Seeping into the Brainial Cortex in Kalamazoo

On a glorious early fall day, Bruce played the Miller Auditorium in Kalamazoo
yesterday evening.  After our cross-state trek, we rolled into town about an
hour before scheduled show time.

As we came in, we noticed immediately how orderly everything was.  There were
a couple of kids selling tour programs, and the local chapter of Second Harvest
was collecting food donations.  The souvenir tables were just going up, and in
addition to the standard fare, they were also selling "Journey to Nowhere."

We met Judi and her friends, she said Bruce had fooled people by going not
going to the stage door, but Paul had gotten his hand shake anyway.  We met
Todd and his friends, and Todd was excited about the prospect of hearing
"Highway Patrolman" for the first time -- little did he know!  Pretty much
everyone knew what we had only announced to family and in private email --
that we are expecting our first child next year.  Pretty cool.

Miller Auditorium is a very pleasant building, though there were some minor
annoyances (e.g., loud doors which were opened during songs).  Rows alternated
between college students and older folks.  Very good crowd.  The college kids
payed attention.  Pretty much everyone stayed until the end (unlike the shows
in Detroit this past January).  Bruce was in fine form.  When a couple people
shouted out "Happy Birthday!" early on, Bruce just laughed his way through the
obligatory response: "Ahhh, Shut the Fuck Up."

The setlist:
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Atlantic City
Straight Time
Highway 29
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Johnny 99
Highway Patrolman
In Michigan
Sell It
Brothers Under The Bridges
Born in the U.S.A.
Dry Lightning
Spare Parts
Youngstown
Sinaloa Cowboys
The Line
Balboa Park
Across The Border
----------------------
Bobby Jean
This Hard Land
There Will Never Be Any Other For Me But You
---------------------
Galveston Bay
The Promised Land

The show gained steam early on with a tremendous "Atlantic City."  I felt that
it was pounding through me, until I noticed that the guy behind me was kicking
my chair to the beat.  "Darkness" has become a furiously discordant acoustic
masterpiece.  And "Born in the USA," modified slightly from the previous legs,
now seems fully realized.

Todd got his wish.  Bruce played a haunting rendition of "Highway Patrolman."
The mention of the word Michigan in that song drew a cheer, of couse.  As
we were soon to discover, the expectation of this reaction had gotten Bruce
to writing before the show.  He said, "you don't sit in front of the TV and
hear the word Michigan and jump out of your chair. I don't do it when I hear
the words the great state of New Jersey."  The mention of New Jersey brought
another cheer.  Then, Bruce said, "The money is in writing songs with people's
hometowns," and for the briefest moment I thought, ohmigod, he's going to cover
Glenn Miller.  Then he started playing...  "My mother rolled over and died in
Michigan..."  It was all downhill from there.  We loved every bit of the
ride.  Lori was having trouble breathing.

As we struggled to recover, Bruce started to introduce "Sell It."  He talked
about the subliminal impact of informercials.  Then he said it:  "It seeps
into your brainial cortex."  Lori grabbed me, she was turning blue...

By this time, of course, Bruce had total control of the crowd (well, except
for a few who kept shouting out requests -- "Rosalita," "Thunder Road," "The
River" and "Glory Days" among them).  For the border quite, the silence was
fairly complete.  Bruce responded with an other-worldy "Across the Border."

The second new song, the one with the line about Prince Charles wanting to be
a tampon in another woman's underpants, was also great.  It could be a single.
NFK.  The new version of "The Promised Land" is stunning.  For me, it actually
works better audio-only, but in any event it's mesmerizing.

After the show, Bruce did an extended stageside meet and greet, asked and
answered a few questions, and was generally very friendly.  The crowd was
orderly and polite, and there was no pushing or shouting.  We were not among
the lucky, and my mind was in stage 2 Kinderitus, but it was great fun just
listening to the various questions, answers and comments from all sides.

--Matt