Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Stadio Friuli / Udine / Italy
Concert date: July 23, 2009
Attendance: 40
Ticket price: €57.50 (floor, on the day of the show)
After 2006, when Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen visited Udine on his “The Seeger Sessions” tour (Udine being that Italian town, Videm to us Slovenes, that’s pleasantly close to Slovenia, close enough to drive over for a show even midweek), he came back this year with his E-Street Band. With the album “Magic” (2007) – RockLine review HERE, Bruce kept up the tradition of the sound that made him a huge (pop) rock icon back in the day. And he stayed true to his highly “creatively fired-up” state of artistic craft afterwards, too. When you’re inspired, it’s best to let your genius create as much as it can. So barely a year and a half went by before we got the follow-up to “Magic”, titled “Working On A Dream” (2009) – RockLine review HERE. That one got a tour too, but unlike the previous two, with a few more dates around Europe and, as mentioned, a “saving” stop in Udine.
The Udine show, which was rumored to be sold out for quite a while before July 23, 2009 rolled around, was in fact nothing of the sort. Around 5:30 in the afternoon, the parking lots of Udine’s Stadio Friuli, as well as the area right at the stadium entrance (I’m talking about the approaches from the north), were lined with fast-food stands, the traditionally “tasteless” knockoff Springsteen T-shirts (apparently Italians aren’t the only people on this planet with no shame about buying them), ticket scalpers, guardians of law and order and, of course, a colorful array of Springsteen fans streaming toward the stadium. Despite some sources confidently claiming the stadium was sold out, you could still buy tickets on the day of the show. Even for the floor (€57.50 – a “modest” little bit of cash).
The floor was split up, with the area roughly 35m from the stage fenced off. Only fans with special yellow and green wristbands were allowed in. Lucky bastards. The behavior of some of the fans hinted that tonight would be soaked in crowd euphoria: they’d sprawled right out on the grass and were jealously guarding their patch of lawn under their butts. “A field strewn with corpses”. Then two Slovenes show up among them and everybody starts moaning that they can’t see a thing and that the two of us should let them through to the front, because they’re so “fucking” short (or we’re so “fucking” tall). Heh, heh, heh. Sadly, not everyone has genes as good as Slovenes do. Okay, joking aside, let’s get up on stage to our valiant Boss!
I spend three solid hours standing motionless on the lawn in a heap of bodies. In that time, besides the besieged floor, the stands filled up too. Then it happens. In total darkness both keyboardists march onto the stage, armed only with accordions. Charles Giordano and Roy Bittan launch into the intro of Morricone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” while the rest of the E-Street Band file onto the stage one after another to take their places: Clarence Clemons (sax, percussion, backing vocals), Nils Lofgren (guitar), Garry Tallent (bass), Suzie Tyrell (violin, acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Steven Van Zandt (guitar), Max Weinberg (drums), Cindy Mizelle (backing vocals) and Curtis King (backing vocals). Last of all, His Excellency Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen (vocals, guitar). The band surprises right from the start by playing Sherry Darling (“The River”, 1980) for the first time on the tour. The stadium boils over and erupts as one the moment the chorus kicks in. The stage was long, practically spanning the entire width of the stadium’s lawn, and at least 30m high. In front of the main stage, where Bruce and the crew spent most of the night, an extra, even longer stage had been set up, running the whole length of the front row. So that the flow of energy between band and crowd wouldn’t be blocked, all the “officially accredited photographers” were herded into the in-between space that separated the “lucky wristband people” under the stage from the rest of the floor crowd.
Already during the first song Bruce came bounding up the steps onto the front stage and started shaking hands with the thrilled crowd. Two towering screens left and right, and in the back, behind the stage and band, a special giant screen that was pointed at the audience most of the time. After just the first three songs, when Bruce announced his unbridled charge with Sherry Darling, Badlands and Hungry Heart, he’d already got the stadium to explode right along with him.
After the red-hot start, it was time to cool things down a notch. A panorama appears on the screen in the back, with a giant cactus (“joshua tree”), the buttes of Utah and the prairie, and the crew goes on to present the album “Working On A Dream” with Outlaw Pete. Even though it’s newer, the song caught on brilliantly with the crowd, who proved the lyrics were very familiar. The night’s intensity jumped to a higher level right after that, with the intense Darlington County and the stadium’s unison “Sha-la-la-las” backing Springsteen’s crew! In short: the fire of passion in Udine climbed unstoppably and blazed toward its peak.
