Photo: WENN.com
At 63 it's somewhat incredible that Bruce Springsteen needs no warm up act and can play a three hour set, packed with rareties and obscure tracks during his Wembley Stadium gig this weekend.
Passion for his craft, music and showmanship exudes from his persona, which fills Wembley with ease. When he eventually comes on stage boos are filling the stadium - but this is a very good sign. Boos is a combination of boss and Bruce, which can sound like a negative to a newcomer, but be assured its a shout of nothing but love.
Springsteen picks out requests written on signs from those who have stood for hours to be within an arms reach of the New Jersey superstar. He takes those written on paper, cardboard, or even on flags. 'Rosalita', 'Save my Love', and 'Lost in the Flood' were some of the less known songs he chose to perform, clearly proving his set list was never set in stone. "We could do this all night" he says, to affirmative cheers. "Or we could play Darkness On The Edge Of Town from beginning to end." Which gets louder cheers.
"Darkness on the Edge of Town it is", he mutters, as he strikes a chord to 'Badlands' and then rattles through what could be considered one of the great successes of his career, featuring 'Adam Raised a Cain', 'Racing in the Street', and 'The Promised Land'.
Van Zandt and Springsteen share one of many laughs on the Wembley stage
'Wrecking Ball' and 'Death to my Hometown' went down a storm, but they were of only a few performed from Bruce's latest album. The set was largely a celebration, of music, of friendship, of love and got everyone, even those up in the rafters, dancing.
"This is too easy", he shouts, and while his energetic, enthusiastic performance doesn't seem as effortless as previous shows, it is certain that he enjoys it, and seems a little in awe of the affection he gets from the crowd.
The jewel of his set however was 'Tenth Avenue Freeze Out' which was overlayed with a video paying tribute to former saxophonist Clarence Clemons, and reitterated the incredible relationship between Sprinsteen and his band, having played together for so long, they know how they work together so well, that they are indeed family - shown best on stage by the bromance between guitariast Van Zandt, and The Boss.
As three hours comes by, he pokes fun at last year's Hard Rock Calling gig. "Someone switch us off" he mocks, before launching into 'Twist and Shout', the song he and Sir Paul were playing when the sound was stopped, and finishes with an acoustic rendition of Thunder Road.
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