First, Fred: way to dress up for the show. Aren't you a little old for the slacker/skake punk look at a formal awards show? Come on Fred, you're part of the industry, holding an A&R position with Interscope and dating Britney Spears and all. Splurge a little, buy a shirt with buttons or something.

Second: "agreeance" is not a word. You sound like a dipshit. And, asking the war to "go away as soon as possible" is vague. Does that mean you want it to start, and for us to win as soon as possible? Or, more likely, does it mean that you would like to be able to go back to playing ostrich and not have to think about living in a world where a large number of people want nothing more than your destruction and are willing to die themselves in the process, caring very little for life in any of its manifestations? That's what I thought.

No wonder the industry is in such disarray: giving mush-brained puds like Fred Durst positions of authority. "Whoa - look at those tattoos: that guy must have tons of fierce integrity, let's hire him."

Robin Williams, amped about his Grammy win or back on the cocaine, then gave a ripsnorting intro for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Wife Patti looked fine, a rock 'n' roll chick in a real rock 'n' roll band - the finest in the land - although my wife Dawn doesn't get what Bruce sees in her.

Bruce doesn't want some movie star - he wore that suit and it didn't fit - he wants someone who understands him and has an appreciation for the New Jersey working class Joe who became one of the biggest stars in rock history, but never really gave up his roots kind of vibe. Patti is Wendy in "Born to Run," the single mother in "I Want to Marry You," Mary of "Thunder Road." She's a lusty wench with a gleam in her eye and a guitar in her hands, a rockin' redhead he can trust and make a real home with, even on the road, because Bruce's road goes on forever.

The band blew through "The Rising," making it sound at home in the Bruce canon, something not many new songs have done in the last 15 years. Bruce struck his rock 'n' roll stance: boots firmly planted shoulder-width apart, leaning slightly back. A stance of maximum power and stability for either karate or music. A stance that says "this is serious but nothing could be more fun," with his lifelong friends and family up there with him, each a vital cog in the E Street machine, each feeling the weight of rock history upon them but loving every second of it. There is nothing like the Boss and the Band - the majesty of their command can't really come through in one song but that doesn't mean it isn't there.