“Be good to yourself and those you leave behind,” The Boss told the crowd, delivered from the pulpit of rock’n’roll as if it were a homily, almost three hours into his epic performance at this year’s British Summer Time Hyde Park festival.
Bruce Springsteen is known for his stamina. And last night in London was no exception. The US rock legend put on a spectacular three-hour-plus show under the burnished July sunset. There was one heartwarming moment when he ran into the crowd and gifted his harmonica to a young girl. It was a testament to the spirit of the evening — and, indeed, tantamount to the New Jersey native’s generosity. In another, he jumped the barrier, took off a woman’s red cowboy hat, put it on and stood for selfies – before popping it back on her head.
There was an underlying feeling, throughout, that this was for the fans.
Holding back tears to introduce his 2020 hit, Last Man Standing, an ode to his former bandmate, George Theiss, the rocker spoke of being in a “shotgun shack of a house, in a tiny living room, taking the furniture out and setting up equipment to practice after school”. You could hear a pin drop as the audience was transported back to the superstar’s high school years, during an “explosive time in American history”, where the artist learned his craft as a member of the 1960s band, The Castiles. “It was then I embarked on the greatest adventure of my life and joined my first band,” he recounted in tantalising detail, going on to explain “how important it is to seize the day”.
Like the phenomenal showman he is, Springsteen knew how to build to a climax – props to the dynamics and sound technicians, here. He held nothing back for the show’s almighty denouement – a magnificent power drive into Dancing in the Dark, a Born to Run that ricocheted around with crunchy 60s tones. As he shredded on his road-worn Telecaster, Springsteen displayed an irresistible chemistry with “Little” Steven Van Zandt that culminated in a triumphant Glory Days. There was also a joke about when music bosses cut the power off at his last Hyde Park gig in 2012 during his duet with Paul McCartney due to the park’s strict curfew. “F*** ‘em,” was Van Zandt’s tongue-in-cheek retort.
“If you’re alive, I’m alive — that’s what we came here for,” came the rallying cry before an East Street Band crescendo that sent roars through the crowd. And after rolling out the back-to-back classics, there with a poignant tribute to fallen E Street Band members Clarence Clemons and organist Danny Federic.
All in all, the Boss delivered. His followers wept as he slung his guitar around the place like the true rockstar he is. At pension age, he shows no signs of slowing down. It feels like the man is unstoppable.
