The tour also gave Springsteen a chance to bid farewell to two famous venues he had played many shows at – the Philadelphia Spectrum and New Jersey's Giants Stadium.

Before long, legislatures and attorneys general of several states, as well as members of the U.S. Congress and federal regulatory agencies, were weighing in on the matter, with various lawsuits, settlements, and proposed laws as the result.

[26] The October 26, 2009, show in Kansas City, Missouri, was canceled an hour before its scheduled start time due to the death of Lenny Sullivan, Springsteen's cousin and assistant road manager for ten years.

[33][35] East Coast online sales through Ticketmaster, including the New Jersey ones, were especially troublesome, as many customers endured long waits or were in the middle of a purchasing transaction, only to be hit with screens saying the site was down "due to routine maintenance".

[42] Springsteen's organization, as well as record companies and promoters, held back substantial numbers of tickets from public sales and made their supply even tighter, especially for New Jersey shows.

[48] Pascrell, whose office received over 1,000 complaints on the matter, and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal also used the sales tales to indicate concern with the possible merger of Ticketmaster with Live Nation.

[55] The secondary markets ticket saga re-emerged in mid-May during the first leg of the tour when TicketsNow announced they had oversold by some 300 persons the date at Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center.

"[56] When Springsteen's autumn Giants Stadium shows were announced in late May 2009, secondary market sellers began advertising steeply marked-up tickets before they went on sale.

[62] The eight-minute "Outlaw Pete" from Working on a Dream opened and various other selections from the album were played,[34] but the show generally included patterns and staples of the early Magic Tour and other previous outings.

The early part of shows contained a "recession pack" consisting of "Seeds" (brought back from the 1980s), "Johnny 99" (elongated with incongruous train "woo-whoo's"),[77] and either "Youngstown" or "The Ghost of Tom Joad"[66][72][78] (both featuring fiery guitar solos from Nils Lofgren).

[76] However, one regular moment of optimism was the playing of "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" from The Rising, with Springsteen holding a microphone down to one or more young children in the front of the pit area to sing along to the chorus.

[90] He received a very positive reaction from both audiences and reviewers as a spark plug for the band,[89] with his vigorous, long-hair-flying style inviting comparisons to Dave Grohl[77] and his potential for replacing his father drawing allusions to Wally Pipp.

[92] Once the show moved into its European second leg, more Working on a Dream songs began to sporadically appear, with "My Lucky Day" becoming a regular for a while and "Queen of the Supermarket" getting its first airing anywhere.

For Scandinavian shows, as band members walked on stage, Lofgren opened with solo accordion performances of local summer-themed specialties, "Idas Sommarvisa" in Sweden[93] and "Du skal ikkje sova bort sumarnatta" in Norway.

"[87] On June 25, Max Weinberg departed The Tonight Show temporarily for four weeks to join the band for the resumption of its Western European leg, via a comedy bit that had his drum riser turn into a float that took him outside and studio and purportedly to the airport.

"[104] "American Skin (41 Shots)" made unexpected appearances in Dublin and at several stops in Italy,[105] while "My City of Ruins" was played at Stadio Olimpico in Rome in honor of the victims of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake.

[108] The last of these shows, at the Auditorio Monte do Gozo in Santiago de Compostela, was marred by disorganized security and overbooking by the promoter, leaving some of the approximately 40,000 ticket holders unable to get in.

[116][119] The full-album idea took fruition with the late September-early October set of five shows at Giants Stadium, which would be the final concerts ever in that venue in Springsteen's home state.

[122][124] The final show, which drew nearly 60,000 people,[124] concluded with the second playing on the stand of "Jersey Girl", dedicated to "all the crew and staff that's worked all these years at Giants Stadium.

"[122] The full album versions continued, as well as a localized rendition of "Wrecking Ball", at Springsteen's four shows to close out the Philadelphia Spectrum as well;[118] some 43 different songs were playing during the stand.

"[87] Born to Run remained the standard full album choice for the rest of the tour, but the two shows at New York's Madison Square Garden saw The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle and The River, with the latter's 20-song length dominating the setlist.

[127][132][133] Showcasing featured vocals from Cindy Mizelle or Curtis King Jr. and trumpet solos from Curt Ramm, the song stretched to eight minutes with key changes, reprises, and walks through the pit area by Springsteen and the singers, and became recognized as one of the highpoints of the entire tour.

[134][135] Springsteen dispelled any notion of this being the final E Street Band show or the last for a long time;[87][136] in an interview near the end of the tour he said, "We're playing to an audience now that will outlive us.

"[136] The performance of it was dedicated to his first manager and producer, Mike Appel, who was present in the audience,[138] and featured quite rare renditions of "Mary Queen of Arkansas" and (the first ever with the E Street Band) "The Angel".

[52] Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot wrote that "If there was a disappointment, it was that Springsteen didn’t make a stronger case for his latest album, Working on a Dream.

[67][69][79] The San Jose Mercury News and the Connecticut Post both gave the show a mixed review, with the former saying it was "decidedly subpar"[139] and latter saying "the concert itself wasn't as captivating as past visits to the state.

[78] The Greensboro, North Carolina News & Record said that "Springsteen and the E Street Band were received like conquering heroes during an exhilarating three-hour show that repeatedly drove the adoring, near-sellout crowd into fist-thrusting, sing-along frenzies.

"[89] The Globe and Mail said of the tour's sole Canadian show, "an evening with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band still ranks as the epitome of the rock concert experience.

"[67] Rolling Stone said of the first leg's concluding New Jersey shows, "Springsteen tours don’t usually hit highs like this until the end, but the band has essentially been on the road since September 2007.

"[6] They concluded that Springsteen gave "a performance of passion, exuberance, exhilaration and musical majesty" while sticking with his standard tour set list and not resorting to playing many of his better-known hits.