Bruce Springsteen is an incredible figure. The man doesn’t just possess extraordinary charisma and charm. He earned the nickname “Boss” fair and square. He’s an exceptional commander, brimming with energy and a love of life that he shared selflessly for two hours and three quarters with every crazed head in the stadium. The songs followed one another practically without a break. When they finished one, Bruce would step up to the mic, turn to the band to check the rest of the crew was with him, and with his Telecaster raised high in the air he’d swing it down and give the sign to “start” into a new song. Springsteen was truly maxed-out “fired up”. The abundant stage lighting helps a bit (with four extra lighting operators, each perched in his own booth above the stage, chasing the band members running around it with beams of spotlights), and yet Bruce Springsteen – the “little big man” – fired off his energetic maximum. Sweat literally sprayed off the Boss. Before every song a tech handed him a completely fresh, dry Telecaster, which the man strapped on in a flash and literally bathed in his own sweat. The Boss runs around at 60 minus two months like a dewy-eyed youngster bursting with excess testosterone. Small in stature, with pronounced biceps, in the obligatory jeans, a snug vest and “western” boots, swinging his right arm high while slamming out chords as if he were the fiercest guitar “shredder”. Meanwhile the E-Street Band holds down a rock-solid backdrop that can’t help but follow its boss, who runs wildly around the lower stage, constantly shaking hands with fired-up fans, playing guitar just for them, standing right by the front row, really among the people. At one point he even climbs down off the stage, with most of the security team chasing after him. Fans eagerly grab at his legs, knees and everything else within reach. The energy is extraordinary and nothing stops it. Love in the air. It doesn’t get more genuine than this. Passion beyond all limits. Can anything be more beautiful and more natural than the magic of music?
All this got me wondering why the Italian crowd would be so especially crazy about the Boss. Generally, the Boss got big because of the “small modesty” he radiates. He’s just a “working-class guy off the street” who has to fight to survive. He’s the voice of the street, the voice of defiance, the voice of an inexhaustible desire for a better tomorrow, and the voice that cheers you on even when you’re flat on the ground. With his unpretentiousness and natural, honest manner, he effortlessly bridges the gap between rock star and ordinary person, which the Italian plebs in Udine felt with ease tonight too. You can’t compare the two directly, but for a moment my mind pulled me back to that same stadium and the date of September 12, 2008, when Vasco Rossi played here in front of an equally sold-out Stadio Friuli (RockLine report HERE). The latter plays a kind of good-natured Italian uncle from the street who wouldn’t hurt a fly, yet always seems to be getting wronged somehow. Maybe, in this specific case of guessing at the psychology of how concert crowds in Italy respond to stimuli, this witty parallel between the Boss and Rossi isn’t so out of place or unfounded.
True to his accessibility and his freedom from any hang-ups about sharing the energy of his one-of-a-kind presence, Springsteen fired up this unique experience in Udine with a few extra gestures. The first happened during Waiting On A Sunny Day, when he handed the mic to a toddler who had probably barely learned to walk and who even managed to catch two words of the song’s title correctly, babbling them into the mic to the roaring delight of the entire crowd. The second (ceremonial) moment came in the obligatory encore during Dancing In The Dark, when the Boss pulled an “enchanted” Italian woman up on stage, spun her around for a few bars, scooped her up in his arms and carefully set her back down among the crowd (of course, not forgetting to give her a goodbye kiss and one of his original guitar picks).
As usual, the Boss’s shows are a story of their own. Every single one of them. Udine got that honor as well. The foot of the stage was strewn with waving cardboard signs with the titles of individual Springsteen songs written on them. Bruce collected them, and amid all the junk he even came across a homemade puppet – a “mini him”. The show had tipped right into its golden middle. The trio of Summertime Blues, Be True and Streets Of Fire was the definitive voice of the people. The band hadn’t played them at earlier shows on this tour, which is part of what makes this Udine event so special. In a short pause Springsteen shows all the members of the E-Street Band what’s written on the sign. When he’s sure everybody got it, he gives another signal and the band lights into Summertime Blues, Be True and Streets Of Fire in a row. It’s a true thank-you to the loyal audience that carried the name Bruce Springsteen to the ranks of the greatest rock acts. In fact there’s not a song released on a Bruce Springsteen studio album that the E-Street Band couldn’t also play live. Few big acts dare do that on tour today. They usually serve up exactly the same set at every show, dodging possible ridicule in case they slip up and “screw up”. Springsteen and his crew truly aren’t afraid of anything like that and have no reason to be.
