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SIGNS AND BANNERS All of us have been enjoying the signs and banners with song requests. And we appreciate that the U.S. stadium shows may loom epic in your imaginations, inspiring grand and vibrant art. Please show respect for those in the crowd whose views of the stage may be blocked by your signs by keeping them to a reasonable size and displaying them for only short periods of time. COLUMBIA RECORDS RELEASES BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND'S 'MAGIC TOUR HIGHLIGHTS' VIA ALL DIGITAL DOWNLOAD STORES INCLUDING THE ITUNES STORE Columbia Records has released Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's 'Magic Tour Highlights' via all digital download stores, including the iTunes Store. The release will consist of four audio tracks with four accompanying videos, all recorded live in concert during the 'Magic' tour. Back in the day when I was a fixture on the Asbury Park boardwalk, I'd often stop and talk to Madam Marie as she sat on her folding chair outside the Temple of Knowledge. I'd sit across from her on the metal guard rail bordering the beach, and watched as she led the day trippers into the small back room where she would unlock a few of the mysteries of their future. She always told me mine looked pretty good - she was right. The world has lost enough mystery as it is - we need our fortunetellers. We send our condolences out to her family who've carried on her tradition. Over here on E Street, we will miss her. --Bruce Springsteen Obituary from the Asbury Park Press. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND END 2007-08 RUN WITH ADDED US DATES IN AUGUSTBruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will wrap up their 2007-08 series of concerts with twelve US dates, seven of which are newly announced. By the last show in Milwaukee on August 30, Springsteen and the band will have performed 100 concerts for over two million fans. Springsteen and the E Street Band are currently on tour in Europe and are earning accolades for their stellar performances. In a five-star review (out of five), London's Sunday Telegraph raved, "Bruce proves music can save your soul." The Observer called a London show "a performance of blood, sweat and tears." In another five-star review (out of five), Financial Times of London dubbed the concert "masterly, memorable and utterly exhilarating." The Daily Mail testified, "as good a show as I've ever seen." Bruce Springsteen's twenty-third album 'Magic' was released October 2 on Columbia Records and debuted at number one on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart. Rolling Stone awarded the album five stars, saying, "A firm beat, some Telecaster sting and the robust peal of Clarence Clemons' saxophone can still tell you more about the human condition than a thousand op-ed words." 'Magic' has been certified triple Platinum in Norway; double Platinum in Ireland and Sweden; Platinum in the United States, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Spain, and Canada; and Gold in the UK, Austria, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND US TOUR DATES * DENOTES NEW TOUR DATE
BRUCE OFFERS TRIBUTE TO TIM RUSSERT IN CARDIFF From the stage at Cardiff Millennium Stadium: Saturday June 14. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band blew open London's massive Emirates Stadium with a couple of exciting shows. Two tour premieres the second night: "Downbound Train" and "I'm On Fire", both from the Born In The U.S.A. album. See the SET LISTS for these shows and the rest of the tour on the brucespringsteen.net set list page. BRUCE'S SPEECH AT THE NEW JERSEY HALL OF FAMEBruce Springsteen was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame on May 4. Here's a transcript of his speech: When I first got the letter I was to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame I was a little suspicious. New Jersey Hall of Fame? Does New York have a hall of fame? Does Connecticut have a hall of fame? I mean, maybe they don't think they need one. But then I ran through the list of names: Albert Einstein, Bruce Springsteen... my mother's going to like that. She's here tonight. It's her birthday and it's the only time she's going to hear those two names mentioned in the same sentence, so I'm going to enjoy it. When I was recording my first album, the record company spent a lot of money taking pictures of me in New York City. But...something didn't feel quite right. So I was walking down the boardwalk one day, stopped at a souvenir stand and bought a postcard that said "Greetings from Asbury Park." I remember thinking, "yeah, that's me." With the exception of a few half years in California, my family and I have raised our kids here. We have a big Italian-Irish family. I found my own Jersey girl right here in Asbury Park. I've always found it deeply resonant holding the hands of my kids on the same streets where my mom held my hand, swimming in the same ocean and taking them to visit the same beaches I did as a child. It was also a place that really protected me. It's been very nurturing. I could take my kids down to Freehold, throw them up on my shoulders and walk along the street with thousands of other people on Kruise Night with everybody just going, "hey Bruce...." That was something that meant a lot to me, the ability to just go about my life. I really appreciated that. You get a little older and when one of those crisp fall days come along in September and October, my friends and I slip into the cool water of the Atlantic Ocean. We take note that there are a few less of us as each year passes. But the thing about being in one place your whole life is that they're all still around you in the water. I look towards the shore and I see my two sons and my daughter pushing their way through the waves. And on the beach there's a whole batch of new little kids running away from the crashing surf like time itself. That's what New Jersey is for me. It's a repository of my time on earth. My memory, the music I've made, my friendships, my life... it's all buried here in a box somewhere in the sand down along the Central Jersey coast. I can't imagine having it any other way. So let me finish with a Garden State benediction. Rise up my fellow New Jerseyans, for we are all members of a confused but noble race. We, of the state that will never get any respect. We, who bear the coolness of the forever uncool. The chip on our shoulders of those with forever something to prove. And even with this wonderful Hall of Fame, we know that there's another bad Jersey joke coming just around the corner. But fear not. This is not our curse. It is our blessing. For this is what imbues us with our fighting spirit. That we may salute the world forever with the Jersey state bird, and that the fumes from our great northern industrial area to the ocean breezes of Cape May fill us with the raw hunger, the naked ambition and the desire not just to do our best, but to stick it in your face. Theory of relativity anybody? How about some electric light with your day? Or maybe a spin to the moon and back? And that is why our fellow Americans in the other 49 states know, when the announcer says "and now in this corner, from New Jersey...." they better keep their hands up and their heads down, because when that bell rings, we're coming out swinging. God Bless the Garden State.
DANNY FEDERICI
"Danny and I worked together for 40 years - he was the most wonderfully fluid
keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much...we
grew up together." Danny Federici, for 40 years the E Street Band's organist and keyboard player, died this afternoon, April 17, 2008 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City after a three year battle with melanoma. The Federici family and the E Street family request that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund.
This eulogy was delivered by Bruce Springsteen at Danny's funeral on April 21 in Red Bank, New Jersey: FAREWELL TO DANNYLet me start with the stories. Back in the days of miracles, the frontier days when "Mad Dog" Lopez and his temper struck fear into the band, small club owners, innocent civilians and all women, children and small animals. Back in the days when you could still sign your life away on the hood of a parked car in New York City. Back shortly after a young red-headed accordionist struck gold on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour and he and his mama were sent to Switzerland to show them how it's really done. Back before beach bums were featured on the cover of Time magazine. I'm talking about back when the E Street Band was a communist organization! My pal, quiet, shy Dan Federici, was a one-man creator of some of the hairiest circumstances of our 40 year career... And that wasn't easy to do. He had "Mad Dog" Lopez to compete with... Danny just outlasted him. Maybe it was the "police riot" in Middletown, New Jersey. A show we were doing to raise bail money for "Mad Dog" Lopez who was in jail in Richmond, Virginia, for having an altercation with police officers who we'd aggravated by playing too long. Danny allegedly knocked over our huge Marshall stacks on some of Middletown's finest who had rushed the stage because we broke the law by...playing too long. As I stood there watching, several police oficers crawled out from underneath the speaker cabinets and rushed away to seek medical attention. Another nice young officer stood in front of me onstage waving his nightstick, poking and calling me nasty names. I looked over to see Danny with a beefy police officer pulling on one arm while Flo Federici, his first wife, pulled on the other, assisting her man in resisting arrest. A kid leapt from the audience onto the stage, momentarily distracting the beefy officer with the insults of the day. Forever thereafter, "Phantom" Dan Federici slipped into the crowd and disappeared. A warrant out for his arrest and one month on the lam later, he still hadn't been brought to justice. We hid him in various places but now we had a problem. We had a show coming at Monmouth College. We needed the money and we had to do the gig. We tried a replacement but it didn't work out. So Danny, to all of our admiration, stepped up and said he'd risk his freedom, take the chance and play. Show night. 