Springsteen tells his fans that size matters
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Thursday night I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform at the Oracle Arena in support of his new Magic CD. 20 years ago, I saw Springsteen and the band perform at the Oakland Coliseum where they put on a pretty good show that was slightly subdued. This show was the opposite, this was the type of concert the band was famous for making during their hey day. It was part rock show, part political soapbox and part secular rapture as the tight veteran band tore through their vast catalog. Also, the show added more meaning to the current Magic CD as not being about personal relationships as much as the state of the world today.
Playing to what looked like a sold out crowd, they opened with a large Jukebox prop that played music not unlike what would be heard on the Jersey Boardwalk. The band took the stage and Springsteen yelled "Is there anybody out there!" before launching into the Tommy TuTone riff driven "Radio Nowhere". Springsteen played to the crowd perfectly, throwing his arms in the air while growling into the microphone like a dog worrying a bone. He knew how to generate crowd excitement, whether he was stopping in sudden "rock star" poses or strumming his guitar with an exaggerated motion that looked like dry heaving. The E Street band knew their places well, moving to the forefront for their shining moments and then drifting back into the background.
They followed up with the surprising "The Ties That Bind" from The River album. Clarence Clemons unleashed his second sax solo to a huge response (he received a crowd pop every time he touched his sax). Then, the momentum continued on "Lonesome Day" as ace violinist Soozie Tyrell and guitarist Nils Lofgren received some face time. The Boss then played a lot of harp leading into "Gypsy Biker" and traded guitar solos with Steve Van Zandt in between Danny Federici's organ runs.
After a brief speech explaining that Magic is about how the lies are made to be the truth and the truth lies Springsteen dueted with his wife on the title track. The added presence of Patti Scalfia to the song made it more intimate than it sounded on CD. Springsteen then played a blusey harmonica solo while the guitar line to ZZ Top's "La Grange" played in the background. The solo morphed into a full blues band version of Nebraska's "Reason to Believe"
In one of the many time warps of the evening, the group shot into the heavy groove of the 70's classic "Adam Raised A Cain". The band started to catch fire and delivered a thundering rendition of "She's the One." The E Street Band jumped on the Bo Diddley beat full force for what was the best performance of the evening.
Springsteen then spoke about how the next song was about how American Civil Liberties have been destroyed and that it was unimaginable just a few years ago. He then worked the entire stage for the strutting bar band rocker "Livin' in the Future" before handing over the payoff with the anthemic "The Promised Land." Patti Scalfia was given some lead vocal space for "Town Called Heartbreak", a nice slinky bit of blues.
I went to the bathroom and grabbed some garlic fries during the epic "Backstreets" but returned in time to see most of the song (a brief note, the fries did not come from the bathroom). Roy Bittan's stately piano still delivers thrills on this song. My personal favorite track off the new CD, "Your Own Worst Enemy" came next.
At this point, it became clear that the audience as a whole was drunk out of their minds. Watching drunk middle aged men dancing like taser victims in full view of their children is quite a sight. What was really funny was watching these two guys yell in each others faces while trying to out-fist pump each other to the beat. It was so obnoxious that another guy from a seating section about 10 feet away made them stop. I've seen AC/DC. I've seen Pink Floyd. I've seen the Stones. I've never seen so many flat out wasted people in one place in my life than Springsteen. Brruucceee!
With everyone in an alcohol driven frenzy, The Boss dug into the drama of the anti war "Devil's Arcade" that ended with a lone drum beat from Max Weinberg. Then, he kicked into the gospelish "The Rising" to get everyone's energy back up. A second double shot of new songs, the straight ahead rockers "Last To Die" and "Long Walk Home" were strong performances but the audience became restless for something familiar. And that's what set lists are for, as Springsteen and his band jumped into a pounding version of "Badlands".
I usually leave during an encore, but this was a concert I wanted to stay for as long as possible while still avoiding traffic. A sea of cell phone lights replaced the bic lighters of old times. The encore led off with a pleasant take on "Girls in Their Summer Clothes". Springsteen showed some guts by asking for a crowd sing along for a new song that isn't even the single. Amazingly, he got enough of a response for a sing along.
The Boss then went into a Greatest Hits trifecta starting with "Thunder Road". The audience sang along in unison to the point Springsteen skipped singing some parts. "Born to Run" followed as the house lights went up so the kids could see just how smashed their parents were. I was convinced this one guy was going to dance his way off the 2nd level because he kept leaning over the railing like a scarecrow in a tornado. Without missing a beat, "Run" changed into "Dancing in the Dark" and it was 1984 all over again. I seriously started looking for Courtney Cox to show up on stage.
I left during a song I didn't recognize, pleased with having seen a truly great concert. The band was on, the crowd was entertaining and Springsteen is still The Boss. It's rare for a classic rock artist to emphasize new material like they did in their prime, but Springsteen stuck to his guns to deliver his message. The Magic disc has new meaning for me as a result, less a document of his love life than a concerned warning that his true love, the American Dream, is going up in a smoke cloud of right wing trickery and needless killing.
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