RDS Arena - Dublin 220508
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Anyway on to the matter at hand – The Boss….When my friend, Maria (a self confessed Bruce fanatic!) got tickets, there was nothing on this earth - other than a visit from the grim reaper - that was gonna stop me from seeing a true living legend in action for the very first time!
Got a plane to Dublin & settled down in a decent B&B & after a brief browse of a couple of drinking establishments, and as it was Ireland, there were more than several!………and no I didn’t get drunk hic! we (Maria, myself, her brother Anthony & a family friend - Don) made our slow progress to the arena – the traffic was terrible (mainly due to the gig) and eventually got in and positioned ourselves just over half-way to the stage…..and eagerly awaited the presence of the Boss & the E-street guys’n’gal
At 8.15 the boys walked on stage and the 40000 went noisily berserk when the opening track The Promised Land – a relatively low key opener, but showed straightaway that Bruce was really up for it tonight…..this being Ireland, of which he has a special affinity, he gives 200% here (as opposed to 150% in other countries!) ……This was followed by a rumbustious’n’rockin version of Radio Nowhere -one of seven tracks performed from his latest – and brilliant – album, Magic
I won’t go into each track and review them individually (as I sometimes do with my other live reviews) because each track would need at least half a page each to do & seeing as there were 26 tracks, I shall spare you from from 13 pages of me! So, here is the shorter version – just 2 pages! - a general view of the night & the Man
First of all, there are a few notes for other bands to take note of here……first of all the setlist itself – it changes every night (Maiden – please take notes!) , so every Bruce gig is a unique event as you simply do not know what will be coming next….for example – the last 10 gigs on this tour so far, there have been 10 different openers! and no doubt the next 2 shows at the RDS over the weekend will feature radically different sets for the lucky gits who have tickets!! It keeps it fresh for us fans, and no doubt keeps it fresh for the Bruce & the boys. Another example of this inventiveness is shown by the set for the May 7th show, where they played 2 albums in their entirety (Darkness on the edge of town, followed by Born to Run)…..not many bands do 1 album all the way through (Maiden being the exception here!). let alone 2! Secondly, the length of the show was amazing – the guy is in his late 50’s now, but still played 2.5 hours (2 hours before the encore!!) – He is the supreme example of value for money at a gig! (Maiden, again please take note – you are younger than him!) In his younger days, he played for nearly 4 hours at some gigs….staggering to my mind!!
There are so many highlights here, first up is the guitar playing…..simply stunning is a vast understatement in my book – all the solo’s & riffs were brilliant in every sense, these guys REALLY know how to lay down a blistering rock solo that really makes you ‘feel’ the moment & it and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up….. prime examples of so many: Gypsy Biker, Candy’s Room Badlands, She’s The One, Prove it All night…….I could go on & on – suffice to say that the 3 guys in question Nils Lofgren, ‘Little’ Stevie Van Zandt & of course, Bruce himself (the most underrated guitarist in rock) are in my opinion without equal in the world of rock…..they combine so beautifully – easily on a level with the mighty Dave, Adrian & Janick in my opinion….. Another mighty (in every sense!) component of their sound is the ‘Big Guy with the Sax’ – Clarence 'Big Man' Clemons….I was really looking forward to seeing him in action, and he didn’t disappoint – he adds so much to their sound & is irreplaceable in my book. And of course – his solo on Born To Run is the stuff of legend.
Everything about this band is spot on & normally it would be unfair to highlight any individual from such a great show, but in this case I will break that rule as this guy SO deserves it – I think you know who I am talking about here! Bruce is The Man…….The Boss of all rock there is no doubt – is there anything he can’t do on stage?! As mentioned – he is a vastly underrated guitarist, a great keyboard/piano player, a performer on stage who has only one living equal (Bruce D of course!) in being able to have the crowd in the palm of his hand from the minute he strides on stage. The list continues….he has so much power and emotion in his singing – he gives EVERY song 200% of himself – putting real meaning into the song….unlike some performers who sing a song with all the emotion of reading a telephone directory! One more thing on the list is legendary song writing skills…..story’s drawn out from his life & also his strong political beliefs (a stunning version of Last To Die from Magic being a prime example of his hatred of Bush & the American regime) brought out with raw emotion, power & of course a great deal of rockin’ The Boss? of course......Yes!
Surprising that there was only one track from Born in the Usa at this show, (a bit like Maiden only playing one track from Number of the Beast!), but there were so many wonderful moments to savour, that didn’t disappoint me one bit….the overall quality of each and every track was a joy to behold & if you put a gun to my head to name the 5 best performed tracks of the night, well here they are!
1. Candy’s Room / Prove it all night
2. Born To Run
3. Last To Die
4. Gypsy Biker / Long Walk Home
5. Because The Night / She’s The One
That was too hard..............