2,000 screaming fans in the Monmouth College gym. We had it worked out so Danny would not appear onstage until the moment we started playing. We figured the police who were there to arrest him wouldn't do so onstage during the show and risk starting another riot. Let me set the scene for you. Danny is hiding, hunkered down in the backseat of a car in the parking lot. At five minutes to eight, our scheduled start time, I go out to whisk him in. I tap on the window. "Danny, come on, it's time." I hear back, "I'm not going." Me: "What do you mean you're not going?" Danny: "The cops are on the roof of the gym. I've seen them and they're going to nail me the minute I step out of this car." As I open the door, I realize that Danny has been smoking a little something and had grown rather paranoid. I said, "Dan, there are no cops on the roof." He says, "Yes, I saw them, I tell you. I'm not coming in." So I used a procedure I'd call on often over the next forty years in dealing with my old pal's concerns. I threatened him...and cajoled. Finally, out he came. Across the parking lot and into the gym we swept for a rapturous concert during which we laughted like thieves at our excellent dodge of the local cops. At the end of the evening, during the last song, I pulled the entire crowd up onto the stage and Danny slipped into the audience and out the front door. Once again, "Phantom" Dan had made his exit. (I still get the occasional card from the old Chief of Police of Middletown wishing us well. Our histories are forever intertwined.) And that, my friends, was only the beginning. There was the time Danny quit the band during a rough period at Max's Kansas City, explaining to me that he was leaving to fix televisions. I asked him to think about that and come back later. Or Danny, in the band rental car, bouncing off several parked cars after a night of entertainment, smashing out the windshield with his head but saved from severe injury by the huge hard cowboy hat he bought in Texas on our last Western swing. Or Danny, leaving a large marijuana plant on the front seat of his car in a tow away zone. The car was promptly towed. He said, "Bruce, I'm going to go down and report that it was stolen." I said, "I'm not sure that's a good idea." Down he went and straight into the slammer without passing go. Or Danny, the only member of the E Street Band to be physically thrown out of the Stone Pony. Considering all the money we made them, that wasn't easy to do. Or Danny receiving and surviving a "cautionary assault" from an enraged but restrained "Big Man" Clarence Clemons while they were living together and Danny finally drove the "Big Man" over the big top. Or Danny assisting me in removing my foot from his stereo speaker after being the only band member ever to drive me into a violent rage. And through it all, Danny played his beautiful, soulful B3 organ for me and our love grew. And continued to grow. Life is funny like that. He was my homeboy, and great, and for that you make considerations... And he was much more tolerant of my failures than I was of his. When Danny wasn't causing chaos, he was a sweet, talented, unassuming, unpretentious good-hearted guy who simply had an unchecked ability to make good fortune and things in general go fabulously wrong. But beyond all of that, he also had a mountain of the right stuff. He had the heart and soul of an engineer. He learned to fly. He was always up on the latest technology and would explain it to you patiently and in enormous detail. He was always "souping" something up, his car, his stereo, his B3. When Patti joined the band, he was the most welcoming, thoughtful, kindest friend to the first woman entering our "boys club." He loved his kids, always bragging about Jason, Harley, and Madison, and he loved his wife Maya for the new things she brought into his life. And then there was his artistry. He was the most intuitive player I've ever seen. His style was slippery and fluid, drawn to the spaces the other musicians in the E Street Band left. He wasn't an assertive player, he was a complementary player. A true accompanist. He naturally supplied the glue that bound the band's sound together. In doing so, he created for himself a very specific style. When you hear Dan Federici, you don't hear a blanket of sound, you hear a riff, packed with energy, flying above everything else for a few moments and then gone back in the track. "Phantom" Dan Federici. Now you hear him, now you don't. Offstage, Danny couldn't recite a lyric or a chord progression for one of my songs. Onstage, his ears opened up. He listened, he felt, he played, finding the perfect hole and placement for a chord or a flurry of notes. This style created a tremendous feeling of spontaneity in our ensemble playing. In the studio, if I wanted to loosen up the track we were recording, I'd put Danny on it and not tell him what to play. I'd just set him loose. He brought with him the sound of the carnival, the amusements, the boardwalk, the beach, the geography of our youth and the heart and soul of the birthplace of the E Street Band. Then we grew up. Very slowly. We stood together through a lot of trials and tribulations. Danny's response to a mistake onstage, hard times, catastrophic events was usually a shrug and a smile. Sort of an "I am but one man in a raging sea, but I'm still afloat. And we're all still here." I watched Danny fight and conquer some tough addictions. I watched him struggle to put his life together and in the last decade when the band reunited, thrive on sitting in his seat behind that big B3, filled with life and, yes, a new maturity, passion for his job, his family and his home in the brother and sisterhood of our band. Finally, I watched him fight his cancer without complaint and with great courage and spirit. When I asked him how things looked, he just said, "what are you going to do? I'm looking forward to tomorrow." Danny, the sunny side up fatalist. He never gave up right to the end. A few weeks back we ended up onstage in Indianapolis for what would be the last time. Before we went on I asked him what he wanted to play and he said, "Sandy." He wanted to strap on the accordion and revisit the boardwalk of our youth during the summer nights when we'd walk along the boards with all the time in the world. So what if we just smashed into three parked cars, it's a beautiful night! So what if we're on the lam from the entire Middletown police department, let's go take a swim! He wanted to play once more the song that is of course about the end of something wonderful and the beginning of something unknown and new. Let's go back to the days of miracles. Pete Townshend said, "a rock and roll band is a crazy thing. You meet some people when you're a kid and unlike any other occupation in the whole world, you're stuck with them your whole life no matter who they are or what crazy things they do." If we didn't play together, the E Street Band at this point would probably not know one another. We wouldn't be in this room together. But we do... We do play together. And every night at 8 p.m., we walk out on stage together and that, my friends, is a place where miracles occur...old and new miracles. And those you are with, in the presence of miracles, you never forget. Life does not separate you. Time does not separate you. Animosities do not separate you. Death does not separate you. Those you are with who create miracles for you, like Danny did for me every night, you are honored to be amongst. Of course we all grow up and we know "it's only rock and roll"...but it's not. After a lifetime of watching a man perform his miracle for you, night after night, it feels an awful lot like love. So today, making another one of his mysterious exits, we say farewell to Danny, "Phantom" Dan, Federici. Father, husband, my brother, my friend, my mystery, my thorn, my rose, my keyboard player, my miracle man and lifelong member in good standing of the house rockin', pants droppin', earth shockin', hard rockin', booty shakin', love makin', heart breakin', soul cryin'... and, yes, death defyin' legendary E Street Band.
VIDEO: A TRIBUTE TO DANNY
ENDORSEMENT: 2008 Dear Friends and Fans: LIke most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest. He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone." At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams From My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment. After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans. Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President. Bruce Springsteen
VIDEO: SACRAMENTO: SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT
VIDEO: COLUMBUS: YOU'LL BE COMIN' DOWN
VIDEO: VANCOUVER: TRAPPED
VIDEO: SEATTLE: POINT BLANK
VIDEO: PORTLAND: FOR YOU
VIDEO: ST. PAUL: DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN
VIDEO: NASSAU: INCIDENT ON 57TH STREET
VIDEO: BUFFALO: DETROIT MEDLEY
VIDEO: HARTFORD: SO YOUNG AND IN LOVE
VIDEO: MONTREAL: BECAUSE THE NIGHT
NEW BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN GEAR, LITHOGRAPHS, AND CONCERT MERCHANDISE NOW AVAILABLE
ROLLING STONE ROCKED ON LONG ISLAND
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN INTERVIEWED ON NPR
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND 2008 TOUR DATES
REMEMBERING TERRY MAGOVERN
NEW BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN GEAR AND CONCERT MERCHANDISE NOW AVAILABLE |
BARCELONA, SPAIN And the crowd goes wild By Will Hoffman The final city on the European tour, with the first of two shows at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. It was a coolish night by Barcelona's standards -- a welcome change from the 35-degree (Celsius) heat in Madrid on Thursday night. The crowd were -- if possible! -- even more boisterous than the Madrilenas. This really added to the experience. Bruce clearly loves the Spanish crowd. He seems incredibly relaxed around them, and as always, he'd done his homework, speaking to the crowd in Spanish on several occasions. Spain really is one of the places to see the Boss. In terms of the experience, in my view, Barcelona is matched only by New Jersey (and perhaps Italy). The evening began with a drumroll as Bruce and Clarence came on stage, with the band then kicking into "No Surrender." Bruce was down on the lower section of stage, interacting with the audience, by the third song, "Out in the Street -- such is the power of the Spanish crowd. "Hungry Heart" and "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" got rare plays, with the crowd singing along from the very start of each. Amongst the many stand-outs were a funky "Summertime Blues," a powerful "Candy's Room," and "Backstreets" performed by request. Nils' solo in "Because the Night" was even better than usual, and came with a set of a dozen twirls. "Janey, Don't You Lose Heart" took the crowd by surprise, but it had them dancing before long. There was plenty of entertaining sexual tension between Bruce and Patti, particularly in "Tunnel of Love" and "Brilliant Disguise." The crowd noted this, and a special cheer went up when Bruce gave her a peck on the cheek at the end. The encore was an astonishing seven songs, including a moving "Jungleland" and the immensely popular "Glory Days." During "Born to Run," a set of four fans hopped onto each other's shoulders, much to the excitement of the crowd (and the Boss himself!). The concert came to an impressive conclusion with an extra-long "Twist and Shout," during which Bruce and Patti's children made a special appearance. Overall, an incredible concert. Though there were no big surprises, the sheer quality of the songs and the wild, "up for it" crowd made the night very special indeed. MADRID, SPAIN My Love WIll Not Let You Down By Christian Steinle Although everything was in place for a great evening -- a sunny day, beautiful Spanish girls in their summer clothes, a great stadium, and nearly 60,000 people -- this wasn't one of my favorite concerts. I missed getting something special for Madrid. Okay, Bruce played "Brilliant Disguise," since Patti Scialfa is finally back on stage, but that wasn't the song I hoped for. But since this show, Bruce and the band have a new fan. It was my friend's first Springsteen concert, and for him it was an incredible evening -- the best concert he has ever seen, he says. For a non-Springsteenologist, the upside to the setlist was that most of the songs were well-known. Plus, the atmosphere was fantastic, we had a big, shouting crowd, and of course Bruce and the band in a great, playful mood. Now I'm back home in Germany, and I'm sad, because I'm sure Bruce will play two fantastic sets in Barcelona to close this leg. But friends of mine are getting married today, so I had to break off my Spanish tour -- for friends, what else can I do?
