MUSIC
Self-sufficient Springsteen sounds super
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic
Who needs the E Street Band?
Bruce Springsteen was a great one-man band Sunday night at Cleveland State University Wolstein Center. His self-sufficient performance enthralled a near-capacity crowd of 7,300-plus fans.
It was the only Ohio stop on a 14-date U.S. tour to promote the chart-topping new album "Devils & Dust."
The Boss played a bit of everything, starting with a pump organ for the opening number, "My Beautiful Reward."
He switched to harmonica for a distorted, blues-drenched update of "Reason to Believe," stomping his boot to keep time.
He then settled into guitar-strumming mode for his latest album's title track, a gritty soul-searcher delivered from the point of view of a soldier in Iraq.
Springsteen, 55, closed his eyes, singing with intense conviction and blowing his harmonica with gale force.
Electric-candle chandeliers hung from the rafters, and gossamer curtains framed the stage, bare except for instruments and an antique lamp on a small table. The intimate setting suited the no-frills music, sparingly fleshed out in spots by a behind-the-scenes keyboardist.
"Youngstown," a highlight about hard times in Ohio's rust belt, was greeted with cheers. "We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam / Now we're wondering what they were dyin' for," Springsteen sang as he coaxed rippling chords from a 12-string guitar. The lyrics hit home today - different war, same sad story.
Between tunes, Springsteen said he looks back on his Vote for Change Tour last year in support of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry with mixed emotions.
"We voted," Springsteen said. "We didn't change."
On a positive note, he added: "Men have lived through dark ages before."
He prefaced "Part Man, Part Monkey" by poking fun at the Bush administration's indecisive views on evolution. Springsteen played the rockabilly-flavored song on electric guitar, making liberal use of the whammy bar.
He had a laugh at his own expense, too. Before launching into "Reno," a controversial new tune about an encounter with a prostitute, Springsteen joked about "Devils & Dust" being available soon in Krispy Kreme doughnut shops. Starbucks recently announced it would not stock the album in its coffeehouses, partly because of "Reno."
Springsteen accompanied himself on piano for several ballads, including "Jesus Was an Only Son," the lump-in-your-throat poignant "Racing in the Street" and "Stolen Car," a rarity in concert.
"Wreck on the Highway" was rendered on electric piano, to gripping effect.
Springsteen dedicated the romantic "Incident on 57th Street" ("Good night, it's all tight, Jane / I'll meet you tomorrow night on Lover's Lane") to Jane Scott, The Plain Dealer's retired rock writer. She lighted up like a schoolgirl in her ninth-row seat.
Among the other VIPs in the house were "Devils & Dust" producer Brendan O'Brien and Springsteen's pal from Pittsburgh, rocker Joe Grushecky.
Springsteen was back on acoustic guitar for soul-stirring renditions of the Sept. 11-inspired anthem "The Rising" and "Matamoros Banks," a Woody Guthrie-style lament about the drowning of an illegal immigrant.
"I'm on Fire" got a four-song encore off to a shaky start, with Springsteen playing banjo and whistling off-key. He quickly rebounded with guitar-driven versions of "Land of Hope and Dreams" and an austerely beautiful reworking of "The Promised Land."
This was one superstar who wasn't content to coast on past glories.
"I'm always looking for something new we can do together," Springsteen told the audience before returning to the pump organ to close the 24-song, 2½-hour concert with a cover of "Dream Baby Dream," an ethereal lullaby by the '70s synth-punk act Suicide.
"I wanna see you smile / I just wanna see you smile," Springsteen sang over and over, like a mantra.
There wasn't a frown in the place.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jsoeder@plaind.com, 216-999-4562
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