Worldwide sensation Bruce Springsteen joined the 2023 BST Hyde Park line up as the headline act on July 6th with support from Frank Turner and The Chicks. Bringing his style, effortless cool and endless amounts of energy, he performed an incredible set playing songs from his earlier days as well as his more recent releases.
At 7pm on a sunny Thursday night at Hyde Park, the E Street Band were the first to walk onto the stage assuming their positions before they were joined by The Boss, Bruce Springsteen; both welcomed warmly by the excited crowd.
Dressed in his trademark blue jeans and black rolled sleeve shirt, Springsteen hit his Telecaster to the tune of ‘No Surrender’ to start the show and from the first note it was clear that Springsteen and the E Street Band were here to play and the sound scape of the show was stunning from start to finish.
With the songs that followed, he treated the audience to a couple from his 2020 album ‘Letter To You’ with the self titled song going down just as well as ‘Ghosts’.
After a few tracks most artists would stop for a drink of water or a breather but not Springsteen as he launched into anthem after anthem with the only breath he took being between the crash cymbal of the previous song and the ‘one, two, three, four’ introduction of the next.
With ‘The Promised Land’ came his first trip down the stage steps and into the audience. After throwing his guitar to his stage hand, he got up close and personal with the front row whilst they took selfies with him playing harmonica which he in turn gifted to a young fan along with a few plectrums. His youth like enthusiasm was infectious with the audience singing each lyric back at him and the mutual positive attitude between the artist and audience never waned throughout the set. ‘Out In The Street’ is another number that the fans dove into head on as Springsteen worked some call and response with them effortlessly.
‘Working On The Highway’ brings with it a change as the singer strapped on his acoustic guitar to stand front and centre, a distance away from his band. Throughout his 28 song set, he managed to work every angle of the Hyde Park stage. Joining him at the front during a cover of The Commodores ‘Night Shift’ was the E Street choir with Curtis King taking the lead on some soulful vocals. The brass section of the band also shone during this cover with each member getting their own lead moment. As much as Springsteen is the star of the show, the E Street band are nothing short of incredible. Their stage presence, musicianship and entertainment value compliment the evening perfectly.
Springsteen worked the audience into a frenzy with ‘Mary’s Place’ teasing them with crescendos and diminuendos throughout whilst ‘Your Hometown’ brought a slightly laid back pace and then another harmonica was given away during the popular 1980 hit ‘The River’.
‘Last Man Standing’ was a special highlight in the set. The 60,000 strong crowd listened intently to Springsteen telling the story of losing his childhood friend George Theiss; the last remaining member minus Bruce of The Castiles, his first high school band. He emphasised what he learnt from his friends death and that is to seize the moment, take each day head on and enjoy it. His dedication to Theiss was emotional and there were a few tears shed amongst listeners.
The instantly recognisable ‘Badlands’ and ‘Thunder Road’ closed out the first part of the set. Two hours worth of music had flown by without the E Street band even breaking a sweat but what was to follow would get even the most casual of Springsteen fans in attendance moving and grooving.
‘Born In The U.S.A’ was the first to kick off the lengthy encore with a stellar drum solo performed by Max Weinberg followed by ‘Born To Run’ and ‘Bobby Jean’. The chemistry between Springsteen and long time crowd favourite guitarist Steven Van Zandt was apparent as they joked about having the plug pulled on them if they didn’t finish their set soon before launching into more classics. ‘Glory Days’ oozed with sentimental nostalgia as Springsteen and Zandt reenacted the music video from 1984 and even played around with the cameras on stage during the amusing segment.
‘Dancing In The Dark’ and the extended ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze Out’ finished the set for the band with a tribute paid to Clarence Clemons, Springsteen’s long term saxophonist whose duties are now fulfilled by nephew Jake Clemons. Springsteen then returned for an endearing solo acoustic rendition of ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’ to close.
As much as everyone in the crowd knew tonight would be a good show, it’s hard to encapsulate the feeling Springsteen gives people from a live show. Having covered songs from his varied and impressive back catalogue, he captured the audiences attention from start to finish. It was probably the strongest reaction from a crowd at BST Hyde Park this year so far and if this was one of The Boss’s last UK shows, he is most definitely going out on a high.
Set list: 1. No Surrender 2. Ghosts 3. Prove It All Night 4. Letter to You 5. The Promised Land 6. Out in the Street 7. Darlington County 8. Working on the Highway 9. Kitty’s Back 10. Nightshift (Commodores cover) 11. Mary’s Place 12. My Hometown 13. The River 14. Last Man Standing (acoustic with Barry Danielian on trumpet) 15. Backstreets 16. Because the Night (Patti Smith Group cover) 17. She’s the One 18. Wrecking Ball 19. The Rising 20. Badlands 21. Thunder Road Encore: 22. Born in the U.S.A. 23. Born to Run 24. Bobby Jean 25. Glory Days 26. Dancing in the Dark (followed by Band Introductions) 27. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out Encore 2: 28. I’ll See You in My Dreams (solo acoustic) Performance date: 6th July 2023