HELSINKI, FINLAND Christmas Comes Early This Year! By Mats Prost Finland is quite a new area for the E Streeters. Bruce hasn't been a regular guest here as he has since the mid-70s in the other Scandinavina countries. In fact, this was just the third show in Helsinki ever for the E Street Band, playing the same venue (the Olympic Stadium) they did on two consecutive days in 2003. So the Finns aren't quite as familar with Springsteen and his material as, say, the Swedes -- which meant that he had to put in a lot of hard work. But Bruce rose to the occasion and put in a solid show with quite a few treats for both die-hard fans and newcomers. "Night" was a good start to the evening's proceedings, but what really got the crowd on its feet was the second song, "Out in the Street." By this time Bruce was already down front, greeting audience members and working the 42,000 capacity crowd both up front and in the stands. He soon started his usual round of picking up signs, some big and some very small (one was a tiny, hand-written note). And what a nice selection the Finnish crowd got. The request part of the show had its usual moments of confusion in the band where Nils and Steve didn't know what guitar to play.... but usually two out of three were playing by the start of the song, and the next one joined in later on. During the intro to "Hungry Heart," where the crowd usually sings the first verse, Bruce brought a little girl up on the stage, 11-year-old Amy. A sign said this was her first-ever Springsteen concert. And what a surpise she got! Bruce took the girl for a short spin and then lifted her back in his arms into the audience. This was just too entertaing for the crowd to watch, so everybody stopped singing altogether! "Spirit in the Night" was a welcome choice for all of us more frequent concertgoers, followed by a seasonal trifecta: "Summertime Blues, "Sherry Darling" (for a nice sign with "Is this stadium big enough for her and you?" written on it), and "Sandy," presented as "Danny's favorite song." At this point Bruce mentioned to the crowd that he didn't know that Santa Claus was from Finland. "You really should promote that better!" This discussion of Santa's living quarters would come back around later on. "I'll Work for Your Love" was played by request (that tiny, tiny little note.) "Youngstown" was a scorcher, with Nils contributing some fine finger gymnastics. "Murder incorporated" didn't go down as well with the crowd but saw Little Steven and Bruce in a guitar duel, playing their socks off. From here on the concert took a slight nosedive. "Livin' in the Future" didn't really have that edge that it usually has, then "Mary's Place"... although Bruce's knee-sliding antics were (as always) a joy to watch. "Point Blank" was played by request "for this guy who has been chasing me for a while now". And a real good version it was, with some nice bass playing by Garry. Then it was back to the usual setlist with "The Rising," "Last to Die" and "Long Walk Home." And then came a surprise: the bombastic intro to a very heavy version of "Born in the U.S.A." This was what the Finnish crowd had come for! "Born in the U.S.A." was like a gathering storm, whipping everyone into a frenzy, and by the time of "Badlands" everybody and his uncle were on their feet. The Finns are a hard crowd to get singing, but "Badlands" was an exception to the rule, and more was to follow. Bruce and the E Street Band were sung back on stage for the encore, which lasted for almost an hour! "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" was followed by a mighty version of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out," and after "Born to Run" Bruce asked Little Steven, "Do you see that sign over there?" Little Steven sure did, and so, for the first time ever in Finland, "Rosie" came out. After "American Land," everybody pretty much thought it was over. But Bruce had some unfinished business with a bearded man from the city of Rovaniemi In Finland. There was a big sign in the stands to the left of Bruce -- he got the cameraman to zoom in. And in the middle of summer, Bruce played "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town." A first? This had everybody smiling and singing along -- who wouldn't want to sing about Santa on the eleventh of July? For "Santa," the video technician even got out the snowflakes for the big screen behind the band. And of course Bruce couldn't end the show with that one -- "Twist and Shout" was a fine closing to an evening full of surprises, taking the show past the three-hour mark. It didn't wreck this stadium either, but it was surely appreciated by everyone. OSLO, NORWAY Tuesday, July 8 Back for More by Michael Stutts I did the full experience for Night Two and waited six hours to get up close... little did I know that other people had waited for many days before the first show and were six-deep in the front! The pit lottery in the States is certainly more comfortable, but the European system gets the real die-hards in the front. As for a show review, everything I said from Night One applies, except the crowd was even rowdier, the city was even more excited, and Bruce and the band were even looser than on the first night. "If I Should Fall Behind" falls way behind for me in songs I hope to hear, but tonight my mind may be changed. It was amazing to watch Bruce lead the band through a song that they clearly had not rehearsed (if they had, they sure acted like they hadn't). Bruce gave Clarence his vocal from the Reunion Tour arrangement, probably as an opportunity to redeem himself for his bungled "Hey You!" shtick during "You Can Look" (so bad that Bruce stopped the song to do it again, but highly entertaining nonetheless). "Twist and Shout" was in response to the best sign I have ever seen in a crowd. Hopefully somebody has a picture or the verbatim quote, but it was something to the effect of "Let's Wreck This Dump Too, Twist and Shout!" Valle Hovin is truly, truly a dump... but at least it prompted a very long, very energetic, and very crowd-pleasing 30 song. And I just saw 47 different songs played over two nights! This tour has become something special that, in my opinion, trumps the Rising Tour -- other than lacking a long summer outdoor run.
OSLO, NORWAY Imperfect perfection by Michael Stutts Tonight was a truly unique experience, my first show outside of the US -- and in spite of taking four flights, running through two airports, and hitching a ride from a group of strangers, I can say with certainty that every Bruce fan should get an international show experience. The opportunity to live out the full-crowd arm-swaying "Highways jammed..." verse in the live "Born to Run" video montage (albeit on "Waitin' on a Sunny Day) is priceless and frankly something that I never thought would happen after 1985. When you see how a city like Oslo responds to Bruce's visit, it becomes starkly clear that U.S. audiences take tour stops for granted. Everyone is talking about the shows, strangers I met on the street compared show histories with me, and the bars are blasting Bruce. Oslo is a metro area of roughly 850,000 residents, and Bruce sold 90,000 tickets in a more than questionable venue (more on that below). I do not even want to look up the Anaheim/LA attendance statistics... Some random thoughts: 1. Bruce's on stage demeanor: People tend to overuse the phrase "it looked like Bruce was having fun up there," but tonight there is no overstating the fact that he was having a ball. In 25 shows I have never seen as much laughing and general foolishness on stage. 2. Cover Me: For a disco song not played in 16 years, "Cover Me" was on fire. Perhaps there was some sandbagging going on with Bruce apologizing in advance for messing it up, but the live performance of that song gives it new life. Bruce added a wicked solo at the end that left no question in my mind that it should show up again. 3. Racing in the Street: My 25th show, my first time hearing it in concert. It was very entertaining to watch what seemed to be a challenge from Max as he pounded the drums, leading Roy into another few bars of the solo. 4. Valle Hovin: Believe what you hear, Valle Hovin is a miserable venue. The concrete floor makes your feet hurt, muck puddles around your feet, there is one entry/exit, the views are bad beyond the mid-crowd speaker towers, and the flat layout makes even the most raucous applause vanish. With all of that said, it only added to what was an incredibly unique experience. After going to seven or eight identical arenas in the States, it was refreshing to see a unique, if imperfect venue. If this is the "night one" set, I can't imagine what will happen tomorrow...
