BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : BUFFALO 2023

 

Disc One (64:11)

  1. No Surrender
  2. Ghosts
  3. Prove It All Night
  4. Letter To You
  5. The Promised Land
  6. Out In The Street
  7. Candy's Room
  8. Kitty's Back
  9. Nightshift
  10. Trapped
  11. I'm On Fire

Disc Two (62:10)

  1. The E Street Shuffle
  2. Johnny 99
  3. Last Man Standing
  4. Backstreets
  5. Because The Night
  6. She's The One
  7. Wrecking Ball
  8. The Rising
  9. Badlands

Disc Three (45:12)

  1. Thunder Road
  2. Born To Run
  3. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
  4. Glory Days
  5. Dancing In The Dark
  6. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
  7. I'll See You In My Dreams

Label : Live.BruceSpringsteen.Net

Venue : KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York, USA

Recording Date : March 23, 2023

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Concert Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : As we near the end of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s second – illness disrupted – month on their 2023 International Tour, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the setlist for this early portion of the tour is locked-in, with hardly any room for surprises. On social media, Little Stevie Van Zandt has compared to it Springsteen on Broadway, citing that Bruce has a story he wants to tell his audiences and that the songs he and the E Street Band have been playing are best suited for that story. As noted in my prior reviews from the tour, this story of one of release post-Covid; of accepting mortality and celebrating legacy; and of living right now. The latter was very apparent last Thursday night in snowy Buffalo, as while there were no major setlist changes, this show saw those onstage and those in the house spur each other on to make for a scorching performance. It was certainly a scorching start inside the Keybank Center as Springsteen and the E Street Band began their early 2023 tour story with eight songs very high in energy. First came the six-pack focused on serving liberating themes: “No Surrender,” “Ghosts,” “Prove It All Night,” “Letter To You,” “The Promised Land,” “Out in the Street”; and to conclude the opening portion was the exhilarating pairing of “Candy’s Room” and “Kitty’s Back.” With the exception of “Letter To You,” which allowed for fifty+ years of sentiments to be expressed by Bruce to his Buffalo audience via a profoundly tender vocal, these songs were played at full throttle and I don’t even think Wingnutz serves anything quite as heated as “Ghosts,” “Prove It All Night,” “The Promised Land” and “Candy’s Room” were on this night, as evidenced in best in the intensity of the guitar playing and vocals from Bruce and Little Stevie in particular, and the rapturous efforts of Max Weinberg on the drums and Jake Clemons on the saxophone. These four would shine again in “Kitty’s Back,” but of course, they weren’t alone as the song’s thirteen minute duration gave an opportunity to all onstage to blow Buffalo away with damn good music. When the spotlight called on E Street Band members such as Charlie Giordano, the E Street Horns – Eddie Manion, Barry Danelian, Ozzie Melendez, Curt Ramm – Nils Lofgren and Roy Bittan to delight, they didn’t drop the ball, and the reception was akin to Allen connecting with Diggs in Highmark Stadium. The conclusion of the night’s opening portion brought another change in tempo, and “Nightshift” saw the Horns and the E Street Choir – Curtis King Jr., Michelle Moore, Ada Dyer, Lisa Lowell – step into the spotlight beside Bruce for a six minute mediation on the legacies we leave behind. Though the percussion of Anthony Almonte that, combined with Charlie’s organ, led into the song was incredibly riveting, it was again the backing vocal efforts of Curtis that stood out here, and he nicely complemented Bruce’s driven approach with a delectable amount of soul to ensure that Buffalo weren’t just feeling reflective upon the end of the song, but that they were inspired also. That seemed to be the intention in the song that followed, too, and the start of “Trapped” saw Buffalo just as overjoyed as Seattle, Philadelphia and Boston were to provide further evidence of how revered this cover is by the fanbase. The song performance allowed the unaware in Buffalo to gather why as well, because Bruce approached this one with an equal amount of drive to the soul cover from his 2022 LP, Only The Strong Survive, and though it was similarly sobering in tone to the Commodores’ track, there was much catharsis to be felt thanks to the choruses, the invigorating organ riffs from Charlie, and the magnificent sax from Jake. Fans may be starting to miss “Burnin’ Train” a lot, but there are far worse substitutes than this one! Though the setlist is unyielding at present, if you’re looking for surprises you’re most likely to find them in the post-“Nightshift” slots before “The E Street Shuffle” and/or “Johnny 99.” There was indeed a moment of variation in comparison to Boston on this night, as “I’m on Fire” followed “Trapped” for its third appearance of the tour. An appropriate song as far as the theme of legacy is concerned, this performance of one Bruce’s most acclaimed hits maintained a soft tempo, but it made for much excitement from a Buffalo audience who were very happy to hear such a potent rendition of the Born in the U.S.A. track. Although “I’m on Fire” was the only major change to the setlist, Buffalo’s excitement for the music they were hearing persisted and that excitement was amplified to even greater levels by the above mentioned pairing of “The E Street Shuffle” and “Johnny 99,” which re-established the celebratory atmosphere inside the Keybank Center. The former was exuberant and the latter was ferocious, but both were equally stimulating thanks to the stupendous efforts of the Horns that stood out amidst captivating guitar riffs, colossal cowbell, and arguably even the pronounced percussion of Max and Anthony Almonte. Bruce is certainly making the most of having Manion, Danielian, Melendez and Ramm on tour, and they’re not taking any song for granted either! Then came the show’s most immense moment of gravity, as Bruce stood alone to introduce – and then play – “Last Man Standing.” A nightly tribute to George Theiss and The Castilles unchanged, as I listened to Bruce share with Buffalo how important those three years from 1965 to 1967, and the events of the summer of 2018, were to his life I couldn’t help but think about the National Medal of Arts that Bruce received forty-eight hours earlier from President Biden. It was a true sliding doors moment, Bruce’s sister telling her then-boyfriend George Theiss that her brother played guitar considering what it would lead to over fifty years later, and as Bruce stressed the weight of his time as a Castile it was all the more clear to Buffalo how important George Theiss is in