"American Land" again featured Charlie and Roy on dual accordions — has any band in the history of rock 'n' roll had a double-barreled accordion attack? * * * Given that the film captures a live performance of Smith's now-classic debut album during the tour launched to commemorate that record's 40th anniversary, it made sense that the head of the label that signed Smith out of CBGB would be there, along with the upstart producer that helped her achieve what's widely regarded as her commercial breakthrough, and, well, the manager of the guy who let the upstart producer take an unfinished demo cassette across town to a sister Jersey swamp rat. Buckets of them. Blinded By the Light Leap of Faith Subscribe to Backstreets! Twist and Shout, February 2 / AAMI Park / Melbourne, AU Next stop: Brisbane. If you were watching the clock, which nobody was, tonight's performance was actually two minutes shorter (2 hrs 13 mins) than the one I saw last fall. "Out in the Street," "Spirit in the Night," and "Hungry Heart" all had Springsteen venturing far from center mic and connecting with a never-before-seen audience. But he maximizes the living room effect, stepping away from the mic at various points to let his voice be heard, unamplified, to the upper reaches. Bruce kicked off the night with a defiant "No Surrender." Thunder Road (guitar) "Cover Me." You gotta use your hands now." "Kitty's Back" shined a spotlight on Charlie, Jake, Roy and an extremely hip-looking Garry and ended with Bruce and Steve injecting the sprawling tune with psychedelic guitar work. Ground to dust, Bruce captured the essence of marriage with a final, pathetic, "You know what I like, honey.". But never thought that there would come a day like this "Sure it is," they respond in voices thick with unanointed attitude, "but how different could it be — same band, same venue, songs he's been singing since the Nixon administration? There was no sax player to be had, so the sax solo was replaced with guitar solos. This time around, the Aussies had no choice but to stand, especially when Bruce whipped out a rare mid-set "Glory Days," and especially when he bellowed, "Can we get these folks in Perth dancing? Chasing Bruce around the stage in a doomed attempt to reposition yourself for a second go-round makes you look silly.) Brilliant Disguise (guitar) - with Patti Scialfa Springsteen Wrecking Ball It was a lovely bonus to hear the band whose history was just shown on film play live, but no one expected more than a handful of songs. How about "Bye Bye Johnny"? - 2016 Aug-Dec Setlists It's gradually revealed that the story Bruce is choosing to tell is not that of his biography, his rise to superstardom, or his family, but of his engagement with the world around him. The River ", The show's breakneck pace continued with another trio of songs played without pause — "Because the Night," "The Rising," and "Badlands" — before a gorgeous "Thunder Road" had Bruce strolling the lip of the stage and an increasingly charismatic Jake Clemons invoking the soaring spirit of Clarence, a feat he'd duplicate with a torrid "Jungleland" solo that led to an embrace with Springsteen at center stage. Multiple aftershocks have rocked the Canterbury region. He's going to live here for a while. Watching Bruce on harmonica and Little Steven on acoustic guitar as the song's narrative unfolded was one of the night's many highlights. Thunder Road Before moving on to the ecstatic encore, which brought guest Richie Sambora to the stage for two songs, we had the words of the original fight song, "Born to Run," ringing in our ears. At the halfway mark of this 14-show summer tour of Australia and New Zealand, "Serenade" remains a high point creatively and emotionally every night and will be long remembered after the lads and lass have left these shores. we shout, free and wild, wanderers in a blast zone searching for survivors of the E Street apocalypse, "Baby we were born to run!" A you-had-to-be-there performance, one not defined by setlists or duration or letters home. Jole Blon Born to Run (guitar). Rosalita. Bye Bye Johnny. Highlights included a Rising two-fer of "My City of Ruins" and "Mary's Place" (after shushing the crowd Bruce laughed and confessed to "fucking up the words even though they're right in front of me"); a Sessions-style "Johnny 99" (in which Steve was caught unawares for his guitar solo as Bruce busted his chops with "c'mon, Little Steven, c'mon," the favor returned when Bruce's solo made Steve laugh out loud) bookended by jackhammer renditions of "Atlantic City" and "Murder Incorporated"; a typically rousing "Death to My Hometown" (Bruce spitting the line "no dictators were crowned"); impressive audience participation during "The River"; and an overwhelming chorus of female voices singing along to "I'm on Fire. Brisbane has been sizzling through a heatwave for months, and tonight it got a little hotter. