Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Title : The Lowlands Label : It's Boss Time Date : June 23rd 2008 + June 18th 2008 Location: Sportpaleis, Antwerp - Belgium + Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam - The Netherlands Video : Audience - filmed with a Canon HF10 FULL HD camera Audio : Dubbed with Crystal Cat's "Antwerpen Magic Night" & "Amsterdam Magic Night" Mode : 16:9 Generat.: Masters Format : 1 DVD5 - PAL Menu : Yes Artwork : No Setlist: ANTWERP 1. So Young And In Love 2. 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) 3. Magic 4. Trapped 5. Thundercrack 6. Point Blank 7. I'm A Rocker AMSTERDAM 1. Out In The Street 2. Spirit In The Night 3. Summertime Blues Notes Antwerp (sourced from Backstreets): ----------------------------------------- A one-off arena show in the middle of this stadium leg, but don't think because they came in out of the sunshine that it was any less hot -- it was hotter. Bruce was bringing water down to the audience -- sometimes in cups, sometimes via sponge -- and even played janitor, mopping up the wet floor. After "Held Up Without a Gun" in Hamburg, Bruce and the band keep the surpises coming, including "So Young and in Love" opening the main set and "I'm a Rocker" to kick off the encore. Erik Block reports from his hometown: "It was a full house, 17,000 fans, the sound was great, and it was rocking all night long. The songs followed up very fast, no time for stories -- only just after a pure and refreshing 'Spirit in the Night,' Bruce had a break. He went to the crowd, looking for some requests -- some written on a cardbord pizza box or on a very small paper -- and he took quite a lot of them back on stage. During the show, he would pick some of them out, playing songs like 'Sandy' and 'Point Blank.' "Another break came when Bruce was looking for the sign hanging above the back of the stage, above Max. He was asking the lights and cameras to catch the sign, but it was quite difficult... finally they found it: 'Thundercrack'! A great song from the 1970s. Bruce had to ask if everybody was ready, telling the audience that the E Streeters are always ready... almost always! "'Fire': the duet with Clarence was great! An especially cool moment, when they both stopped singing. It looked that the show was one big "ask for your favorite songs" performance. But it was great, nobody was complaining. When the E Street Band came back out for the encore, they gave us a tour premier, 'I'm a Rocker.' The audience was burning and gave him a standing ovation for the rest of the show! That was followed by a rocking 'Born to Run' and 'Thunder Road.' 'Isn’t it too hot?' Bruce asked several times, and he and Steve acted like waiters when they gave the crowd water to refresh them. But nobody felt the heat, only the waves of the sound." Notes Amsterdam (sourced from Backstreets): ------------------------------------------- A fun, interactive show in Amsterdam turned into a true stunner in the encore, as Bruce and the band tackled a classic cover they haven't done since the River tour. We'll let Helen set the scene: "The Netherlands are in a state of euphoria at the moment, as our country is doing very well in the European Football Championships. The team play in orange, our national color. Roy came onstage wearing an orange cap, and Bruce belted out: "Italy, France, Romania!" (the three countries we beat so far). A huge roar from everyone. Later on Bruce commented on it further, saying that everything in the Netherlands seemed to be orange: the houses, the people, the bicycles... Someone gave Bruce an orange garland, which he wore around his neck." Massimo Benvegnu reports: "What a fun night we all had in Amsterdam, Bruce included! After a standard stadium start with 'Out in the Street,' things really got started with an amazingly touching 'Promised Land,' Springsteen singing the final verse holding the audience's hands. It was the first of many visits to the front of the stage, with Bruce visibly pleased by the attention he received from Dutch girls! And he wasn't the only one -- one brought a banner that read 'Princess of Little Steven,' which Bruce placed by Steve's mic. The obvious Dutch connection of Van Zandt and Springsteen made it for a very fun, loose atmosphere. Throughout the evening Springsteen extracted many different things from the audience, including a bunch of sunflowers, a 'Welpie' (a lion cub toy, the mascot for the Dutch football team), and a young girl that dove through the audience to hug the Boss during 'Darlington County.'" "But what had the biggest impact was a sign for 'Summertime Blues,' which they actually played in the encores, much to everybody's amazement! At the end of the obviously improvised performance (they had not played the cover in 27 years), Steve even started the opening chords to 'Gloria' -- it felt like the E Street Band turned into a high school band playing a prom night in, errr... way back when! They kept rockin' with rarities from their own repertoire -- 'Stand on It' and 'Seven Nights to Rock' -- straight after it. 'Bobby Jean' was played with great feeling, and Steve did his best Sam Cooke on 'Long Walk Home,' which Springsteen praised with a 'Beautiful!' and the biggest grin ever. Bruce and the Band played with a great heart. A moving night, both poignant and funny!" Personal notes (for both shows): -------------------------------- Obviously this is pretty awesome footage as we all already witnessed from the Vimeo-files a while back. This DVD is transferred from it's original masterfiles and therefore has much more quality. The original cam sound has been replaced with Crystal Cat's stunning recording to make this a very enjoyable watch. Not much more to ask for for a Bruce boot, perhaps next time a FULL show :-). But there's always something left to beg for. Many thanks to It's Boss Time for sharing his stuff! Enjoy, Wizardus