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What Did He Open With? (trivia about the first leg)

© Mary Jude Dixon

First, a trivia question - what Springsteen song was performed 51 times (at all but one concert) in the USA during the first leg of this tour? (Answer below)

Okay, now that Bruce has returned to the stage and has begun the second leg of his ambitious reunion tour, it's time to look down the road and take a look at where we've been (figuratively, of course). When Bruce and the band took their final bows of the twentieth century, they had played a total of 90 shows, 52 of which were on American soil (and 15 in his home state of New Jersey!) If you went to a "typical show" on any given night, you were assured to hear ten songs that were played at every US show. Can you name them?

(play Jeopardy music in your head right now while guessing the answers)

TIME'S UP! Did you name the following?

Badlands
Born To Run
If I Should Fall Behind
Land of Hope and Dreams
Light of Day
Murder Incorporated
Tenth Avenue Freezeout
Thunder Road
Two Hearts
Youngstown

Okay, this is even tougher....there were 13 songs that were played only once. Can you name them?

do do do do do do do dum...

TIME'S UP! Consider yourself treated if you saw...

Does This Bus Stop On 82nd Street?
Frankie
Give the Girl a Kiss
Jersey Girl
Little Queenie
Night
Rosalita
Sandy
Sinoala Cowboys
Soul Man
The Fever
The Promise
Trouble River

There were nine songs that were played in Europe, but never made it over here (yet! Seeing "Lions Den" at Penn State gives me hope!) Can you name them?

Hmmm? Come on, I know you can!

Okay, maybe you need a lifeline. If I was your "phone a friend," I'd tell you these titles:

Brilliant Disguise
Brothers Under the Bridge
Car Wash
Dollhouse
I'm On Fire
Lucky Town
Tougher Than The Rest
War
Who'll Stop The Rain?

And to answer the title question, Bruce has opened with the following songs (in order of number of times it was played first):

Take 'em As They Come
Ties That Bind
Don't Look Back
My Love Will Not Let You Down
I Wanna Be With You
No Surrender
Incident on 57th Street
Growing Up
Candy's Room
Little Queenie
Jersey Girl
Night
Adam Raised A Cain
Of course, the big question is "What's next?" We have the remainder of the tour to look forward to, and what he'll do tomorrow is anybody's guess...

And the answer to the "top of the page" trivia question - What song was played at 51 of the 52 American shows? When that whistles blows, you'll know the answer is that Springsteen staple "Out In The Street". I'll be waiting for you!

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