Bruce Springsteen HSBC Arena Buffalo, New York November 22, 2009 Source: Audio Technica AT-899 omnis => Edirol R-09 Transfer: R-09 => WAV => Magix Audio Cleaning Lab => WAV => FLAC (level 8) Location: Slightly in front of stage, club level, left (Garry's) side *** Contrast clause: This is a different source from the versions torrented here: *** http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=277763 http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=277763 Track listing: Disc one (75:33): (1) Wrecking Ball (6:15) (2) The Ties That Bind (3:38) (3) Hungry Heart (4:43) (4) Working on a Dream (6:53) (5) "Greetings" intro (2:18) (6) Blinded By The Light (5:30) (7) Growin' Up (7:44) (8) Mary Queen of Arkansas (4:31) (9) Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street? (3:46) (10) Lost in the Flood (8:16) (11) The Angel (3:38) (12) For You (5:12) (13) Spirit in the Night (7:49) (14) It's Hard To Be a Saint In The City (5:14) Disc two (79:11): (1) Waitin' on a Sunny Day (6:26) (2) The Promised Land (5:55) (3) Restless Nights intro (4:31) (4) Restless Nights (4:31) (5) Happy Birthday To Stevie (1:02) (6) Surprise, Surprise (3:53) (7) Green Onions (3:41) (8) Rehearsal (0:50) (9) Merry Christmas Baby (6:23) (10) Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (5:18) (11) Intro (2:19) (12) I Don't Wanna Hang Up My Rock 'n' Roll Shoes (3:55) (13) Boom Boom (4:23) (14) My Love Will Not Let You Down (5:04) (15) Long Walk Home (6:52) (16) The Rising (4:50) (17) Born To Run (5:53) (18) Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (6:43) Disc three (50:57): (1) PSA (1:06) (2) I'll Work For Your Love (3:57) (3) Thunder Road (6:09) (4) American Land (8:35) (5) Dancing in the Dark (8:03) (6) Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (8:04) (7) Higher and Higher (8:59) (8) Rockin' All Over The World (6:01) Checksum file is included. Comments: I think that "epic" might be the most overused term of 2009, but I can't think of any better word to describe this show. Bruce played a mammoth 205-minute show to close out his 2007-2009 tour that almost never let up in energy and emotion. The obvious highlight of this show was the first full performance of his first album "Greetings From Asbury Park" (peaking with the return of the "There I Was" monologue about the band's origins) but there were many other great moments as well -- the "Merry Christmas Baby" rave-up, a killer first-ever version of the obscure cover "I Don't Wanna Hang Up My Rock 'n' Roll Shoes," and the surprise "Rockin' All Over The World" to close the show. If he hadn't dragged out the tepid "I'll Work For Your Love," I would say this was pretty close to a perfect show. If this was really "the end" of the E Street Band as we know it, what a fitting way to go out, with 19,000 screaming fans (many who had traveled long distances) on their feet for 3 1/2 hours of rock and roll at its best. In terms of the recording, I'm happy overall with the way it came out, but it needed some help. I was in an ideal spot for taping (with bossman and Hobbes, who are pros and always seem to find a good spot -- kudos to Hobbes for hooking us up with the tickets), but the mix was horrible as it has been for most of the arena shows on this tour. (I will always remember Hobbes flipping the double bird toward the board when Bruce thanked the sound men.) I had thankfully minimal crowd interference, but the bass was absolutely overpowering through the whole show. I used Audio Cleaning Lab to: * Lower the 60 Hz and 170 Hz bands to cut back on the bass * Drop the 800 Hz and 1 kHz bands to partially offset the boominess of the arena * Slightly raise the +3 and +6 kHz bands to make the recording a little brighter The result, I think, is a pretty nice audience tape that captures the performance and reflects much better sound than most of us heard in the room. I had to make a few attempts at this and listen to it on multiple stereos before I was happy with it; in the end, I think it's pretty good. I have no idea how it compares with the other two sources posted so far, but I figure you can never have too many sources to chose from for a show like this. I'm sure there will be several more posted in the weeks to come. If you are even a casual Bruce fan, you owe it to yourself to check out this or any other version of this historic show -- it's a great document to prove that Bruce is still the best live artist performing today. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for E Street (whoever is in the band) to make its return.