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Hello,
Those were the last words Bruce Springsteen sang last Tuesday.
I witnessed one of the best concerts in a long time (since Elevation Antwerp actually) and also one of the best concerts ever. Bruce Springsteen played a single date in Rotterdam (Ahoy) and I was lucky enough to have tickets to it. The tickets weren't the best seats or so, actually they were pretty lousy (high up in the bleachers of the second ring at the side of the stage). I decided then to watch the concert standing behind the seats of the first ring. Maybe I could have seen everything pretty well from my original seats, but it was so steep and small there that I maybe wouldn't be able to stand during the concert (sitting down is for wussies!). I mean, I'm not really afraid of heights, but I know that I can have some problems with my balance (especially when dancing/jumping). The view behind the first ring was OK. When the persons with first ring seats would stand up it was quite difficult to see the stage (and Bruce), but when they sat down (only for the really quiet songs) I could see everything well. Thankfully, Bruce also some screens that showed what was going on (more about that later).
Here's the setlist:
The Rising
Lonesome Day
No Surrender
Prove It All Night
Empty Sky
You're Missing
Waiting For A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Worlds Apart
Badlands
She's The One
Bobby Jean
Mary's Place
Counting On A Miracle
For You (solo piano)
The River (solo acoustic)
Into The Fire
Dancing In The Dark
Ramrod
Born To Run
My City Of Ruins
Born In The USA
Land Of Hope And Dreams
Thunder Road
In a way the setlist is maybe a bit standard for the tour at this moment, but I don't care. I only see one Bruce concert this autumn and I've seen him only once before, so he may play everything he likes, as long as he plays well. And boy, he was on a roll last Tuesday!
He played with a lot of vigour and seemed looser (and happier, and better) than when I saw him in Barcelona on the '99 Reunion Tour (world tour opening night).
Still, like with the broadcast of the Barcelona concert last week, I thought that Prove It All Night was dragging a little bit. I'm a pretty late convert to Bruce (yep, you guessed it, from '99) and so I don't know anything about the history of this song in concert (as I read that many are always happy when he plays this). As I said, I'm not that impressed by it. However, this was more than compensated by Badlands. When I first heard the song some years ago I wasn't that impressed by it. Also the many live versions didn't sound that special to me. But in Barcelona last week and in Rotterdam on Tuesday I was blown away by the song. It seems like it has gotten a new life and it sounds great!
Worlds Apart is my favourite track from The Rising and it also sounds terrific in concert. Especially the guitars at the end make it a very moving song. Wonderful. She's The One is a very nice fun song (to me at least), the heavy emphasis on drums/percussion gives it a nice body. Speaking of drums, it is true that Max Weinberg may look like an accountant, but he's also one of the hardest hitting drummers in the world. What a power!
The big surprise for Rotterdam was The River. He hasn't played it before on this tour and in Rotterdam he apparently did it as an request for a girl. Her boyfriend was a big Metallica fan and he only wanted to go with her if Bruce would play The River. And so he did, in a solo rendition on his acoustic guitar. Now, I think The River is one of the saddest songs ever (especially the second verse) and also one of Bruce's best. To hear this superb song totally acoustic was pure heaven!
Oh, I hope somebody has made a video of Bruce's performance of Ramrod. If so, it should replace almost all so-called 'comedies' on TV. That song was hilarious. Bruce trading many, many, MANY funny faces with Steve. It seemed like the song went on forever (and if it was up to me it could have go on forever), with the whole band (except for the seaters Danny, Max and Roy) joining Bruce for a walk around the stage (and ending with their butts to the audience). Man, I'd love to have a video of this!
Finally, the ending was also great (how often have I used this word already in the review?). After LOHAD the concert seemed over, but they came back for one last time for Thunder Road. It was the perfect ending for a perfect concert. And yet, Bruce made it even better as his last words were "See you in Spring." Now, that's good news!
C ya!
Marty
Those were the last words Bruce Springsteen sang last Tuesday.
