Bruce returned to Sydney yesterday and celebrated it with a special concert, following the thread of the two Melbourne concerts, and performed a complete album: Darkness on the Edge of Town.
The show was marked by the absence of Jake Clemons, back to the US to attend his father’s funeral. Bill Clemons (Jake’s father and Clarence’s brother) passed away this week due to injuries sustained during a fire at his Arizona home some days ago. Bruce dedicated a few words to him at the show: «I want to thank Ed Manion tonight, who is taking Jake’s solos. Jake’s pop passed away, Clarence’s brother Bill, who was in the Marine Corps, played trumpet… another great Clemons musician. We send our prayers and our condolences out to Jake’s family. And thanks Eddie!«. Veteran Ed Manion took care of all the sax parts at this show.
Bruce and the E Street Band opened Sydney’s gig with «Friday on My Mind», the Easybeats classic. As Bruce said in an interview in Australia in 1995 , the song was the inspiration for «Out in the Street» in 1980. So obviously, Bruce sang it next and then «Cadillac Ranch», along with some tour standards («High Hopes», «Just Like Fire Would», «Spirit in the Night») before performing the full Darkness album.
No big surprises during the rest of the main set (perhaps because of Jake’s absence), until the encores, which featured another song by an Australian band: INXS’s «Don’t Change». The show ending brought a beautiful acoustic version of «Surprise Surprise» and the pump-organ solo version of «Dream Baby Dream» (like in the Devils & Dust tour), which was fantastic.
Foto: Patrick Lion (Twitter: @patricklion)