GÖTEBORG, SWEDEN Independence Day Special in Göteborg by Jos Westenberg On Friday, Springsteen and the E Street band played their first of two shows at the Ullevi Stadium. For days, the town had true Bruce fever. Most newspapers had multiple pages dedicated to the upcoming two shows, covering everything related to Springsteen and the E Street band, from Bruce's arrival at the airport to Little Steven buying some small groceries at a local 7-Eleven. At the stadium, people started camping out ten days before the first show. Most of them were young kids, some seeing their first Springsteen show. Before the gates opened, the soundcheck could be heard from outside. Bruce and the played ran quickly through part of "Radio Nowhere," and also worked on "Be True," "Born in the U.S.A.," "Independence Day," and "Drive All Night," which sounded beautiful. It was clear Bruce and the band were planning something special for the Swedes on this Fourth of July. First was the tour premiere of "Born in the U.S.A.," to open the show. The response was incredible -- fans were very enthusiastic from the start. Bruce already had the harmonica for "The Promised Land" when he saw a sign in the crowd for "Two Hearts." (Although it seemed like a spontaneous addition, the song was on the handwritten setlist.) Bruce and Steve sang together at the microphone and added "It Takes Two" at the end. Whenever Clarence was playing a sax solo, people started bowing in a "we're not worthy"-style. Bruce noticed this and also started to bow along during the solo in "The Promised Land." The theme of Independence Day was weaved through the show. Before "4th of July, Asbury Park," Bruce dedicated the song to Danny Federici and the recently deceased Madam Marie. "She was 98 years old," Bruce said (small mistake -- Madam Marie lived to 93), and added, "Recently most of our mysteries are taken away, we need our fortune tellers." During the song, the backdrop projected images of the boardwalk, a ferris wheel, and an amusement park, the first time they did this. A very nice rendition. Before "Atlantic City," Bruce acknowledged the radio broadcast [on E Street Radio]. "This is for everybody back home listening -- happy Fourth!" Then he asked the Swedes to make themselves heard, and they did. "Atlantic City" was a nice version, but Bruce understandably got a bit distracted halfway through by a fan who apparently passed out, as security had to pull him out from the front rows. For "Darlington County," also with a Fourth of July reference, Bruce called Steven up to the middle platform in front of the stage. At the end of the song, Bruce played like he was trying to strangle Steve. Before "Livin' in the Future," Bruce changed his usual speech a little, asking for a "Fourth of July blessing." This new speech made him mess up the start of the song, though, as he started singing the second verse instead of the first. "Mary's Place" had also a different intro, with Bruce ad libbing some vocals: "Sometimes I feel so sad and lonely," he sang, "that I know I can't reach anybody." "Independence Day," played only once before on this tour, was beautiful. Instead of "Drive All Night," which was on the setlist, Bruce played "This Hard Land": "I've seen some signs for this lately, we haven't played it in a while." Before the encores, Bruce thanked the crowd for their love and appreciation for the music over the years. "It's a privilege to play for you," Bruce confessed. For "Rosalita," Bruce saw a sign in the crowd and collected it. It was written on the back of a Mamma Mia musical poster. When Bruce saw the backside, he was laughing and showed it to Steve. "Mamma Mia!" Bruce said at the start of "Rosalita." Bruce introduced Clarence as "the man, the myth, the majesty." At the end of "American Land," fireworks were displayed at the backdrop. Bruce also seemed surprised at this, pointing the firework effect out to Steve. "We'll be back tomorrow" was the final goodbye on Day 1. Are you having fun yet? by Jos Westenberg Saturday was the second show, and Bruce and the band played no less than 17 different songs compared to the night before. "Radio Nowhere" was one of the victims of the setlist change -- this was the first show of the tour that the Magic album opener was skipped. After the band had taken the stage, Clarence with a scarf in the colors of a Swedish flag, the show opened with "Night." During and after "Hungry Heart," Bruce collected a lot of request signs at the catwalks. Spying a sign for "Twist and Shout" he said, "No, they asked us not to play this one -- it's the stadium breaker!" He was referring to the 1985 shows, when after his two concerts the old Ullevi stadium needed to be demolished due to damages caused by the noise and the dancing crowds in the stands. To the sign of "Drive All Night" he said: "Maybe... we have been rehearsing." The first request played, for a big pink sign, was "Summertime Blues," with Clarence moving center stage to sing with Bruce. After "The Promised Land" Bruce took a sign from the crowd: "Bruce, you're the sexiest man alive." He showed it to the cameras and to the band. "I'll give you your Euro later," he said (though the Swedes use the Kroner and not the Euro). "Backstreets" was also a request, "at an unusual spot in the show, but we haven't played it for a while." "Roulette" was next, which had been rehearsed along with "Drive All Night" in the soundcheck. Bruce added a long solo at the end. Before "Janey, Don't You Lose Heart," Bruce said, "This was originally a B-side for something off Born in the U.S.A". Bruce remembered the faulty solo from Clarence in Paris on this one, and he teased the Big Man as he tackled it again: "So far so good... still good... now we're talking, brother!" Clarence was spot on this time. "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" was another request, and during the song, Bruce took a flower from the crowd and put it behind his ear. During "Working on the Highway," Garry Tallents' daughter came on stage and sang with Soozie Tyrell. Before "Livin' in the Future" Bruce asked the crowd: "Are we having fun yet?" At the end of the song, he took a sign from the crowd -- "Obama for President" -- and showed it to the camera for a long time. In "Mary's Place," the new intro that was added yesterday was elaborated a little further, as Bruce sang with some call-and-response with Clarence: "Someday I feel so sad and lonely, I don't know what to do. I want to reach out my hand for some help, I want to reach out my hand for some love, I want to reach out my hand for some faith." After "I'm on Fire," which Bruce sang seated on a chair on the front platform, the long-awaited 'Drive All Night' emerged, sending goosebumps all through Ullevi. A perfect rendition of this song that Bruce hasn't played with the band since 1981, with two beautiful sax solos. Bruce seemed very content after the performance. Before the encores, Bruce spoke a little Swedish and then said that Göteborg always will be a special place for him. He said he heard that a lot of people camped outside the stadium for a good spot. "I sleep in my bed, but I appreciate your dedication," he added. The encores seemed a little rushed, and his performance of "American Land" was a little less intense than usual. But luckily it wasn't over -- after "American Land" Bruce and Clarence acted as if the crowd couldn't handle another song. Of course that means there will be one more song, and it was no surprise it would be "Twist and Shout," although Bruce again said that people had specifically asked him not to play the stadium breaker. The new stadium survived the two great nights of Bruce and the band in Sweden. Friday, July 24 Hey, Baby, It's the Fourth of July! By Joshua Rose I should've known this was going to be a special night when the girl at the front desk of the hotel I stayed at in Stockholm the night before the show was talking about the Bruce Springsteen concert when I checked out. Or when the flight attendant on the flight down to Göteborg mentioned the Bruce Springsteen show during the in-flight announcements. Or when I walked into the lobby of the hotel in Göteborg and instead of hearing the normal hotel muzak in the background, they were blasting Bruce music all day. Or when I went to a nice little wine bar for a bite to eat before the show they were playing recordings of previous live E Street shows in the restaurant. Or when the table of eight locals eating at the next table all of a sudden starting singing The Rising. In short, the expectation level going into the first 2008 show in Sweden was huge. This was a national event. You could feel the energy the minute you arrived in Göteborg. My cabbie, from the Middle East, was even talking about it. Talking to a few of the locals you could see that Swedish pride was at stake. Have you ever been to a Bruce Springsteen show in Sweden, they asked? When I replied that I hadn't, they just smiled and said I was in for a real treat. And that was the understatement of the century. This show had an energy level and crowd unlike any show I've seen in the U.S. On their feet screaming, clapping, cheering, singing along for three hours with absolutely no breaks. Copenhagen, which was great, was tame compared to this night in Göteborg. Oh, and the show? Bruce and the band felt the energy immediately and of course didn't disappoint. It was a July 4th show, so it contained some of the material you would expect -- "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," "Independence Day," "Born in the U.S.A.," "Darlington County" -- and a handful of surprises, too: "This Hard Land," "Be True," and "Cadillac Ranch." A real rocker of a show, fast paced out of the gate and never really stopping, with the band feeding off of the crowd energy. Slowed down a bit for "Independence Day," but other than that a three-hour sprint. Started at 9pm exactly for the audience back home (with Sirius broadcasting on E Street Radio) and was over at midnight. Several "C U 2 Morrow" signs in the crowd, which Bruce acknowledged, so I'm assuming that the July 5 Göteborg show will be filled with a few more surprises. Matching tonight's energy level will be a great challenge. But based on the enthusiasm of the locals, my krona is on Göteborg II being even better.
