FOXBORO - It was "Thunder Road" and then some Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band brought their "Magic" tour to the home of the New England Patriots on a night when the sky crackled with lightning and the heavens dumped torrential rain and even pea-sized hail.

The weather turned frightful just as the roadies tuned the band's instruments about 8 p.m., when the concert was expected to start. The storm passed relatively quickly, but it wasn't until 9:21 p.m. that the Boss strode onto the stage and lit into a ripping rendition of the Eddie Cochrane hit "Summertime Blues."

Many brought rain slickers and plastic panchos to the show, but lots of the 50,000-plus crowd got drenched in the downpour. At one point, Springsteen said that he and the band were "dodging lightning bolts for about an hour and a half" on the way to the show and thanked fans for their patience in getting things started.

But no thanks were necessary. The devotion to Bruce is unequivocal, and fans gladly waited out the weather, confident that their man would not shortchange them. And he didn't. Springsteen, Little Steven, Nils Lofgren, Patty Scialfa, Max Weinberg and the rest of the gang played a rocking, uninhibited show from start to finish, and the weather cooperated nicely once the early turbulence passed.

After "Summertime Blues" the band launched into "Tenth Avenue Freezeout" with Springsteen striding exuberantly into the crowd, then went into "Radio Nowhere," with Bruce blasting away on guitar.

The show was heavy on hits from Springsteen's deep catalog (which the crowd obviously appreciated). Soon after "Radio Nowhere" came "Promised Land" with a great sax solo from Clarence Clemons, "Spirit in the Night" and "Tunnel of Love."

Then Bruce walked out into the crowd and chose some of the song requests fans had plastered on homemade signs. He played "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and thanked the fan for writing the lyrics on the back.

Sandwiched in between rousing versions of "Hungry Heart" and "She's the One" was a heartfelt rendition of John Fogerty's "Who'll Stop the Rain."

The show wasn't all hits, though. Springsteen indulged himself with "Living in the Future" with some accompanying comments about the erosion of civil liberties lately in America. Then he launched into a lengthy, revivalist preacher rendition of "Mary's Place."

The main set ended with a killer "Badlands" before an unforgettable encore that included "I'm Going Down" and "Jungleland" (both sign requests), "Born to Run," "Glory Days," "Dancing in the Dark," "American Land" and, for a finale, "Rosalita."

The Boss got a late start on the night but played for nearly three hours, ending shortly after midnight. And the end result was electric - with and without the lightning.

KEN ROSS is the Features Editor at The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at kross@thesunchronicle.com.