I witnessed one of the best concerts in a long time (since Elevation Antwerp actually) and also one of the best concerts ever. Bruce Springsteen played a single date in Rotterdam (Ahoy) and I was lucky enough to have tickets to it. The tickets weren't the best seats or so, actually they were pretty lousy (high up in the bleachers of the second ring at the side of the stage). I decided then to watch the concert standing behind the seats of the first ring. Maybe I could have seen everything pretty well from my original seats, but it was so steep and small there that I maybe wouldn't be able to stand during the concert (sitting down is for wussies!). I mean, I'm not really afraid of heights, but I know that I can have some problems with my balance (especially when dancing/jumping). The view behind the first ring was OK. When the persons with first ring seats would stand up it was quite difficult to see the stage (and Bruce), but when they sat down (only for the really quiet songs) I could see everything well. Thankfully, Bruce also some screens that showed what was going on (more about that later).
Here's the setlist:
The Rising
Lonesome Day
No Surrender
Prove It All Night
Empty Sky
You're Missing
Waiting For A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Worlds Apart
Badlands
She's The One
Bobby Jean
Mary's Place
Counting On A Miracle
For You (solo piano)
The River (solo acoustic)
Into The Fire
Dancing In The Dark
Ramrod
Born To Run
My City Of Ruins
Born In The USA
Land Of Hope And Dreams
Thunder Road
In a way the setlist is maybe a bit standard for the tour at this moment, but I don't care. I only see one Bruce concert this autumn and I've seen him only once before, so he may play everything he likes, as long as he plays well. And boy, he was on a roll last Tuesday!
He played with a lot of vigour and seemed looser (and happier, and better) than when I saw him in Barcelona on the '99 Reunion Tour (world tour opening night).
Still, like with the broadcast of the Barcelona concert last week, I thought that Prove It All Night was dragging a little bit. I'm a pretty late convert to Bruce (yep, you guessed it, from '99) and so I don't know anything about the history of this song in concert (as I read that many are always happy when he plays this). As I said, I'm not that impressed by it. However, this was more than compensated by Badlands. When I first heard the song some years ago I wasn't that impressed by it. Also the many live versions didn't sound that special to me. But in Barcelona last week and in Rotterdam on Tuesday I was blown away by the song. It seems like it has gotten a new life and it sounds great!
Worlds Apart is my favourite track from The Rising and it also sounds terrific in concert. Especially the guitars at the end make it a very moving song. Wonderful. She's The One is a very nice fun song (to me at least), the heavy emphasis on drums/percussion gives it a nice body. Speaking of drums, it is true that Max Weinberg may look like an accountant, but he's also one of the hardest hitting drummers in the world. What a power!
The big surprise for Rotterdam was The River. He hasn't played it before on this tour and in Rotterdam he apparently did it as an request for a girl. Her boyfriend was a big Metallica fan and he only wanted to go with her if Bruce would play The River. And so he did, in a solo rendition on his acoustic guitar. Now, I think The River is one of the saddest songs ever (especially the second verse) and also one of Bruce's best. To hear this superb song totally acoustic was pure heaven!
Oh, I hope somebody has made a video of Bruce's performance of Ramrod. If so, it should replace almost all so-called 'comedies' on TV. That song was hilarious. Bruce trading many, many, MANY funny faces with Steve. It seemed like the song went on forever (and if it was up to me it could have go on forever), with the whole band (except for the seaters Danny, Max and Roy) joining Bruce for a walk around the stage (and ending with their butts to the audience). Man, I'd love to have a video of this!
Finally, the ending was also great (how often have I used this word already in the review?). After LOHAD the concert seemed over, but they came back for one last time for Thunder Road. It was the perfect ending for a perfect concert. And yet, Bruce made it even better as his last words were "See you in Spring." Now, that's good news!
C ya!
Marty
That is AWEsome
The thought of the show ending with "Thunder Road" (my 2nd fav Bruce song......) 
?
cool.
