THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
London and the UK have been so wonderful to us – the E Street Band loves you!said Springsteen. The feeling was mutual.
Having just seen Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters in London and The Rolling Stones in an epic performance in Chicago, how could I possibly miss the very exciting return to London of The Boss!
The review of his very first appearance here described a scrawny, incredibly dynamic figure sliding all the way across the stage on his knees before leaping on top of the piano!
No one who saw it, or a recording of it, will ever forget what US football fans regard as the best ever Super Bowl half time performance, with Bruce starting by shouting to the immense crowd: Step away from the guacamole dip, put the chicken fingers down and turn the volume on your TV ALL the way up for the next 13 minutes
, followed by a huge further shout of Is anyone ALIVE out there?
Prince came closest with 'Purple Rain', played in pouring rain, but no one will ever be able to dethrone Bruce as king of the Super Bowl.
During this awesome performance he overenthusiastically slid crotch first into the main US TV camera, only to continue utterly unabashed. To call him iconic is an understatement: no one has proved more spellbindingly and enduringly unique than The Boss.
The previous and only time I had seen him in concert was in Indianapolis circa 1985 during the 'Born in the USA' tour. Bruce was at the height of his fame and the enthusiasm of the crowd nearly destroyed Market Square Arena. This was during my chubby teenage period and I had asked the captain of the football team as my date. He couldn't wait to accept, but kept a very professional distance between us the whole evening – letting me know that he just wanted to see Bruce and I just happened to hold the priceless tickets. I'd never experienced such enthusiasm for an artist. Calls of Bruuuuuce
were non-stop. 'Born to Run' was and still is, his anthem (and the name of his autobiography), so Bruce singing along with the late Clarence Clemons on the sax was a memory never to forget. This was before laws were made to restrict concerts running over a certain time and Springsteen played encore after encore, utterly careless of disturbing anyone wanting to sleep in Indianapolis that night.
A few summers ago, when his autobiography came out, I read it with relish and went through a crush
phase for months listening to The Boss non-stop. My spouse wasn't disturbed as he knew my phases came and went – plus Bruce was safely in New Jersey with his wife, musician Patti (who was and remains a key member of the E Street Band) and three kids.
Springsteen is synonymous with New Jersey blue collar workers, although in his own words I've never really worked a day in my life
except musically, where he has and still is working his tail feathers off! His concerts are often so enthusiastic that his fans literally break the arena by dancing non-stop on the seats, stamping and jumping. In fact, in his autobiography, there is a section about the time Bruce broke the stadium
in various venues.
His concert back then was by far the best I'd ever seen. Even the football captain was appreciative and enthusiastic (although not about me).
Over the years The Boss has won twenty Grammy Awards (and 51 nominations), one Oscar for 'The Streets of Philadelphia' for the movie Philadelphia, and a special Tony award for his one-man show Springsteen on Broadway.
At 74 years old he is still touring, this time with his E Street Band, to huge critical acclaim. The Guardian wrote of his first UK tour in seven years, Springsteen doesn't so much seize this rare scorcher of a day in Scotland, as grab it by the lapels and shout in its face, wipe its tears then give it a kiss!
Great praise indeed.
He was bringing his show to Wembley late July, so I pounced on two tickets as soon as they were available, changing my summer plans to treat myself to a fresh experience of The Boss in all his glory. Sadly, the tickets I bought online in Cape Town didn't show up, so in a panic I had to purchase two more just before the concert – this time with so-called VIP access! All this turned out to mean I was using a special entrance, but these did arrive by email pronto, only for the original tickets to then suddenly appear at the very last minute. So I donated them to my great friend, the physio on whom I have depended since forever, the renowned Chris McLean.
With traffic, and my concert date a bit tardy coming from work, we arrived just as Bruce and the band were in the middle of their opening song, for he started bang on time, as advertised, at 7.15 pm. There were none of the usual, quite often tedious, warm-up acts and he then proceeded to perform non-stop for over three straight hours with thirty songs!
Bruce was dressed in a tie and black waistcoat with white shirt sleeves rolled up revealing muscular forearms with black wristbands. Black skinny jeans and brown motorcycle boots. He looked every inch the gentleman
Rock Star (gone are his days of tight blue jeans with bandana around his head and white T shirt). A small earring on his left ear was the only deviation from impeccable attire. He has a thatch of salt and pepper hair and nowadays is clean shaven. His voice is as strong and carries right around the stadium, just as before! He's in fabulous shape and looks as fit as he did forty years ago in Indianapolis. He went enthusiastically from guitar to harmonica and back again, playing non-stop for the first dozen songs, only once stopping – to straighten his tie!
