*what follows is particularly overzealous, ass-licking, and long-winded praise of bruce springsteen and the e street band's performance in dublin. if you are not a fan or are averse to gushing prose, i suggest you skip it.

bruce springsteen rocks so hard it makes my chest hurt. first of all, here's the setlist: Born in the U.S.A. (acoustic)/The Rising/Lonesome Day/Candy's Room/My Love Will Not Let You Down/Atlantic City/Empty Sky/You're Missing/Waitin' on a Sunny Day/The Promised Land/Worlds Apart/Badlands/Out in the Street/Mary's Place/Meeting Across the River/Jungleland/Into the Fire/Thunder Road

First Encore: Kitty's Back/Ramrod/Born to Run/Seven Nights to Rock/Glory Days

Second Encore: My City of Ruins/Land of Hope and Dreams/Dancing in the Dark

this setlist was on Backstreets hours after the concert ended. that site rules. anyway. i have just two words: "thunder road." that was worth the entire price of admission right there. and he played it at almost full speed. now, i'm not one of those people who go to a concert to hear a rehash of the album but as far as i'm concerned, showstoppers that rock as hard as "thunder road" and "born to run" are nothing short of disappointing if played at a slower tempo. he played "born to run" at full blast too! it made my night. and then "glory days" and "dancing in the dark" for the encores! those songs even brought the irish crowd to their feet. it was strange. i spent most of the concert sitting down. the people in the seats around me just didn't get up very often. it was okay with me though 'cause my feet hurt. there were only two songs i didn't know ("ramrod," which is from the river and "seven nights to rock," which is an old '50s song written by moon mullican) and that made it really fun; and the two songs i didn't know were terrific and fun too. a lot of the songs from the rising are really good for a crowd to sing along to. and "born in the usa" is perfect for a slower tempo, because at heart it is a folk song and, when it's played acoustically, you pay more attention to the (really depressing) lyrics.

this really was, bar none, the best rock concert i have ever been to. and i have been to quite a few. and i had to piss like a racehorse throughout most of the show (another story)--that should tell you something. i enjoyed this one a lot more than when i saw them in '99 because i knew more songs. they all seemed to be having so much fun; way more than last time. he seemed so serious the last time. he was fairly giddy! he had a wee bit of trouble with some of the high notes but only a few and the dude is like 5 years younger than my dad. and he still rocks out so hard. i will cut him as much slack as i possibly can.

plus. damn does he look good. i'm sorry. the man is so fucking hot. he just is. and so sexy. god. and he wrote "thunder road"? that man is not safe within 50 feet of me. god, i've been gushing about this concert to anyone who will listen since saturday night, and going over and over it in my brain and as i'm typing i can't really put it into words that articulate how great it was. not anything much past "it ruled!!!"

"promised land" and "badlands" and "atlantic city" were my other favorites that he played. and i totally got into them and blocked everyone else out. plus he played two other songs from born to run. i love "jungleland" but i rarely even listen to "meeting across the river" on the cd anymore. i just skip it; it is one of the most depressing songs i have ever heard in my life. the audience knew most of the words to the songs from the rising. unfortunately, i did not but i knew the chorus of most of them. except one didn't really feel one should sing along with "you're missing" or "empty sky." it was just a great vibe. everyone there was sooooo excited to be there and the band looked like they were even more excited than us. i just love his performances: he gives his all every single time. they played for exactly three hours. three hours. shit, my voice was giving out and i didn't even sing along with all the songs. it's like they totally get that they are so lucky (even after 30 years) to be doing what they do for a living. he kept thanking us for coming out. as if dublin wasn't ready to kiss his ass for even coming to ireland in the first place, which people rarely do. mmmm. i'm just a fan for life.