Rónán Mistéil's blog

No, this isn’t another sappy memoir dedicated just to the memory of Michael Jackson, but from most ‘year in review’ summaries you’d be inclined to think that he was the only big loss to music this year, but  unfortunately he wasn’t the only one. (continue reading…)

Having only seen Springsteen perform a year ago at the very same venue, a year felt like it was too long to have gone without. Listening to his studio albums is one thing, but seeing him live is an experience like no other.

Performing for a non-stop 3 hours and 10 minutes is a feat no ordinary man can accomplish, needless to say one who is nearing on 60 years of age, yet perform he did, and what a performance.

From the moment Nils walked out on stage playing The Fields of Athenry, I knew we were in for a magical evening.
He and the band played some of my favourite tracks, Badlands, Outlaw Pete, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Badlands. I could go on and on (and they did).

He managed to fit in plenty of crowd pleasers too: Hungry Heart, Spirit in the Night, Proud Mary, and Glory Days (as part of the encore). Needless to say the crowd were indeed pleased, and understandably so. Although he spoke little over the course of the gig, his interaction with the crowd was admirable. He ran and danced and pulled signs from the crowd. No other act I’ve ever seen live can match the Boss’ love for his fans. The ticket had Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band printed on it, but it wasn’t their show, it was all about us the fans.

After playing as many requests as he could pull from the crowd, he then launched into the encore (this is over two and a half hours of playing already), and what an encore! Kicking off with an amazing rendition of Jungleland, and even mustering up enough remaining energy for a lively Rosalita. He then finshed off with a wonderful cover of Twist and Shout.

I went home fairly tired after all of that, I can only imagine how he felt.

The Full Setlist
No Surrender
Badlands
Night
My Lucky Day
Outlaw Pete
Hungry Heart
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Youngstown
Darkness On The Edge of Town
Spirit In The Night
Sherry Darling
Proud Mary
Prove It All Night
Trapped
Waiting On A Sunny Day
Promised Land
Radio Nowhere
American Skin (41 Shots)
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run

Jungleland
American Land
Rosalita
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
Twist & Shout