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Springsteen returns: The Boss played Foxborough, Mass. on Thursday, a week after postponing Philly shows due to illness

The Jersey rocker was back on stage in New England, after being "taken ill" in Philadelphia last week. New dates at Citizens Bank Park have yet to be announced.

Bruce Springsteen performs with the E Street Band at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. on Thursday, March 16, 2023. The Jersey rocker returned to the stage in Foxborough, Mass. on Thursday, after postponing two shows at Citizens Bank Park last week due to illness.
Bruce Springsteen performs with the E Street Band at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. on Thursday, March 16, 2023. The Jersey rocker returned to the stage in Foxborough, Mass. on Thursday, after postponing two shows at Citizens Bank Park last week due to illness.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer / Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Phot

The Boss is back.

And feeling better, apparently.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band got back to work on Thursday night in Foxborough, Mass, eight days after he was “taken ill” and abruptly postponed two shows in Philadelphia just hours before he was set to take the stage at Citizens Bank Park.

No official announcement has been made about the nature of Springsteen’s illness that caused the shows in Philly not to go on. Philly’s Springsteen fans are awaiting word on when the Citizens Bank Park dates will be rescheduled.

But whatever the ailment was, Springsteen is now well enough to perform in his signature long-form style. Thursday’s show at Gillette Stadium — home of the New England Patriots — clocked in at just under three hours and Springsteen looks and sounds in tip-top shape in clips posted on social media.

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The show opened with “No Surrender” from 1984′s Born in the U.S.A. and closed with the elegiac “l’ll See You in my Dreams,” from 2020′s Letter to You just as it did when Springsteen played the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly in March.

He also sprinkled the set with songs he didn’t get around to doing at that previous South Philly tour stop, including “Mary’s Place,” “Out in the Street,” and “The E Street Shuffle.”

The Boss and band are playing East Coast dates through the end of September, but their schedule is tight and the regular occupants of Citizens Bank Park — the Phillies — are at home for much of the month.

And while Springsteen is off in October before resuming touring in the western United States in November, the Phillies, who lead the National League standings in the race to qualify to play in the post-season, seem destined to once again be playing October baseball, making a quick reschedule tough.

Tickets for the original shows will be valid for the rescheduled dates, and refunds are also available.

Springsteen and the E Street Band are scheduled to play Foxborough again on Saturday, before moving on to Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 and 3.

Setlist:

  1. “No Surrender”

  2. “Ghosts”

  3. “Prove It All Night”

  4. “Letter to You”

  5. “The Promised Land”

  6. “Out in the Street”

  7. “Darlington County”

  8. “Kitty’s Back”

  9. “Nightshift”

  10. “Trapped”

  11. “The E Street Shuffle”

  12. “Mary’s Place”

  13. “Last Man Standing”

  14. “Because the Night”

  15. “She’s the One”

  16. “Wrecking Ball”

  17. “The Rising”

  18. “Badlands”

  19. “Thunder Road”

Encore

  1. “Born to Run”

  2. “Rosalita”

  3. “Glory Days”

  4. “Dancing in the Dark”

  5. “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out”

Encore

  1. “I’ll See You in My Dreams”