Yes, this really happened. Remember when you first heard “Keep The Car Running” and thought, “That’s the best Bruce Springsteen song not written by Bruce Springsteen”? Apparently so did the Boss! A few hours ago, Bruce & the E Street Band played Ontario’s Scotiabank Place, and reader Michael Schwartz dropped us a line soon after the instant classic gig’s conclusion:


Michael said “Stereogum, keep your eyes peeled for YouTube clips from tonight’s Springsteen show” before hitting us with this info via Backstreets.com:

Four more tour premieres tonight, including “Tougher Than the Rest” (an audible, in the “Heartbreak”/”Brilliant” slot on the setlist) and “Backstreets.” But when the spot-on debut of “Backstreets” isn’t the big story of the night, you know something unusual happened. Yep, in the six-song encore, Bruce and the E Streeters were joined by members of Arcade Fire, husband-and-wife band co-founders Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. First up was “State Trooper,” a song Arcade Fire has been known to cover, and which the E Street Band hasn’t played live since the Born in the U.S.A. tour. After that, they all went into “Keep the Car Running,” a hard-hitting track from Arcade Fire’s magnificent Neon Bible.

OK, mind explosion. And it’s late and typing’s tough, etc. BUT rest easy — we will update with vid as soon as we find it.

UPDATE: And so it has been found. Big thanks to Robert Brockie and Ryan Carey of the trendwhore.ca site for writing in with the links and for basically making the internet’s day with this footage.

Bruce (W/ Win & Régine) – “State Trooper”

Bruce (W/ Win & Régine) – “Keep The Car Running”

Bruce’s setlist…
01 “Radio Nowhere”
02 “The Ties That Bind”
03 “Lonesome Day”
04 “Gypsy Biker”
05 “Magic”
06 “Reason To Believe”
07 “Adam Raised A Cain”
08 “She’s The One”
09 “Livin’ In The Future”
10 “The Promised Land”
11 “Tougher Than The Rest”
12 “Backstreets”
13 “Darlington County”
14 “Devil’s Arcade”
15 “The Rising”
16 “Last To Die”
17 “Long Walk Home”
18 “Badlands”
—-
19 “Girls In Their Summer Clothes”
20 “State Trooper”
21 “Keep The Car Running”
22 “Born To Run”
23 “Dancing In The Dark”
24 “American Land”

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Comments (27)
  1. Elliot  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    You know, you can say Ottawa. I think more people would be familiar with the city than the province anyway.

    Regardless, WHAT.

  2. Ruben  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    Ottawhat???

  3. rastafarianlibrarian  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    this just in…bruce springsteen plays in the middle of the country above america. apparently it is called canada, and they chew tree bark and talk funny. film at eleven.

  4. ChzPlz  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    Yup, it was the highlight of a good show. Brucespringsteen.net says that Win and Régine stayed on for Born To Run, but I don’t remember that.

    http://www.brucespringsteen.net/live/2007setlists.html

    As the show went on, I was wondering if Régine lugs her accordion around with her whenever she goes to a concert… not like every band has an extra one kicking around. But – it turns out Bruce does. The last Springsteen song of the show (American Land) had two accordion players on stage (neither of them was Régine).

  5. Dear Gum,

    I’d love to keep reading but I have to prepare for tonight’s baseball game between the team from Massachusetts, USA and the team from Ohio, USA.

    Keith
    In canada…somewhere

  6. nick  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    two uses of the phrase “instant classic” in under a week here. ick.

  7. sorry nick. it was really late and i tend to start repeating myself when fatigued (i tried to warn you in the post). besides, i really wanted just to type “awesome” but i was too tired to spell it properly.

  8. The Spilken8r  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    Video up on P4K. It’s awesome.

    BRUUUUUUUCCEEEEEE!

  9. Kyle  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    The guy in the video said it best. “Hooooooly Sh****t!”

  10. …. that was me

  11. Sean  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    Not knowing the capital of Canada is sooooo high school.

  12. Gordon  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    I’m so glad the “HOLY SH**” guy didn’t keep screaming all the way through the song like the kids on the White Stripes bus. Kudos to you, screaming guy!

  13. Nathaniel  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    But Keith, wouldn’t you rather watch the baseball game between Phoenix and Denver? Good job on the irrelevant nitpicking.

  14. Nathaniel,

    My home town has a name. The name is not Ontario. Nor is it irrelevant.

    That is all.

  15. Mrs. Featherbottom  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    Thanks, Shitgum. Your ignorant crap is most amusing.

  16. Poypul!  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    Hopefully this will have the same effect on the Arcade Fire as it did on the Wallflowers.

    You don’t battle LL Cool J and you don’t let Bruce cover one of your songs in public. You’ll be midway through the first chorus when suddenly, uh oh, it’s his song now. sorry.

  17. someguy  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    Good job. It’s not like Ottawa isn’t the capital of the country.

  18. Janine  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    holy shit… the holy shit guy is my brother!

  19. Cherry Ghost  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    Boy, those Canadians sure do excite easily.

    “OH MY GOD! WHAT THE FUCK?!? YES!!!”

  20. Janine  |   Posted on Oct 15th, 2007

    actually, i think he is more accurately known as the “what the fuck?!” guy.

  21. is that seth rogen yelling holy shit?

  22. For the love of all that’s good and right with the world, let there be an official bootleg or let there be someone who had some device plugged into the board

  23. I ripped the MP3s of the videos, find them here => http://www.trendwhore.ca

  24. I ripped the MP3s of the videos, find them here => http://www.trendwhore.ca

  25. Greg  |   Posted on Oct 16th, 2007

    You don’t battle LL Cool J? Why not?

  26. lorah  |   Posted on Oct 24th, 2007

    LUCKY motherfuckers. That might be the coolest thing in the world…

  27. Jake  |   Posted on Nov 21st, 2007

    “Keep the Car Running” is my favorite John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band song not written by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. Is it just me or does the song sound a lot like “On the Dark Side?”

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