The concert is billed as "Bruce Springsteen With the Sessions Band," referring to last year's Seeger Sessions recording. That rollicking take on traditional Americana, quietly championed by Pete Seeger, showed a side of Springsteen some might read as a post-election hangover. Few folkies have been more political than Seeger, yet there is nary a hint of protest therein. Politics, however, have been supplanted here by something perhaps more powerful--an exuberance that screams, "Screw the bastards; we're here to celebrate music and life, no matter what they try and do to us."
In addition to songs from the first Sessions CD, the CD includes songs Springsteen has completely reinvented, including "Growin' Up," "Blinded by the Light," "Open All Night" and an "Atlantic City" that is riveting as an opener.
Springsteen's acoustic guitar, often underappreciated, is crisp, and he is clearly leading the troops. He also employs an endless supply of vocal affectations, not all of which work. But when the horns kick in with the violins, accordion and everything else, who really cares?
