[Updated 30.3.13] Almost ten years to the day since I last saw him in Auckland, New Zealand, I saw him in again in Sydney, Australia. And it was fantastic, another experience of a lifetime!
You know, there’s album versions of his songs, and then there’s concert versions. What he did at this concerts was to create an amazing party that took you on a wild ride that’s so full of energy it leaves you breathless throughout the show.
By the way, Fanfan wasn’t a fan of Bruce Springsteen before, but she is now. She was surprised by the concert experience, it was a lot more than what she expected, and now she loves his music too. Well, maybe not ‘loves’ it, but at least she wants to hear more, and now she understands more of why I love it.
When I saw Springsteen ten years ago it was for his The Rising tour, and it focused mostly on his songs of The Rising album but also songs from his Born in the USA album. It threw a few other popular songs from the 70’s out there as well, like Badlands, Born to Run and Thunder Road – but it was NOTHING like what he did in Sydney on 22nd March 2013.
The number of songs he played from the 70’s and 80’s was awesome.
Back in the 80’s I wanted to see him in concert but couldn’t. And then I saw him in concert in 2003 and it was relevant to that time. But this concert, just a couple nights ago, was the concert of the 80’s, revisited. It was the concert I wished I could have been at back then, but with so much more thrown in for good measure to bring it up to date.
The best parts of the concert included tributes to his best friend and member of the E-Street Band, Clarence Clemons, who died last year. Some very touching moments. Also, another E-Street member, Steve van Zandt, wasn’t able to join the Aussie part of the tour so his place was taken by Tom Morello, from Rage Against The Machine. This guy knows how to play a guitar, and what he did on Ghost of Tom Joad was extraordinary (#18 below).
I’m going to include his song set below, along with links to YouTube videos of where you can watch the same thing I saw in person. If I can’t link anything for the 22nd March concert, then I’ll link to another concert or an official concert video of some kind, so you can at least see something similar to what I experienced. (Being at a Springsteen concert is definitely an experience, absolutely nothing like just seeing it on YouTube.)
The surprise for me was to hear his Trapped song, as I’d never heard it before but was blown away by how much I loved it!
Sydney concert 22.3.13
1 We Take Care Of Our Own (22.3.13 Sydney) (official)
2 Wrecking Ball (official)
3 Night (2002 Barcelona)
4 Death To My Hometown (22.3.13 Sydney) (official)
5 Hungry Heart (18.3.13 Sydney)
6 My City Of Ruins (18.3.13 Sydney)
7 Growin’ Up (22.3.13 Sydney)
8 The E Street Shuffle (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)
9 Prove It All Night (with 1978 guitar intro) (video)
10 Trapped (2012 Philadelphia)
11 The River (22.3.13 Sydney)
12 Pay Me My Money Down (18.3.13 Sydney)
13 Working On The Highway (26.3.13 Melbourne)
14 Darlington County (16.3.13 Brisbane)
15 Shackled & Drawn (18.3.13 Sydney)
16 Waiting On A Sunny Day (20.3.13 Sydney)
17 Backstreets
18 The Ghost Of Tom Joad (22.3.13 Sydney)
19 Badlands
Encore:
20 Thunder Road (22.3.13 Sydney)
21 Born In The USA (22.3.13 Sydney)
22 Born To Run (20.3.13 Sydney)
23 Dancing In The Dark (14.3.13 Brisbane)
24 10th Avenue Freeze-Out
25 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
A lot of the songs he played from the 70’s were requests from the crowd in the mosh pit. And he didn’t disappoint them, or the rest of us.
I’ll add more video links as and when I find them.
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