Special to The Charlotte Observer
Posted on Mon, Apr. 28, 2008
Diedra Laird - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert Sunday evening at Time Warner Cable Arena.
In their fourth performance since the April 17 cancer death of longtime keyboardist Danny Federici, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band turned their mourning of a lost musical brother into a celebration of a familial bond that’s lasted more than a quarter of a century.
Springsteen and company began their Charlotte show Sunday night in darkness as a photo montage of Federici through the years appeared on video screens across Bobcats Arena. In the background, Springsteen’s gruff voice sang the words to his 1995 song “Blood Brothers” -- “I’ll keep moving through the dark with you in my heart, my blood brother” -- as the packed arena stood in silence.
It was an emotional tribute that colored the entire evening.
Diedra Laird - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
But this was no maudlin occasion. Springsteen and the band played as passionately and as triumphantly as ever, roaring through classic deep cuts such as “Thunder Road” and “She’s the One,” big hits like “Dancing in the Dark,” workingman’s anthems like “The Promised Land” and lots of songs about soldiers, from the Vietnam War vet of 1973’s “Lost in the Flood” to the Iraq War vet of 2007’s “Devil’s Arcade.”
Interestingly, much of the material came from two of Springsteen’s 15 studio albums – his third album, 1975’s “Born to Run,” and his most recent “Magic.”
The crowd – mostly people in their 30s, 40s and 50s, some with kids in tow -- ate it all up, dancing and singing along to the words of nearly every song, even the more obscure ones. Springsteen and the E Streeters played intensely for two hours and then returned for a five-song encore that lasted another half-hour or so. That’s not as lengthy as the legendary four-hour shows of their ’70s and ’80s heyday, but it’s not shabbhy for a band of rockers in their late 50s.
Clad in his signature jeans, black shoes and a black shirt, Springsteen stopped to chat with the audience on a few occasions. At one point, he offered an anecdote about Federici’s early proclivity for getting in trouble with the law. The band then launched into the carnivalesque “Wild Billy’s Circus Story,” a track he rarely performs.
Diedra Laird - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
At another point, Springsteen talked frankly about his concerns for the state of the nation, commenting that the policies of the past eight years have amounted to an “attack on our constitution, which means an attack on us.” He followed that with the hard-hitting “Living in the Future.”
The highlights of the show, though, came in the interactions, both subtle and showy, among Springsteen, his band mates and their fans. When Springsteen showed the audience a scrawled sign he plucked from the hands of a kid that said “I like U Better than Hanna Montana,” his gratitude was written across his face. And when guitarist Steven Van Zandt draped his arm over Springsteen’s shoulders during “She’s the One,” that one image said more about the E Street Band’s familial bond than any words or song lyrics could say.
In 2008, Springsteen is no longer a pop star and not really all that relevant among other acts on the pop charts.
He’s more than that. What he is today is an institution, an American icon. During “The Promised Land,” the first-generation immigrant standing next to me commented that, to her, Springsteen was a representation of America itself -- “he’s as American to me as apple pie.”
Bruce Springsteen is dramatically silhouetted at the start of his concert Sunday evening at Time Warner Cable Arena. Diedra Laird-dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
CONCERT REPORT: http://www.backstreets.com
April 27 / Charlotte, NC / Bobcats Arena
Notes: "Nothing could be finer," said Bruce, and with the Magic tour finally coming to my home state, I gotta agree. Yet another unique song to open the show: the tour premiere, at long last, of a smoldering "Souls of the Departed." Great to have some '92 material represented in the set, and not only is it a perfect thematic fit for the Magic tour, it got another layer of meaning coming right after the Danny Federici tribute montage. Killer bottleneck slide work from Nils, too.
"We've been digging back in the box," Bruce said before the new oldie slot, adding "We're gonna put the Professor to the test," as Roy strapped on the accordion. Garry was put to the test, too, as he picked up his old tuba for "Wild Billy's Circus Story." Before they went into the ultra-rarity, Bruce talked about Danny winning the Ted Mack Amateur Hour as a kid ("His Mom sewed him up a gold lamé jacket!") and the Phantom's penchant for trouble (Danny and Mad Dog being the "unruly citizens" of E Street). He added the story from his eulogy about Danny's car getting towed with a marijuana plant in the front seat, and Danny going straight into the slammer. "That's a short one... but they all ended the same!" laughed Bruce. "My favorite phone call from Danny was always, 'Bruce, come quick!'"
A sign read "I like you better than Hannah Montana" on one side, and Bruce quipped "My aspirations have been realized -- we can go home now!" before granting the request: "Darlington County." That audible took the place of the setlisted "Streets of Fire," to some fans' dismay... but it was a fun Carolina special, and Bruce was happy to get some help up on stage for the sha-la-las: "She can sing!"
Bruce Springsteen plays guitar in concert Sunday evening at Time Warner Cable Arena. Diedra Laird-dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
If Clarence were a J.B., he would have incurred a major fine on "Badlands," as the moment for his big solo caught him completely off guard, his mind apparently elsewhere. Whether or not the Boss docks his pay, the blown cue was good for a laugh (certainly a sheepish one from Clarence), and Bruce said, "Let's try that one more time!" As the band came back around for him, the Big Man nailed it the second time. Between that and the bonus ending for the loudly chanting crowd, it felt like something of a "Badlands" extended remix.
In the encore, "Kitty's Back" smoked, and for the show closing "American Land" -- an audible, believe it or not, replacing the setlisted "Stand on It" -- "Cousin Frankie" joined in the fun. That's local boy Frank Bruno, Jr. from the Sessions Band, strumming hard on the acoustic and singing along.
Diedra Laird - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
Setlist:
Souls of the Departed (Tour Premiere)
Radio Nowhere
Night
Promised Land
Wild Billy's Circus Story (Tour Premiere).
Reason to Believe
Gypsy Biker
Candy's Room
Prove It All Night
She's The One
Livin' In the Future
Darlington County
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Lost in the Flood
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
***
Thunder Road
Kitty's Back
Born To Run
Dancing in the Dark
American Land
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