News

33 songs, 3 hours and 45 minutes tonight in Oslo, in a show our reporters have defined as «brutally intense». Bruce has given today one of the longests show of his career, just three minutes short of the magnificent performance in Madrid last June 17th. But a Springsteen show is not about records or lenght, but intensity and emotions. And in Oslo emotions flew free since the beginning, with the acoustic version of «The Promised Land» which opened the gig, followed by a double dose of rock with «No Surrender» and «Two Hearts». The lenghty show featured two tour premieres: «Ain’t Good Enough For You» (off The Promise) and «Streets of Fire», one of those gems Springsteen seems to have forgotten, until a fan reminded him via a sign. The intensity of the moment continued with «Prove it All Night» and «Johnny 99».

After the soulful «Raise Your Hand» Springsteen has brought back «Rocky Ground», a welcome comeback, now in a different spot, followed by «The River» and then the piano version of «The Promise». «The Rising» and «Lonesome Day» are back after a break, and the usual greatest-hits-collection that form the encores, normally ending with «Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out», has been extended with the classic «Twist and Shout» and a totally unexpected version of «Night» when everyone thought the show was over. It’s the first time Bruce uses this song as a set closer (it used to open many of his 70’s shows), but it’s totally appropriate in a city that almost doesn’t have much time of real ‘night’ in this time of the year.

See complete set list.

Fotos: Jordi Aguilera/Point Blank

The two concerts in Dublin resulted in 46 different songs, more than six hours of music and two memorable concerts (again). Springsteen took the RDS stage with a fake generator, simulating with Steve that they were putting the switch to «On», then saying «…before we were so rudely interrupted…» and kicking off the show were they left it in London… with the final part of «Twist and Shout», inmediately followed by «I Fought The Law».

Other surprises of the evening included the premiere of «I’m A Rocker» (one of the least played and most unfairly underrated songs off The River), the classic «Raise Your Hand» (a steady song in the set list in this part of the tour), the premiere of «My Hometown» (dedicated to U2), the return of «Rosalita» and a crazy end of the show with «Twist and Shout» and «American Land», where a false policeman took the stage to try to switch off the power and interrupt the concert, engaging into a (fake) fight with Bruce and Stevie, all rolling on the floor, in a hilarious end to the show.

The second night featured an amazing 16 different songs from the first show, opening with a solo acoustic version of «This Hard Land» followed by the exciting trio formed by «No Surrender», «Two Hearts» and «The Ties That Bind». After «We Take Care of Our Own» came another shattering threesome with three Darkness songs in a row: «Badlands», «Something in the Night» and «Adam Raised a Cain». The intensity of the concert did not go down at any time, and more and more jewels arrived in the form of  «Jackson Cage», «She’s the One», «Atlantic City» or «The Promise» (the piano), followed by two masterpieces such as «The River» and «Backstreets» (replacing» The Rising» for the first time on the tour). The long round of encores included «Rocky Ground» and «American Land» as closing songs.

See complete set list of the first night.
See complete set list of the second night.

Uneven show in Viena, with Springsteen seemingly tired from the previous night’s show. The show didn’t seem to pick up steam until after «Spirit in the Night», when Bruce decided to play some sign requests (like «Rendezvous», «Trapped», «Empty Sky» and «Loose Ends»). However, the audience didn’t seem to get too excited, at least until «Shackled and Drawn» and «Waitin’ on A Sunny Day», this time followed by «Raise Your Hand» to keep up the pace.

«Tougher Than The Rest», played by Bruce solo at the piano, was the biggest surprise of the night, followed by the always magnificent «Racing in the Street». The audience really got into the show by encore time when all the hits arrived and hit them hard with «Born in the USA», «Born to Run», «Hungry Heart» or «Glory Days», ending the 3hr 39min show with «Twist and Shout».

See complete set list.