Bruce Springsteen plays Izod Center with soul

He knows they will sing along and punctuate songs with fists pumped in the air. He knows he can fall backward off a small stage in the middle of the Izod Center and they will catch him and pass him overhead for 50 feet or so to return him to the main stage. He knows they believe in the promised land and they plan to follow him toward it.

Though Tuesday night's show was the E Street Band's first official show in New Jersey since the death of saxophonist Clarence Clemons, Springsteen was more interested in looking ahead -- promoting the new "Wrecking Ball" album and addressing some of the country's concerns.

"We're here to deliver the news with a beat," he said, after declaring that the mission of the band remains the same: to "take the joyous power of music and shoot it straight into your heart."

The show was designed for that -- combining the soul influence from his early career with the folk from recent albums, while blowing out those rock anthems like "Badlands" and "Thunder Road." (He returns to the Izod Wednesday night and moves to Madison Square Garden for Friday and Monday shows.)

He also was trying to boost spirits. "Hard times come, hard times go," he chants at the end of a raucous version of "Wrecking Ball," combining Jersey folklore with defiance and a bit of economic cheerleading. It was his way of returning some of the faith shown in him.