A theatrical entrance began the show, a full horn section appeared, band members were rearranged from their customary positions, and on-stage spontaneity was kept to a minimum.

The show featured backup singer Patti Scialfa brought to center stage as the object of sexually themed presentations deemed unusual for Springsteen.

There were five-night stands in two major markets, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena and at New York City's Madison Square Garden; the shows at the latter closed the American leg on May 23.

The European leg commenced on June 11 at the Stadio Comunale in Turin, Italy, and continued for 23 shows in stadiums, concluding the tour on August 4 at Barcelona, Spain's Camp Nou.

Band members entered the stage two by two, taking tickets from Magovern, each (with the help of a professional costumer) more sharply dressed than for previous tours:[2] Max Weinberg and Danny Federici, Garry Tallent and Nils Lofgren, the horn section.

[22] Audiences expected the moody "Tunnel of Love" to open, but the second slot — which in past years was filled by well-known rousers such as "Badlands", "Out in the Street" or "Prove It All Night" — now was "Be True", an obscure, lightweight B-side[22] to the underperforming 1981 "Fade Away" single.

Plenty of songs (typically eight or nine) from Tunnel of Love appeared,[26] but the dominance of obscurities, of B-sides and outtakes, continued,[4][27] with immediate audience response sacrificed for what might be a slower but deeper understanding.

After detailing how he came to write "Born to Run" a decade and a half earlier, he would say that its overt theme of escapism had concealed a deeper search for connection and for a place its protagonists could call home.

"[18][33] Presented were top hits such as "Hungry Heart" and "Glory Days" (both with heavy roles from the horn section)[17] and even, in the second encores, the resurrection of a couple of veteran numbers dropped midway through the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, "Rosalita" and the "Detroit Medley".

[36] Gerd Dietrich, a professor of history at Humboldt University, was quoted saying that "Springsteen's concert and speech certainly contributed in a large sense to the events leading up to the fall of the wall.

"[36] From the first release of Tunnel of Love, there had listeners who wondered if some of the gloomy portrayals of interpersonal relationships on the album indicated that Springsteen's 1985 marriage to actress and model Julianne Phillips was in trouble.

Now it was recast into rockabilly mode, with a half-spoken, half-sung introduction detailing a youth's frustrations up to the iconic car parked with a girlfriend on a lovers' lane.

In tours past, this was a classic moment of Springsteen the relentless showman; he would sponge off his head, gulp down water and spray it over the stage, revitalizing himself to keep on playing for a few more hours.

[30][46][49][50] Springsteen biographer Dave Marsh later wrote of the sparks flying from the interaction, "You could have written it off just to musical magic ... if you were dumb as a doorstop", and said that even those that oblivious could not have missed the meaning of the body language during their performance on "One Step Up", in which a man lists metaphors for the failing love in his marriage, expresses his lack of desire to find it again, and starts casting a wandering eye about.

[54] During the Madison Square Garden shows in mid-May, fans and the New York newspapers began noticing that Springsteen was not wearing his wedding ring on stage.

Paparazzi caught Springsteen and Scialfa snuggling each other in their underwear (sometimes described as nightshirts) on a Rome balcony in one photograph and dressed but lounging together on a single deck chair with drinks in hand in another.

[57][58] When the show reached Wembley Stadium in London, the Fleet Street papers were preoccupied with judging whether the two really were an item: as USA Today reported, The Star and News of the World said yes, The Daily Mail was unsure, while the Sunday Mirror ran a photograph of Springsteen staring intently at his guitar and claimed it was the only love in his life.

[45] Music writer David Hinckley said that while Springsteen had never promoted himself as a hero or role model, he had nonetheless built a bond of faith with his fan base around the notion of doing the right thing.

[28] Music writer Gary Graff said that because Springsteen espoused "hanging tough and solving problems" that made his marital failure "especially intriguing" to the public.

[60] The affair continued to draw the attention of the celebrity and supermarket press, eventually including a long piece in Woman's World magazine that quoted Judith Kuriansky, a psychologist and television talk show host, to the effect that Springsteen was going through a midlife crisis.

[53] Regardless of exactly when the marriage ended and the new relationship began, the impression left upon the wider public was that Springsteen was a heartless man cheating on his wife an ocean away, Phillips was humiliated, and Scialfa was the "other woman".

[49] The search for a deeper personal connection that Springsteen had mentioned during his "Born to Run" introduction had left him, in an interview during the tour, comparing his fame and situation to that of Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson.

[67] Thus, for example, in the weeks preceding the New York area shows, several dozen fans would gather at major Ticketmaster outlets on Saturday mornings, listening on portable radios with the idea that something might be happening right then.

[68] The three kickoff shows in Worcester sold out in two hours[66] (the site having been chosen for the tour opening, the venue manager thought, because the New England area had given a very favorable response to the Born in the U.S.A.

"[23] The Milwaukee Journal found that the obscure and unexpected songs in the set list were the show's best moments, but also said that "at times, the new horn section proved to be unneeded baggage", either diluting or drowning out the rest of the band.

[71]) The Spokane Chronicle said that with the addition of the horn section, "the always powerful E Street Band is more muscular than ever" and that thematically, the show takes the viewer "for a bleak ride before you reach the light of day.

"[18] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times assayed that Springsteen "stepped away from the two concert elements that have most been associated with him – spontaneity and celebration – to concentrate on artistic independence and growth.

[73] In all, the Tunnel of Love Express lacked the athletic, boisterous liveliness that Springsteen had been known for, and featured largely fixed and predetermined performances and on-stage banter.

"[12] Of the split with Phillips, he wrote, "I dealt with Julie's and my separation abysmally, insisting it remain a private affair, so we released no press statement, causing furor, pain and 'scandal' when the news leaked out.

[77] The set itself followed tour practice except for the addition of Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" at the close, as Springsteen announced his upcoming participation in Amnesty International's Human Rights Now!