You might say that this day, our first show day of this tour, actually already started the night before as we arrived late to NYC. Just before bedtime we made a successful exchange of tickets (from seated to GA) on BTX.
With this in mind we decided to head to the venue quite early. So after a “delicious” breakfast in our luxurious accommodation (Holiday Inn Express, Jamaica) we took the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) to inspect the whereabouts of the UBS Arena in Belmont.
A brisk 10 minute walk from the train station later we arrived at the venue, the home of New York Islanders. It was around 11 o’clock and the building seemed dead and deserted. We decided to circle around it to see if we could find out entrance.
We took a left turn and as we had almost completed the full circle we found it. Outside the door about six people were waiting. One of them was Andreas from Germany, who we knew from before. A couple a minutes later a member of staff came out to hand out wristband with numbers (I got number 83) and asked us to come back at 4:15 to start queuing, which was perfect for us since we needed something to eat before the show.
Skip forward a few hours, we found ourselves in the back of the pit, perfectly positioned for a great view forward, but also for turning around and standing first row as Bruce would come dancing on the platform for Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out. Just before the start of the show I discovered that I had forgotten my earplugs (which would be the reason to why it still feels like my ears are stuffed with cotton this morning).
What a show it was! Such energy from the band and the crowd! I’ve seen quite a few live streams, so I knew what to expect setlist wise, but I didn’t expect the show to be so energetic and spirited. I was singing. fist pumping and “ugly dancing” all night long.
Some of my favourites songs were: Thunder Road (always a favourite), Candy’s Room, The E Street Shuffle, Mary’s Place (tour debut) and Backstreets and Bobby Jean and Pay Me My Money Down and… Actually, I could mention almost the whole setlist. At the end of the set we spotted Jon Landau as he walked into the pit. It looked like he was having a good time too.
Next show is on Tuesday (the same venue) and the plan for the day is, apart from going into Manhattan for some sight seeing, to try and find someone who wants to trade our seated tickets for GA, because I want to get back into that pit again.
Setlist Sunday April 9
- No Surrender
- Ghosts
- Prove It All Night
- Letter to You
- The Promised Land
- Out in the Street
- Candy’s Room
- Kitty’s Back
- Nightshift
- MARY’S PLACE (tour premiere)
- Pay Me My Money Down
- E Street Shuffle
- Last Man Standing
- Backstreets
- Because the Night
- She’s The One
- Wrecking Ball
- The Rising
- Badlands
Encores
- Bobby Jean
- Thunder Road
- Born to Run
- Rosalita
- Glory Days
- Dancing in the Dark
- Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
- I’ll See You in My Dream
Next show: Tuesday, April 11 at the same arena, UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.
Stray Bullet 
I can feel your joy in this review, Anna! So glad 4 u to get the general admission pit, as u desired that! And that numbered bracelet process, wow, such a sacrifice! But when u r a diehard fan, as u r, and your bf, that’s what u do. I was very happy 4 u, to see Mary’s Place as a debut, as I cited that song when I did a podcast interview w this guy out west a couple years ago, as a fave. My show had “It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City.” But u cannot get everything u want: I wanted Jungleland, but that was the tour debut just one show prior, 4/1. Still, keep enjoying the worship of the crowd! And Manhattan also has Shake Shack locations, a lot of them. Enjoy all that the Big Apple has to offer. Well, u got the Boss, so everything has to be less than that…
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