Bruce’s story – without him, there’s a very good chance we’d be somewhere else right now. That said, this song performance, as well as the following one of “Backstreets,” saw Bruce ensure the words spoken about him inside the White House on March 21st were not in vain, because these songs allowed him to heal his wounds as well as those in the house who may have also suffered similar loss; they allowed him to celebrate the triumph of The Castiles from ’65 to ’67 and what followed in his life; and in imploring Buffalo to “be good to yourself, and be good to others, and be good to this world that we live in,” this ensured he also gave hope for the world of tomorrow – whether he is in it or not – and for me that doesn’t just capture the “spirit of what it means to be American,” but also what it means to be human. The beauty of “Backstreets” was best highlighted on this night in Buffalo by Bruce’s repetition of “Until the end…” and subsequent declarations of “right here… right here…”, spoken so quietly with a hand to his heart that he may not have actually been talking to the audience. This stood out as the most emotional moment in a towering rendition, to the extent that the song’s conclusion felt like something of a finale to the show outright. Of course, “Backstreets” was only the half-way point and there were many more songs to come, but as usual this song – if not pairing – made what followed seem like an added bonus to the initial hour and thirty-six minutes of music. The next hour and fifteen minutes was typical in the songs played – no “Dirty Water”-esque surprise – but Buffalo were more than happy with that thanks to the determination all thirteen songs were played with. “Because the Night” and “She’s the One” were a resounding follow-up to the two songs prior, and though Nils is no longer spinning during his solo after advice from his doctor (per his wife, Amy, on Twitter) he still left the Keybank Center feeling faint with another searing guitar solo. “Wrecking Ball” then brought more emotion as a powerful, albeit defiant, performance driven by men and women with a lot of life left in them yet, but it was what followed that stood out the most in this sequence. Maintaining an emotional atmosphere, “The Rising” was of much interest to me on this night after shining in the last two shows, and I’m happy that it shone again in Buffalo with Bruce playing a great guitar solo – it’s rarely as scintillating as this – and then re-employing those pronounced vocals for the “Sky of…” verse to ensure the song was again more passionate than audiences are accustomed to. Then came the song Buffalo were waiting for, “Badlands.” Making its first appearance in the city since the Magic Tour travelled through it in 2008, the Keybank Center exploded in response to an immense performance, unleashing fifteen years of pent-up catharsis, while those onstage felt their energy and certainly enhanced the determination they were playing with as a result. What might be a nightly feature for us on this tour might be long anticipated by those in the live audience, and just like the E Streets Horns when playing their solos, we shouldn’t take anything for granted. The energy seeped into the encore, and Buffalo relished every second of the seven songs played here also, starting with “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run” performances that weren’t as cathartic as usual because of “Badlands,” but performances that were no less inspired and enthralling to listen to. That was the case for the songs that followed, as “Rosalita,” “Glory Days” and “Dancing in the Dark” ensured everyone was on their feet and having a good time, not wanting to go home. “Rosie” saw Bruce embrace his inner Bela Lugosi in stating “I vant to be your man!” as his battle with Little Stevie (“Rosie!… I’m hoooomeee!”) for most eccentric declaration continued, and it’s also worth noting that “Dancing in the Dark” was a little off on this night with Bruce and the music that the E Street Band were playing not quite in-sync. The latter wasn’t a major drawback, though, and had no negative impact on the remainder of the show in regards to the performance of those onstage and the joy of those in the audience. Those aspects were without fault in “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and also of interest was Bruce adding “TESTIFYING! DEATH DEFYING!” to the band introduction moments before the song got underway. On a tour of which one theme is accepting mortality, this addition was rather apropos. Then, upon the end of a “Tenth” that saw very nice riffs from the Horns and singing of the song’s title by the Choir as it neared its end, it was time for the show to end with Bruce standing alone to play “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” This finale also made “DEATH DEFYING!” all the more fitting, as while Bruce stood alone here after a song where he and the E Street Band paid tribute to two fallen members, his assertions that “death is not the end!” simply emphasised the show’s theme of legacy. A song penned for George Theiss, this didn’t just bookend “Last Man Standing” and the reading of this song’s lyrics in the “Backstreets” interlude earlier on, but it allowed Buffalo to think about another statement Bruce has made about the E Street Band over the years, too, and with that truly appreciate how “nothing stops the mighty E Street Band,” whether they’re here or not. “Take your best shot, let me see what you got” indeed! Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s 2023 International Tour arrived in Buffalo’s Keybank Center with its setlist once again unchanged, but that only meant the men and women onstage were able to further showcase how well oiled they’ve become as a result of playing these same songs. It was a long six years since they last played together, but the rust is all but off them now and in Buffalo that was very much noticeable through sublime versions of “Prove It All Night,” “The Promised Land,” “The Rising” and “Badlands” – the latter in its first Buffalo appearance since 2008. These four songs are touring staples that we presume to be played the same way each time, but on this night there was an energy and commitment to them that we could say can only be found when a setlist is locked-in quite like this tour’s. These four combined with songs that have been less frequent in setlists of old such as “Candy’s Room,” “Kitty’s Back,” “Trapped,” “The E Street Shuffle” and “Backstreets,” and the result made for another fantastic night on the tour. It mightn’t be as exciting for fans to see the ‘same’ setlist every night given how previous tours have gone, but the performance quality is as inspired as ever, and the shows continue to be an absolute joy to listen to, let alone see in person. Following this show, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band returned to Greensboro for the first time in eleven years. What would that night have in store?