BRUUUCE!!! Springsteen masterful as ever in Brooklyn
Bruce Springsteen rocked the Barclays Center on April 25 for over 3 and a 1/2 hours! (Photo: Backstreets.com)
One time a few years ago at a Bruce Springsteen concert, Bruce declared that the show was going to be a rock and roll baptism and a rock and roll bar – mitzvah.
Last night in Brooklyn, everyone in the Barclays Center (at least the Jewish ones) must have felt like they were 13-years-old again – because his performance was a celebration, a party and frankly a near religious experience.
Setlist from 4/25 (Backstreets.com)
The setlist was ridicoulous, the crowd was amazing and Bruce was as good as he’s ever been – and that’s saying something for a 66-year-old man!
Springsteen went on stage at 8:17 PM, earning roars of approval even before the first guitar riff hit just seconds later. As always he and the E Street Band didn’t need an opening act – instead they played straight through the night for 3:33. Three hours and thirty three minutes. Yes, we were rocking and rolling, screaming and yelling, cheering and euphorically singing along until 11:50 PM.
I’ve seen Bruce countless times and last night was the fourth album I’ve seen him play top to bottom. Back on the Working on A Dream Tour when Bruce and the band shut down the old Giants Stadium, he played Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born in the USA sequentially and straight through. Those albums are shorter though (Born to Run has 8 songs) and last night, when he played the River through (a double album with a total of 20 songs) it took up a larger portion of the set and had a bit of a different feel.
The feeling is hard to explain. There was a similar excited buzz, but I maybe it was just a bit more predictable of a setlist than previous tours thanks to the long album.
The River is not my favorite album he’s written, I know the lyrics to most, but not all of the songs and I’d certainly have preferred any of the three previously mentioned albums or even his debut album (Greetings from Asbury Park), but it was still very neat to hear it start to finish and for the final time – this was his last show in America on this tour and he’s changing the sets for the European leg.
I loved that he opened with Meet Me in the City, an outtake from the original River release and a fitting song, in my opinion, to celebrate our night in Brooklyn. I was excited that Bruce took signs and requests from the crowd, though I’m pretty jealous of the 10-year-old girl that got to go on stage with Bruce and solo on Blinded by the Light as the whole crowd was mesmerized by her ability to memorize the lyrics.
The encore (which wasn’t really an encore as the band never left the stage) started with a tribute to the recently passed Prince. I personally am not much of a Prince fan — and full disclosure, have never really been familiar with any of his music including Purple Rain — but I enjoyed Bruce’s tribute. The purple lights were a nice touch and almost 24 hours later, I’m still enjoying humming this version to myself.
Sure, I’m exhausted today after staying up late enjoying the concert and waking up early to try to get back to work in Connecticut at a reasonable hour, but I would not have traded those few magical hours for anything and I’m incredibly grateful to my brother David for organizing the outing and securing the tickets.
Weeknight or weekend, when Bruce comes back to America for a stadium tour in the fall (fingers crossed that it happens!!), I’ll plan on being there. After all, I’m not one to turn down another rock and roll bar mitzvah.
CoachSass.com 