They came clad in t-shirts spanning his career, many
clutching scrawled cardboard messages ranging from a simple song request to a
more enhanced plea or comment. They came to pour adulation on a rock ‘n’ roll
legend with the cast iron guarantee of not being disappointed. To be more
precise, 37000 packed the stands and pitch of Coventry’s Ricoh Arena to witness
a three hour fifteen minute exhibition of impeccable musicianship. The legacy
of Bruce Springsteen has long been intact, but with each sold out show devoid
of decline, and without doubt a wave of new fans, it continues to be strengthened.
Amongst the throngs of lifelong devotees, there was the
likelihood of many newbies spanning the generations and whatever the degree of
Springsteen obsession, adulation filled the warmish air on this early June
evening. It helps when the protagonist happens to be one of the greatest
songwriters in contemporary music, is backed by a band soaring above its peers and
they possess the charisma to turn a stadium into your local intimate venue.
Sandwiched between the evocative solo delivered opener ‘For You’ and closer ‘Thunder Road’ were a further 31 songs predominately fuelled by the
high octane presence of the E Street Band. The eight piece line-up had the
usual players in place with the sax of Jake Clemons sharing the projected roles
alongside the twin guitar maestros of Nils Lofgren and Steven Van Zandt. It
must make Bruce’s job a damn sight easier to be in such stage company and thus spur
on his energetic power to defy the sands of time.
Just as the set list of each Springsteen show is glistening
with expectation, uncertainty reigns supreme when seeking a highlight consensus.
‘No Surrender’, ‘Save My Love’ and ‘Travelin’
Band’ have a good chance of being the choice of three card waving fans,
while general audience reaction to the usual suspects of ‘Born to Run’, ‘Hungry Heart’ and ‘Dancing in the Dark’ will likely float the boat of casual
observers.
To have a stab of a nigh on impossible job, I’m happy to
reflect on five songs that just did that little bit more, some with describable
reasons and others that just hit the spot . On what was The River Tour, the
sixth song in, ‘Sherry Darling’
ignited the show from a personal perspective and led the expected healthy
number of tracks featured from this iconic record. ‘Drive All Night’ also from THE RIVER left a favourable impression
later in the set. ‘Waitin’ on a Sunny Day’
was the pick of the feel good anthem numbers and as good choice as any to pinpoint
Bruce’s skill of exhilarating a stadium audience. ‘Seven
Nights to Rock’ was probably the highlight of the three covers, pleasing
both its card waving supporters and giving a scintillating rock ‘n’ roll feel
to the climax section of this outstanding show.
If there was one defining moment on the evening, it had to
be the brief thought during the performance of ‘Youngstown’ of finally finding the answer to the question, ‘what is
Americana music?’. Maybe just a fleeting moment, but it summed up in three
minutes what Bruce Springsteen is all about. In essence he is just a songwriter
with a finger on the pulse of life, possessing the knack of transcending the
line of exponential appeal and exploiting the attributes to flourish in that
arena.
This was my first Bruce Springsteen show and if it proves to
be the only one, the privilege is immovable and has sealed the deal. It was an
amazing experience to witness such a unique artist.
