BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : PHOENIX 2024

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

Disc One (62:11)

Ghosts
Land Of Hope And Dreams / People Get Ready
Death To My Hometown
Seeds
Lonesome Day
Rainmaker
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
The Promised Land
Hungry Heart
My Hometown
The River

Disc Two (66:08)

Youngstown
Murder Incorporated
Long Walk Home
House Of A Thousand Guitars
My City Of Ruins
Because The Night
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands
Thunder Road

Disc Three (45:44)

Can't Buy Me Love (with Paul McCartney)
Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey (with Paul McCartney)
Born In The U.S.A.
Born To Run
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Twist And Shout
Chimes Of Freedom

Label : live.brucespringsteen.net

Venue : Anfield, Liverpool, UK

Recording Date : June 7, 20025

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : Bruce Springsteen’s first ever show in Liverpool on June 4th was one to be remembered. It came with a setlist fairly familiar, but the performance screamed out at attendees – and Live Downloads listeners later – as one Bruce was feeling more than usual. That struck all as no surprise on such a momentous night for him let alone the locals who’d been yearning for this a long time. June 7th was the ‘Second Coming’ in Anfield, and with speculation wild after Bruce shared a seminar with Sir Paul McCartney at his Institute of Performing Arts the night before, it appeared June 7th, 2025 in Liverpool could be one for the ages. For those in Liverpool, it was a case of ‘Here Comes the Rain’ rather than Sun as the day went on, but luckily it had no ill effect come showtime and fans braving the temperamental conditions waited with a great anticipation for something special to reward their faith. Thirty-songs later, it can be said they were well rewarded, and then some. With Springsteen and the E Street Band’s eventual arrival onstage came the custom introductory speech, and after that, another changed opening song: “Ghosts”! Five years ago most fans were certain this would be the song kicking off shows once Bruce and the Band returned to the road, and, finally, two years into touring it was doing just that. It was effective, too, allowing those fans to give themselves a pat on the back for their setlist intuition. Launching straight into the music like they did on Manchester night two, Bruce’s vocal wasn’t the smoothest, but he sang with a raw energy that was simply perfect in the moment and it didn’t half make for an inspired reading. The communal “BY THE END OF THE SET WE LEAVE NO ONE ALIVE!” was the first great example of a strong connection between man, band and audience on this night, and further shining moments included Roy Bittan’s sparkling piano playing, that guitar riff combined with “let the spirits be my guide!” and a cathartic coda-sequence that saw Little Steven Van Zandt throw out hearty cries of “coming hoooomeee!” en route to him, Roy, Charlie Giordano and Jake Clemons – the latter called on by a fervent call of his first name – make for a sensational finale. An array of night two changes followed. Some small, some sizeable with Bruce rotating positions of songs as well as switching selections in and out. The early moments saw stellar performances of “Land of Hope and Dreams,” “Seeds” and “Rainmaker” in particular; the first epic heightened by Charlie’s stunning organ riffs and more lovely piano from Roy in addition to a vocal nicely warmed up, while the sociopolitical stormer really put that vocal improvement into focus with a truly jaw dropping howl of “HOUSTONNN!” Max Weinberg’s intense beat, Nils Lofgren’s heated guitar and the Horns’ riffs were rather mighty, too, underscoring just how on form those onstage were so early into the show. Awesome guitar helped see the song out and into “Lonesome Day” to maintain the high tempo, but with “Rainmaker” the tempo became appropriately erratic. It’s a performance that’s getting better and better each show with Bruce increasingly focused, the Horns triumphant through despair (in the final moments especially) and on this night those stunning piano licks played by Roy during the choruses were all the more prominent, too. A damning “Darkness on the Edge of Town” added to the intense sociopolitical themes, then “The Promised Land” for much relief. No harmonica collaborations with any young audience member during the song this time, but with heightened choir harmonies there was equal amounts of joy. Heading the core sociopolitical stretch was the familiar 2023-24 pairing of “My Hometown” into “The River,” which hit beautifully, in spite of the 1980 double LP title track being a touch scrappy. Of course, that had no bearing on Liverpool’s interest or enjoyment, and a typically captivating 2025 Tour performance ensued. The usual trio that then followed was of a very high standard on this night, with “Youngstown” extra mighty by way of a notably pronounced declaration of the title; in “Murder Incorporated,” Charlie and the E Street Horns ensured a serious punch was packed, and the blazing guitar duel between Bruce and Stevie left Liverpool knocked out, if not simply rocked into the ground. A less heated “Long Walk Home” of equal importance concluded this portion of the sequence, and I was happy to hear less pronounced harmonies from the Choir this time after night one, amidst a most passionate performance that saw Bruce, Little Stevie and Jake stand out with spotlight vocals, harmonies and saxophone. As usual, it was a grand first half finale for the E Street Band. That finale led to a quick break