BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : LIVERPOOL 2025 FIRST NIGHT

 

Disc One (58:15)

  1. My Love Will Not Let You Down
  2. Lonesome Day
  3. Land Of Hope And Dreams
  4. Death To My Hometown
  5. No Surrender
  6. Rainmaker
  7. Atlantic City
  8. The Promised Land
  9. Hungry Heart
  10. The River

Disc Two (67:26)

  1. Youngstown
  2. Murder Incorporated
  3. Long Walk Home
  4. House Of A Thousand Guitars
  5. My City Of Ruins
  6. Because The Night
  7. Wrecking Ball
  8. The Rising
  9. Badlands
  10. Thunder Road

Disc Three (38:13)

  1. Born In The U.S.A.
  2. Born To Run
  3. Bobby Jean
  4. Dancing In The Dark
  5. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
  6. Twist And Shout
  7. Chimes Of Freedom

Label : live.brucespringsteen.net

Venue : Anfield, Liverpool, UK

Recording Date : June 4, 20025

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : In his autobiography, “Born to Run,” Bruce Springsteen begins chapter nine – titled ‘The Second Coming’ – by saying, “From over the sea, the gods returned, just in time,” referring to the Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 9th, 1964. On June 4th, 2025, it was the first coming, and for many, if not all of those standing inside the home of Liverpool Football Club, from over the sea their god had arrived. Finally. Fifty years of shows in the United Kingdom have seen Bruce Springsteen cover a lot of ground, but incredibly, before June 2025 he’d never played in Liverpool; before May he’d never even been in the city. Considering the influence and his well known love of the Beatles, it had long felt like a rite of passage for him to do something in the home of his heroes, and the pleas for him to play in Anfield stretch back at least a decade. Returning to the UK two weeks after that triumphant three-show stand in Manchester’s Co-op Live, the moment was now, and this first of two nights was no doubt one to be savoured by everyone, be they onstage or in the audience. With such a momentous occasion came many momentous notions from fans, particularly Beatles covers and a Beatle appearance outright, but for the most part – notwithstanding the performance of “Twist and Shout” late-on – the reality of those possibilities would have to wait, as night one in Anfield shaped up very similarly to the shows that had preceded it, albeit with arguably the most inspired performance of the tour to-date. The set was familiar, but once again it wasn’t identical and the changed opening song was a prime example of that. Having stepped onstage and delivered that equally rallying and damning introductory speech, this time altered with an acknowledgement of Liverpool being “where it all began for us,” Springsteen and the E Street Band didn’t immediately burst into politically charged performances of “No Surrender” or “Land of Hope and Dreams.” Rather, a storming “My Love Will Not Let You Down” opened to convey a different kind of message: Liverpool, meet Bruce Springsteen. This is his mission statement. And sensational that mission statement was, as a resounding performance sung well and, even better, sung with a boatload of sincerity – his vocal straining as he first proclaimed “one thing that you gotta know!” comes across so endearingly on the recording. A scintillating guitar solo and the triumph of the E Street Horns’ riffs added to the opener’s ecstasy, and although it’s an admittedly strange selection to follow that introductory speech, it nonetheless made for a wonderful start to the show and instantly strengthened the bond between Springsteen and Liverpool. Interestingly, Springsteen and the E Street Band didn’t launch into “Land of Hope and Dreams” as the second song of the show either, with it pushed into the third slot in favour of “Lonesome Day.” Both songs were highly magnetic, and for live attendees they instantly highlighted Anfield’s sound quality as more towering performances with the music righteous. As always, both were fantastic E Street Band spotlights: Max Weinberg’s mighty drums, Soozie Tyrell’s sweet violin and Jake Clemons’ powerhouse saxophone radiated across both songs, as did Springsteen, Little Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren’s guitars; while Charlie Giordano very arguably highlighted the tour’s titular track with his stunning organ riffs. The magic of their music ensured those immense vocal declarations of “lonesome dayyyyyyy!” and “all you gotta do issss!” at the finish lines hit in emphatic fashion; and where Bruce’s voice in the latter was a blend of tender and fiery (“for this part of the ride!” assured Liverpool his passion was nonetheless unrelenting) his final proclamation was the ultimate moment of ardency that this song always calls for. Early touring staples followed as we’d expect; “Rainmaker” and a returning “Atlantic City” stood out, both hitting hard with a great intensity. The Letter To You selection, played “for America’s dear leader,” is very nicely refined in a live setting now, just around the midpoint of the tour, and as was the case in Manchester and France, it served as a thunderous evoking of anger – listen out