Heaven and Hell in Detroit (Fox Theater, April 25, 2005)

Tour opener. Detroit. Or, for me, go to a tour opener in the town where I work.

Bruce Springsteen kicked off his 14-show US solo acoustic tour here last night, and if the opener is any indication, you won't want to miss it.

The last time Bruce did an acoustic tour was 9 years ago, and the new show has plenty of reminders of the Joad tour. But the differences were also immediate -- the slicked back hair and pony tail, the work boots, most of the twangy voice, and, most significantly, the material, have changed.

The first song of the evening appeared to be some sort of unrecognizeable Delta blues. With Bruce triggering some sort of percussion sound with his foot and playing harmonica, it sounded like he was providing music over a 60-year old recording I'd never heard. It took until the 3rd verse until the words started taking shape for me, and I realized that the song was "Reason to Believe." I still have no idea how Bruce pulled off this performance. It was awesome, jarring and frightening.

That was followed by the title song from the new album, "Devils and Dust." The reaction from the sold-out house indicated that the song has already gained a substantial amount of familiarity, despite the fact that the offical release date for the album isn't until today.

If "Reason to Believe" referred to people's relation with heaven, "Devils & Dust" had a bit of both heaven and hell, and the choices to be made.

This was followed by a searing 12-string rendition of "Youngstown," with Bruce bathed in red light. This was, in effect, hell. And thus the general theme for the night was set.

Bruce attacked the songs. This may have been billed as solo acoustic, but he was absolutely filling the house, and rocking it out. Bruce was also in full story-telling mode, including several poignant stories about parents and children. My personal favorite was when he likened the birth of his first-born to the arrival of Jesus, and how he want outside from the hospital and couldn't understand that people were still shopping in the wake of this momentus event. And how now, 14 years later, Jesus was looking at him like he was an idiot.

6 songs in, Bruce went over to the piano, and showed off his improved chops there. First with "For You," which he described as an early love song. Then, with the evening's emotional highlight, "Real World" -- which he described as one that had "slipped away -- a step or two in pitch below the Christic version but just as beautiful. I'd challenge the hard core fan to make it through this rendition dry-eyed, but really, what point would there be in that? Even knowing it was coming, I had no chance. The piano break gave just the right moment for reflection. Here it was -- heaven and hell, and just a bit of love and hope thrown in, too.

The setlist, overall, concentrated on newer material; only 7 of the 24 songs predated the '90's, and The Rising had as many songs in the selist (4) as Joad and Nebraska combined. As expected, neither the BtR nor BUSA albums were represented at all in the setlist.

All of the piano songs were highlights, as was a surprise electric reading of "Part Man, Part Monkey" -- complete with an evolution rap that was at least a distant cousin of ToL tour version. "Maria's Bed" was another highlight from the Devils & Dust material.

Before "Highway Patrolman" Bruce joked that he had made a bet with himself. Anyone who remembered the Kalamazoo show from the Joad tour instantly knew the bet, but amazingly, "Canadian border 5 miles from here" got a bigger cheer than the mentions of Michigan. Another odd cheer was for the final line of "Reno."

Bruce flubbed the rap in the middle of "Jesus Was an Only Son," and something seemed to go missing from about that point on. The performances were still strong, but somehow the pure magic left the building.

After a nice performance of "Leah," with keening replacing Mark Pender's trumpet (and, as happened on a number of the slower songs of the evening, too noticeable offstage keyboards), the stool came out, and whoosh, it was Joad tour revisited for the remainder of the show. Hopefully, Bruce will rework this last part of the show. Before "Matamoros Banks," Bruce evoked the images of "Deportees" and called for a "humane" immigration policy. Unfortunately, the song just doesn't hold up to "Across the Border," its predecessor in that slot.

The encores essentially replayed the Joad encores, including *both* "My Best Was Never Good Enough" (the early tour closer) and a slightly updated rendition of the percussive "The Promised Land" (late tour closer). And now, back home, in front of the TV. Bruce is playing "All I'm Thinking About" -- a song he left out, last night -- for Matt Lauer. I'm off to work, and I gotta find myself a way to Cleveland in a couple of weeks. Can't miss another chance to see this tour.