BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : LONDON 2024 FIRST NIGHT

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND : LONDON 2024 SECOND NIGHT

Disc One (58:26)

Lonesome Day
Candy's Room
Adam Raised A Cain
Death To My Hometown
The Promised Land
Hungry Heart
Darlington County
Tougher Than The rest
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Youngstown
Long Walk Home

Disc Two (56:16)

The E Street Shuffle
Nightshift
Mary's Place
The River
Last Man Standing
Backstreets
Because The Night
She's The One

Disc Three (63:54)

Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands
Thunder Road
Born In The U.S.A.
Born To Run
Bobby Jean
Dancing In The Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Twist And Shout
I'll See You In My Dreams

Label : Nugs.net

Venue : Wembley Stadium, London, England

Recording Date : July 27, 2025

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Review (Kieran's Thoughts) : “It’s Saturday night!” was the call from Bruce Springsteen as he stepped upon a European stage for the final time in 2024, and he was hoping to treat London more than alright in the second half of a double shot finale under the Wembley arch. The first half on July 25th was a great showcase of energy from all in the house, and with the Night Two Rule in effect on the last night of the leg, this one was sure to amplify it. Night two in Wembley began just as night one did with a strong “Lonesome Day” to warm up all in the house, and as the first of several songs on the night centred around persevering through loss it set the mood for “Last Man Standing,” “Backstreets” and “I’ll See You in My Dreams” to follow. That double shot of “Candy’s Room” and “Adam Raised a Cain” followed. You may recall my comment on this pairing in my Hannover review about how they’ve fronted the most memorable of shows on this tour, and considering how July 5th joined Albany, Kilkenny and Madrid night two in that conversation, it was best that London buckled up for the ride they were about to be taken on. These two songs were memorable enough themselves, never mind what was to come, with the performance of “Candy” scintillating, bringing one damn good delivery of “all that I’ve got to give!” before an outro guitar solo that was as good as it gets; and “Adam” was quite possibly the best of all its outings on this tour, anchored by the most colourful of vocals – “IN THE BIBLE… HE WAS CAST!”; “SOMEBODY ELSE’S PAST!”; “RAISED A CAIIIN!” – and the most raging music. The July 25th performance of “Seeds” saw Bruce pull no punches with his guitar playing, but this was a full on attack. He and the E Street Band hardly relented upon its conclusion either, because “Death to My Hometown” was launched into as a scathing socio-political selection to complement “Seeds” in its absence as a state of the union comment. Very resounding. It paired nicely “The Promised Land” for a clashing combination of the American reality versus the American dream, and Bruce’s inspiration in the intense trio prior seeped into this one to make for a very lovely reading. His calls of “C’mon!” just before the finish were overshadowed on July 25th because of that reprise of the “Hungry Heart” coda, but here they stood out as the best example of his passion during the song, and as another striking example of his connection with London. Connecting with London remained the goal upon the end of the Darkness live staple, as Bruce led the E Street Band into a crowd rousing double shot of “Hungry Heart” and “Darlington County.” On this occasion the River favourite was without an exciting coda reprise, and the BITUSA banger did feature an inaudible moment at the top of the penultimate verse as Nils Lofgren began to sing, but both achieved their purpose excellently in-house, seeing most if not all of the eighty-thousand people in attendance waving their arms and singing along. And while the waving isn’t visible on the Live Download recording, as we listen we can certainly hear the latter. We can also hear how loud their excitement was for the surprise that followed. “It’s Saturday night!” was again the shout, and it was a real treat for London with Ms. Patti Scialfa in the house to join Bruce and the E Street Band for an apropos performance of “Tougher Than the Rest.” While the intensity of “Adam,” the quality of the ‘Election Pack’ and the emotion of “Backstreets” would be remembered as the great highlights of this show, this was undoubtedly its stand out moment. Anchored by Bruce and Patti’s enduring love for one another, the special sight for London was magnified by a really super performance equally as good, if not even better than the two in Los Angeles this past April. Mind you, it was a touch imperfect as Bruce needed a couple of attempts to get his harmonica outro correct, but he chuckled in spite of that small fault and eventually found his footing, sending out this grand moment in strong fashion. It was one and done for Ms. Patti on this night, and after she bid farewell to London and members of the E Street Band, Bruce gathered Nils and Little Steven Van Zandt to call an audible. It was a good one, too, as they launched into an equal parts sobering and storming version of “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” Once again I was put off while listening to this on account of those way too loud chimes played by Charlie Giordano during the softer moments of the song, but other than that ongoing irk of mine, this was spotless with a fantastic final howl of “towwwwn!” to blow everyone away. How it didn’t rip Bruce’s throat to shreds is beyond me! This audible of the ’78 LP title track was also effective as a strong first song of the above mentioned ‘Election Pack’ that also included “Youngstown” and “Long Walk Home.” It can be said that the effects