus voices that joined in on the song’s chorus. Seeing a legendary act like the E Street Band is great, but hearing such an act overpowered and joined by its fans is awe-inspiring.

“Radio Nowhere” was followed by “No Surrender,” off of the ridiculously huge Born in the U.S.A. album, resulting in a one-two punch that started the show off quite well.

“We busted out of class/had to get away from those fools/We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school” goes the opening lines of “No Surrender,” and the crowd wholeheartedly agreed. But it’s the song’s later lyrics that are a little more eerily relevant: “There’s a war outside still raging/You say it ain’t ours anymore to win/I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lover’s bed/with a wide open country in my eyes/and these romantic dreams in my head.”

Springsteen put his feelings about the Iraq war and the Bush 2.0 Administration more bluntly later on when he introduced “Livin’ in the Future,” one of the stronger tracks from his new album Magic. Explaining that the tune was about his disbelief at the actions taken in the last six years by the government, citing wiretapping, voter fraud and suppression, etc., Springsteen was very specific in his disgust with where the government is going. Unfortunately, it was also the only moment where it could not be discerned if the crowd was shouting “Bruce” or “boo.” So it goes.

“Livin’ in the Future” was still a killer live song, blending in nicely with “She’s the One” for another well-executed arc. The resemblance between “Future” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” is all the more apparent when played with fellow Born to Run material, but that’s not a complaint.

In between these two excellent combos, though, the band faltered quite a bit. While “Lonesome Day” went over nicely, lackluster cuts from Magic like the title track failed to move the audience much. Applause was polite, but it felt as if the songs were meant to occupy time and nothing more, early breathers for Springsteen to recoup his flagging energy.

But while the Boss at times seemed sluggish, he turned the show around, starting with “Reason to Believe,” from Nebraska, and “Candy’s Room,” from Darkness on the Edge of Town. From there, the band pursued the aforementioned “She’s the One” and “Livin’ in the Future.” Then they whipped out “Promised Land,” another song that has aged well since it was released nearly 30 years ago, Springsteen’s belief “in a promised land” seems all the more inspiring when paired with his new catalogue of political songs.

Sadly, the set hit a second snag with “Brilliant Disguise,” from Tunnel of Love. While by no means a bad song, it’s merely an OK cut from an OK album. It’s slightly baffling, though, that in his quest to cover all of his albums, Springsteen ignored his first two records entirely. He’ll sell a “Rosalita” shirt, but he won’t play the song, making the inclusion of “Brilliant Disguise” all the more bothesome.

Born in the U.S.A.’s “My Hometown” and “Darlington County” followed, and depending on your feelings on that album, were either really good or really awful. A divisive record, Born in the U.S.A. sold over 15 million copies and earned a bevy of new fans in 1984, but also alienated a decent chunk of Springsteen’s previous fan base. But hey, “My Hometown” has lyrical resonance, and “Darlington County,” while not exactly a “high-demand” cut, still boasted an excellent face-off between saxophonist Clarence “Big Man” Clemons and violinist Soozie Tyrell. Relatively new to the group (she first appeared on 1992’s E Street-less Lucky Town), Tyrell held her own not just against the Big Man, but accentuated many of the tracks the band performed that night.

After the energy-sapping “Devil’s Arcade” and “Last to Die,” Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band ended their regular set with “Long Walk Home,” Magic’s lyrical twin to “My Hometown,” and “Badlands,” which, scientifically speaking, is one of the greatest calls-to-arms ever written.

A five-song encore followed the regular set, and it was 100 percent perfect. The Beach Boys-ian “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” plaintively opened this follow-up. Then came an old fan favorite—“Thundercrack.” Never actually released on a studio album, “Thundercrack” is a rollicking dance track, full of the jammed out flavor of early 1970s E Street Band. It’s also by far the oldest song the band performed that night.

“Born to Run” then kicked in, and it’s still one of the fiercest, most driving songs in the Springsteen canon. As drummer Max Weinberg performed the song’s opening fill, the house lights came on, revealing the extreme glee on the faces of the audience. Just as they had been in the parking lot, these fans were bonded by a common love of music.

Closing out the 140-minute-ish performance with The Rising’s “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” (which was dedicated to the Phillies, although that didn’t do much good) and the Celtic-flavored “American Land,” Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band departed, promising to see the fans again tomorrow.

Then, it was time for some post-show tailgating.