Dear Mr. Springsteen,

I have to admit, it’s been a thrilling year for both you and me, and our good mutual friends in the E. Street Band.  For me, I’ll end 2009 having seen three Bruce shows(including Bonnaroo!,) which is nothing for some of your really hardcore fans, but for this guy, three Bruce shows in one year = one hell of an awesome year!

Meanwhile, you and the boys in the band certainly have been having fun with the sign request shows – each show upping the ante for fans to potentially see something they thought they’d never see Bruce and E. Street do.  Silly fans – don’t they realize that this is the mighty BOSS and the E. STREET BAND that we’re talking about?

And now, you’re joining the recent trend of playing full albums – and might I be the first to say that it’s about time!  When B-level bands like RATT start pulling out non-thrilling albums like Out Of The Cellar in their entirety, clearly it’s time for The Boss to step in and take care of some biz.  So, I’ll commend you on a nice job of rising to the occasion, and doing what had to be done!

The full album shows in Chicago and New Jersey, the word of a planned break from E. Street activity after this tour, and additional full album announcements in Washington and Baltimore got me thinking:

How about full album shows in St. Louis and Cleveland?  In the interest of full disclosure, I will be in attendance for both of these shows.  I realize that Cleveland is kind of a no-brainer, so let’s skip ahead for a moment to St. Louis.  My musical colleague Annie scoffs at the notion of a full album show in St. Louis, and to that, I offer up Washington and Baltimore as arguments for the potential of it really happening.  Additionally, your St. Louis setlist from last year suggests that in a city where “Adam Raised A Cain,” “Rendezvous,” “Then She Kissed Me,” “Mountain of Love” and “Drive All Night” were all in the setlist, miracles are indeed possible.

Add the recent additional full album shows announced in Philly, Charlotte and Nashville, and suddenly I am feeling pretty good about my chances of a full album show in STL.

For St. Louis – I suggest the Born to Run album would be appropriate – or if you’re feeling like a prankster, how about the Lucky Town album?  Any city that gets “Adam Raised A Cain” and all of those other tunes in one show deserves to be f*cked with a little bit on the return flight.

Alternately, I would take a rerun of last year’s setlist with some modifications – swap “Magic” for “Incident,” “Gypsy Biker” for “Kitty,” and so on.  You can leave in “Last To Die” and “Girls In Their Summer Clothes” – I like those two quite a bit, still.

Let’s move on to Cleveland:  This one is a no-brainer really.  31 years after the legendary Cleveland Agora show on the Darkness tour, I think that a full album gig featuring the Darkness album is almost a must-play.  But I have an additional idea:  What about recreating the entire setlist from that classic Agora show?

Selfishly, I’d like the second option so that I would finally have the chance to hear “Sherry Darling” live….and how about “Growin’ Up” with that famous “praying for more watts” speech too?

(*cough* or Born to Run in Cleveland would be okay too – see update w/ press release below!)

In closing, I’d like to thank you for all of the years of great music that you’ve brought to me.  I know, I know – CHEESY.  Keep in mind, most of these “open letters” are usually composed while the person is drunk, or hopped up on a bottle of pills.  Me, I’m ridiculously sober – just a Bruce fan with a few dreams.  And in my world, 2009 has proven that I remain one that isn’t afraid to dream – and I’m hoping that you’re with me on this one.

Cheers,

Hopeful in Cleveland

UPDATED: Cleveland gets Born to Run!

From the official Live Nation press release:

Cleveland, OH – October 12, 2009 – In response to the overwhelming fan enthusiasm at Chicago’s Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live performance of the album “Born To Run,” Springsteen has decided to perform the classic album in its entirety at Quicken Loans Arena on November 10.

In Chicago, Bruce began with a varied set list, performed the album portion of the show in the middle of the concert, and continued the show through its grand finale. The Chicago Tribune called that city’s performance “epic,” continuing, “they delivered and then some.” Said long time manager Jon Landau, “Chicago convinced us that this was really worth doing. The audience was so supportive of the concept that it convinced us to go ahead with this at Giants Stadium, and now also in Cleveland.”

Bruce @ Giants Stadium, Sept/Oct 2009 – photo courtesy of Backstreets