The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Bruce Springsteen lights up the Circus Maximus

2023-05-22T16:19:05.632Z

Highlights: 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. 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. "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.


Many classics for the Boss in front of 60 thousand people. Ama, 10 tons of waste collected after the concert (ANSA)


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.

Ten tons of waste

Cleaning and washing operations have already started from 23 pm yesterday to restore decorum on the streets adjacent to the Circus Maximus involved in the Bruce Springsteen concert. This is what AMA makes known. The company, in coordination with Roma Capitale, fielded a special task force of 45 men and 15 vehicles, operating during all phases of the event and which collected a total of over 10 tons of waste. The company staff manned the 4 pre-filtering gates while already in recent days 15 bins and 60 bins for the various fractions of materials had been positioned throughout the area. Once the show was over, the AMA teams and vehicles (sweepers, tank vehicles, tankers, and compactors) cleaned the neighboring streets and allowed, in collaboration with the Local Police of Rome Capital, the restoration of normal traffic. Finishing works are currently underway on Via dei Cerchi and will end in the early afternoon.

Manuel Agnelli on the concert

"But Springsteen was right to keep quiet." The organizers did well to go ahead with the show and Springsteen did well not to say anything from the Ferrara stage but "I did not like that the Boss did not donate the proceeds, I expected him to do it". So Manuel Agnelli on the controversy over the concert that was held on May 18 a few tens of kilometers from Romagna battered by flooding. "We forget that organizing such a concert is a job, there are economic investments - says Agnelli, today at the Piccolo for the presentation of the show 'Lazarus' - it is an opportunity for economy on the territory and also an opportunity for distraction, which can help in such a tragic situation. Did the Boss say nothing? Today everything you say is exploited, whatever he said would have been."

Source: ansa

All life articles on 2023-05-22

You may like

Life/Entertain 2024-02-16T08:12:10.103Z
Life/Entertain 2024-02-16T07:30:48.629Z

Trends 24h

Life/Entertain 2024-03-28T17:17:20.523Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.