EAST RUTHERFORD — Bruce Springsteen did it again. He topped his own record for longest United States concert by one minute on Tuesday night.

Springsteen and the E Street Band's third and final show on "The River" tour at MetLife Stadium Tuesday night came in at 4 hours, 1 minute, just one minute over the record he set during Thursday night's show in the Meadowlands, according to Billbaord's Michele Amabile who clocked the show with other writers. The first of Springsteen's three MetLife River tour concerts set a record last Tuesday at 3 minutes, 52 seconds.

Springsteen did all three shows without an intermission or extended break, although the 66-year-old did take a quick break for a cold drink offered up by an audience member on Tuesday night, according to Amabile. Springsteen aficionado Tom Cunningham, host of the weekly Bruce Brunch program on 105.7 The Hawk said the concert was "a show that people will be talking about for a long time."

 

"He really gave his all to New Jersey, but after all, he did say we challenged the E Street Band, and boy did they meet that challenge," said Amabile, who was at all three concerts and said the third show was different. "I have never been to a Springsteen show like this. For nearly two hours he played selections primarily from the first two albums. You never knew which direction he was going to take, and that is what made the whole night so exciting."

According to Amabile, the first 12 songs were all from the '70s, including a guest appearance by Rickie Lee Jones for "Sprirt in the Night." He then broke out five songs in a row from the 1984 album "Born in the USA." He then hit some songs from the tour's namesake album.

"It's nearly impossible to think that every song for the first hour and a half of the show was written prior to 1974. An hour and a half is an ENTIRE show for some acts, these folks were just getting warmed up," Cunningham said. "The first 11 songs contained all of side two of "The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle" (including the always sought after "Incident On 57th Street/Rosalita (Come Out Tonight") pairing. It also featured four in a row from "Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ."

Cunningham said the concert also included a "terrific version of the rare "Secret Garden" and off the hinges covers like "Summertime Blues" and "Pretty Flamingo."

He gave a lot of credit to the E Street Band for having the stamina to keep up with the Boss. Max Weinberg in particular was off the charts. The entire band was in the zone right along with Bruce," Cunningham said.

The tour moves on to Philadelphia for two shows next Wednesday and Friday at Citizens Bank Park and ends on Sept. 14 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, just south of Boston.

In anticipation of a possible record setting shows of their own, the Foxboro Board of Selectman voted to approve an extension of the stadium's curfew to 11:30 p.m. according to the Foxborough Patch.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Aug. 30, MetLife Stadium set list (Billboard)

1. New York City Serenade (w/strings)
2. Blinded By The Light
3. Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street
4. It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City
5. Spirit In The Night (w Rickie Lee Jones)
6. Summertime Blues (sign)
7. 4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)
8. Kitty's Back
9. Incident On 57th Street
10. Rosalita
11. Pretty Flamingo
12. Atlantic City
13. I'm Goin' Down
14. Darlington County
15. Working On The Highway
16. Downbound Train
17. I'm On Fire
18. Hungry Heart
19. Out In The Street
20. Living Proof
21. Candy's Room
22. She's The One
23. Because The Night
24. The Rising
25. Badlands

26. Secret Garden
27. Jungleland
28. Born To Run
29. Dancing In The Dark
30. 10th Ave. Freeze-Out
31. Twist & Shout
32. Glory Days
33. Shout
34. Jersey Girl (with fireworks)

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