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11/16/2007 3:33 AM

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By Brad Hundt, Staff writer

bhundt@observer-reporter.com

PITTSBURGH - "Magic" is the title of the latest album by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and they conjured up plenty of it at Mellon Arena Wednesday night.

By this point, it should be no surprise that Springsteen and the E Streeters get glowing notices. For a little over 30 years, they've mustered a well-deserved reputation for putting on fantastic live performances, and their latest stop in Pittsburgh was no exception. Though Springsteen is getting seriously close to - gulp - 60, it's a good bet that there will still be plenty of magic left to be had before he hangs up his guitar and heads down Thunder Road.

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Playing to a sold-out audience of mostly forty-and-fiftysomethings, Springsteen and the band opened with "Radio Nowhere," the lead-off track from "Magic." It's a gutsy move to open a show with a new song - most veteran performers opt for the safe, crowd-rousing hit - but "Radio Nowhere" stacked up well next to the Springsteen classics in the 24-song set. All told, eight of the 12 songs on "Magic" were played, including the topical "Livin' in the Future," which Springsteen explained was "about what's happening now," and went through the laundry list of Bush administration sins, from illegal wire-tapping and rendition to torture and civil liberties violations. Another topical song was "Last to Die," which asks, "Who'll be the last to die for a mistake?"

Springsteen is a master of crowd-pleasing gestures, with plenty of pointing into the audience, high-fiving the people in front and tossing water into the first few rows. But Springsteen doesn't make many concessions to the lowest common denominator when he puts together his set-lists. Sure, he played "Born to Run" and "Dancing in the Dark," but other hits were missing - there was no "Hungry Heart," no "Born in the USA," no "Brilliant Disguise," no "Rosalita," no "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." Instead, he pulled some more off-beat selections out of his hat, including a buoyant version of "Kitty's Back," which goes all the way back to 1973's "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle," and a hushed reading of "Youngstown," from 1995's acoustic "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (in fact, Springsteen appeared to surprise his band when he started playing it. They quickly huddled and then disappeared into the shadows until he was finished).

Pittsburgh favorite son and occasional Springsteen collaborator Joe Grushecky made his by-now expected appearance, turning up for "Code of Silence." The difference this time, though, was that it was in the middle of the show rather than in the encores.

As you would expect from someone who is closer to Social Security collection than student loan application, Springsteen is no longer serving up the three-hour-plus marathons of the 1970s and 1980s, and Wednesday night's show was somewhat less athletic than the last time Springsteen and the E Street Band played Mellon Arena in 2002. There were no knee-slides this time, and no sprints across the stage and leaps up onto the piano. Nevertheless, Springsteen is in remarkable shape for his age. If he ever wants to reveal his diet and fitness regimen, I'll be in line for that, too.

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