Concert Review: Bruce Springsteen The River Tour 2016
It’s easy to use hyperbole when you come out of an incredible show. “Best ever!” “Amazing!” “Best show of all time!” These are easy ones to throw out on your ride home from a great concert because, if the band did their job, they brought you to a place where you’re emotionally free. Four years ago, I was lucky enough to experience this twice in the same summer, when I saw both Roger Waters perform The Wall at Fenway Park and Bruce Springsteen on his Wrecking Ball tour at Gillette Stadium. Waters show was incredible, and something that I’ve written about and spoken of in the past, but Springsteen’s show had a lasting effect on me that I haven’t found elsewhere. Going into the concert, I would have told you that Springsteen was an entitled hack, arrogant and obsessed with getting his political beliefs out in the middle of a show. While some of that may be justified, I realized I had pre-judged an artist incorrectly, and that there is simply no one like The Boss. This past Wednesday, I experienced the mighty E Street Band once again, and after four hours of music, plenty of spirits and the company of friends and family, I know that there will never be anyone like The Boss.
Going in I had two songs on my wishlist, and amazingly I got both despite one not having been played much on the tour. Bruce famously has no opener and stops for no intermission, so to see him come out on stage with the E Streeters and go into an acoustic/string arrangement of New York City Serenade was a great introduction to the night. Whereas back in 2012 he was opening with My Love Will Not Let You Down, here it was established that we’d be getting some of the storytelling side of Bruce. Serenade into Prove It All Night, featuring the Boss’s signature solo from some of the early live cuts, was fantastic, but the highlight of the show’s opening had to be his absolutely filthy breakdown of Blinded by the Light, complete with a story about how he wrote the song as a hit for the record company.
Growin’ Up made for another great rendition from the early albums, and then we went on a hell of a run. Lost in the Flood, Kitty’s Back and then the one song I wanted to hear, Incident on 57th Street, all delivered. After Rosalita, Springsteen started grabbing sign requests from the crowd and then played a bunch of tunes off sign requests, including the John Lee Hooker tune Boom Boom. We got everything we were anticipating and more, with a full setlist detailed below:
New York City Serenade
Prove It All Night
Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
Blinded by the Light
It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City
Growin’ Up
Spirit in the Night
Lost in the Flood
Kitty’s Back
Incident on 57th Street
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
No Surrender (Sign Request)
Boom Boom (Sign Request)
Darkness on the Edge of Town (Sign Request)
Radio Nowhere
Hungry Heart
Out in the Street
Detroit Medley (Sign Request)
Light of Day
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (Sign Request, live debut)
American Skin (41 Shots)
The Promised Land
Because the Night
The Rising
Badlands
Encore 1:
Long Walk Home (Sign Request)
Jungleland
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Shout (Cover feat Peter Wolf)
Encore 2:
Rockin’ All Over the World (Cover)
Bobby Jean
The show was special in a lot of ways, one of which being the date it happened, September 14th, five years to the day of the anniversary of when my Uncle Bill died. He loved Springsteen and was a big reason why my other aunts and uncles got into his music. My Uncle Bill was a big deal to me, and someone that I wish I had more time with. He was the guy who gave me my first copies of the Star Wars trilogy on VHS and indirectly encouraged me to “stay weird”. He was a great uncle to me, and I’d be lying if he wasn’t on my mind during the show. I have no idea what lies beyond this life but I’d love to believe that Uncle Bill was there with us at the show, rocking out and enjoying himself.
Springsteen means a lot to me and my family, and I fully admit there is emotional bias when reviewing this show, but that doesn’t mean you should discount the power of the mighty E Street Band. Yeah, I’m gushing and yes, I’m a mark for the guy, but at the age of almost 70 to see someone with that level of energy and willpower to perform is remarkable alone. The fact that he is still the best at what he does is the icing on the cake.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: The River Tour – 10 on 10