Bruce Springsteen at the RDS : Saturday
I stood in wet clothes for 4 hours to get a good spot for The Boss’ first show at the RDS. Miserable. Dripping wet. Holes in my shoes were desperately exploited to my socks’ disgust. Why put myself through this sort of ordeal/shit? The Boss played three hours straight. No breaks.
Presence is innate and a natural frontman is what every band dreams of. The E-Street Band have three : Bruce himself, Clarence Clemons (dressed in full Priest outfit and still looking cool) and Steve Van Zandt.
Add into the mix probably the best technically gifted touring band on the planet (poor Nils Lofgren takes a back seat to a bands worth of players and is probably the greatest guitar player I have ever seen live), bundles of energy, a genuine love of playing (they bloody never stop smiling!Any of them!) and a back catalogue that makes it possible to play a completely new setlist every second night and you have pure gold.
Highlights….
– Opener Who’ll Stop The Rain was perfect. From the first second to the last I stopped shivering.
– A rocked up version of Ghost of Tom Joad with an incredible solo from Nils
– The unexpected request slot. At the end of Raise Your Hand Bruce went to the barrier and gathered various signs from the fans.
The next six songs were all songs that had been written on the signs so a couple of obscures were played as well as the beautiful Thunder Road
– They played for three hours non-stop doing away with the go off/come back on bullshit
– The group in front of me had been singing the intro of Waiting On A Sunny Day for about 2 hours so when the opening bars kicked in I was as happy about the songs appearance as they were!
– Clarence’s son joining him on sax for Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
– Not to be outdone, Springsteen Jnr., guitar in tow, joined his dad on stage for American Land
– Bruce falling flat on his back after slipping on the wet stage when jumping from the raised area to the lower area. The look of fear on Steve Van Zandt’s face and the gasp of the crowd turned to laughter when he hopped back up to do it again saying at the end “That’s twice I’ve done that now!”
– An over the top version of Twist and Shout to close. Jesus this band know how to have fun
Full Setlist :
Who’ll Stop The Rain
Badlands
Cover Me
My Lucky Day
Outlaw Pete
Out In The Street
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Ghost of Tom Joad
Raise Your Hand
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
Seven Nights To Rock
For You
Thunder Road
Because The Night
Waiting On A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
The River
Kingdom Of Days
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run
Hard Times
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
American Land
Bobby Jean
Dancing In The Dark
Twist & Shout
Great review. I was there on Saturday too. We got there plenty early and followed the directions on our ticket which told us to enter via Merrion Rd entrance. However, then we weren't allowed into the pit, while the crowd coming in the Anglesea Rd entrance an hour later were still getting wristbands for the pit. Fucking Aiken Promotions. Very inconsiderate.
Bruce and the band were excellent. Played 2hrs 55mins by my watch. Wow. Brilliant encore too, especially Tenth Avenue Freeze Out. Oh, and that was Clarence's nephew Jake BTW.
oh his nephew? fair enough. it was a great family atmosphere alright but I did see a group of thirty year old women getting pretty hostile over the pitbands! I luckily got one myself but why they changed the faultless system from last year (first people to enter the pit got bands) is beyond me
cheers for the kind words.
What's your next big gig lined up?