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out Two Hearts launched a standard six-song encore that included a manic "Seven Nights to Rock" and… well, a manic everything. The Ties That Bind Six songs, two surprise guests, a theater of buzzing music fans, and a set of beautifully connected dots spanning across 40 years. This is the one that gave a voice to the voiceless all those years ago. The Promised Land (guitar) before fetching the correct acoustic from Kevin. "My Hometown" followed, another song made fresh by the autobiography. This is the magic of the theater, and Springsteen, who in his autobiography describes his success as a master illusionist and a magician, aims dead center for that mysterious theatrical ether. Trapped I work from the inside out; in other words, I'm inspired by something internally and I make a record based on what I can write about at a given moment. The Promised Land (acoustic) There's so much space, in the songs and the stories, in the building and in the atmosphere Springsteen cultivates, for our own memories to overlay his. - 2012 Setlists Part 3 piano solo and a satisfied, "Yes, yes, yes….". Dancing in the Dark/Land of Hope and Dreams (guitar) Ancient history, but you could be easily forgiven if your mind connected those dots. It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City Tears of joy and sadness like I've never seen at a concert before. Hungry Heart We smash into one another, screaming to the ceiling, laughing with joy. The trajectory of Springsteen on Broadway is not so much boy to man, but from the sugar-dusted peaks of his Sugar Pops to the western mountains he recalls vividly from his first journey from coast to coast. My Father's House (guitar) (In Australia, at least.). Springsteen launched into "Working on the Highway" first — an odd choice, I thought, perhaps a selection that he knew the non-fans in the audience would recognize, but it was clear that this was definitely a Bruce-friendly crowd. Bruce ripped a solo from the Carter administration during "Prove It All Night," and then an audibled "Darkness on the Edge of Town" hit home in a city hobbled by loss and disillusionment. Bobby Jean. The Wish (piano) It was a dream of a setlist. The Promised Land (guitar) Prior to this the band had hit the stage at 7:30 sharp. Blood Brothers (acoustic) For the lifelong fan, Springsteen on Broadway packs in more history than Hamilton. Bruce knew it; all 30,000 people in attendance knew it: even those who lived many kilometers away but could hear every note through the windows of their homes knew it: This one mattered. Youngstown The song is played in the key of D and uses just a handful of open chords, D, G, A, and Em. We're a long way from home, and our hearts and spirits are with the hundreds of thousands of women and men who marched today in every city in America — and in Melbourne! The Promised Land (guitar) Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop. Glory Days My Hometown (piano) The band left the stage, and Bruce returned alone with his acoustic guitar and harmonic rack for a lovely solo "Thunder Road.". Because the Night - 2003 Setlists Part 2 Long Walk Home (guitar) Growin' Up (guitar) Something You Got (Bruce & Southside duet) The event, which feels like a fever dream now, was a thank you for current White House staff with a full eight years in the Obama Administration. - 2002 Setlists Took him a few moments, but he eventually deduced, "I get it — it's a kiwi!" What stayed the same — what always stays the same — was the protagonist's desperation ("You know what the Boss man likes") to get good with his girl. He didn't — but what he did deliver was a totally different show that was excellent and just the right one for the circumstances. Thunder Road (guitar) Born to Run (guitar). One other change since last fall: Springsteen's acknowledgement of his mother's seven-year struggle with Alzheimer's, which he hadn't addressed directly in earlier shows. Besides, he’s only got 2 hours and 13 minutes to relay his version. Lots of hopping in the pit during another fired-up "Badlands." Born in the U.S.A. (guitar) The bombardment lasted 3 hours and 25 minutes, victory declared on the jubilant faces of Aussies who'd come for a River show but got gobsmacked instead by a rock 'n' roll reckoning. Notes: And on this night in a city either protected or cursed by the tyranny of distance, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band took the Perth Arena stage at 7:55 pm and went to battle. Candy's Room These are stirring, moving performances, each one: the melancholy piano interlude that precedes "My Hometown"; the deftness and humor with which he describes retrieving his father from a bar as a child, the men's broad backs on their stools; his evocation of the stillness of his mother's office at the end of a working day and, repeatedly, the sound of her high heels. From childhood and an Elvis Presley creation myth ("Growin' Up") we move on to look at Freehold ("My Hometown"), his father ("My Father's House"), his mother ("The Wish"). It was a unique night. (This was the first time I had ever witnessed Bruce wearing in-ear monitors which were non-existent during the acoustic set.) The Ties That Bind My Father's House (guitar) Wrecking Ball - 2014 Jan-Mar Setlists The brilliant 2016 release American Band by Drive-By Truckers features a song called "What It Means" that includes these lines: "If you say it wasn't racial / When they shot him in his tracks / Well I guess that means that you ain't black / It means that you ain't black." The Wish (piano) I Saw Her Standing There. Tougher Than the Rest (piano) - with Patti Scialfa Springsteen Rosalita (Also on the bill: Coeur de Pirate, Kelly Clarkson, and Bryan Adams.) But it occurred to me that he could just as well be describing "Born to Run" — a prayer he's led thousands of times for the full-throated faithful; an incantation so familiar its words now transcend meaning, if they ever made sense at all (what exactly is a "hemi-powered drone"? My Hometown That was a first for me, as was the crowd continuing the "Badlands" chant from the mid-song breakdown, over the final