Welcome Home, Bruce

At about 3:30 Sunday afternoon, Bruce Springsteen fans across New Jersey were digging out their rain ponchos as fierce thunderstorms smashed down on the Garden State. But by the time Bruce took the stage at Giants Stadium that evening, the rain had ceased and a cool breeze prevailed. Even the weather gods know who’s the boss.

My digital tickets said show time was 7:30, but Mr. and Mrs. Springsteen and company did not materialize until 8:35. (Was the babysitter late?) Whatever the case, all was forgiven. Springsteen played a monumental set of 30 songs over three hours and fifteen minutes, including a particularly generous encore.

Amid a long international tour, Springsteen remains as fresh as a Jersey blueberry. The E Street Band is stellar, of course, and each member gets multiple opportunities to punctuate the show. They satisfied the crowd with ample material from throughout Springsteen’s career. (The herd of songs from Springsteen’s latest “Magic” album that annoyed some fans at last fall’s arena shows has been culled to a handful of prime cuts.)

This was a multi-generational crowd and one of the great pleasures was watching the younger fans (including my 16-year-old son) singing along and punching the air to Bruce’s earliest material – songs originally released before these kids were born. That’s a far cry from past idols like Sinatra and Presley, whose musical appeal did not transfer significantly from generation to generation.

Yet Springsteen’s shows are very different from other contemporary concert extravaganzas. 
He eschews the pyrotechnics, programmed video, and elaborate staging of fellow stadium acts like U2 and the Rolling Stones. This is just plain Bruce, stripped down, albeit with a nine-piece   band and a bottomless goldmine of songs.

 And then there is the cell-phone factor. Attend any performance by one of today’s hot radio acts and you will see that the cell phone plays a headline role. Friends call friends in mid-song, phones are held aloft like the Bic lighters of yore, and mobile carriers sponsor giant screens where fans can read their texted comments about the band. Somewhere developers surely are trying to make a business of fans texting requests to the band. But Springsteen fans do not have to be reminded to keep their phones in their pockets and the Boss takes requests the old-fashioned way, collecting hand-written posters from fans in the front rows.

No one could have requested a better closing song than “Badlands,” played with such thumping power that it seemed to punch a hole in the clouds. For a few brief moments a cool rain fell on the Meadowlands. The precipitation passed quickly and the band returned for its long encore, ending the evening with the Jersey-scented “Rosalita.” As Bruce sang “I ain’t here for business, I’m only here for fun,” you actually believed it.

The band is back in Giants Stadium tonight and Thursday. In between, Bruce gets a couple of well-deserved days at home, no doubt to catch up on his chores (mow the lawn, paint the shutters, wash the Plymouth). The weather forecast remains favorable.

Tags: Giants Stadium

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