Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Pittsburgh PA

STAGE TUNES!

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Consol Energy Arena
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

April 22, 2014

In my 12th visit to Rock and Roll Mecca, thanks to a caring and thoughtful wife and an upcoming birthday, we traveled to Pittsburgh PA. The Consol Energy Arena to be exact. Although 12 are all of the shows I can remember, this was the first for my wife, and it's always a lot of fun to go with a Bruce first-timer, and to watch the magic take over.

To be honest we were a bit far away for her to truly get the whole impact. All of the other times I've seen him I've always been fairly close, but as both Bruce and I age, it gets more and more difficult to be down front. When I last saw him in Detroit with my sister, I was standing on a hard surface - never sitting down - for a full 8 hours. I hobbled my way back to the car. So although for this show we were farther away, I appreciated having a chair that I could sit down in when I wanted to. And we were able to sit for most of the 3 hour show.

When Bruce and the E Streeters hit the stage, an electricity happens. I have experienced it many times. Not only in the times I've seen Bruce, but when I saw Sinatra. McCartney. The MC5. And to a slightly lesser degree Dylan and Waits. Something happens in the air. And in the case of Sinatra, the room just got a lot classier. In the case of Bruce, the biggest block party you'll ever attend just started.

I have seen the E Street Band in it's many incarnations. Yes, there was something about a simpler time with a healthy Danny and a vibrant Clarence that cannot be replaced, but still without missing a beat, Bruce did the right thing. Instead of simply trying to replace Danny and Clarence, which honestly couldn't really be done, he decided to re-tool the whole band. He brought in the horn section from the Seeger Sessions, and others from other moments in the E Street history. The E Street Band (recent inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), continue to rumble on as the machine they have become. A rock and roll zamboni. Solid. Heavy. Relentless is its path.

This Tuesday night in Pittsburgh exploded with a cover of the Clash's "Clampdown". An interesting beginning I thought. But I was waiting for more familiar material. I didn't have to wait long. The refrains of Clampdown were begging for a chance to die down but it was Bruce with the nearly signature "ONE-TWO-ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR! And the wonderful and familiar refrain from "Badlands" rang out. And from there it never let up. The Zamboni just kept on rolling. "Johnny 99", "Stand On it", and "Seven Nights To Rock." And on and on.

For me, it's not just the music. Or the fact that Bruce knocks himself out gig after gig, playing each song like it's the last time he ever gets to play a song. For me, he represents me and a hundred thousand guys like me. We wanted it. We all tried. But Bruce made it. He's doing it for all of us.

But yeah Bruce has now with age cleverly built "breaks' into his set. He virtually lets the audience sing entire verses of "Hungry Heart", and different choruses of "Badlands" and "The Promised Land". And now the shows last only around 3 hours. This one was 3 hours and 3 minutes. In the old days he was just getting warmed up. Four or Four and a half hour concerts were never unusual. But still, three hours does not disappoint. Not even close. This was a great and wonderful three hours.

He pleased the crowd with a wonderful "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", and an obligatory "Dancing in the Dark" wherein he invites lots of girls up on stage to dance while attempting selfie's with Bruce in the frame. In one case a rather butch looking woman even asked if she could play with the band and was given a guitar.

And there was the collection of signs from the audience wherein Bruce body-surfed back to the stage, delivered a soulful "Back in Your Arms." And the particularly fun rendition of "Mary's Place" whereby Bruce allowed a lot of audience members the chance to sing along with him. And the raucous guitar antics of Tom Morello on a rave-up version of "The Ghost of Tom Joad." More show than go, it was still a show stopper for sure.

And then he does a fun, raucous version of "Shout." Although by The Isley Brothers, it was made more famous by Otis Day and the Knights in the movie "Animal House." And he does it to perfection, having the audience join in where the audience should obviously join in. He tried to end the show there, and rightfully should have, but the audience wasn't ready to let him go just yet, so he finished out the set with a sullen, slow, "Dream, Baby, Dream." It was sort of the equivalent of "cool-down exercises" in the gym. The crowd was then satisfied. And the show was over.

And two nights later it began all over again. Somewhere.