verse, through the coda, and into a gorgeous "Land of Hope and Dreams.". She's the One Candy's Room Love still plays a part — that, after all, has long been a subject of Bruce's work, too. Dancing in the Dark Bathed in blue and perfectly still, Bruce hushed images of early-'70s Manhattan while the 2017 E Street Band recalled the remarkable maturity of the musical gypsies who cut the track in 1973. Born to Run (guitar). Setlist: Dancing in the Dark/Land of Hope and Dreams (guitar) Thunder Road (guitar) * * * He zooms out to tell an American story as much as a personal story, reflecting his own growing awareness of his country and its people, the revelations he met with as he left "the fucking boondocks" to go out into the world, the hopes and promises and challenges and failures of America. Springsteen talked a bit about fatherhood (saying something to the effect of, "I guess I'll say something about the kids instead") after explaining that Patti had been sick over Christmas weekend. Darlington County A double from the "Born in the U.S.A." album came next with "Downbound Train" and "I'm on Fire." To speak the language of my Aussie brethren, many of whom spend summer in a cricket coma, this second of two shows in Sydney was a bloody beauty all-rounder. Be True My Father's House (guitar) The usual encores got everybody dancing, and "Bobby Jean" brought the show to a heartfelt close at 10:50. After hanging back on "Our Lady of the Well," Springsteen the guitar-slinger threw in some sizzling riffs to finish off one of the least laid back evenings I've spent. Born in the U.S.A. (guitar) Taking in the film, sitting a few rows back from the screen in the darkened Paramount Theatre, must have been a déjà vu moment for Bruce and Steven. Maybe it was the heat or maybe there was magic in the night, but after hearing the song four times on this tour and adoring every second of its string-ripened glory, it finally cracked me open and brought tears to my sunscreen-smeared face. No word on whether Cohn enjoyed the show. Other standouts with his fantastic band were "The Pretender" and my personal favorite "Redneck Friend," which I had not hear Browne sing in years ("Honey you shake, I'll rattle, we'll roll on down the line..."). Thank you, Bruce. The Promised Land Like a boxer who sees the next punch coming, he anticipated the crowd's mood and either met or challenged it with each song, rarely taking more than a few seconds between songs. Prove It All Night "That's goooood." The Wish (piano) Cadillac Ranch Thunder Road (guitar) After about an hour, the doors to the East Room were opened, and we filed in to take our seats in rows. During a typically exuberant "Working on the Highway" he put a fine point on it, challenging the crowd — "Lemme see ya work that thing!" The final night of a terrific two-night stand, the show again began with "New York City Serenade." The late Gregg Allman founded the Fest, and certainly his presence was felt in spirited sets by Peter Wolf, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, and Jackson Browne. January 22 / Perth Arena / Perth, AU Dancing in the Dark Darkness had yet to fall on Mt Smart Stadium, so no spotlight was needed to watch Bruce saunter from the stage to the lip of the pit, all Stones-y riff and working-man shirt. Subscribe Now! Badlands Another sign led to a cracking "Radio Nowhere" that ended with Max pulverizing his drum kit. The Rising (guitar) He's replacing cynicism with glee, again. Setlist: Bruce got caught up in "Spirit in the Night" to the point where he had to run through the lyrics ("Where was I? "I wanna guard your dreams and visions," Bruce sang. Most shows unfold in vivid sections, but tonight felt a 27-song medley. This was followed by a rousing rendition of The Band's "Up on Cripple Creek" (last performed by Bruce at the Stone Pony with Levon Helm in 1987). The DJ wisely follows with "Dancing in the Dark" before setting loose a force he clearly doesn't understand: "Born to Run." - 2016 Jan-Apr Setlists Brilliant Disguise (guitar) - with Patti Scialfa Springsteen Bye Bye Johnny (same) After "Bobby Jean" seemed to close the show, Bruce reappeared with an acoustic guitar and harp gear and played a simple "Thunder Road" that tamed the crowd into singing along at Bruce's tempo. That is my magic trick.". Fifty-eight different songs over the first three shows of this Summer '17 Tour — that's more than most bands get to on an entire tour — and they looked like they could've kept going for hours more. My Hometown (piano) But this is not a series of concerts — it's a one-man show (with all due respect to Patti) that Springsteen has carefully crafted, rehearsed, and honed to perform night after night. The encores began with a dedication of "If I should Fall Behind" to Brady, from his mom in memory. Born to Run The Fever (Southside, Bruce backing vocals) It's no exaggeration to say this Christchurch concert has been anticipated for generations. Growin' Up (guitar) Two Hearts America is a nation of immigrants, and we find this anti-democratic and fundamentally un-American. But that's the miracle of any Springsteen performance, in any setting: all the years seem to gather into a single night, compressed into that "everlasting NOW" that's sustained Bruce and so many of us for so long. Indeed, it seems like glory days will never pass this band by. Hey, we all were. Roy's long outro guaranteed "Rosalita" and the folks in the pit getting Bruce, Steve and Jake up close and goofy. 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