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK The Freewheelin' Bruce Springsteen By Joshua Rose I'd already seen a number of Magic shows in North America; now visiting Europe for another handful of concerts, what strikes me as amazing is how much the current set lists are being "opened up." What started as a fairly tightly constructed setlist at the start of the Magic tour has turned freewheeling. While Bruce has been playing requests more and more frequently as the tour goes on by, what began as an occasional reaction to a sign in the pit has now turned into an organized effort in sign collection. Early in the Copenhagen show he literally walked around and collected signs, liking some, dismissing others as "too difficult." He must've grabbed ten or so. Comparing those signs to what was on the original handwritten setlist for the night, it seems as though he picked up a few signs for songs that were already on the list, and added a few that weren't. Signs aside, the night was filled with terrific audibles, with "I'm on Fire" into "Downbound Train being a great example. If my math is correct, there were eight songs played in Copenhagen which weren't on the original setlist for the show. The freewheeling nature of the show seems to be driven by a desire to just let it rip and have fun. Bruce was clearly relaxed and enjoying himself in Copenhagen, and it showed. During "Spirit" he interacted with the audience on several occasions, with more audience "groping and grabbing" than I have seen to date. Also during that song he grabbed a "five pack" of Carlsberg beer (which is a great Danish concertgoer favorite) from someone in the pit, brought it up on stage and then later started passing individual beers around to others in the pit. Before handing out the last one, he took a sip then gave it to some lucky fan. Needless to say it helped pump the energy level up to a new level. He really did a great job of reading the audience and giving them what they wanted. We were just astounded as the band seemed to kick into one old song after another, and it was one of those shows where you literally had no idea what was coming next. Some of the highlights for me included "Working on the Highway" and a totally hot "Ramrod," where the band just let loose. But with a setlist like this, it's too hard to pick favorites. I've learned to just sit back and enjoy it all. Only one small negative was the sound: it seemed quite muffled at first and wasn't crystal clear as so many of the outdoor shows can be. Parken is an intimate venue, as stadiums go, but it is somewhat enclosed, which led to sound bouncing around inside quite a bit. That said, it seemed to improve as the show went on and by the encore was virtually perfect.
PARIS, FRANCE C'est Magnifique! By Jean-Philippe Charbonnier Despite a muddy sound, the Paris show was great, with a crowd in a good mood and ready to party, and a setlist full of surprises. A really strong "Adam Raised a Cain" as opener, a fantastic "Spirit in the Night" with Bruce going from one side of the stadium to the other, cheering with fans while singing... And then the requested songs like "Rendezvous," "Janey, Don't You Lose Heart," and the solo piano "For You" introduced in french: "je suis venu pour vous" (I came for you). After "Mary's Place," Bruce picked and showed a sign for "Fire," but Max didn't see it correctly and started to play "I'm on Fire." The others kind of followed, but Bruce stopped them instantly, saying: "Not 'I'm on Fire' -- 'Fire'!" Good fun all around. During the encore, Elliott Murphy guested with his son on "Born to Run" and then alone on the last song of a show that clocked in at almost three hours. An Italian in Paris By Corrado Passoni After the hot Milano night, in my hometown, I couldn't imagine this show would compare. But even though it was a cooler night, the crowd was ready and suddenly set on fire by the "Adam Raised a Cain" start, followed by the new hit "Radio Nowhere," and in a moment we went back in time with a wonderful "No Surrender." The first request, "Rendezvous," was a natural fit for the host city, and "Candy's Room" lit up the Ville Lumiere. "Janey, Don't You Lose Heart" was a real surprise. "Because the Night" was powerful as usual, with Nils at his best as in Milano, but after the house party with "Mary's Place," we reached the highest emotional point with a trio of slower songs : "Fire," "For You" (with Bruce alone at the piano), and "The River." The slowdown recharged the band and the crowd, and the next five songs before the encores were sung and danced to by everybody in the Parc de Princes. After "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" -- obviously dedicated to the beautiful "Parisiennes," who, I personally think, deserve the tribute -- the surprise of Elliott Murphy on stage for "Born to Run" and "American Land." In between was a very moving "Bobby Jean." In the end, I was very satisfied -- for my two children, Giorgio and Giulia, as well, this being their first-ever concert. Traveling abroad, we found a warm attendance like the one I experienced two days before at home. I hope they will never forget their first "meeting" with the Boss.
MILAN, ITALY Oldies and Goodies by Karl Birthistle The stunning, masterful, majestic beauty of "Racing in the Street" alone would have been reason enough to travel six hours by train, tram and foot to see this wonderful show. But Milan had everything: the old, the obscure, the moving, the thrilling, the funny and even the Summertime Blues. The setlist reflects the eclecticism of recent shows, unpredictable and utterly enthralling. We are privileged to be seeing what many believe to be possibly the best E Street Band performances; as Bruce himself has said, they are currently at a peak. Night after night we are graced with passion, energy, and set lists beyond our dreams. It was incredibly hot in the San Siro, but at least this time, as Bruce said, "there's no rain!" An electric air of expectancy grew from the crowd, chanting and waving 40 minutes before the show began. The whole city was in Bruce-festival mood, with newspapers, street vendors all screaming his name. And then the show opened as if we were in the Agora in Cleveland 1978 -- I have listened to recordings of that show for many years, and then to hear Bruce and Clarence sing "Summertime Blues" here was simply unreal. The guitar duel between Bruce and Steve on "Prove It All Night" was blistering, bewildering and compelling. "Spirit in the Night" is the centerpiece of the early part of the show, with Bruce "communing," interacting so fully with the people. It was a night where the unexpected and the expected were preformed equally brilliantly, such as the almost indescribable crowd participation of "Hungry Heart." Charlie was superb on this one. "I'm on Fire" was performed to the front crowd on a small chair, and then that rapturous "Racing," played as a request for Milano! And as for the encores -- spotlight on a huge sign for "Detroit Medley" up in the stands, a raucous "Rosie," and the thrill of "Twist and Shout"... we danced till we were exhausted. What is it with Bruce in Milan?! It's always an epic occasion.
ANTWERP, BELGIUM He's a Rocker by Salvador Trepat "What a show and what a setlist," someone wrote to review the previous show in Hamburg. What else can be said? Antwerp was just the best show that I've seen on this tour. Simply amazing. At 8:47 Bruce came onstage, with black armbands on, while Max was pounding the drums. After the initial spoken introduction Bruce started a frenetic version of "So Young and In Love" that really set the tone for the night. Pure energy. Air kicking, great singing, and the band in prime shape. "Radio Nowhere" followed, and then a great "The Ties That Bind", with lots of guitars and the great sax solo from the Big Man. The energy level never dropped for a second for the rest of the night. Add to this a great set list and lots of surprises, with so much vintage '70s stuff. We got a really uptempo, jubilant "Spirit in the Night" that reminded me so much of the Hammersmith'75 video; a really well performed "Trapped," with a great blue spotlight on Bruce that made it look like The River tour, a nicely done "Sandy" (upon request, he showed the sign) which Bruce introduced saying "Thanks for all the condolences for Danny," and laughing, "The E Street Band is always ready... most of the time!" This was followed by a very hot "Prove it All Night", with smokin' guitar solos from both Steven and Bruce, a very intense call and response. At the end of the song Bruce picked up a sign that read "Steve Forever." Bruce announced, "We're gonna play one that we haven't played in a long time" and asked the videocrew to focus on a huge sign in the crowd behind Max: "Thundercrack". This is the first time he ever played the song in Europe, and it was perfect, a pure musical joy. Bruce looked real happy tonight, giving the impression that he was enjoying it all tremendously. "Because the Night" came next and featured the usual out-of-this-world solo from Nils. What can I say? At this point of the show there were no more superlatives left. We were in awe. Such a show. In Europe. In Belgium. In the middle of a huge stadium tour, and Bruce delivers such an intense and wonderful show like only those in small arenas in the U.S. last Spring. The overall feeling at this small arena was quite a change from that on the big stadiums. It added an intimacy and proximity that it's completely lost at other shows, and an extra amount of energy and crowd feedback that was acknowledged by Bruce at the end of the night. The heat was acknowledged, too. During "Living in the Future" Bruce used a yellow sponge to water everyone on the front rows. He did this a few times during the show, and also brought glasses with water to the people in front of the small stage. After a strong "Mary's Place" (even this one sounded great at this show), Bruce jokingly started mopping the floor that he had watered so much! Next were these words: "Yesterday I was in a square, and two girls asked for this," leading into a very fun, sing-along version of "Fire." "Point Blank" (another sign request) was next, and it was simply stunning. Perfect sound, perfectly performed, you could hear every note from Garry's beautiful bass lines, like a heart beating. The encore started with a very familiar drum pounding and "a one, a two, a one, two, three, four!" And "I'm a Rocker" begins, putting us in shock. Very, very strong, Bruce really into it, moving around the stage and in front of the audience like crazy. People singing along to this great piece of rock that very rarely gets played at his concerts. It was a tour premiere, followed by "Born to Run" and then "Thunder Road," really well played. "Glory Days" put everyone on their feet, even in the most distant seats, and then "American Land." At one point during the encores Bruce took another sign from the audience that read, "The Bada Bing Team is Here!" and got quite a big laugh from Steven. The sign thing is now out of control. There are literally dozens and dozens of signs, and Bruce picks many of them and, as we know, decides to play them. Seen in Antwerp, requests for: "Thundercrack," "Rave On," "Pretty Flamingo," "Sandy," "Rosie," "Brothers Under the Bridges ('83)," "Incident," "Rickie Wants a Man of Her Own," "Detroit Medley," "Little Queenie," "Viva Las Vegas," "Murder Inc.," "Loose Ends," "Lost in the Flood," "Sweet Little Sixteen," and "Blinded By the Light."
