Steel Mill's Stomping Grounds

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, March 5, 2003

Richmond Coliseum, Section 32U Row F


Springsteen played in a band back in the late 60's called Steel Mill. They spent much of their time playing in Richmond in The Fan neighborhood and around Virginia Commonwealth University.
One would expect a musician with such roots to a city would have bothered to show up in the last 35 years.

There is a white elephant shopping plaza next to the Coliseum. I suspect since most events at the Coliseum don't draw, the surrounding businesses don't prepare for a crowd. Many out of towners were at the show and wanted a place to hang out for hours before the show. A bar next to the Coliseum is where we went.

There was one bartender in the whole place. He was under prepared and overwhelmed. I started ordering 6-8 beers at a time just anticipating the long wait before the next time I got his attention. After a few hours of hoarding beers for my group I tried to get his attention to settle up my tab before I left. I couldn't get the guy to look up. I had no cash (credit card) so I had to leave. Hate to stiff the guy but his manager threw him under the bus.

Rarities include "You Can Look" and "Two Hearts," but it was the local flavor that really stood out. Richmond was a home away from home for Bruce back in the Steel Mill days, and this was his first performance there since the '70s. Springsteen dedicated a solo-piano "For You" to "all my old friends in Richmond tonight," including his old Steel Mill pal Robbin Thompson. Later, Bruce brought Thompson to the stage, along with another Virginia boy, Bruce Hornsby, for the encore-opening "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go." Hornsby took two accordion solos, he and Thompson each sang a verse, and Springsteen dedicated the song to the late songwriter Hank Ballard, "great father of rock 'n' roll." Before "My City of Ruins," Springsteen recalled, "This was a town we made our living in for a long time. Back then there was only this place and one other place... thank god we had two places! This town kept us going, and you don't forget that."
Setlist: The Rising/Lonesome Day/No Surrender/Prove It All Night/Empty Sky/You're Missing/Waitin' on a Sunny Day/You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)/Two Hearts/Worlds Apart/Badlands/She's the One/Mary's Place/Countin' on a Miracle/For You/Into the Fire
First Encore: Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go (with Bruce "Spider Fingers" Hornsby and Robbin "Two Bs Please" Thompson)/Glory Days/Born to Run
Second Encore:My City of Ruins/Born in the U.S.A./Land of Hope and Dreams/Dancing in the Dark