Boot Tracker, April 5th 2008, San Jose CA

Again a very good Springsteen recording from the dime and an excellent show. Springsteen is on a roll out West! The sound of this bootleg is just a notch below the Sacramento recording from yesterday but still very good indeed for an audience recording. The people who attended the San Jose show can look forward to a very nice reminder to a night of Magic. From the opener to the closing minutes Bruce and the boys sound like they were in excellent shape, ready to silence the critics of this tour. Many fans have complaint that the set lists have been stale, but the past few shows have prove once again that patience pays. One of the shows surprises was already given away, "Fire" had won the San Jose request contest, but it came in a show packed with of them.

The show opened on a joyous note with a track from "The River", with "Out On The Street" the audience must have been on their toes from the get go. Hearing it now I must admit that this is one of the tracks where I really miss Patti's background vocals, even though Soozie does a fine job filling in for her. The next rarity was "Something In The Night" with Springsteen growling especially mean in the opening of the song. On numbers like these his singing really stands out. His voice may be a bit more rough and gruff these days, but he hasn't sound this full in years. After "Trapped" we got "Reason To Believe" back in the set. To me that's the song that summarizes what this tour is about. From the venomous harmonica opening to the exorcising boogie Springsteen seem to be expressing his discontent with the current times and the need to shake it! It may have lost some of its subtlety in the beginning but still packs quite a punch leading nicely into "Prove It All Night". The fan request "Fire" doesn't quite have the sizzling sexuality it had a decade or two ago, but still a nice enough performance.

If the main set didn't have the arena cooking yet, the Boss made sure the encores would. Crashing right into the "Detroit Medley", one of the shortest versions I've ever heard but effective enough to send the audience in a frenzy. The version of "Glory Days" that followed "Born To Run" was raucous enough to forgive him the "Bobby Jean" that followed. I enjoy that song, but never really understood why he insists of pulling it out in the encores. Maybe to cool down the audience a little, avoid unfortunate accidents for people with heart conditions, lets face it the Boss and his fans aren't getting any younger. But San Jose proved that these are still Glory Days yet! Definitely a show for those who only collect the high lights of the tour.

Note: Born To Run didn't decode fully in the original upload of the recording. Born To Run cuts off near the end. A new version was posted yesterday. Here is a restored version of that song.

"Glory Days"
Download the full show in MP3 format here

Sound: 4- out of 5
Show: 4+ out of 5
Artwork: 4- out of 5

Review from the Mercury News

Update:
An incredible matrix recording of the San Jose show has been released recently. The taper combined a wireless recording with his own audience tape. The results are stunning, even though the sound is a bit thin. Without a doubt one of the best sounding bootlegs so far. You can easily take this one over anything that Crystal Cat has released this tour.
Download the San Jose Matrix in mp3 here