Live Performances
"The Rising" was performed by Springsteen and the E Street Band on all promotional television appearances surrounding the album's release. It was then the "keynote song" throughout The Rising Tour of 2002-2003. By this is meant it was usually the opening song of the performance, or if not, was played second after some offbeat or obscure set list choice was played before it.
In its live arrangement "The Rising" underwent two significant changes: the oscillating violin and keyboards line that is understated on the record became much more prominent, with violinist and new E Streeter Soozie Tyrell featured, and Nils Lofgren took the "dream of life" contravocal lines towards the end of the song. In particular the violin-based opening of the song became instantly recognizable, and signalled the thematic if not literal beginning of all Rising Tour shows. "The Rising" was also played at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards and the Grammy Awards of 2003 shows. The song is also performed in the key of C Major live as opposed to the key of E-flat major on the album.
That the difference between the bleak verses and the communal chorus was the key factor in interpreting "The Rising" was highlighted by Springsteen's own performances, when he and the audience raised their arms in unison during the latter. Indeed, many of the songs on the album had more universal interpretations available to them than just those associated with September 11, and "The Rising" proved to be no exception. This concept was further demonstrated by a country music star with rock sympathies, Keith Urban, who included a long interpolation of "The Rising" into his CMT Music Awards closing performance of his "Better Life", in tribute to, and in conjunction with accompanying choral members of, victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Placed in the middle of sets during the short 2004 Vote for Change tour, "The Rising" was greeted by a strong audience response, with political echoes for those fans so inclined. When the 2005 solo Devils & Dust Tour came around, Springsteen continued to feature "The Rising", but now on acoustic guitar; it usually appeared two-thirds of the way through the show, as a return to musical stability after one of his always-an-adventure multiple piano songs slots. "The Rising" was not played during the 2006 big folk Sessions Band Tour. "The Rising" returned to a prominent spot in Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2007 Magic Tour, placed between two of Magic's most politically oriented numbers, "Devil's Arcade" and "Last to Die"; indeed, Springsteen would say that the 30-second segue coming out of "The Rising" was what "the whole is going to turn on ... that's what we're up there for."
"The Rising" continued to be featured as the penultimate song of the main set during Springsteen and the band's 2009 Working on a Dream Tour, where it drew a consistently strong audience reaction. And it was again a late-set staple during the subsequent 2012 Wrecking Ball Tour.
Read more about this topic: The Rising (Bruce Springsteen Song)
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