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS Summertime Bruce By Michael Alexander Verhoeff "I'm an old man, give me my thrills!" Springsteen said before bursting into "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," which was also dedicated to a new father who missed 2007's postponed Arnhem show because his wife was giving birth. Springsteen had something to make up for after last December, when he fell ill the day of the Dutch show and gave a short -- and mediocre, by his standards -- performance the day after. He did so in spades. The Boss and the band were on a roll. Springsteen was in a chipper and interactive mood, enjoying the hell out of the catwalk and using every opportunity to get down on his knees and immerse himself in the audience. During "Spirit in the Night" he almost looked like he was about to jump into the audience again like he did in his early years. He may claim to be an old man, but he has the vitality of a man in his 30s -- it was the audience which had more difficulty keeping up with the pace of the show. Springsteen's brand of rock 'n' roll is an odd one. Though it does follow the archetype of rock 'n' roll rebellion, Springsteen has never been the type of artist that wallows in excesses of the sex-and-drugs part of the equation, never the artist that alienates. Springsteen, rather, connects. Along with looking for a lot of physical contact during this show, Springsteen went to great lengths to take requests. Though some of them were already on the setlist, he made sure the dedications were personal. "The River" was performed for a birthday, "Backstreets" for a ten-year-old: "This song was written about 25 years before you were born!" he joked. Crashing into "Darlington County," the Boss and Miami noticed another sign in the crowd that made them stretch out the opening vamp to get it. "Princess of Little Steven," it read -- a request for "Princess of Little Italy" from Stevie's first solo album? If so, it proved a bit too much of a challenge for even the almighty E Street Band and Springsteen's all knowing teleprompter. So it didn't affect the setlist, but propped against the mic stand the sign demonstrated that Springsteen with the E Street Band transcends the individual artist. The fact that this was my last show of this tour (and could it be the last tour for the band?) made this a very special night for me. Maybe that's why I was so taken by his classic songs and so overwhelmed by the performance. Most noticeable tonight was Steven, who manages the band and the stage as if he were still Silvio Dante. When Springsteen makes a slippery mess with his sponge, it's Silvio who summons a roadie to clean it up. Clarence is the elderly statesman of the band. Though aging in the most obvious ways, he is commanding in his solos, nailing "Bobby Jean" tonight. Charlie may be the most unlikely rock 'n' roller I've ever seen. Funnily enough, he isn't quite as subtle as Danny, but more raucous -- when he attacked the keys with his hat during "Livin' in the Future" he surely was captured by spirit of it. Appearances can be deceiving. The tight chops Max brings, cemented by Garry's solid but fluid bass lines, were fundamental in making "Mary's Place" one of the highlights of the evening. At least until Springsteen decided to take one final request from a seven-year-old. The kid had been seated on top of his father's shoulders, holding up various songs throughout the evening. "Summertime Blues" was just one of four. When Springsteen went out to collect them, Steven already started playing the chords to Eddie Cochran's rockabilly classic. As if he wanted to warn Springsteen not to let this one slide, Van Zandt was determined to drag Springsteen back into his underground garage. The ploy worked, with "Stand on It" and "Seven Nights to Rock" thrown in on the spur of the moment, making these encores possibly the most memorable of the Magic tour yet.
DUSSELDORF, GERMANY Blackout! by Karl Birthistle The LTU in Dusseldorf is a wonderful, compact stadium, probably about the closest a stadium can get to bringing the feeling of an indoor arena show -- but still holding roughly 40,000 fans. The pit was absolutely packed to capacity. The band roared into "Jackson Cage" a little after 8 p.m., but after a few bars the unthinkable happened -- an expectation-filled stadium was suddenly faced with a silent band and a bemused-looking Bruce, as the sound completely failed. It was soon restored and Bruce said something about "starting too hard," and they went into a successful "Night." But then, just as Clarence began his solo in "Radio Nowhere," the sound went out again. This was becoming concerning! Bruce, ever the clown and the performer, knelt on the stage and led Clarence, Nils, and Steve through a mock novena, sending up a prayer... It is very very difficult to master a stadium crowd when there is no music! A small roar of "E Street Band" tried to fill the void. Bruce, meanwhile, went down the gangways, into the crowd, greeting and meeting, taking requests while the technical issues were dealt with. Suddenly we heard Steve cry into the newly active mic, "Quick, while it's working!" Bruce laughed, came to the mic and cried, "The E Street band is 100% live!" And then they began "Radio Nowhere" again [making this the first 29-song show of the tour, if repeat songs count!], louder than ever, and without incident. Gradually we all, band included, began to get the feeling that now things would be okay. After a scintillating "Promised Land" Bruce sat down front of stage and said "Whew, that was terrible! We'll play one from the first record -- let's hope the spirits are with us for the rest of the night!" Throughout all this there was a fabulous smile of sheer bewilderment on Steve's face. Before begining "Magic," Bruce said, 'Who would have thought that electricity would be so important?!' before speaking in German to wish all the best to the German soccer team in a European Championship game on at the same time. "Magic" was crisply curtailed after the last verse, with no coda, going directly into the requested "Trapped," held up on a huge banner for the band and crowd. No one could have predicted how from the opening chaos such a gem of a high-energy show would emerge. "Prove it All Night" was about the best I've ever seen, with Bruce telling Steve to play the closing solo -- it was momentous, with Bruce and Steve then trading licks through to the end of the song. Bruce's clowning around, seated with Nils on "Darlington County," was very reminiscent of 1984 (minus the oversize hats). By now the energy level had risen remarkably, as Bruce made sure that this night would be remembered for the music, not the initial glitches -- he more than removed any doubts that may have been caused by the dubious start. This show really rocked out, and many poeple told me that what he gave was exactly what they would have wanted to hear. During the final bows I could see Steve smile at Bruce and say, "We got through that one!" All I could think was that if this is what takes to ratchet up the energy to such a level, well then the occasional electricity problem is very welcome indeed. CARDIFF, WALES Pay Me My Money Down by Peter Getty My brother, our wives, and I spent a lot of money on buying our tickets and driving down from Glasgow, Scotland for Bruce and the Band's show in Cardiff, and we hoped to see a show that would make our sacrifices, financial and otherwise, worth it. After a bit of a wait, Bruce and the band appeared and kicked off the show with "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)," which was completely unexpected. Bruce, however, did not look in good shape, and sounded like he was carrying a cold, too. The pace with which they were attacking the setlist did not seem to help him; "From Small Things" segued straight into "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out" (complete with backbend from the mic stand), which in turn led straight into the demanding "Radio Nowhere." I will admit I was worried -- not that I wasn't getting my money's worth, but that Bruce would do himself some damage by pushing himself so hard when he clearly wasn't up to it. I needn't have worried. Following "Lonesome Day" and "The Promised Land," Bruce collected requests from the audience and decided to play one straight away. He took time to talk about Danny by way of an intro to "Blinded By the Light," and even his speaking voice sounded strained, but as the band made their way through the song, something changed. By the end of the track, Bruce was beginning to do his one-step dance on the spot and he quite clearly was getting his second wind. It seemed the breather he had gotten during the intro had helped. Glorious renditions of "Magic" and "Atlantic City" followed before Bruce went back to the requests. As I said, we spent a lot of time and money making this trip, but when Bruce hit that opening intro to "The River," it all became a small price to pay; this version was absolutely breathtaking. As the song neared its end, the crowed hushed and Bruce begun a beautiful, haunting falsetto, reminiscent of "Across the Border" from the Tom Joad tour. At song's end, my brother turned to me and said, "That song was worth the trip alone!" And he was right. From then on in, each performance just got better than the last, and special mention must go to the magical Nils Lofgren for his solo in "Because the Night." Bruce spent as much time down on the runway with the fans lucky enough to be at the front (and sometimes in with the fans!) as he did on stage, giving his harmonica to a very young fan, as well as letting a boy of around six sing "Darlington County." And you know Bruce and the Band have hit their stride when "Working on the Highway" is this much fun to hear! The pre-encore pack, from "Devil's Arcade" through "Badlands," just about blew the roof of the stadium, and I wondered how they could top that. Easy: open the encores with the best version of "Jungleland" I have ever heard, and follow it with "Thunder Road" (dedicated to Tim Russert who died suddenly), "Born to Run," "Rosalita," and a raucous "American Land." Unbelievable that a guy who looked almost ready to curl up with some NyQuil at the beginning of the evening now looked about 25 years younger, and with more energy than I've seen from a human being. The journey back home to Glasgow was long, the four of us cramped in our small, economical and environmentally friendly rental car, and our bank balances were smaller by now too, but looking back to my earlier hope that we would see a show worth the sacrifice, I asked myself the question again. The answer was no, we didn't see something worth the money we paid -- we got more. We saw something priceless: an awesome show from the heart stoppin', pants droppin', love makin', Viagra takin', legendary... E STREET BAND. Now if only Bruce would come to Scotland!
