Most of the time, life is pretty difficult. The train to Düsseldorf takes an hour longer than before, the tram to the Merkur-Spiel-Arena is, as expected, overcrowded, then you have to walk halfway around the stadium to get to the right entrance. 43,000 people are there, sold out. The queues at the drink stands are long. “There’s no such thing as thirst with Bruce!” a friend wrote to console me, and of course he’s right. The nagging and the fears (Is the E Street Band still that good at that age? Can you tell Springsteen’s 73 years?) last until 7 p.m. Then Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan come on stage, Jake Clemmons and Garry Tallent, Nils Lofgren and Steven van Zandt – and finally Bruce Springsteen. In a second everything is forgotten.
Springsteen: the good America, the hope and the dream
Springsteen raises his hands and smiles at the audience – and why are you suddenly in tears? Because he’s still here! Because he really is the last man standing. Later, before this very song, he will tell the story of his first band, the Castiles, and how three years felt like a lifetime to him as a teenager – and how he is now the only survivor of this group of boys. But Bruce Springsteen is much more than that. (Sorry, that’s not without pathos.) He is the good America, the hope and the dream. For the first time on this tour, they begin with “The Ties That Bind”. And how fitting it is in these unkind times! Who will ease the sadness, who will ease the pain, Springsteen asks – and that we should hold on to the connections we have. Loyalty, solidarity: that’s what it’s all about here. And then immediately follow “No Surrender” and “Ghosts”, two more tracks about eternal love and friendship, the essence of existence. Actually, that sums up the evening. It’s good that it’s still going on! It’s the longest day of the year, summer solstice, but time becomes relative when music opens up a much wider world to us.
It’s striking in The Promised Land that Springsteen may be the only person who can play the harmonica and smile at the same time. He then gives away the instrument, as well as some plectrums, he keeps going to the audience and pointing to individuals, happy about the enthusiasm. However, there were not too many announcements or shakers. It doesn’t need to be, with this repertoire. It would be pointless to list all the songs that are frenetically celebrated, there are 28, and only once you are tempted to sit down.
All credit to Bruce’s love of soul, but the lame “Nightshift” is simply a showstopper in this environment, no matter how many great horns and backing singers there are to help. (Patti Scialfa isn’t there again, by the way.) After that comes “Mary’s Place”, so just a short slack, and between the “Backstreets” and the “Badlands” everything goes by much too quickly. Oh dear, already “Thunder Road”, it’s almost over! Especially after the past few weeks, in which there has been so much talk about the dark side of rock music, this concert is like a bath in the light. Positive energy without escapism, an exuberance wrested from the adversities of everyday life. (And since there’s always talk of singers’ clothes, it should also be said here that nobody can wear a tight short-sleeved shirt quite like Bruce Springsteen – and in a moment of silliness he can even tear it almost to his belly button. )
The encores – of course with the obligatory long introduction of the E Street Band including all guest musicians: inside – are quite “Born In The USA”-heavy, but after “Born To Run” they also play “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”, where pictures by Clarence Clemons and Danny Federici will be shown again. The ghosts are always there these days, Springsteen no longer makes a distinction between living and dead friends – he just doesn’t pretend to be professional young people, he’s not ashamed of his age and his experiences. And so, after this celebration of joie de vivre, he has something particularly nice for us at the end. After saying goodbye to each band member with back slaps or hugs, he remains on stage alone with his acoustic guitar and sings “Death is not the end/ And I’ll see you in my dreams.”
It is said that happiness only comes in small moments. That’s not true. Bruce Springsteen’s happiness lasts three hours.