Possible lengthier engagements, or dates in areas outside the Northeastern United States, where Springsteen's commercial appeal had dimmed, were viewed as additional legs in 2008.

[14] As per past Springsteen practice, the tour proper was preceded by a couple of weeks of the band holding closed rehearsals at Asbury Park Convention Hall – but now with loudspeakers playing local radio stations positioned outside the hall to foil the Springsteen faithful who gathered outside the building to hear a glimpse of the set lists and arrangements to come.

The first, North American leg began at the Hartford Civic Center on October 2, 2007, and played in arenas through two shows at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, concluding on November 19.

The third, North American leg again started up at the Hartford Civic Center on February 28, 2008, playing both previously visited and unvisited markets, in arenas.

(The leg's conclusion was followed by a special out-of-tour, very-high-priced benefit show May 7 for, and at, the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey, where Springsteen's classic 1970s albums Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born to Run were played in sequence in their entirety.

However, more songs were played than could be extrapolated from this time, given past practice, due to the omission of elongated numbers with stage hijinks, and in particular no long monologues or band intros.

On the other side, not only was Springsteen's teleprompter (a fixture since the early 1990s) still in view, but sidekick Steven Van Zandt had his own (for lyrics) as did wife and band member Patti Scialfa (for guitar chords).

Shows usually began with a calliope playing "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" as the band took the stage, followed by several calls out from the darkness by Springsteen — "Is there anybody alive out there!?"

This was followed by some older number, such as "The Ties That Bind" or "No Surrender", that supplied that social connection, and then by The Rising's "Lonesome Day" to balance the equation.

The Nebraska closer was transformed from a low-key acoustic number to a heavy-hitting, harmonica-driven, boogie-woogie blues rock version,[22] with Springsteen pumping up the audience with phantom overhand throwing motions ... all for a song that represented, despite frequent misinterpretations, a void empty of hope;[24] only a return of the Devils & Dust Tour's ultra-distorting "bullet mic" at the end served to reveal a bit of the deceit.

An explicit public service announcement rap during "Livin' in the Future" listed Springsteen's complaints about developments in American during the George W. Bush administration, including extraordinary rendition, illegal wiretapping, voter suppression, no habeas corpus, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and the continuing Iraq War.

Another fixed, socio-political sequence occurred at the end of the main set,[25] "Devil's Arcade" into "The Rising" into "Last to Die" into "Long Walk Home" into "Badlands".

In an interview, Springsteen said of the transition out of "The Rising" and into "Last to Die", signalling the course of American society from the September 11 attacks to the Iraq War,[26] "The whole night is going to turn on that segue.

This was followed by potluck back catalog choices, often involving one of his long epics, the inevitable "Born to Run", a celebratory "Dancing in the Dark", and as the show finalé, "American Land".

This, the only holdover from the Sessions Band Tour, featured Clemons on pennywhistle, both Federici and Bittan on accordion and joining Tyrell and the others on the front stage line, in an up-tempo jig that sought to convey the whole tale of immigration to the United States.

As such it careened wildly in purpose between a rousing closer and a message summation; these dual roles were found in the start with Springsteen's exclamation over drums, “It’s your country, don’t let anyone take it from you!”[25] and was emphasized as the tour went on, when the large video screens above the stage began scrolling the lyrics as the song played, and then illustrated Springsteen's quick-paced band intro spiel with 1960s Batman-styled cartoon bursts: E!

The European second leg featured very enthusiastic crowds and shows lengthening towards two and a half hours, but also largely static set lists, possibly due to stand-in organist Charlie Giordano needing time to learn the Springsteen oeuvre.

"Long Walk Home" gained more emphasis, with Nils Lofgren and especially Steve Van Zandt adding their own vocal parts during the coda.

[21] On the European outdoor summer's leg, where unlike in the U.S. Springsteen was still a stadium-level attraction,[14] the shows became increasingly longer, a pattern that had been taking hold throughout the tour.

As the tour left Helsinki, the group had played a total of 117 different songs over 87 shows, the list having been expanded in Europe with rarities like "I'm on Fire", "Held Up Without a Gun", "For You", "Drive All Night", "Rendezvous", "Summertime Blues", "Cover Me", and "None but the Brave".

The New Haven Register found the band "ripping through a spirited set" on opening night and judged Weinberg, Van Zandt, and Clemons as the main stars of the performance besides Springsteen.

[39] A Jon Pareles review in The New York Times of a Madison Square Garden show two weeks later framed the performance thusly: The sheer vitality of Mr. Springsteen, 58, belting an entire set of showstoppers straight from the gut and working the stage with his longtime band, provides all the hope the lyrics struggle to find.

[40]The Syracuse New Times summed an Albany, New York, show late in the first leg as "a masterful presentation of Springsteen’s new album Magic and a few moments of his mumbling political cajoling, all wrapped up in a joyous rock’n’roll revival replete with his most famous hits going back to the 1970s.

"[42] The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saw the concert there as exemplifying Springsteen's ability to have "dark words ride along on a buoyant pop melody", terming the enterprise "an exercise in danceable agitation.

[14] This paled in comparison to the fast sales and many added dates for The Rising Tour's Giants Stadium stand in 2003;[46] theories advanced included poor sales timing before the holiday season and way in advance of the shows, a worsening U.S. economy, stagnant European second leg set lists, and aftereffects of Springsteen's Vote for Change explicit political stances and non-E Street Band tours.

She missed all but one of the shows in the North American third leg as well,[29] with Springsteen giving different humorous explanations at each stop for her absence, all revolving around their teenage children misbehaving.

Scialfa said she was staying home to enjoy the last year of all three children being together, and to be fully involved in their eldest child's college application and decision process.

[51] Throughout much of the tour, video clips of one performance from a show, usually cut down to a one- to two-minute excerpt, would be posted on Springsteen's official website.

On July 15, 2008, Springsteen released the live audio and video EP Magic Tour Highlights, which collected guest appearances from the third leg, including Federici's only return.

Tunnel of Love Lucky Town Greatest Hits The Ghost of Tom Joad Tracks The Rising The Essential Bruce Springsteen Devils & Dust We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions Magic Other (non-album songs)