Saturday, May 03, 2008

Bruce Springsteen gives 'thrilling' sold-out performance

By Sean Piccoli
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
12:25 AM EDT, May 3, 2008



(Sun-Sentinel/Michael Laughlin / May 2, 2008)

SUNRISE - If a maxim runs through all of Bruce Springsteen's songs, it might be contained in a line he sang on Friday night at BankAtlantic Center, from "Badlands": "You gotta live it every day."

That imperative takes on more urgency as Springsteen and his audience grow older. But the New Jersey rocker isn't contemplating mortality in a state of panic. His approach in concert wasn't to defy age or wish it away; the characters in his songs live voraciously because they know the clock is running. Instead, Springsteen challenged himself and everyone listening to be vital and engaged at every stage of existence -- to be a little larger than life while it lasts.

Song after song in a sold-out show contained that message: to know "what it's like to live and die" on "Prove it All Night"; to cry "Is there anyone alive out there?" on "Radio Nowhere"; and to "take one moment into my hands" on "The Promised Land".



(Sun-Sentinel/Michael Laughlin / May 2, 2008)

Springsteen himself, with his ravenous stage presence, was nothing if not a living example of this creed. He and the eight-piece E Street Band put on a thrilling performance. From the rough determination in "This Hard Land" ("Stay hungry, stay alive if you can") to the stab of desire in "Candy's Room", Springsteen and friends offered up the kind of spectacle that's bound to be called life-affirming -- but an affirmation drained of sentimentality and replaced with appetite.

The set opened with an elegy, "Blood Brothers", played in a near-total stage darkness that directed attention to the video screens above. Photos and reels of Danny Federici, the E Street keyboard player who died of cancer last month, flashed by as Springsteen sang, "I'll keep movin' through the dark with you in my heart."

The rest of the show was for the living. The band played two dozen songs over the next 2 1/2 hours, putting strong material from a new album, Magic, next to standards such as "Growin' Up", "Rosalita", "Born To Run", "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Thunder Road" -- the latter played on request for a concertgoer celebrating his 21st birthday. Springsteen, 58, seems to have stopped worrying about being treated like a jukebox.



(Sun-Sentinel/Michael Laughlin / May 2, 2008)

Taking requests was one demonstration of the band's great responsiveness and flexibility. Another was the willingness to depart from the script. More than once, fans in up-close seats behind the stage saw Springteen turn to his mates and call audibles on his set list, swapping something on tap for something that felt more right and more suited to the moment.

Magic has played a smaller role in Springsteen's live show since Federici's death, which led to a handful of postponements in Florida -- Friday was one rescheduled date -- and some deeper trips into the back catalogue.

Even so, Springsteen didn't shy away from the new album. Songs including "Gypsy Biker" and "Last To Die" showcased Magic's guitar-powered, garage-band feel -- a lean complement to the lusher arrangements of his Jersey-shore classics. If the older songs, with their chiming keys and percussion, carry the noise and music of seaside carnivals, Magic is the arid sound of desert and open sky.



(Sun-Sentinel/Michael Laughlin / May 2, 2008)

Rumors have circulated on Springsteen fan sites that this could be the last E Street tour. Springsteen himself has said nothing definitive either way on that question. Beyond the willingness to field requests, nothing about the Magic show felt valedictory or like a ceremonial last lap.

Then again, it wouldn't be like Springsteen to project too far out, or to tip his hand. As a performer, he's always tended to put himself and the audience squarely in the present. He could be thinking about life after the E Street Band. But as he sang on Friday on "Livin' in the Future", "None of this has happened yet."

Sean Piccoli can be reached at spiccoli@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4832.



LILLY ECHEVERRIA / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Bruce Springsteen takes the stage at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise on Friday night.


Springsteen proves to purists why he's still The Boss

BY MICHAEL HAMERSLY
mhamersly@MiamiHerald.com
Miami Herald
Posted on Sat, May. 03, 2008

Two weeks after postponing his concert because of the death of keyboardist Danny Federici, Bruce Springsteen proved why he's still The Boss Friday night at the sold-out BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise.

After a late start (traffic was problematic and security extra tight after the bomb scare that delayed last week's Bon Jovi's concert), Springsteen and his E Street Band fulfilled a purist's dream by focusing on old-school favorites and the best tracks from his Grammy-winning new album Magic.

The nine-piece band -- featuring guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, who played mob boss Silvio on The Sopranos, and drummer Max Weinberg from Late Night With Conan O'Brien -- started off in classy fashion with a video tribute to Federici showing clips of him from the '70s through today.

Fittingly, Springsteen then launched into "The Promised Land" from his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town in Federici's memory, his frenetic, downward fist-pumping guitar-playing seemingly possessing extra emotion. Back-and-forth solos on sax and harmonica between Clarence Clemons and The Boss, plus Springsteen high-fiving people in the front row while he was singing, added to the familial, house-party feel of the evening. He even pulled off a 10-foot knee slide, which is ridiculous for a man kissing 60.



(Sun-Sentinel/Michael Laughlin / May 2, 2008)

Springsteen is famous for giving fans their money's worth in concert, often stretching them out beyond three hours. His late start prevented him from reaching that plateau, but Springsteen's pleasantly surprising song selection trumped his notorious longevity and stamina on this night. Of course, he played plenty from his Grammy-winning album Magic, including "Radio Nowhere", "Gypsy Biker", "Living In the Future", "Girls In Their Summer Clothes", "Last to Die" and "Long Walk Home".

But it was Springsteen's classic hits, some rarely performed live, that made this night truly special. "Out In the Street", "Growing Up", "Candy's Room", "Prove it All Night" and "She's the One" would have provided a "Wow" ending to the night, but he was far from done.

The cathartic "Badlands" led into "Thunder Road", during which Springsteen let the enthusiastic crowd sing the lines, "Show a little faith, there's magic in the night/You ain't a beauty, but hey you're all right." On "Born to Run", Springsteen kneeled before the crowd and let them strum his guitar before its defining moment: "1, 2, 3, 4 -- The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive."

Another old rarity, the singalong "Rosalita", led into "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", during which Springsteen defied his age once again by straddling the mike stand with his knees while leaning back flat on the stage. The chorus from the night's encore, a combination of the bluesy "Kitty's Back" from The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle and "Lonesome Day" from The Rising, sums up Springsteen's show better than any critic could hope to: "It's all right."



(Sun-Sentinel/Michael Laughlin / May 2, 2008)

Setlist:
1. The Promised Land
2. I Wanna Be With You (tour premiere)
3. Radio Nowhere
4. Out In The Street
5. This Hard Land
6. Gypsy Biker
7. Growin' Up ~ For Danny
8. Candy's Room
9. Prove It All Night
10. She's The One
11. Livin' In The Future
12. Mary's Place
13. Girl's In Their Summer Clothes
14. Devil's Arcade
15. The Rising
16. Last To Die
17. Long Walk Home
18. Badlands

Encores:
19. Thnder Road
20. Born To Run
21. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
22. Tenth Ave Freeze-Out
23. American Land

24. Kitty's Back.

1 comment:

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