And then Bruce arrives in Rome. Just a few notes of "My Love Will Not Let You Down" to sweep away all doubts. Seven years have passed since he played at the Circus Maximus and there are again 60 thousand chosen souls of the people of the Boss, reassured by the fact that next to Springsteen there is still the E Street Band, the most powerful live machine that rock has produced in recent decades.
All together to celebrate this magnificent ritual fueled by the fact that these songs are pieces of life of all those who know them and that live acquire a different dimension, crossed as they are by an irrepressible energy. In Rome it rained during the day but it is almost needless to say that the weather conditions and mud did not discourage anyone. Punctual at 19.30 pm Bruce Springsteen takes the stage: the controversy for the Ferrara concert is overcome, above all the fears of those who thought they would see an artist in decline are overcome.
The Boss today wears sneakers and no longer boots, for him a sort of rite of passage towards a different age. Compared to the past, the concert is more similar to a traditional show, in the sense that the lineup is more or less the same as all the other stages and the duration is "only" three hours: the ritual has been removed from the moment of the songs on request and that tension to go beyond the limits of those who are on stage and those who listen, when the various cities competed on which concert had set the record of duration (the calculation was triggered after four hours). Some of the musicians show signs of surgery, Bruce does not run, does not challenge age as Mick Jagger does, no longer climbs the steps of the stage jumping but does what he has to do: the concert of one of the greatest rockers in history.
The E Street Band continues to be an extraordinary music machine. And in this version "Big Band" increases its firepower, without losing the ability to grasp even the slightest nuances. "Ghost of my Hometown" is enriched with drums and fanfare horns, "No Surrender" is a clear message to the public and the world, with Steve Van Zandt playing a guitar with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Then come "Darkness on the Edge of Town," "Promise Land," before a torrential and overwhelming version of "Kitty's Back."
As a true Boss, Bruce has taken back the role of lead guitar, with his aggressive style: Steven on stage plays the essentials but confirms to be one of the second most important voices of rock. To Nils Lofgren, the guitarist who humiliated a young Springsteen and his band at the first concert of his career in San Francisco, indulges in one of his solo super virtuoso solos in "Because The Night", which continues to be one of the most intense moments of the concert.
"Nightshift", taken from the recent album of soul covers "Only The Strong Survive", had made more than one fan turn up their mouths: live the Commodores song becomes a celebration of Black Music with the singers to draw vocalizations. "Mary's Place" and the beloved "E Street Shuffle" precede the first moment of pause, with the acoustic "Last Man Standing" dedicated to the founder of the Castiles, Bruce's first band, George Theiss, who died in 2018. "Be good to yourself and to those you love," Springsteen says in the presentation.
Then begins an uninterrupted sequence of classics, "She's The One", "Badlands", opened by one of the most iconic drum fills ever, "Thunder Road", with the entire first verse sung in chorus by the audience, "Born In The Usa" where Max Weinberg releases all his virtuosity as heir to the great Big Band drummers, "Born To Run", "Bobby Jean". The concert starts at the end: in "Glory Days" the Springsteen-Van Zandt cabaret couple is reborn, "Dancin' In The Dark", "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out", with images of Clarence "Big Man" Clemmons and Danny Federici, the two historical components who are no longer there. It closes with Springsteen alone with the guitar to greet fans in love with "I'll See You In My Dreams".
Just under three hours with the E Street Band with old friends Roy Bittan piano and synthesizers, Nils Lofgren guitar and vocals, Garry Tallent bass, Stevie Van Zandt guitar and vocals, Max Weinberg drums, Soozie Tyrell violin, guitar and vocals, Jake Clemons saxophone, Charlie Giordano keyboards to which are added the now usual wind sections and four singers. Attending the concert a line up of stars and rock stars from Oscar: Sting, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Nick Cave, Lars Ullrich of Metallica, plus Chris Rock, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson. Among the Italian actors Edoardo Leo, Luca Marinelli and Giuseppe Battiston. No one can escape the magic of a Springsteen concert: time passes even for him who is now a very rich man (he sold his catalog for 500 million dollars), attends the Obamas and the Spielbergs and is no longer the blue collar hero of the past: the desire to be The Boss again has not lost it because deep down he also knows that the world is full of people who thanks to him He chose not to give up. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will return to Italy on July 25th at the Monza circuit.