Bruce Springsteen live in London: the heartland hero remains firmly at his majestic peak

Deep in conversation with his close friend Barack Obama in the lockdown podcast Renegades, Bruce Springsteen laid out the very mission statement behind his epic live shows. “I’m going to give my best to bring out the best in you, and I’m going to send you home with a sense of community and a set of values that may sustain you past the concert. I always joke that I want to come onstage and change your life, except it’s not really a joke that is my purpose at night.”

Backed by the infamous E Street Band, the impossibly youthful 73-year-old wastes absolutely no time in getting to work with that blueprint during the first of his two sold out shows at Hyde Park. Taking to the stage to rapturous applause and adoring football chants of ‘Bruce’, he launches into rabble rousing anthem ‘No Surrender’ in front of a 65,000 strong crowd, setting the tone for a goliath three-hour set with few intervals for formalities or small talk.

The Boss might have recently courted some playful criticism from Paul McCartney about being to blame for relentlessly long sets – but Springsteen’s infamous work ethic shows no signs of waning in his later years. Perhaps more impressively, some of his latest material proves just how potent he remains as a songwriter. The defiant 2020 anthem of ‘Ghosts’ already stands up in the set alongside his all time classics as he belts out a husky, gravelly battle cry of, “I hear the sound of your guitar / Coming from the mystic far”.

Throughout the night Springsteen shows just how masterful a performer he remains, striking the perfect balance of light and shade, newer material is quickly offset with anthems like ‘The Promised Land’ during which he takes his first steps towards fans who have eagerly waited at the barrier since the gates opened, pumping that indelible sound of the harmonica into the microphone. Waltzing into the front rows and leaning into the crowd, magic and mayhem is triggered in the most heartwarming fashion as he hands a young girl his plectrum.

At their very core these are anthems of hope and dreams, and in a post-pandemic world, the music feels more vital than ever before. Springsteen, after all, is a master when it comes to distilling the notion of the American dream and how it’s buried within everyday societal heroes, dispatching effortless lines of longing and escapism: “Working all day in my daddy’s garage / Driving all night chasing some mirage / Pretty soon little girl I’m gonna take charge.”

Though the setlist has largely remained unusually static for Springsteen across the tour so far, The Boss has recently started dropping a few surprises into the mix – and who can blame him on a 31-date European tour. ‘Will he won’t he’ murmurs and speculation had been rippling across the crowd and surrounding Mayfair bars pre-show following recent airings of classics like ‘The River’ and ‘Downbound Train’, making it all more special as the timeless, goosebump summoning harmonica of ‘The River’ washes over the crowd, signalling a set highlight.

As the setting sun begins to kiss the London skyline, Springsteen shields his eyes with a knowing smile and rolls into ‘My Hometown’ which triggers a mass singalong. Exploring the unbreakable bond of home, small town life, growing up and dreams of getting out, it’s not hard to see why the ballad strikes such a poignant note. The Boss triumphantly raises his fist into the sky like a post-fight Rocky Balboa to soak up the moment.

It feels like everyone here today has their own Springsteen story. One fan in the crowd proudly tells NME, “I’ve seen Bruce over thirty times, from Wembley in 1981 to the original ‘Born In The USA Tour’, the music has so many memories attached to it through the years and I’m here today with my daughters making more great memories with them.” It means just as much for the array of support artists here today as well, with long time fan Frank Turner saying: “I will be taking a plain black marker and drawing a line right through the top item on my bucket list.”

If the set hadn’t delivered enough heavy hitting material already, the final flurry would be enough to make even the most casual fan go weak at the knees. Bruce opens the floodgates for a mighty stream of classics like ‘Badlands’ and ‘Thunder Road’ before coming back for an impossibly stronger encore with anti-Vietnam war anthem ‘Born In The USA’, followed by all time classics ‘Born To Run’, ‘Glory Days’ and ‘Dancing In The Dark’.

After a heartwarming rendition of ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze Out’ accompanied with video montage paying tribute to lost members of the E Street Band in saxophonist Clarence Clemons and keyboard player Danny Federici, you wonder what else Springsteen has up his sleeve.

He comes back as a solitary figure for a soul-stirring closer of ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’, and it’s emotional stuff cutting to the very fabric of life. A force of personality like no other, if Springsteen’s ultimate goal really is to change lives by night, then it’s mission accomplished here. Punctuated with lessons of life, love and loss, he’s hit another home run at Hyde Park.

Bruce Springsteen played:

‘No Surrender’
‘Ghosts’
‘Prove It All Night’
‘Letter to You’
‘The Promised Land’
‘Out in the Street’
‘Darlington County’
‘Working on the Highway’
‘Kitty’s Back’
‘Nightshift’ (Commodores cover)
‘Mary’s Place’
‘My Hometown’
‘The River’
‘Last Man Standing’
‘Backstreets’
‘Because the Night’
‘She’s the One’
‘Wrecking Ball’
‘The Rising’
‘Badlands’
‘Thunder Road’
‘Born in the U.S.A.’
Born to Run’
‘Bobby Jean’
‘Glory Days’
‘Dancing in the Dark’
‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out’
‘I’ll See You in My Dreams’

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