It’s always difficult to be objective about a Bruce gig. Of course there will always be moans about the setlist, not playing your favourites but with such a back catalogue it’s inevitable. Yes it would be great to see him in a small club and not from a hundred yards away on a big screen but that’s not gonna happen. (Ed’s note dear BST why put an enormous fake tree in front of one of the screens!!) Yes the sound is often a bit ropey in these outdoor venues but one thing you can be sure of with Bruce is it’s going to be a great show and so it was.
Looking back this was my eighth Bruce gig and for many artists that is a lot but for some of the fans there today they would be doing eight gigs on this tour alone. Bruce is held by those fans in a god like status and it did make me wonder about his powers when at precisely the time when he sings ‘Let it Rain, let it rain, let it rain’ from ‘Mary’s Place’ the heavens opened for one of a couple of showers on the night. Next line though is ‘we’re gonna have a party’ and party we did.
Onto the day itself and we are six strong, all Bruce veterans in every sense of the word and make our way in to take up the least worst viewing position in the park. The less said about the support acts the better and they were soon forgotten. Given what happened when Bruce last played this park he and the band start the show promptly at 7 to avoid any unnecessary curfew issues. It’s not so much of a problem with this tour as they play a tight three hours performing largely the same songs with three or four changes each night. Tonight’s variances included ‘Darkness’, a super funky jam out for ‘E Street Shuffle’ and ‘Death to my Hometown’.
Such was the size of the band, I lost count of the members, now with multiple backing singers, horn section, extra keyboardist and the core E Street members, of Max, Garry, Steven, Nils and Roy they should have renamed them the E, F & G street band.
One thing for certain with a Bruce show is there won’t be a lack of energy and now in his seventies he is still constantly on the move belying those years. There’s no sign of cracking of that distinctive voice either and the master band leader drives the rest of the band to give each show 100%. Bruce’s right hand man in that respective is the unflappable Max Weinberg on drums who keeps everyone in time and on time, leading and ending each song without missing a beat.
The three hours flew by with little between song banter as each song quickly followed the last to cram around 28 tracks into those three hours. It’s a tremendous show with a classic at every turn and I thought that Bruce seemed to take more guitar solos this time around than I can remember from previous shows just to reinforce that he’s no slouch moving across the fret board either. That’s not to say that Little Steven and Nils didn’t get their moment but this felt like a more personal Bruce show really connecting with the fans often with him spending time down by the crowd barrier rather than on the stage.
Little else to say although there was a funny moment given what happened last time they played here Bruce joking tonight 'Are they gonna pull the plug'. This time around they ensured that they got through ‘Twist and Shout’ in the encore and no plug was pulled.
Show ended with Bruce alone singing ‘I’ll see you in my dreams’ a poignant close recognising our mortality and that why it’s important to celebrate these legends of music while they are still around.
When all our summers have come to an end, we'll meet and live and laugh again
This show just reinforces that Bruce is still the master and strike this one up there as one of his best.
Keep on rockin’ y’all