LONDON, UK Bring the noise by Kathryn Stokes For the first-ever concert played at Arsenal football club's Emirates Stadium, a £100,000 "sound curtain" was installed to keep noise levels down for local residents. But was it enough to keep Bruce and the E Street Band's thunderous wall of sound at bay? Who cares! Inside the stadium, the band performed a nearly three-hour set complete with rare oldies, requests and stadium favorites. Bruce was on excellent form, smiling and full of his trademark energy. Had it not been for the 10:30 curfew, it seemed, he would have gone all night. (Luckily, we thought, there's a second London show.) The concert began in daylight, with the gaping, open-roofed stadium showing a blanket of bright white cloud cover. This kept the excitement of the crowd at bay to some degree (Brits like their dancing in the dark), but as the evening rolled on, the setting sun and onset of twilight and finally darkness had a magical effect as backdrop for the music. Bruce worked the crowd masterfully and seemed to play off the light in his song choices. The band launched into "Because the Night" as the twilight was at its most magical - and "Devil's Arcade" as the sky finally went black. Bruce strutted around the walkways grabbing more and more request banners from the fans, occasionally singling them out ("Oh that's a good one! That's a good one!"). He played "Cadillac Ranch" and "Point Blank" to the delight of the requestees and crowd alike. As the encores came to a close and the brightly lit stadium was jumping with excitement, fans were spinning each other around doing the jig and whooping with excitement at the experience. As for the second night, everything started better -- the fans, the band, the sound system -- than it had the night before. Bruce went completely off-piste, letting audibles rule the opening five songs. There was an amazing guitar solo in "Gypsy Biker," and again, Bruce took requests from the crowd. He gathered a handful and laughed his way back to the microphone to declare, "I'm gonna put these in my file," dropping them good-naturedly to floor at his feet. He then singled out one requester, who had a banner that read, "In memory of Danny," and said, "This is for you," and launched into "Sandy. Aftert that, Bruce told a few signature stories about Danny and thanked the crowd for their condolences and support. All the women in the stadium melted when he sang "I'm on Fire" straddling a chair. Returning to the requests in his "file" he pulled one out, laughed, and said, "This one's from a guy who obviously has no job and no girl," then showed us the placard which read, "no job - no girl - DOWNBOUND TRAIN." Opening "the smallest request ever," a folded piece of paper he pulled out of his pocket, Bruce kicked it off with a single word to Roy at the piano -- "Backstreets." Had there been any doubt, the full-on mic stand backbend during "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out" proved that not only has the Boss still got it, but we've got a lot more to look forward to! An exhilarating musical baptism by Andrew Hewitt Bruce promised a proper musical baptism for this first-ever gig at the Emirates Stadium, and he and the E Street Band delivered in style. From the opening "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out," which had the pit in a frenzy inside 30 seconds, to a greatest hits-syle encore, including a stunning "Rosalita," this show was powerful rock 'n' roll reminiscent of 1985. Those first five encore songs, including "Thunder Road" dedicated to the English faithful, sounded as fresh as if they were written yesterday and got a rapturous reception. Only six songs from Magic, with "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" and "Gypsy Biker" rare no-shows. "She's the One," too, was an unusual omission, but the total song count came to 28, the most on the tour so far. Bruce was in a playful mood, joking with the band and crowd, vetting and collecting written song requests (I've never seen that before), changing the setlist several times, accepting a bright orange flower and trying to put it behind his ear, and generally working the stage like a man half his age. Those song request signs gave us "Point Blank" and "Cadillac Ranch" -- both excellent -- instead of the setlisted "Murder Incorporated" and "I'm on Fire." Many highlights included the "Tenth" opener, Nils Lofgren's solo in "Because the Night" (I think I counted eight 360-degree turns), and that "Thunder Road" encore kick-off sounded amazing with so many people singing it start to finish. An exhilarating gig -- I'm feeling 20 years younger right now!
MANCHESTER, UK Wednesday, May 28 The E Street Band at the Theatre of Dreams by James Ellaby It seemed fitting that when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band arrived on stage at the Stretford End, the first thing the big screens showed was the sign proclaiming Old Trafford as "Theatre of Dreams." The "Theatre of Dreams" sounds like a place a character in a Springsteen song would ride to on a "suicide machine" through "mansions of glory" on a "last chance powerdrive." Having played up the road at the cricket ground almost five years ago to the day, this venue felt like a slightly more natural place for a gig, and The Boss did not let us down. He also showed that he was well aware of his surroundings, chatting early on about Manchester United's recent successes and telling the crowd about his teenage son's love of "soccer," while later he was thrown a United shirt with "THE BOSS" on the back. That didn't go down too well with the fans of other teams in the ground, but it was all good-natured, so he got away with it. To be honest, he could have gotten away with pretty much anything on a night where he and the E Street Band were in stunning form, with Springsteen playing up to the crowd at every chance he got, as well as shifting the setlist whenever he saw an impressive-looking sign requesting a song. Two tracks from his debut album were added after he plucked banners out of the crowd, with "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" being requested with a nice drawing of a saint, and "Growin' Up" played for a small child on his dad's shoulders with big red ear protectors on (he even got an impromptu lyric change about him). All of this is par for the course at a Springsteen show, with the setlists never set in stone and always changing between gigs, unlike most other big name stadium acts, where the same songs get played every night. To illustrate this, of the 26 songs played here, only six of them were played back at that show in 2003. The possible downside to this rotation of his back catalog (though to be fair, he could probably play any combination of his songs and still make it a cracking show) is that you can't guarantee you'll get to hear all the hits. But the upside is that you get to hear stuff you might not have expected. And so it was here, with favorites like "Born in the U.S.A.," "Hungry Heart," "The River," "Atlantic City," and "Thunder Road" all absent, while tracks like "Trapped," "Adam Raised a Cain" and "Darlington County" were played. There was also plenty from last year's Entertainment Manchester Album Of The Year, Magic, with "Radio Nowhere," "Devil's Arcade," "Last to Die" and "Long Walk Home" all sounding like they had been part of the set for years. The mid-show highlight was a blistering "Because the Night," with the hugely-talented Nils Lofgren in scorching form. Of course, "hugely talented" goes for everyone in the E Street Band, despite the lack of Springsteen's wife Patti Scialfa -- "She's at home making sure the kids don't burn the house down or sell my favorite clothes on eBay," he explained. If there was a complaint to be made about the evening, it's that the sound could have been better, particularly for the early parts of the gig, but that is so often the case at big, open-air shows like this, and it did improve. By the epic "Born to Run," with the whole of Old Trafford singing as one, any worries about the sound were long gone. The closing Irish jig of "American Land" (The Glazer family might have appreciated that one being played at their stadium) was a raucous end to another stunning show.
