Especially in the numbers played first, such as "John Henry" and "O Mary Don't You Weep", the typically 18-strong band put up a huge sound, with a four-acoustic-guitar-led rhythm section creating a strong beat, punctuated by plenty of violin, banjo, and trumpet solos as well as multiple false endings.

"[3] To these album numbers Springsteen added more songs from the same cloth, such as Seeger's "Bring 'Em Home" (cast towards the Iraq War rather than the original Vietnam) and Blind Alfred Reed's "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?"

The most remarked upon of these was Nebraska's "Open All Night", whose already surreal lyrics about New Jersey's industrial landscape were brought to the level of a "showstopping rave-up"[6] by being rapped against a big band swing arrangement and a pseudo-Andrews Sisters female backing vocal trio.

[5][7][8] On the third, European leg, the enormous reception the band had received earlier in the year was not lost in the larger shows, and with Springsteen's arrangements of over ten of his original works into folk-like performances to add to the ever-expanding repertoire of Seeger-influenced songs.

On November 11 at Wembley Arena, the band debuted a new Springsteen composition titled "A Long Walk Home", which was a ballad about the current state of American politics, which a special comments about the just-completed mid-term elections having restored "some semblance of sanity" to the country.

The first sign of domestic weakness came when the local Asbury Park rehearsal shows, placed in the very heart of Springsteen fandom, were not full;[11] in the past, these had been extremely difficult tickets to get.

[12] Some of Springsteen's most devoted fans were now overseas, and Milan and Barcelona provided especially fervent crowds, some of whom were mass singing the new album's songs even before the show started.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News wrote of the tour, "In Saratoga Monday night, Springsteen kept a full house on its feet pretty much the whole show.

Joan Anderman of The Boston Globe said that the "homespun symphony of accordions and fiddles, pedal steel guitars, and joyful voices was filled with the irrepressible spirit that's the very essence of folk music."

Dan Barry of The New York Times, writing as an old folk music follower, described how "music exploded from the stage: rock and bluegrass, jig and reel, spiritual and swing, honky-tonk and acoustic blues ... he raised his audience up with old songs and spirituals that he had infused with rocking urgency, then toyed with so that brass and guitar could harmonize, an accordionist could jam with the Boss, and a tuba player could know rock-concert adulation.

The most common reason offered was the title association with banjo-picking Pete Seeger, and the consequent (mistaken) impression that this tour was going to be dour folk music.

Seeger's name is on the ticket, sure, but in Springsteen's hands the music gets an enormous, big-band, horn-powered treatment that can only be explained with commas: gospel, blues, folk, rock, and zydeco.

A year later, Springsteen rated the whole experience highly, saying that the Sessions Band were "a tremendous discovery, and just an amazing group of musicians", and saying that he looked forward to working with them again.

[20] Bruce Springsteen – The Seeger Sessions Live, a video recording of a May 9, 2006, performance in London's St Luke Old Street church, was filmed by the BBC and also broadcast in the U.S. by PBS.