Well, after all, it was Valentine's Day.
And Bruce was quite insistent about the need to send flowers at the beginning of a Back in Your Arms that underlines how willing Springsteen and company are to shake things up and, effectively, fly by the seat of their pants.
They don't do it all the time, of course.
A glance down last night’s twenty-six song set list will reveal plenty of what you might term the usual suspects.
Anyone who had been following the way things have unfolded over the nine shows to date would have spotted the music stands and anticipated the starter.
And, at the end of the regular set, five-sixths of the encore good reasonably be described as pretty standard fare, more or less what your common or garden Springsteen fan expects.
They are, after all, the vast majority of the crowd in a sold-out venue, and if they’ve splashed out a couple hundred dollars for a ticket and fronted the merch booth you drop a couple of multiples of $50 on T-shirts and such oh good businessmen will ensure that they go home happy.
So they get the encore, with its Dancing in the Dark set piece, which is another prime example of a savvy performer who knows what works. It's the sort of thing that ensures the pit continues to be a source of primal energy that helps drive what goes down onstage.
And, just under halfway through the main set, you know you're going to get Hungry Heart, and the associated bit of crowd surfing if the conformation of the venue permits.
On the way into the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, around the entrances to the pit, you'll see signs informing attendees that crowd surfing is strictly prohibited is that offenders will be rejected. Probably unceremoniously.
But those sanctions only apply to lesser mortals.
Glancing at the seat in the details on my ticket, I had figured Row AC on the floor would have to be around twenty-nine back from the front.
That would equate, pretty much, to where I was sitting for the two Sydney shows and leave vision dependent on the goodwill of those in front of me.
When I arrived, I found that I was actually three rows back and maybe four seats across from the platform Bruce departs from for his crowd surfing exploits.
The seat on my right was occupied by the non-Venerable Bede, a long-time fan whose Bruce obsession that goes back to Born to Run, but hadn't been able to catch any of the earlier shows on the tour.
On that basis, what might expect a detailed discussion of how things had panned out over seven shows, I that, but was told, was a no no.
He had deliberately avoided the details of the tour to date, then wanted to be surprised by the setlist as it unfolded. It was an attitude I found difficult to comprehend, knowing that after New York City Serenade, which would either open or slot in around number seven, there were four or five almost inevitable no-brainers (Hungry Heart, Youngstown, Because the Night, The Rising, and Badlands) in the main set, and the encores were more or less obvious if you took any time at all to consider such matters.
And, on his right, there was a woman who'd gone to school in Proserpine a couple of years behind the inimitable Staggster, who I just happened to be interacting with on Facebook. It's a small world, and it continues to shrink.
The seat to my left remained unoccupied throughout, which may or may not have been related to an interesting snippet that emerged when one of the seats in the row in front of us was occupied by a gentleman with an American accent and an inclination to chat.
Since most of the row was unoccupied at that point, Hughesy, ex-Prossy Lady and the non-Venerable One were the obvious candidates.
And it seemed our new friend Leon, who had a ticket for Thursday but not, initially, one for tonight had rocked up to the venue an hour ago, asked whether anything was available and landed a single seat in a prime position.
On that basis, one might assume the seat of my left remained unoccupied because no one had turned up and asked.
At least I hope that was the explanation.
Given what was to come, you wouldn't want someone to have missed out through illness or misfortune.
So the lights went down, Professor Bittan appeared on the screens, the libraries tinkled and we were serenaded once again. New York City Serenade continues to sparkle as a sublime opener, a glass of prime bubbles to go with the canapes, but your average punter wouldn’t have anticipated what came next.
But that's not quite right either.
Your average Bruce familiar punter would have expected surprises and would still have been surprised by what eventuated.
BRUCEfanatic reports that Lucky Town had not been played since 2005, while Janey Don't You Lose Heart has been played once in 2015 and 2013, and twice in 2009 after multiple airings in 2008.
You could hardly describe either as an obvious candidate.
Rendezvous and Be True had turned up in tandem in Sydney but the real surprise and, for me, the highlight of the show (and possibly the whole tour) came after Bruce grabbed a sign advocating Back in Your Arms.
What followed underlined just how many risks Bruce and company are willing to take they are in the mood to be adventurous.
Lesser mortals might not even have attempted it, though one note it has turned up from time to time. More adventurous souls may have embarked on it and ground to an embarrassed halt when things went awry.
Bruce, on the other hand, admitted that things had gone wrong, enlisted Mr. Lofgren to help bring it all back together, and brought the whole thing to a climactic conclusion.
It was the sort of performance that makes you wish Bruce’s official website would release selected video footage along with the audio recordings of most shows. Back in Your Arms would be an obvious candidate for that sort of treatment, but in the absence of an official source, the semi-inevitable YouTube footage will have to do, assuming somebody has the wherewithal to post it.
Better Days was another sign request, and while, thereafter, the foot stayed down while things kept motoring, your average optimistic punter would probably not have been expecting too many further surprises.
So we got Leap of Faith for the first time since two inclusions in 2014 and the encore kicked off with Secret Garden, which had a play count of just four since a debut at Madison Square Garden in 2000.
It was that sort of night.
And, for Hughesy, a further highlight came with a Candy's Room that roared and soared, burning with the passion that it deserved.
If I had my way, it would appear, on average, in every second or third set list.
And that's about all that needs to be said except to note that the Nils Lofgren solos in Youngstown and Because the Night had me wishing that an electric Ghost of Tom Joad would find its way back into the equation with Nils handed the guitar shredding duties formerly assigned to Tom Morello.
So that was it.
Eight down, one to go, and I doubt you would have found too many dissatisfied customers on the way out.
New York City Serenade (with strings)
Lucky Town
Janey Don't You Lose Heart
Rendezvous
Be True
Back in Your Arms
Better Days
The Ties That Bind
Out in the Street
Hungry Heart
Wrecking Ball
Leap of Faith
The River
Youngstown
Candy's Room
She's the One
Because the Night
The Rising
Badlands
Rosalita
* * *
Secret Garden
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
Shout
Bobby Jean
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