I’ve been listening to the new Springsteen album, Magic, quite a bit over the past few days to make sure I knew the songs well before the concert. There are lots of things you could say about it, most of them complimentary, but the thing that struck me most was how familiar it all sounded. Bruce hasn’t been recording with the E Street Band for quite some time, but now here they are with a brand new album and it sounds like they had never been away. If the pounding beat of “Radio Nowhere” doesn’t tell you exactly were you are, then Clarence Clemons wailing sax on the intro to “Living in the Future” surely will. This is a Springsteen album, and the E Street Band are the best rock band in the world. Still.

What else an I say, except that I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night?

Well, I guess I should commiserate with all of you folks who can’t be there. But because I’m a generous sort, I have scoured YouTube for some consolation. So here they are, playing my favorite track from the album at a gig in Philadelphia. Ladies and Gentlemen, playing “Girls in their Summer Clothes”, I give you, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!