DUBLIN, IRELAND Nevermind Naples by Riku Olkkonen Thursday night's European opener was an energetic concert with a standard setlist. Is there a standard setlist when it comes to Bruce? In any case, we were happy with that. Soon-to-be-30 Darkness on the Edge of Town and its elder by a few years Born to Run got some really nice outings, alongside newer Rising and Magic tunes, like "Gypsy Biker" with Little Steven and Bruce's guitar battle. "Because the Night" featured that wonderful solo from Nils. So it was a nice concert, and good to back for my first since the December shows shows. From the pit it felt okay... but like something could be done. Maybe something extra. Then came Friday, and we were sitting in the stands. A different point of view, and sad to say, far worse in terms of sound. I got "Night" first time ever, but I could hardly recognize it. It just sounded awful. There was something wrong. Luckily things improved in time for "Trapped," "Murder Incorporated," and six more songs not played the night before. But it still wasn't the night. Saturday and a day off -- time to have a couple of Guinnesses and other Irish beers. I wonder what Bruce did on Saturday? Because then it happened. After two great concerts -- and they were great, do not misunderstand -- we got that special, magical night on Sunday. Even the greatest artists need to practice. When they repeat, they get better. But when they three-peat... we get a masterpiece. That night we learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school, and there was absolutely everybody alive out there. We broke The Ties That Bind, and there really was Spirit in the Night as Bruce as got wild with the crowd. I just could not believe what I was witnessing. Everybody was smiling, both on stage and on the audience. For some reason (and I still don't believe it) I even cried during few songs, and I am a 42-year-old man. Our thoughts were with Danny during wonderful "Sandy" -- oh, I love that song -- and "Growin' Up." In that Promised Irish Land we were treated with a simply incredible "Racing in the Street." Even the standard part of the set felt really special. Then came encores and, and we were already going nuts after we left "Tenth Avenue." And then, after Born to Run, my biggest wish came true as "Rosie" came out. I was speechless -- and sing-less and everything -- but how happy I was. Those moments just don't come along very often. Just when you thought that you have heard the most wonderful, exciting, inspiring, and rocking performance ever... Bruce surprises you again. After "Dancing in the Dark" and a huge karaoke with "American Land," we assumed it would be time to go and have a cheeseburger. No, not this time. It surely was not quitting time, it was not going-home time, it was not sleepy time, it was not Guinness time, it was not sexy time either... it was Boss time. Extending the show, Bruce Ramrodded us almost until dawn and capped it with "Glory Days." I feel like I saw one of the most perfect concerts a man could dream of. Even now I can not say which one is the best: Gothenburg '85, Stockholm '88, Gothenburg '03, or Dublin '08? There is an old saying: "See Naples and die." Hell with Naples, I am ready to die now. But wait... not yet. The next concert is a must see, because that's the one where I can live it in the present moment once again. See you guys there. Third night's the charm by Karl Birthistle Three nights in Dublin, as the European stadium tour begins, and we saw three very different faces of Bruce. Night one at the RDS Arena gave us Bruce the Professional Crowd Pleaser, the consummate entertainer, delivering the required hits and energy to satisfy a stadium size crowd, in very professional if somewhat predictable fashion. Night two saw Bruce the Clown, interacting deep in the crowd, shaking up the setlist, drinking beer with the people, and "scaring small children!" But let us leave all this behind us, and focus on night three, which one of the most stellar, extraordinary, and uplifting E Street Band performances of recent memory -- possibly of the last nine years. On a cold, windy evening with threatening rain (which finally fell during the red-hot encores), we were treated to a show that surpassed all expectations, an E Street Band performance to rival any I've seen in the last decade. Early in the show it became abundantly clear that we were witnessing an E Street Band playing at their absolute peak; it was a night of authenticity and pathos, fire and magic, with Bruce in and out of the crowd, playing like it was the mid-'70s, making silly hats look smart ("You look good, Steve! You look good!"). We had a set list that defied any predictions, with rarities trading places with new music and fitting seamlessly. The guitar duel on "Gypsy Biker" caught the attention of even those furthest away in this rather unforgiving wind-swept venue, Nils awed all on "Because the Night," and silence descended, even amongst the most committed of the drunks (of which there were many!) during the impeccable, complex beauty of "Racing in the Street." Roy swathed layer upon more refined layer of flourish and creativity to a truly show-stopping song. This was the most beautiful of the many versions of this song I have ever heard. Bruce was in form that I could only dream of: inspirational, charismatic, focused and fully present like I have rarely seen. He is driven and brilliant. Any of six or seven songs would have been total standouts in any show, but to have them all present in one show like this was remarkable. As he thanked the crowd for their condolences, there arose a sustained, profoundly respectful applause in recognition of Danny Federici. Bruce even gave his "short story" recounting Danny's towed car with the marijuana plant and his dubious strategy of reporting the car stolen! "Sandy" was exceptional, and at the end of the song Bruce said that they would "continue in the same vein" and offered "Growin' Up." The encores, with a raucous "Rosalita," became as unpredictable as they were exciting -- as the rain began to fall, cold and gentle, Bruce just did not want to stop. After "American Land," when we all believed it was over, he sent Max back to the riser, looked at Steve in his goofy fashion, smiles beaming, and ripped into "Ramrod." No one could believe it, and then it didn't even stop there, as "Glory Days" followed. Nearly two-and-three-quarter hours of quite remarkable intensity. We were left exhausted and exhilerated. All of us who follow these tours, who know this music so intimately, left the arena ecstatic and incredulous. "Did that really happen?" one German fan asked me. It most certainly did! And what a community we were in Dublin -- besides the many Irish flags around the crowd, there were the Italian, Spanish, American, flags from New Zealand and Greece, and many others. Folks had travelled far to make Dublin a true holiday destination for five days, and a more enriching and rewarding holiday experience I cannot imagine. RED BANK, NEW JERSEY Drop the needle and pray by Chris Phillips As I stood on the Count Basie Theatre sidewalk after this show, basking in the afterglow of "one of those nights," a friend of mine emerged from the crowd filing out with a different kind of look on his face. He was disappointed in the show. "Really, it was pretty much all songs we've heard lately," he said, "it was just the sequencing that was different." Just the sequencing? The sequencing was everything! We agreed to disagree, but I remain baffled that any fan could have been less than dumbstruck by this grand experiment.
I've seen Cheap Trick, over the course of three nights, recreate their first three albums live on stage; R.E.M. did it once on their Green tour. Hell, Garry Tallent has a cover band called the Long Players that specializes in this very thing ("We'll pick a classic album and we'll do it, beginning to end," he told me a couple years back, "and we'll do it one time, one time only. We've done Blonde on Blonde, Let it Bleed, After the Gold Rush, Sgt. Pepper... the list goes on.") But Springsteen has never indicated any inclination or interest in doing anything like this. In 1976, there were a handful of shows where all eight songs from Born to Run made the set, but certainly not in album order. Now, 32 years later, Springsteen and the E Street Band tackled live performances of not one but two albums: Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town. Song-by-song, in sequence, live recreations of classic records that made for a fascinating, thrilling night. If there were any question that attempting this would be a different sort of experience, that was answered in literally the first few notes, as they had to restart "Badlands" to get it right. As familiar as those songs may be to the band -- and to all of us, and in that very order, for those of us who've played those records incessantly -- it was clearly an exhilarating challenge to recast them this way in a live setting. During "Born to Run" -- not in an encore, of course, but in the middle of a set -- Bruce looked around with a laugh as if to say, "Yeah, can you believe we're doing this one now?" In the crowd, I hardly could. The story they were telling, with these songs back in their original album context, was as familiar and comfortable as an old leather jacket. But the thrill of being wrapped up in bringing it to life again, right now, didn't fade all night. I'll let Jeremy take you through it... Time machine by Jeremy Neuer The Count Basie Theatre is a 1,500 seat theater in Downtown Red Bank and one of my favorite places to see a show. Joined by the E Street Band, Springsteen came back to play a benefit for the venue -- and possibly the best show I have ever seen. If it wasn't the best, it was in the top three. After several introductory speeches, including Patti Scialfa and Brian Williams, Bruce and the band took the stage. Bruce talked about his history with the theater dating back to the '70s, and how he wanted to do something special for this night. So, the band was going to do something he said they have never done before and probably never do again: they were going to play the entire Darkness album and the entire Born to Run album (Darkness would be first, so as to not send everyone home suicidal). He then went on to talk a little bit about the Darkness album. He wrote it while living on a farm in Holmdel, and was going through a pretty difficult stretch.
The band launched in to "Badlands," the first track -- and within five seconds, they stopped. The goofed the opening. Bruce seemed pretty amused, announcing that they fucked it up already and maybe that's why they don't do this! He counted down again, the band locked in, and there wasn't another bad note to my ears for the rest of the night. "Adam Raised a Cain" ripped with Bruce's guitar work in fine form. He would take every guitar solo on the Darkness material except for one, which I will mention later. "Something in the Night" absolutely rocked, the primal screams by Bruce matched by the crowd's for the first of many times. "Candy's Room" was played with such intensity. "Racing in the Street" is my favorite song on the album, the last song on side one. They nailed it. While I will always miss Danny, Charlie Giordano does a great job and Roy's piano was a perfect combination of beauty and power. "The Promised Land" is a sharp contrast to "Racing." I am not sure if the characters in "Racing" believe there is a Promised Land anymore. I do, though. They played "Factory" true to the arrangement on the album (the original clocks in at 2:20, and I think this one was pretty close). "Streets of Fire" may be the least-played song on the album, but that didn't stop them from knocking it out the park. "Prove It All Night" is always one of my favorites. Bruce and Steven trading "Yeahs" back and forth... to me, it's the core of the band. For the beginning of the song, Nils was playing an acoustic guitar. I knew that on this tour, Nils has been playing the solo on this song, so it appeared to me that they were changing it up. Having not seen it on this tour, what hit me next was jaw-dropping: Nils' solo was simply astounding. Finally, "Darkness on the Edge of Town" closed the first set. When I saw Bruce do an acoustic show in 2003, he mentioned that the line that he focuses on in "Darkness" is "Tonight, I'll be..." He explained that it was his promise to his audience. I will be here, and I will give my all. Tonight, Bruce and the E Street Band did just that. Darkness isn't one of my favorite albums if I were to rank them, but I couldn't have enjoyed it more. Hearing the songs in sequential order brought me back to the beginning of my fandom. Before I listened to bootlegs, I listened to the albums over and over again. On my cd player, on the tape deck of my car.... While I was already a fan when I truly discovered Darkness, I remember connecting heavily with the record during my sophomore year of college. I guess I was 19 or 20 years old and like everyone else, I felt a little disconnected, not sure where I was going and who I was going with. This album faced those same questions. After a 15-minute break, Bruce came back out and talked a little about Born to Run. He explained that they were on the v |
