Bruce Springsteen walks up on stage at Wembley Stadium and goes straight into song. There is no introduction because there needs no introduction, he is the Boss, and the Boss is magic – over fifty years of making some of the foremost rock and roll music, he comes out and debuts with Lonesome Day – dipping straight into his anthem album The Rising. Not afraid to go for the deep cuts he has the power to surprise and entertain – Seeds and My Love Will Not Let You Down follow suit; as the crowd stand in awe at their hero, a bit lost in the disbelief that someone iconic as The Boss is really there, unsure what to do. It feels odd watching a gig without a support act before and it feels odd watching a gig in the daylight, but this is Wembley, it goes by different rules – and Springsteen is no ordinary artist.
It’s the closure of his European set-list for the first of two nights and because it’s Thursday, you’re likely to get the die-hards there. And the die-hards are there in spades, Europe has always been kind to Bruce when his interest in the USA is fluctuating, not quite at its peak – as is evidenced by Gurinder Chadha’s film Blinded by the Light, which captured why the icon is so relatable – the Taylor Swift for men, if you had to compare him so rudimentary, and specifically, the Taylor Swift for the working class, even if he now reportedly has achieved billionaire status just before the closure of this tour, thanks in no small part due to the increase in ticket sales of stadium level venues.
He has a way of catering to the everyman – and he does – Hungry Heart he sits back and lets the E-Street Band take the spotlight, caring more about them than he does himself, as every frontman should, taking time to interact with the crowd in his waistcoat that makes him look like a snooker player rather than one of the most iconic rock and roll figures. He takes up an inflatable doll that looks like him and showboats at the start of the gig, rather than at the end – just to let the audience know what they’re in for. Hungry Heart, taken from The River, and The Promised Land, from Darkness on the Edge of Town, would be gig-enders, encore tracks for anyone else – but here; they’re masterclasses. “My boyfriend will propose if he can have your harmonica” a sign reads through The Promised Land, and The Boss obliges – surely a sign taken on “oh, this’ll never happen” only for the inevitable to do so – a lovely moment that everyone at the front row will remember for the rest of their lives – it’s the first thirty minutes of the gig that all of this happens, and the fact that this is so early on suggests that there’s so much more to come. You ain’t seen nothing yet – we start at 7:15, and this is going to go on until curfew at 10:30. There’s no messing about here, it’s not quite Foo Fighters territory, but pretty damn close – Springsteen doesn’t have to brag like Dave Grohl that they’ll keep playing until they kick them out, because you know he has a reputation of playing for famously long shows – the UK weather affecting perhaps his setlist, but for the fans caught in the rain it was a life-altering experience. “What do I have that I could conceivably give back to these people who gave me so much?” Springsteen asks – “and the answer is, everything else,” to thunderous applause.
The cries of BRUCE ring out every time he stops to breathe, and it’s a memory tour down his back catalog – the deep cuts are here and the deep cuts are prominent: there is no Born in the USA, which was fine by me, his weakest single – and there was no Darkness on the Edge of Town. But instead it’s career-highlight Reason to Believe and Atlantic City from Nebraska, one of the all-time greatest albums ever mode, and the highlight of the whole thing may be an orgiastic solo from Nils Lofgren, effortlessly cool as ever.
From then on it’s Youngstown, a deep cut, and then another – Long Walk Home, introduced as a “prayer for my country” – with Springsteen well known for his friendship with Barack Obama and having been outspoken on multiple issues – aware of the fact that he’s not in America anymore. As if to make up for the hits he goes into The Street Shuffle and then picks up with a couple of covers – Commodores’ Nightshift and Patti Smith’s Because the Night, before launching into the all out classics by the time we’re on song number twenty. She’s the One, Wrecking Ball, The Rising, Badlands, and then leading the audience into a chorus of Thunder Road, to which everyone knows all the words, he wraps up the main set with a triumphant showboating supreme – can you outlast the E-Street Band? He dares the crowd – nobody can outlast the E-Street Band. What I love about Bruce is how humble he is here – how recognizing he is of his peers. And then the band are back up for the first Encore – Land of Hope and Dreams, more deep cuts – Born to Run, because of course, and there’s time for Dancing in the dark, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and the oft-played Top Notes cover of Twist and Shout. For one final time the Boss comes back on stage to I’ll See You in My Dreams – and more than delivers, a promising farewell to those who have stayed the entire set, capping off an excellent Thursday night in the rain.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are now on tour.
You can learn more about Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s Tour at the tour’s website.
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