BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!!!

On Friday evening, I went with my husband, his sister, and her husband to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform at Hershey Stadium. What a great evening!

First of all, the weather was perfect – warm temperatures with a cloudless sky, unlike the night before, when there were thunderstorms and torrential downpours! (So we were really lucky in that respect.) Second of all, we had really good seats – we were on the side, in the second-closest section to the stage. We were probably about a quarter of the way up, so we had a very good view – and we were well-positioned to see the large-screen video display alongside the stage. Third of all, Bruce and the band looked and sounded great! Bruce’s voice was probably better than it’s ever been, and he was full of energy – in fact, it seemed like he became even more energetic and enthusiastic as the evening went on!

Bruce and the band played for exactly three hours – they began at 8:17 pm and ended at 11:17 pm! No kidding – I checked the time on my cell phone! But I’m skipping way ahead. I want to talk about the rest of the concert before I get to the end! I won’t go through the entire setlist, because that would take forever! But I did actually take some notes (on my cell phone) during the concert about some of the songs, so I’ll mention those.

The first song was “Badlands,” which is one I really like, so I was happy that they opened with it. Not too long after that, they played “Outlaw Pete,” which is from the new album, and it’s another song I like. I thought it was really good performed live. At the end of the song, Bruce put on this battered black cowboy hat, and the lighting on the stage created a really cool effect as he stood in profile wearing the hat, with his guitar slung across his shoulder.

There were lots and lots of people in the front section of the crowd with signs requesting songs. Probably my favorite one was the one Bruce took that said, “If U play Twist and Shout, I’ll burn my Hannah Montana CD’s!” He laughed as he read that one and showed it to the rest of the band, and then they launched into an excellent rendition of “Twist and Shout.” The crowd loved it!! Everybody was “twisting and shouting” and singing along – it was just like a big party! And of course I couldn’t help but think of the scene in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” when practically the whole city of Chicago was dancing and singing along to that song as well.

Another song I put in my notes was “Seeds.” I didn’t know it, but apparently it’s only on a live box set or something. But it was a really good song, and unfortunately, it had a rather timely subject matter – roughly, it was about a man who loses his job and is forced to drive his family around from place to place, as he looks for work.

Another powerfully-performed song was “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Nils Lofgren played an amazing guitar solo – that man can wail! He didn’t do any somersaults this time, like he did when we saw him last July, but he’s had both hips replaced since then – and besides, his guitar playing alone is entertainment enough, without having to add acrobatics to it.

Bruce took some more signs from the crowd later on in the show, including one that looked like a large Hershey Kiss. The tag on the kiss said, “Give the girl a…” Bruce was especially impressed with the creativity and quality of the sign, and although he at first claimed he wasn’t sure the band knew the song, within a few seconds, they launched into the song “Give the Girl a Great Big Kiss” (not sure if that’s the exact title, but that’s what they were singing in the chorus). So that was fun, and was probably something that won’t get repeated at other shows.

Soon after that, they played one of my sister-in-law’s all-time favorite songs, “Trapped.” And although she has seen Bruce several times, this was the first time she had seen it live, so she was thrilled. Then, the very next song they played was “Waiting on a Sunny Day,” which is one of my all-time favorites, so I was really happy too!

I haven’t mentioned yet that the drummer for our show was Max Weinberg’s son Jay, who’s just 18 years old, but is as talented as someone twice his age! Bruce mentioned several times what a great musician and performer he was, and you couldn’t really argue with him. During the song “Backstreets,” Jay actually lost a drumstick – Brian and I both saw it go flying behind him – but he immediately pulled out a spare from his pocket and kept on going as if nothing had happened! I was quite impressed! He didn’t seem at all out of place among the rest of the musical talent on stage, even though they were all old enough to be his parents – or even grandparents!

During the encore portion of the show (which is about three times longer than the encores for most concerts), they played “10th Avenue Freezeout,” which went over really well (I know I was really happy they played it – it’s one of my favorites!). Then Bruce picked a two-piece sign from the crowd –one piece was a nice painting of a rose, and the other was a large, glittery letter ‘E.’ He also picked another nicely-lettered sign that said “Rosalita” on it. So of course then the band started playing that song, and the crowd was thrilled!

After that, the band all came together at the front of the stage and took their bows, and it seemed like that was going to be it. And I think if they had ended there, no one would have been disappointed. But then Bruce paused, looked around at the band and out at the crowd, and said, “Let’s do one more!” So the band members took their places again, and they launched into “Bobbi Jean,” and the crowd really went crazy! I seriously wondered if Bruce was looking at the time and realized if they played one more song, it would take the show exactly to the three-hour mark, because that’s what happened!

I have to admit that Bruce Springsteen is not one of my all-time favorite artists. I really didn’t even listen to much of his music until “The Rising” came out. But even not being a huge fan, I really, truly, enjoy going to the concerts. The amount of talent and energy up on that stage is just amazing, and the audience is always great too. It really does feel like a big party when you go to a Bruce Springsteen concert, and it feels like everyone is connected by the power and energy of the music. So I’m really glad I got to go to the show and share that experience with all the people there – but especially with my husband, his sister, and her husband. We all had a great evening, and I look forward to being able to doing it again sometime!