for the impressive declaration of “ra-aiin!” (4:41); while guitars were at the forefront of the Nebraska gem, complementing a scathing Springsteen reading – in this one it’s his delivery of the first chorus that initially stuns, with his voice full of grit and fire, before he went on to wow Liverpool with his pre-crescendo harmonies. These two songs broke up otherwise rousing and optimistic performances of “No Surrender,” “The Promised Land” and “Hungry Heart,” and while of the three it’s “Promised Land” that may come across as the ‘weakest,’ don’t be fooled as it was a highlight in Anfield that saw Bruce engage in a dual-harmonica coda with a young girl in the crowd. Stick with the song, because the end result is superb! There was little optimism in the songs that followed, as a captivating performance of “The River” preluded the barnstorming stretch of core sociopolitical anthems, of which “Murder Incorporated” and “Long Walk Home” again stood out. Little Steven’s contributions in the latter were smaller this time around, but as always they were oh so effective, especially as I’m not entirely keen on the E Street Choir’s alternative vocal approach. “The River” wasn’t sung with Bruce’s smoothest vocal, rather he seemed a touch worn after the high tempo songs prior, but there was purpose to his performance, no doubt about that. His fragile reading of “they haunt me like a curse” served as a fine example, and so did his powerful harmonica playing which was complemented by Soozie’s beautiful violin during the midpoint solo. Admittedly “The River” had lost some of its shine for me in recent years, but in the year 2025 it is revived with enhanced importance and sentiment. In Liverpool’s first ever experience of the song, they got a special one to remember. A tweak to his usual introduction saw Bruce speak of his country’s need to organise peacefully in the streets before the solemn, yearning “House of a Thousand Guitars,” and the uplifting “My City of Ruins” followed with Bruce continuing to speak his mind before delivering an inspired reading. Backed by Roy’s lovely playing and the hefty, hearty spotlights of the Horns and Choir, the song was effective in spite of Bruce’s vocal sounding slightly worn at first. As soon as he shifted into a high octane approach, however, he blew Anfield away, over and over with hair-raising exclamations of “oh with these hands!”; “I pray for your love no-owww!”; “woaaaaahhhh I-I praayyyyyy now!” and “woah come on!”. Magnificent. The remainder of night one in Liverpool shaped up as we’re to expect, and really how a first time in any city should, with a perfect blend of ecstasy and emotion felt from the main-set finale songs and the encore regulars, as well as that aforementioned “Twist and Shout.” “Because the Night” packed a particularly emphatic punch after “Ruins” courtesy of the Horns’ efforts, and “Wrecking Ball” really rallied the home crowd with Bruce’s encouraging, “Is the house of champions or what?!” interrogative. “The Rising” next served – or at least serves on this recording – as the best example of Anfield’s acoustics with how Bruce’s voice reverberated across the stadium, and “Badlands” also resounded en route to the finale of the main set. That finale, “Thunder Road,” wasn’t a perfect one here as Bruce’s walkabout to embrace the audience made for a few messy moments. One of those instances where the live crowd’s gain is the listener’s loss, and though we can certainly lament an imperfect performance of this song, we can accept it knowing there’s always the next show to potentially bring us a better one. Everyone was a winner when it came to the encore on night one as a fantastic “Born in the U.S.A” led proceedings, anchored by awesome rhythm guitar and a motivated Bruce; his delectably delivered “I’m a cooooool cool rockin’ daddy now!” very coolly led into Max’s powerhouse display, which was also accompanied by haunting riffs from Charlie. Hopeful themes followed in the form of “Born to Run” and a lovely “Bobby Jean,” with extra spirited versions of “Tenth” and “Twist and Shout” not far behind. The tribute to the E Street Band and the legacies of Clarence Clemons and Dan Federici came with a solid “and I can’t go hooooooome!”; while Beatles-tinged “Twist” was sung vividly, complete, of course with a preceding declaration of “We ain’t going home yet!” and almost instant tilt into “It might be time to go home now though!” The response was a routine one, and it was loud. Finally, it was “one of the great songs of freedom” to see the night out, and on a night where fans walked in speculating what Beatles cover they might leave Anfield floored by, it was the heartwarming reading of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom” to serve that purpose. It was a juxtaposing book end to “My Love Will Not Let You Down” as a song fostering different themes, as well as one of less intensity, but there was a key similarity in how it ensured Liverpool walked away from this night with a lasting image of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s humanity – and hopefully an heightened sense of their own. Roll on night two.