Bruce Springsteen performs “Take It Easy” with violinist Soozie Tyrell at the United Center in Chicago.
Three days after opening his River Tour in Pittsburgh (and paying tribute to the late David Bowie with a cover of “Rebel Rebel”) Bruce Springsteen saluted another rock legend — Glenn Frey of The Eagles, who died on Monday — with a cover of “Take It Easy.” While The Eagles’ original version was a breezy folk-rock song, this was a slow, soulful, stripped-down interpretation, featuring just Springsteen on acoustic guitar and vocals, and Soozie Tyrell on violin. Check out a video of the performance, below.
“Take It Easy,” co-written by Frey and Jackson Browne, was The Eagles’ first single, and a No. 12 hit for them in 1972. Browne released his own version of it on his 1973 album, For Everyman.
As in Pittsburgh, Springsteen opened with The River outtake “Meet Me in the City” before playing The River in its entirety. He closed the main set with “The Rising” and “Thunder Road,” as he did in Pittsburgh, and besides “Take It Easy,” all of the encores (“Born to Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Rosalita” and “Shout”) were also encores in Pittsburgh.
Besides “Take It Easy,” five songs were not played in Pittsburgh: “Night,” “No Surrender,” “Cover Me,” “She’s the One” and “Human Touch.”
Here is the setlist from the show. The River songs are in bold.
“Meet Me in the City”
“The Ties That Bind”
“Sherry Darling”
“Jackson Cage”
“Two Hearts”
“Independence Day”
“Hungry Heart”
“Out in the Street”
“Crush on You”
“You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)”
“I Wanna Marry You”
“The River”
“Point Blank”
“Cadillac Ranch”
“I’m a Rocker”
“Fade Away”
“Stolen Car”
“Ramrod”
“The Price You Pay”
“Drive All Night”
“Wreck on the Highway”
“Night”
“No Surrender”
“Cover Me”
“She’s the One”
“Human Touch”
“The Rising”
“Thunder Road”
Encores
“Take It Easy”
“Born to Run”
“Dancing in the Dark”
“Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”
“Shout”
Springsteen’s next show will be at Madison Square Garden, Jan. 24. He also plays at the Garden, Jan. 27, and the Prudential Center in Newark on Jan. 31.
Here is a video of “Take It Easy”:
