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October 3, 2007
Springsteen in Hartford
“And so it begins.”
Those were the words of Bruce Springsteen Tuesday night as he embarked on a 26-city tour of North America and Europe with one of his usual high-energy concerts at the Hartford Civic Center.
The expectations were high as Springsteen had re-assembled his E Street Band for the first time in four years and created a record, “Magic,” that was generating significant buzz even before its official release, also Tuesday. That most of the 16,000 or so packed into the sold-out Civic Center probably hadn’t heard much of the new record – me included – didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm for the new material.
In fact, the Springsteen faithful earned points for staying put during the unfamiliar songs, whereas fans of a lot of artists may have found that an ideal time to hit the restrooms or concession stands. But for The Boss, respect was given and attention was paid to his “Magic” moments.
It helps that Springsteen is a marvel on stage and brought the same gusto to the new tunes as he did to his classics. Maybe more, as its obvious that he feels strongly about his new project, including eight of the 12 tracks from “Magic” in his set.
I must admit to being a little ticked off at the start of the show, which started an hour late. I almost wanted to check the ticket to see if I mistakenly attended a Guns N’ Roses concert.
But soon, I was as caught up as anybody in the arena, as Springsteen came out of the blocks with his new single (which begins sounding suspiciously similar to Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny”) before raising the crowd noise exponentially with “The Ties That Bind.”
A wily veteran, Springsteen knew better than to throw too much “Magic” at his fans, opting instead to sandwich new songs between his hits. Only twice in the 135-minute show did he play new tunes back-to-back – near the beginning when he followed “Gypsy Biker” with the new disc’s title track and near the end of his set when he played “Last to Die” and “Long Walk Home.”
On both occasions, he followed with incredible performances. After the first double-dip, his version of “Reason to Believe” was so electrifying, it almost made me forgive his butchering of the song on his solo tour of 2005. Coming after the second two-fer was a transcendent version of “Badlands” that closed his set.
After a very brief time off-stage, Springsteen led his bandmates back for an encore that began with the new “Girls in their Summer Clothes,” followed by “Thundercrack,” a very early Springsteen song that had been unreleased until finally seeing the light on his 1998 collection of rarities, “Tracks.”
Finally, Springsteen played “Born to Run,” probably his signature tune, before ending the night with “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” from 2002’s “The Rising” and “American Land,” a song from one of the versions of his “Seeger Sessions” traditional folk album.
Aside from closing with a folk song, two things sort of surprised me about Tuesday night’s concert. The first was that Springsteen gave his wife, backup singer Patti Scialfa, a turn in the spotlight, singing a duet with her on the song “Town Called Heartbreak” from her recent solo album, “Play it as it Lies.”
The second was how overtly political Springsteen seems to be these days. He brought up a few of the issues he has with the current administration – similar monologues also are included in his introduction in the tour program – and his feelings also find their way into a few of the new songs.
Springsteen campaigned for Democrat John Kerry in the last presidential election, taking part in the music tour called Vote for Change. I guess the only change that occurred is that Springsteen no longer feels he has to bite his tongue when it comes to politics.
Good for him, but not so good for people who believe in the separation of powers, in this case politics and entertainment.
The set list
Radio Nowhere/The Ties That Bind/Lonesome Day/Gypsy Biker/Magic/Reason to Believe/Night/She’s the One/Livin’ in the Future/The Promised Land/Town Called Heartbreak/Darkness on the Edge of Town/Darlington County/Devil’s Arcade/The Rising/Last to Die/Long Walk Home/Badlands
Encores: Girls in their Summer Clothes/Thundercrack/Born to Run/Waitin’ on a Sunny Day/American Land
Posted by Sean on October 3, 2007 3:03 PM
Comments
I believe in the separation of politics and entertainment too, although some people make fun of me for it.
Posted by: uknowme at April 1, 2008 6:59 PM
