After the epic European tour of the Spring and Summer Bruce Springsteen returned to the U.S. yesterday to begin a summer tour in stadiums. The inaugural concert was held at the legendary Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox.
The band came on stage to the sounds of «Take Me Out to The Ballgame» in the PA, before Bruce started the show with «The Promised Land», followed by «Out in the Street» and the songs from Wrecking Ball that remain the show’s cornerstones nightly. «Spirit in the Night» and «The E Street Shuffle» were the two songs choosen for this show from his earliest albums. The surprises of the night were another great version of «Drive All Night» and the tour premieres of John Lee Hooker’ «Boom Boom» and The Standells’ «Dirty Water», ending with «Twist and Shout» after three and a half hours on stage.
During the show Bruce made a couple of references to Johnny Pesky, the Red Sox player who passed away this week. His picture was on the huge videoscreens during «Twist & Shout», before fireworks started at the end of the song.
Tras la épica gira europea de primavera y verano Bruce Springsteen volvió ayer a su país para iniciar una gira de verano en estadios. El concierto inaugural se celebró en el mítico estadio de béisbol Fenway Park, donde juegan los Red Sox.
La banda salió al escenario mientras sonaba «Take Me Out to The Ballgame» en la megafonía, antes de que Bruce iniciara la actuación con «The Promised Land», seguida de «Out in the Street» y las canciones de Wrecking Ball fijas en el set list a diario. «Spirit in the Night» y «The E Street Shuffle» formaron el capítulo dedicado a los primeros discos. La sorpresa de la noche fue otra gran versión de «Drive All Night», así como los estrenos de sendas versiones de «Boom Boom» (John Lee Hooker) y «Dirty Water» (The Standells), finalizando con «Twist and Shout» tras tres horas y media sobre el escenario.
Durante la noche Bruce hizo un par de menciones a Johnny Pesky, el jugador de los Red Sox fallecido esta semana. Durante «Twist & Shout» se proyectó su foto en las pantallas del estadio. Al final de la canción se lanzaron fuegos artificiales sobre Fenway Park, con su destacado e inconfundible marcador verde, conocido como «The Green Monster».
The Promised Land
Out In The Street
We Take Care Of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death To My Hometown
My City Of Ruins
Spirit In The Night
The E Street Shuffle
Jack Of All Trades
Atlantic City
Because The Night
Johnny 99
Darlington County
Working On The Highway
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin’ On A Sunny Day Boom Boom
Drive All Night
The Rising
Badlands
Thunder Road
–
We Are Alive
Born To Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out Dirty Water
Twist And Shout
The phenomenal concerts from the last few days of the European tour were a clear indication that Bruce would offer something special for the tour’s finale. Since that initial date in Seville last May 13th, he’s given 33 concerts in Europe, and his farewell in Helsinki exceeded all expectations. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band broke the mythical four-hour barrier, playing for 4 hours and 6 minutes, breaking his own record and doing his longest show ever. Furthermore, at 6:30pm (hour and a half before the official showtime), and with only a third of the audience in the stadium, Bruce showed up on stage with an acoustic guitar to give an unexpected 30-minute acoustic performance (which included tour premieres and rarities such as «I’ll Work For Your Love,» «Leap of Faith», «No Surrender», «For You» and «Blinded by The Light»).
It was a pure act of gratitude for his loyal fans. After the acoustic mini-set Bruce walked down to the front row of the pit and spent about ten minutes shaking hands, chatting with his fans and collecting signs with requests, then went onstage again to thank everybody and say goodbye. If we add this acoustic show it adds up to a monumental 4 hours and 36 minutes of live performance in Helsinki.
But as we know a Bruce show it’s not just about lenght. His secret lies in the intensity and quality of his performance, and in that he did not fail in Helsinki. It was superlative. The ‘regular’ show began with «Rockin ‘All Over The World», the John Fogerty tune that has often served as show-closer, followed here by the energy of «Night» and the always effective «Out in the Street», plus two gems: «Loose Ends», overwhelmingly beautiful as usual, and the rarely performed and recently resurrected version of «Prove it All Night» with its 1978 introduction.
And the show went on and on, and «Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?» came, and then «Be True» (though the original set list, which was changed on the fly, included «Factory,» «Point Blank» and «Candy’s Room»), the always welcome «Downbound Train» and «Because the Night», the tour premieres of «Light of Day» and the great, soulful «Back in Your Arms» (an underplayed classic), and latger on a very long and intense encore set, with the return of the «Detroit Medley» and«I Don’t Wanna Go Home» (Van Zandt wrote it, and Southside Johnny recorded it, and here it was played without the band, just as a duet with Bruce and Steve and their guitars), then followed by this soul masterpiece that is «Higher and Higher» (originally sung by the great Jackie Wilson), and a final, extra encore with «Twist and Shout» after Bruce announced they were about to break the 4-hour mark.
Helsinki 31 July 2012
(Keep watching after the songs ends and Bruce gets down to the pit)
(Sigue mirando cuando acaba la canción y Bruce saluda al público)
