After many years of waiting, I finally got to see Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band live in concert on Saturday night. The venue was Belfast's Odyssey Arena. The two and a half hours the band performed onstage were everything I imagined they would be. But like Marty DiBergi with the mighty Spinal Tap before me, I got more, a lot more.
It's been a few decades since Springsteen had to worry about where his next penny was coming from, but the songs he has crafted will always resonate and attach themselves to a working-class spirit that translates the world over. The sharp cold and hussle and bussle of Belfast City on Saturday night could easily have been a scene from one of Springsteen's classic narrative tales with a New Jersey in the winter setting. The backstreets, the urban darkness and the Wildean gutter star-gazers who colour his work lend themselves well to the towns and cities of Ireland. This has been Springsteen's biggest success as a writer. As a performer, he's simply in a class of his own. The songs may be ours but the stage belongs to him.
This was clear as soon as he casually marched on and twice asked, nay growled, "is there anybody alive out there?" 'Radio Nowhere' instantly kicked in and the quest for soul, so vivid in the song, took flight around the arena and was met with thousands of kindred spirits - this was going to be a night to remember!
The band were without regular E-Streeters Danny Federici, who is undergoing surgery, and Patti Scialfa, who is back at the New Jersey homestead "making sure the house doesn't burn down," as Bruce informed us. But with Roy Bitton, Gary Tallent, Steve Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, Nils Lofgren and 'Big Man' Clarence Clemons all on board, the trip through the Springsteen catalogue was always going to be a bump-free ride.
All but two tracks from Springsteen's current 'Magic' record were performed tonight. The man himself wasn't shy on highlighting the themes running through the songs, many of which address the distrust in the powers-the-be that is now so prevelant in the United States. The audience was here to party yes, but were also willing to listen when needed - title-track 'Magic' was met with an intuitive silence around the Odyssey, as Springsteen sang of a land of tricks and deception. As the tempo went up, a happy couple just wed on the day of the show got 'I'll Work For Your Love' played in their honour. 'Gypsy Biker', 'Devils Arcade' and 'Last To Die' were the stand-outs of the new material performed.
But it's the classics that got the place really bouncing, particularly 'Badlands', where, as usual, the audience became part of the E-Street vocal choir. Modern classics like 'Waiting on a Sunny Day', 'The Rising' and 'Lonesome Day' sat perfectly at home beside oldies like 'She's The One' and 'Born To Run'.
The latter is a natural show-stopper, and a sea of over ten thousand fists punched the air and dreamed that youthful dream of escape all over again. This was followed instantly by 'Dancing In The Dark', which was much rockier than it's 'Born In The USA' incarnation and had the whole place bouncing the roof off. Even older golden nuggets like 'Kitty's Back', 'Because The Night' and 'The River' (whose subject matter was in the crowd tonight - Springsteen's brother-in-law, Mickey) ensured that every period of the Springsteen's catalogue was represented.
When all that was done and dusted, it was time for Santa Claus, as Clarence and Bruce had a bit of festive fun with 'Santa Claus is Coming To Town'. 'Do you believe in Santa Claus?' shouted Springsteen. At an E-Street Band show it's easy to believe in anything. A glorious night and May can't come quick enough.
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