as Bruce sought to unite his people further when taking on “House of a Thousand Guitars” solo, but the E Street Band’s return was with a greater purpose for “My City of Ruins.” Roy and Charlie played superbly as Bruce made his custom call to action speech and softly sang the first verse, and on this night he asked Anfield, “Will you join us?!” before fully launching into the song. With that, the night’s most communal moment. It’s no surprise that this was another insanely driven reading from Bruce, complete with typically shining spotlights for the Horns and Choir, but once again he left his audience floored by his passion and from the power of his vocal; his pleading “Lord give me hope!” into a howling “I-I-I-IIIII! pray!” was simply wonderful. “House of a Thousand Guitars” into “My City of Ruins” is certainly a more challenging, less rewarding pairing than “Last Man Standing” into “Backstreets,” but damn if this combination doesn’t reward us in some way each night. It was business as usual – for now – upon the end of “Ruins” as Bruce called on Roy for “Because the Night,” signalling the home stretch of the main set to begin. It was a swift sequence with no song in-between the Darkness outtake and “Wrecking Ball,” but the latter was so invigorating here that it surely didn’t matter much to Anfield – and that’s without Bruce satisfying the locals with “is this the house of the champions?! Then come on!” as a very stimulating reference to their Premier League triumph this past season. Of course, there was something for every fan in this late-set five-pack, including a “Badlands” with incredible guitar playing and a “Thunder Road” that did indeed improve on the messy June 4th reading. Even Bruce appeared aware of that, as he called on Stevie to put an exclamation on the sensation before Jake and the Horns saw us out. And then, it happened. “Thank you Liverpool! We’re lucky tonight, we have a young man… uh, a local young man from Liverpool, who’s gonna guest with us tonight, I think he’s got a lot of talent and I think he’s gonna be going places. So let’s bring out Sir Paul McCartney.” To borrow from Bruce’s autobiography one more time, this was a moment to “jolt your system with ten-thousand watts of high-voltage anticipation” and leave your heart pounding. Even if any of us were all but certain this was going to happen, the reality of Sir Paul McCartney sharing the stage with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is a different level of special that you can’t fathom until it’s actually happening. Sir Paul stepped onstage to an ovation rivalling any “famous Champions League night” in Anfield, applauded by all from the furthest seat back to those beside and behind him – Jake even bowed along with Bruce! Within seconds, he’d burst into “Can’t Buy Me Love” – a wonderful first in a Springsteen show – taking lead vocals with Bruce stood to his left, swaying and strumming his guitar before walking towards Stevie and revelling on harmony-duty with his best friend; Stevie also got the nod for the guitar solo here, which felt just right, and I’m almost certain he wouldn’t have needed to rehearse it. There was time for one more – although I highly doubt anyone in Liverpool would willingly pull the plug on Sir Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, you can never be too certain – and it was into a stupendous “Kansas City – Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!” with top notch Horns riffs and a damn good guitar solo from Bruce this time around. “Kansas City” has been a recurring favourite of Bruce’s over the years when in Missouri, but this one was different, and no doubt the one he’ll be fondest of when all is said and done. Sir Paul led vocals once again – his vocal in the year 2025 is what it is, but this moment wasn’t about the actual performance – this time Bruce sharing the mic to sing along with his idol and, in an even greater way than Hard Rock Calling 2012 and June 16th – June 25th, 2022 at MetLife Stadium into Glastonbury, conclude the journey of the teenager who sat inspired watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964. “Thank you, Scousers!” was Sir Paul’s final message before leaving the stage, and Bruce then summed it up better than I or any other fan ever could: “Oh my God, you don’t know, to be in Liverpool, playing with a Beatle. That’s, our-that’s one of my dreams-that’s one of my dreams come true right there!” Incredibly, there was an otherwise full encore to follow after that show-stopping moment, including a highly animated “Born in the U.S.A.,” an as apt “Glory Days” as there’s ever been – we can feel its “F*ck! I probably will!” declaration on this night – and a thrilling “Twist and Shout” – “La Bamba” with a special moment in which Bruce counted Liverpool down for a huge ovation to prove this show was worthy of continuing. This was all simply a bonus to the night’s true main event that had preceded it, though, and that also applied to the “Chimes of Freedom” finale that Bruce had somehow, someway managed to outshine on the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour. It may have even been the best performance yet, magnified by the purpose with which Bruce sang the final verse, but in the end a Beatle eclipsed Bob Dylan on June 7th, 2025 in Anfield, with Bruce Springsteen, the E Street Band and their fans left feeling oh so fine. This November will officially mark fifty years of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band shows in the United Kingdom. Fifty. Five decades of memories have been made and night two in Liverpool finds itself in the upper echelons of them, no doubt about that.