BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : LIVE FROM PRUDENTIAL CENTER

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : LIVE FROM PRUDENTIAL CENTER - APRIL 14, 2023

Disc One (60:23)

Local hero
No Surrender
Ghosts
Prove It All Night
Letter To You
The Promised Land
Out In The Street
Candy's Room
Kitty's Back
Nightshift

Disc Two (61:08)

Mary's place
The E Street Shuffle
Last Man Standing
Backstreets
because the night
She's The One
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands

Disc Three (49:46)

Jersey girl
Thunder Road
Born To Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
I'll See You In My Dreams

Label : live.brucespringsteen.net

Venue : Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA

Recording Date : April 14, 2023

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Concert Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : Six years and a little over seven months ago, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concluded three nights in East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium with one of the most spectacular shows I’ve ever known any band to play. One aspect of that night I can vividly recall was some fans reacting to its sensational setlist with theories that it had to be a final farewell to New Jersey. On April 14th, 2023 they made a triumphant return to their home state, with the goal of ending the first North American leg of their 2023 International Tour in style. That mesmerising night inside MetLife Stadium on August 30th, 2016 kickstarted with Bruce telling his audience “we’re gonna play a bunch of things we didn’t play the other two nights” and as April 14th got underway it seemed like it would follow a similar trend. As Springsteen and the E Street Band stepped onstage inside the Prudential Center fans noticed that both the E Street Horns and E Street Choir were up there with them. Normally on this tour, the Horns and Choir have first made their presence felt during “Kitty’s Back” just over half an hour into the show, but tonight started off differently, and rather than the pounding drums and searing guitars that begin “No Surrender,” it was the Horns who truly got the night underway, following Max Weinberg’s tempo-setting cymbals and some sleazy guitar with pronounced riffs that we haven’t heard in nearly ten years. Yes, for the first time since July 24th, 2013 in Leeds’ First Direct Arena (and before that September 21st, 2003 in Detroit) “Local Hero” was played in an E Street Band show, and this tour debut was an incredible way to mark the occasion. The one-off performance in Leeds on the Wrecking Ball World Tour is one of my all-time favourites, and this didn’t disappoint despite the very high bar that had previously been raised. Brimming with energy and excitement, steered by a joyful Bruce vocal to supplement those riffs from the Horns, as well as the quality efforts from his Choir, Little Stevie Van Zandt, and Charlie Giordano in particular, whatever was to follow – be it standard or more surprises – didn’t matter much to Newark as they took this one in, because this was something worth the admission fee all by itself. “Local Hero” served as the first of only two surprises on the night, and those rumbling drums and searing guitars of “No Surrender” did follow as Bruce and the E Street Band proceeded to close out their first North American leg with a show typical of it. A contrast to what New Jersey experienced in August 2016, I believe it’s only right that Bruce’s home state were able to witness this thematically driven setlist, as so many of the songs within it have such a strong significance to his story in New Jersey. Upon the end of the thoroughly enjoyable “No Surrender,” songs including “Ghosts,” “Letter To You,” “The E Street Shuffle,” “Wrecking Ball” and “The Rising” all stood out by way of relating to Springsteen and New Jersey in a specific way: his and the E Street Band’s origins; the many years of shows played here, from the Brendan Byrne to Giants Stadium to the Prudential Center; and the way his music has healed and given hope, through the assurance that memories, legacies and spirits live on – “Hard times come, and hard times go.” As has been the case throughout the opening leg, these five songs saw fantastic efforts from all onstage, with Max, Little Stevie, Charlie, Roy Bittan, Anthony Almonte and Jake Clemons especially shining on account of equal parts gorgeous and powerful playing. Those E Street Band members stood out in the other songs that have featured nightly on the tour also, with everyone onstage shining during a euphonic “Kitty’s Back” that followed versions of “The Promised Land” highlighted by angelic Stevie-led harmonies and “Candy’s Room” anchored by relentless drumming – talk about rumbling! – before “Because the Night” later on gave a unique Nils Lofgren solo that we can argue was both messy and magical, and “Badlands” concluded the main set by echoing the words declared in “Ghosts” an hour and forty minutes earlier. Mind you, I’d dare say that those words were echoed as early as the song that followed the Letter To You fan favourite, because the level of intensity and quality of guitar playing really made an argument as to it being “by the end of “Prove It All Night” we leave no one alive!”. The enthusiasm that flowed through “Prove It” seeped not only into songs like “Kitty’s Back” and “The E Street Shuffle,” but also the night’s more reflective songs such as “Nightshift,” and recent setlist addition, “Mary’s Place.” First, the Commodores track that Bruce covered on Only The Strong Survive in November saw him one-up Curtis King Jr’s superb backing vocals with a spirited recitation of “I knooooow you’re not aloooooone!” – for the second successive show – to blow New Jersey away; and then “Mary’s Place” saw more old school interaction with the audience, and this was best evidenced by Bruce’s command during a hushed sequence of the song in which he was calling for quiet: “Don’t ‘Bruce’ me! I’m workin’!”