Bruce Springsteen said goodbye to Australia with two outdoor concerts at Hanging Rock, with 17,000 people per night and all tickets sold out.
The first show started strongly with «Badlands», «Prove It All Night» and «High Hopes», and was filled with hits and Bruce’s most popular songs such as «Hungry Heart», «The River», «Atlantic City», «Pay Me My Money Down», «Darlington County», «Waitin’ on a Sunny Day», «The Promised Land», «The Rising», «Thunder Road» and «Glory Days» as well as the rarely performed «Tougher Than The Rest», with Australian singer Jimmy Barnes guesting.
An electric solo version of «If I Should Fall Behind» in the encore was followed by a request for «Because the Night», with Bruce doing the guitar solo on this occasion. «My City of Ruins» was left off the set again, and the band was introduced in the middle of «Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out».
The second night saw Bruce and the band full of energy for their tenth and last concert in Australia. «Adam Raised a Cain» set the tone for a very strong concert. It was followed with force with «Candy’s Room», «She’s the One» and «Something in the Night». Later came a double dose off The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle album, with «The E Street Shuffle» and «Incident on 57th Street», which included a long solo from Bruce at the end.
The welcome «Tougher Than The Rest» was again sung as a duo with veteran Australian rocker Jimmy Barnes, before rolling into an unstoppable trio formed by «Because the Night», the explosive «Jackson Cage» and «Open All Night».
The encores brought a strong «Born in the USA» followed by the usual «Born to Run», «Dancing in the Dark «and» Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out», then Bruce saying he couldn’t stop and getting into an euphoric «Rosalita» and finally «Twist & Shout».
April will be a month off for the band before their return to Europe on the 29th, in Oslo, with Steve Van Zandt back in the band after the completion of the second season of Lilyhammer.
See complete set list 30 March
See complete set list 31 March
Photos courtesy of @patricklion
