Boot Tracker, August 16th 2008, Charleston

Helping me catch up with the bootlegs from the Magic tour I missed Charleston is reviewed today by guest writer Nightfishing from BTX. The same Nightfishing that brought you that excellent compilation of the earlier legs of the tour.Check it out here if you haven't already.

"Lost In The Flood" might be a good title for the Charleston boot. Amid the epic nature of the last few shows of the tour, the chatter over Charleston came and went pretty rapidly, but, make no mistake about it, August 16th was a fine example of what this final leg of the tour was all about and jb's recording is excellent. There is a bit more crowd on this tape than on the fine bakerstuff recordings of recent, but the clarity is great and the balance is a notch above the boots we received for Missouri et al. I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about the performance; anyone who has the pleasure of seeing any of these "Reunion Part Deux" shows knows that the band is at the top of it's game and Bruce is having an absolute blast as the tour winds down.

Double Shot is a perfect opener for a late summer show and coupled with Radio Nowhere and Out In The Street, the show takes off as well as any show on this leg. Two Hearts gives Stevie a chance to sing and you can decide for yourself if that is a plus or a minus! (I love the vox, Steve.)Spirit In The Night gives Bruce a chance to catch his breath before the sign brigade begins. Spirit has been a bit rote, to my ears, over the past few weeks, but this one has some real bite to it. Light Of Day, Growin' Up and Janey win the lottery and while they are not the best three pack we have seen, they get the job done. Growin' Up pales a bit in comparison to Nashville due to the lack of the G-D guitar story, but with every play of this classic being the potentially last time to see it, who's going to argue.

No Surrender kicks things back up (and has gotten new life in the middle of the set vs. it's opening block spot during much of the tour). Atlantic City seems out of place in this type of show (as did Devils & Dust a few nights later). Because The Night is owned by Nils, as usual but (as been the case a number of times) there isn't anyplace to go to follow it. She's The One into Livin' In The Future is possibly my least favorite coupling from this leg of the tour. I would have loved to see Gypsy Biker or Devil's Arcade get back into the set instead of LITF, but it's Bruce's world, we just live here. Mary's Place does it's job, as usual. The crowd gets frenzied while Bruce gets one last chance to catch his breath for the 5, err 4 pack. Charleston gets a little Hungry Heart before The Rising and at this point I have trouble writing anything about the 4 pack. If it's your first show of the tour you're gonna love it. 'nuff said.

Streets Of Fire is a nice surprise to open the encore and Jungleland, Born To Run and Rosie are perfect. Thank god (and that sign in Rochester) for bringing Rosie back to her rightful home in the encores. DITD has absolutely rocked this entire tour, but if you don't get it by now, there's no saving you! A post American Land Twist & Shout caps off a great night of classic E Street. With the embarrassment of riches we have received the past month, it's hard for a boot to stand out, but I think Charleston will be in heavy rotation, for me at least, for quite sometime.

"Double Shot (of my baby's love)

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here, part 1 and part 2
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 3- out of 5
Show: 4,5 out of 5
Artwork: none

Get the review from the Courier here