. As we near Europe, the signs of a looser, more recognisable E Street show to this more choreographed, locked in one were very apparent in Newark. Unsurprisingly, of all the tour staples, it was the centrepiece pairing of “Last Man Standing” and “Backstreets” that stood out the most in New Jersey on this night, both in regards to performance and significance. Each night on this opening leg has seen Bruce tell his audience about George Theiss and the band that George invited Bruce to join, The Castiles, before playing a gutting solo song performance of “Last Man Standing,” which was written following George’s death in the summer of 2018. In New Jersey, the state where The Castiles honed their craft from 1965 to 1967, both the Letter To You track, its accompanying monologue, and “Backstreets” after it resonated greater than ever. Through them, Bruce expressed to his home crowd just how crucial George and The Castiles were to his life, describing the three years they played as his “greatest journey,” and the songs also served as an opportunity to heal from his friend’s passing, and accept that though he may be gone, he can take solace in the fact his legacy lives on through material items, the memories and “Everything else…” that he carries with him. That solace was best exemplified in the stunning interlude Bruce has added to “Backstreets” on this tour, and it was once again the greatest highlight of a masterful song performance, a moment that has retained its magnitude, regardless of how many times fans may have heard it. “Death’s last great gift to the living is expanded vision… you see the world… when someone dies who’s close to you, you see the world in a different way… it opens windows and presents possibilities, along with the pain and suffering, it gives you an expanded sense of the world you live in…” The song Bruce borrowed lines from during his “Backstreets” interlude was the one that would be played at the very end of the show, “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” and as was the case on night two in Belmont Park, it was a reading that hit all the more profoundly. In his “Last Man Standing” intro Bruce expressed the optimistic sentiments you can read above, as he has done in several recent shows, but on this night there was additional weight to the words as he dedicated his final song to his nephew, Michael Shave, who passed away earlier in the day. On a tour that has seen Bruce tackle death, legacy, comfort his audiences with the above mentioned notion that the spirit lives on as long as we remember, and also seen him stress the importance of living right now as we can never know what the future holds for us, this performance and the tragic context behind it underscored everything Bruce has said and sung over the last two months. Just like George Theiss and Bruce’s Freehold brothers in arms, The Castiles, Michael Shave will not be forgotten. “Last Man Standing” into “Backstreets” and the show-closing “I’ll See You in My Dreams” driven by personal loss left Newark overwhelmed with emotion, as did the prior mentioned performances of “Wrecking Ball” and “The Rising,” however there was also joy to be found in the second half of the show, which ensured Newark left the Prudential Center having experienced a life affirming rock show. Stimulating versions of the setlist staples post-“Backstreets” and the encore regulars made sure of that, but there was no song in this home stretch that brought as much joy as the second debut of the night at the top of the encore, “Jersey Girl.” A “little something special” for New Jersey indeed, this one cemented a truly memorable night inside in Prudential Center, and where certain songs can sometimes be played for the sake of simply being relevant, this was a rendition filled with love. A reading where Newark could sense the happiness in Bruce’s voice, his declarations of lines such as “Allllll of my dreams come true” and “That giiiiiiiiiiirl of mine!” best highlighted his passion amidst lovely “Sha la la” harmonies, and as he sang with an equal parts emphatic and tender approach, he was backed by more angelic harmonies and breathtaking instrumentation, with the kiss of Jake’s immense sax sending the song out. There were no literal fireworks like the ones that complemented the song on August 30th, 2016, but Jake ensured this coda was just as powerful. Just over six years and seven months after they stunned MetLife Stadium with a diehard’s dream of a setlist, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band returned to New Jersey and the Prudential Center to delight with the setlist that shaped the first North American leg of their 2023 tour. A setlist centred around legacy, it’s only right that Bruce’s home state experienced the best of what the tour’s opening leg had to offer and – though the tour debuts of “Local Hero” and “Jersey Girl” made for some exciting song variation – that was certainly the case in regards to songs such as “Prove It All Night,” “Nightshift” and “The E Street Shuffle,” while the emotional highlights of the tour, “Last Man Standing,” “Backstreets” and “I’ll See You in My Dreams” were all the more so on account of being back in New Jersey where George Theiss and Bruce’s story started, and because of the tragic passing of Bruce’s nephew earlier in the day. Emotions were going to be high upon this return to the home state, and the context of those three songs made a special night all the more important for Springsteen and his family. Kieran’s recommended listening from April 14th, 2023 – Newark, NJ: “Local Hero,” “No Surrender,” “Ghosts,” “Prove It All Night,” “Letter To You,” “The Promised Land,” “Candy’s Room,” “Kitty’s Back,” “Nightshift,” “Mary’s Place,” “The E Street Shuffle,” “Last Man Standing,” “Backstreets,” “She’s the One,” “Wrecking Ball,” “The Rising,” “Badlands,” “Jersey Girl,” “Thunder Road,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” “Glory Days,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and “I’ll See You in My Dreams.” You can download the final show of the 2023 tour’s first leg from New Jersey here. That’s the first North American leg of the 2023 International Tour! I want to say thank you for following along with my coverage of the first two months – whether you’ve read every review or just this one – and I hope you enjoyed what I’ve had to say. I didn’t expect to be writing about the ‘same’ setlist as much as I have since February, but as was the case in my reviews of the first North American leg of The River Tour 2016, these twenty-eight shows have further allowed me to appreciate how music can hit differently on different days under different contexts. So, I’ve really enjoyed this experience and I look forward to seeing how this setlist unfolds in Europe. I’ll be back in the coming days with the first two parts of my Guide to the 2023 International Tour – with ratings – and by the time they’re published all eyes will be on the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys! Next on the 2023 International Tour, Europe awaits with Barcelona night one on April 28th. Vamos!