of the howl were felt during “Youngstown,” as the first mighty declaration wasn’t what we’re used to, and his ‘softer’ delivery was perhaps a cautionary vocal given the fire in “Darkness” – or perhaps it was a complementary one! The final cry of “youngstowwwwn!” was less cautionary, however, as he went all in to give a thundering segue to Nils’ masterful outro solo. There was a tiny break in that vocal, but that didn’t deter from how impressive it was or how passionate he was. Then, with a shout out for Nils and an acknowledging of “Long Walk Home” being “a prayer for my country,” he and the E Street Band proceeded to floor Wembley with pure passion. For me, this was the best version of the song so far on this tour, as it was with extra pronunciation through Roy’s heightened keyboard riffs and that enthusiasm from Little Steven in the build up to the finale. His vocals were prominent and akin to those versions of the song from 2007-08 where he’d step into the spotlight to sing the chorus himself, and it added a raw feeling of soul to the inspired vocals of Bruce and the E Street Choir. Love it! After Jake Clemons’ outstanding “Long Walk Home” outro came the initial ‘mess’ that was the E Street Horns’ intro for “The E Street Shuffle,” but upon finding those right notes they led the E Street Band into a delectable one. Bruce’s inspiration was instantly noticeable as he sang “handsome aaaaand hot!“, and he didn’t relent, as he added vivid vocals to lyrics such as “sweet siiiiiixteeen!”; “craaaaazy boys!” and “them BOYS are on the corner!” while playing frenzied guitar with his “MAGIC FINGERS!”. The great percussion duel between Max Weinberg and Anthony Almonte heightened a sensational performance, and although the Wembley crowd didn’t need too much lifting following a less suffocating ‘Election Pack’ without “Reason to Believe” and “Atlantic City,” it definitely didn’t hurt to have them all the more stimulated. For any fans who attended night two in London last year, what followed may have brought their first major feeling of déjà vu on the night as “Nightshift” was next, and then “Mary’s Place” returned for the first time since March 25th in San Diego. This trio was a staple of the latter first half in 2023, and admittedly, the impact they had here reminded us why, with “Mary” a lot of fun to hear again. Saturday is the perfect night for a House Party after all, and it really captivated musically, and when Bruce was calling out mightily – “Is there anyone alive out there! We’re here to bring you the joyful power! The inspiration of rock and roll! Into your life! Are you ready for that!” – or calling out with a whisper – “Ssh!… Please don’t do that! There’s always one! F*ckin’ my whole thing up!”. It was a really satisfying performance, and then the Horns popped up with those riffs during the repetition of “let it rain!” for the finale. If you’ve listened to this song on previous tours, you’ll know this was a Steven Van Zandt arrangement, and you’ll be struck by the absolute bliss with which they’re delivered. Superb! Little Steven’s presence was felt again during “The River,” as he provided magnificent acoustic and powerful backing vocals to complement Bruce’s likewise reading, and it would earn him a hearty post-song shout out: “My great friend Steve Van Zandt on the 12-string. Take a bow!”. Bruce would then take London back to the year he met Stevie, 1965, to set the scene for a story about a different friend in George Theiss, and the pairing of “Last Man Standing” and “Backstreets” that conveyed this show’s themes of life and death better than any other. His monologue would bring a particularly big cheer on this night, as he followed up his usual “now the E Street Band, we’re out here for fifty f*ckin’ years now!” with a defiant “And we ain’t gonna quit either! Hell no!”. With the future so unwritten, you can’t ask for more than that, and upon hearing the way he sang that final verse of “Last Man,” you know he wasn’t lying. Well and truly, a man who doesn’t want to stop! “Backstreets” stressed that further, with his commitment unwavering and the E Street Band sounding too damn good. I’ve been lucky to listen to this song regularly since February 2023, and the constant refining of those guitars, of that organ and piano, of those drums, and that interlude – “these are the things of yours that I can hold in my hand, and feel and touch…” – ensure that it’s a song I’ll never tire of. The crux of this ongoing tour. Despite its consistency, the second half of this show was also thoroughly enjoyable. It only saw a sole song contrast to night one, with “Born in the U.S.A.” replacing “Land of Hope and Dreams” at the top of the encore (a special such as “Jungleland” would have been lovely, but I do believe the majority of this Wembley audience were wanting “U.S.A.”), and as usual the concrete songs in this half thrilled; “She’s the One” and “Wrecking Ball” stood out to me in the latter main set, while the titanic track fronted a riveting encore of even greater community than on July 25th. “Twist and Shout” saw Bruce rightly declare London a “motherf*cker of an audience!” and they showed why when he floated the idea of going home – “we’re in it together!” was Bruce’s argument to Stevie who was adamant about staying put. After six hours of music across two nights, this finale for the E Street Band was surely the deciding factor for Bruce as he’d say “the last two nights here in Wembley have simply been just the greatest crowds we’ve ever had here in England” before “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” and their equal parts respect and admiration for this quiet closer served as one last example as to why he made that statement. Well, second from last if you count the cheer that followed “We’ll be seein’ ya!”. Roll on 2025!