The E-Street Band is a polished, brilliantly tight crew of the Boss’s loyal musicians, and they can’t hide it. The extraordinary groove of the accompaniment built by the two keyboardists (Bittan also handles the Hammond, Giordano the proper “white” classical piano), the harmonized duels between violin and sax, or violin and Nils Lofgren’s lap steel pedal guitar, or all three at once (Outlaw Pete), offer the trademark of Springsteen’s musical culture, and over all of it works an excellent framework of layered backing vocals that wraps around Springsteen’s basic (“dosed with more or less”) raspy voice.
Springsteen is in great form. His voice doesn’t fail him. Not even when another big surprise of the night comes up: Born In The U.S.A., which the band hadn’t played live on this tour either. Glory Days was most likely sacrificed on the setlist for it. Springsteen showed everyone a new cardboard sign with a wheelchair draped in the American flag, with the Boss’s head peeking out. Bruce added a doubtful comment, pointing at his caricature: “Maybe Boss, maybe Boss,..!” Laughter in the stadium.
Even though the show ran past the two-hour mark, Springsteen fearlessly opened the encore with Born In The U.S.A. and belted it out phenomenally. Just like on the album. Full-throated, from a gravelly throat, with everything he had. The partying during Born To Run was already a special moment of the night, a peak in itself, where the stadium totally lost it, and the magic didn’t let up one bit as the band went on to play the obligatory encore. American Land was therefore very welcome when the band took it in a calmer manner, with traditional country phrasing. But there was no real break as they hit another great hit from the album “Born In The U.S.A.”, Bobby Jean, which keeps the stadium wide awake even after Springsteen spins around the stage with a dancer during the aforementioned Dancing In The Dark. The band wraps up the show triumphantly with an interesting cover of Twist And Shout (orig. The Beatles). They start it off in the slowed-down rhythm of a La Bamba (a bit of it is even worked into the performance later), with the Hammond organ added and out in front. This number just wouldn’t end. Toward the end Springsteen theatrically collapses to the floor by the mic and sends guitarist Steven Van Zandt straight into the crowd to snatch a sign reading “Grandpa’s Gone Down” (one of Springsteen’s older songs, written in 1971), which supposedly explained the star’s current state on stage: he wanted to tell the audience that our time with him was sadly coming to an end. The Boss gets up once more, gives the band a sign, and they play another round, chorus and all. And they do it with absolutely everyone except drummer Max and saxophonist Clarence appearing on the (fore)stage right by the front row, where the show comes to a close at full intensity.
Springsteen showed his greatness in the role of the “selector” of a winning team too, shaking the hand of each and every member of the E-Street Band and thanking them for the performance as they left the stage. He even bowed to Clarence. Springsteen was the last to leave the stage.
What to say in conclusion? Extraordinary magic, an extraordinary moment, an unforgettable moment that fulfills a music lover in every way. In its own way, totally unique. It has its price, its value, but it offers really, really a lot. Even something money can’t measure. In Udine, Springsteen filled his great passion for life with extraordinary love, a sign of deep respect for the audience as well as his backing band. And it was passed on selflessly in the opposite direction. Above all, it was breathtaking to realize how much energy the Boss still has on stage today. Despite the marathon show, you never got the feeling he was in a hurry to leave the stage. He could have played and played and played… An event that left a special mark, and after which I even hinted to myself that I won’t go to a single concert for a while, because the feelings washing over me even three days after the show are exceptional and priceless. Thanks to the magic of musical eternity and immortality.
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist
01. Sherry Darling 02. Badlands 03. Hungry Heart 04. Outlaw Pete 05. Darlington County 06. Something In The Night 07. Working On A Dream 08. Murder Incorporated 09. Johnny 99 10. No Surrender 11. Summertime Blues 12. Be True 13. Streets of Fire 14. My Love Will Not Let You Down 15. Waiting On A Sunny Day 16. The Promised Land 17. American Skin (41 Shots) 18. Lonesome Day 19. The Rising 20. Born To Run —encore— 21. Born In The USA 22. American Land 23. Bobby Jean 24. Dancing In The Dark 25. Twist & Shout (incl. La Bamba)
Photo Gallery
