Jem Aswad

He yelled and casually cursed a bit more, and certain reminisces - which are based on his 'Born to Run' autobiography - have been abridged, rushed or extended, as would anyone who's telling the same story for the 237th time. He also changed up his delivery on several songs in a singalong-defying way: 'Growin' Up' had jittery strumming; 'Born in the U.S.A.' is even more of a gospel-blues holler, played with a slide on 12-string guitar; he sang 'Thunder Road' in his Woody Guthrie-esque semi-Southern accent.

Continuing that theme, the musicians return for an encore of the Talking Heads' 1985 hit 'Road to Nowhere' - a fittingly paradoxical close to a stunning show from an artist whose much-vaunted quirkiness masks his intensely focused and disciplined creativity. While Byrne's more recent solo recordings may not always approach the brilliance of his earlier work - really, not many creators' work does - particularly in concert, he remains a vital, compelling and deeply relevant artist who, at 67, continues to challenge his audience and himself.

Despite the relative lack of spontaneity (except when the crowd began clapping along on 'Dancing in the Dark' and he said with a smile, 'I'll handle it myself, thanks!'), the show is not a glorified audiobook. Springsteen's everyman persona can obscure his deep intelligence and formidable talent as a wordsmith: He has a novelist's eye for detail ('My mom's high heels would echo down the linoleum hallway'; 'My dad's favorite bar smelled of beer, perspiration and after-shave') and a master politician's gift for flow, impact, rhythm and the ability to speak intimately to many. The show is loaded with great lines and we'll spoil just a few of them: 'I come from a boardwalk town where everything is tinged with a bit of fraud - including me'; 'Those whose love we wanted but couldn't get, we emulate'; 'I have never held an honest job in my entire life.'