Having sold the rights to his music to Sony Music Entertainment for half a billion dollars, he definitely doesn't need to do this anymore. But what he loves above all else is setting out on the road and playing live to a crowd. He is so obviously delighted to be playing once again on stage with his bandmates, some for nearly sixty plus years.
The show started with 'Lonesome Day' and continued with 'No Surrender', 'Hungry Heart' and 'Spirit in the Night'. Bruce then wove his way into the audience, as somebody had held up a sign saying, My boyfriend will propose if he can have your harmonica!
Bruce duly handed it over and to the delight of the crowd a proposal was made and accepted there and then.
He regularly roamed into the crowd. Instead of using a runway – in fact there was no runway, only steps leading to the floor – he just regularly stepped from the stage still strumming and singing, down to the standing sea of worshipers. Huffing and puffing, a cameraman struggled in his wake, zigzagging through the throng of adoring fans. No lip-synching here, or backing track – it was pure live Bruce! Plus Steve van Zandt (of Sopranos fame), wearing his trademark bandana and several dangling earrings and necklaces (I kept an eye that he didn't get one caught in the strings of his guitar). Adding a third guitar was Nils Lofgren, adding a certain bad boy element in all black with black ribbons hanging down to the floor from his guitar headstock (hope he too doesn't trip!).
The horn section was awesome. In fact almost every instrument seemed to be included – trumpets and trombones, a violin, mandolin, accordion, a xylophone, cymbals and every kind of drum imaginable. Even a white upright piano to accompany the electronic keyboard.
Bruce is super proud of and loyal to his band, some who have been with him almost from the outset. He always ends his show by praising them, now with: You've just witnessed the heart-stopping, hard-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, love-making, viagra-taking, death-defying E Street Band!
But the hypnotic focus always was on The Boss and his guitar, which he kept swinging dramatically in circles around his body!
Clarence Clemons' nephew, Jake, was a standout, as he sounded just like his late uncle on the saxophone. He had several rousing solos including on 'Born to Run', 'Badlands', and 'Thunder Road'.
The crowd was a wonderful mix of all ages from excited teenagers to a very raucous, celebratory contingent the same age as Bruce. Most had touring T shirts highlighting the various Springsteen tours they had seen, all thrilled to be back in the presence of The Boss.
First it drizzled, then turned into a downpour in the open-air Wembley Stadium, but 90,000 fans plus the ancient rocker himself didn't flinch and could not have cared less. They welcomed the cool, cloudy and very damp atmospherics – London summer living up to its reputation.
I thought I knew all the Springsteen songs, as I had been listening to his concert set list non-stop, but he pulled out several surprises, many of them gospel-themed.
'The Nightshift' had gospel and blues references to Marvin Gaye, and Bruce stopped playing to dance during a fabulous vocal performance from his gospel backup singers.
An acoustic version of 'Last Man Standing Now' brought out the memory that he is the last survivor of his first band, which he joined at fifteen years old.
Out came the harmonica again in 'She's The One', and he shouted, London let me hear your voice: Call -
Bring on your Wrecking Ball
during 'Wrecking Ball'.
After seemingly ending the show with 'Thunder Road' (you ain't a beauty, but hey you're all right…and that's all right with me
– what a classic lyric) then bowing with his band, he didn't even bother to pretend to leave the stage before the first encore. The cries of Bruuuuce
were too deafening!
So he started again, with the house lights burning brightly, to 'Born to Run' blasting through the crowd, who knew every note. Who oo oh oh oh
sang his fans in unison with their hero. He was having a blast, as was the entire stadium, hands all waving in unison. Then 'Dancing in the Dark' – I want to change my clothes, my hair, my face…
The whole stadium was dancing in the dark, with the aid of phone illumination and strobe lights.
'Tenth Avenue Freeze Out', my personal favorite, followed with images of Clarence and his saxophone on the screen, then 'Twist And Shout', and finally 'See You In My Dreams'.
With his iconic stance, guitar slung over his back, the legendary rocker bade his fans farewell. London and the UK have been so wonderful to us – the E Street Band loves you!
Bruce shouted.
Well Bruce, London (and especially me) LOVE you and what we all want is you back.
